Chapter 2 — The Secret Hidden Inside The Diagnosis
For the next two weeks, something changed inside the Mercer mansion.
The children did not magically become healthy.
The leukemia was still there.
The treatments were still painful.
The future was still uncertain.
But they started fighting.
Jonah began walking short distances again.
Blythe started drawing pictures.
And every morning, Waverly opened the curtains.
A small action.
But somehow it became a symbol.
The darkness was no longer winning.
Lawson noticed everything.
He noticed how his children smiled when Waverly entered the room.
He noticed how the staff stopped whispering.
He noticed how his mansion no longer felt like a tomb.
And it terrified him.
Because Lawson Mercer understood enemies.
He understood betrayal.
But he did not understand kindness.
One night, he found Waverly sitting alone outside the medical wing.
“You lost someone.”
She looked up.
Lawson had never asked a personal question before.
“Yes.”
“Your son?”
Her eyes moved slightly.
“How did you know?”
“Because you look at my children like someone who knows exactly what it feels like to lose them.”
Silence.
Finally, Waverly nodded.
“My son had cancer.”
Lawson looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
Two words.
But from Lawson Mercer, they meant everything.
Then Waverly noticed the medical files on the table.
“Who ordered these tests?”
Lawson frowned.
“What?”
“These blood results.”
She picked up the documents.
“The numbers don’t match.”
Lawson stepped closer.
“What are you talking about?”
Waverly pointed at the reports.
“Their immune response is not failing naturally.”
A cold feeling entered the room.
“What does that mean?”
She looked at him.
“It means someone may have been making them weaker.”
Lawson became completely still.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because everyone in that mansion knew one thing.
If someone had hurt Lawson Mercer’s children…
They had signed their own death sentence.
The investigation began immediately.
Prescott discovered hidden medication records.
Dr. Yates discovered unauthorized changes to the children’s treatment.
And then they found the truth.
Someone inside the Mercer organization had been secretly altering the children’s medication for months.
Not to kill them quickly.
To make them slowly disappear.
Lawson read the name on the file.
His expression changed.
Because the person responsible was someone he trusted.
Someone who had been standing beside him for years.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy him.
That night, Lawson entered the children’s room.
Blythe was awake.
“Daddy?”
He sat beside her.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not protecting you.”
The little girl reached for his hand.
“Daddy…”
“You protected everyone else.”
She smiled weakly.
“But you forgot us.”
The words destroyed him.
Because they were true.
Lawson Mercer had built an empire.
May you like
But he had forgotten how to be a father.
Until Waverly Dunn reminded him.
