Chapter 1 - TEN DAYS LEFT

“Ten days.”

The doctor said those two words so quietly that most people would have missed them.

I didn’t.

Because when you are a father watching your children disappear in front of you, a whisper can sound louder than a gunshot.

“Ten days, Lawson.”

Dr. Franklin Yates stood across from me inside the private medical room of my Chicago mansion. His expensive suit, his calm voice, his years of experience as one of the best specialists in the country—none of it mattered.

Because behind the glass wall were my six-year-old twins.

My son Jonah.

My daughter Blythe.

And they were dying.

I stared through the window as they slept.

Two small bodies.

Two innocent faces.

Two lives that I would have traded my own for without hesitation.

“Do something else,” I said.

Dr. Yates looked at me carefully.

“Lawson…”

“No.”

My voice sharpened.

“You don’t get to stand here and tell me you’ve reached the limit.”

His expression changed.

Not because he was angry.

Because he knew I was desperate.

“I have contacted every specialist who could possibly help,” he said. “We tried every available treatment.”

“Then find something unavailable.”

Silence.

I hated silence.

Silence meant there was nothing left.

I stepped closer to him.

“You know who I am.”

“Yes.”

“You know what I can do.”

“Yes.”

“I can bring doctors here from anywhere in the world.”

“I know.”

“I can build a private hospital if I have to.”

His eyes lowered.

“Money can buy many things, Lawson.”

I looked back at my children.

“But not this.”

He didn’t answer.

Because we both knew he was right.

For years, the Mercer name had opened doors.

People feared me.

People respected me.

People moved when I gave an order.

I had destroyed competitors who thought they could challenge me.

I had protected my empire with every weapon available.

But leukemia didn’t care about power.

Cancer didn’t care about money.

And death didn’t care who I was.

When I entered the twins’ room, Jonah opened his eyes.

“Dad?”

I immediately walked toward him.

“I’m here.”

His tiny fingers reached for mine.

That hand used to grab my finger when he was a baby.

Now it looked too fragile.

Too small.

Blythe slowly opened her eyes beside him.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

Her voice was barely there.

“If I go first…”

My entire body froze.

“Don’t say that.”

She looked at Jonah.

“If I go first…”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Can Jonah come with me?”

The room became painfully quiet.

I sat beside her and held her hand.

“No.”

She looked confused.

“No?”

“No.”

I forced myself to smile.

“Because nobody is going anywhere.”

She stared at me.

Then she whispered the words that hurt more than anything.

“But Mommy went.”

My chest tightened.

Genevieve.

My wife.

Their mother.

Two years had passed since I buried her, but grief didn’t disappear.

It simply learned how to hide.

I looked away for a second.

Then Jonah touched my arm.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Can I sleep with Bly tonight?”

“Of course.”

“So she won’t be scared.”

I swallowed.

“Of course.”

I wanted to tell him everything would be okay.

I wanted to promise them I could fix this.

But for the first time in my life...

I had nothing.

The Mercer mansion had never felt so empty.

Usually, every hallway carried movement.

Security reports.

Business meetings.

Phone calls.

Orders.

Today?

Nothing.

Only whispers.

The servants walked quietly.

The guards avoided eye contact.

Everyone knew.

The great Lawson Mercer—the man who could make enemies disappear—could not save his own children.

Outside the mansion stood twelve-foot walls.

Cameras covered every corner.

Armed security protected every entrance.

The property was designed like a fortress.

But a fortress could not fight what was inside my children.

At three in the afternoon, Prescott Hale entered my office.

He had been my right hand for fifteen years.

He knew when I was angry.

He knew when I was dangerous.

And he knew when something was wrong.

“She’s still outside.”

I looked up.

“Who?”

“The woman from the front gate.”

I frowned.

“What woman?”

“The caregiver applicant.”

I closed the file in front of me.

“We’re not hiring.”

“I told her.”

“Then why is she still there?”

Prescott hesitated.

That caught my attention.

“What?”

“She refuses to leave.”

I leaned back.

“Prescott.”

“Yes?”

“Remove her.”

He didn’t move.

My eyes narrowed.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He took a breath.

“She says she has nowhere else to go.”

I stared at him.

“Not my problem.”

“No money.”

“Not my problem.”

“No family.”

“Still not my problem.”

He looked uncomfortable.

Then he said:

“She knows about Jonah and Blythe.”

Everything stopped.

The room.

The sound.

My breathing.

“What did you say?”

Prescott looked directly at me.

“She knows your children are dying.”

I stood slowly.

Nobody knew.

Not the public.

Not my business partners.

Not my enemies.

Only the doctors, my closest security team, and the people inside this house.

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

My hand tightened around the edge of my desk.

“Bring her inside.”

Prescott hesitated.

“There’s more.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

His face became serious.

“She said she didn’t come here for a job.”

The air changed.

“Then why did she come?”

Prescott lowered his voice.

“She said she came because she knows the truth about Genevieve.”

My heart stopped.

For two years, I had buried my wife.

For two years, I had accepted the official story.

A tragic accident.

A terrible loss.

A closed chapter.

But the woman outside my gates knew something about my wife.

Something nobody should know.

I grabbed my jacket.

“Bring her to me.”

Prescott nodded.

But before he left, he turned around.

“Lawson.”

“What?”

His expression was unlike anything I had seen before.

“Are you sure you want to hear what she has to say?”

I stared at him.

Because deep down, I already knew something.

The woman standing outside my gates was not here by accident.

She had not come to ask for help.

She had come because she knew something about my family.

Something powerful enough to change everything.

And if she was telling the truth...

she might be the only person who could save my children.

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TO BE CONTINUED...