CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3
The Billionaire's Secret
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
For the first time in years...
She wasn't thinking about escaping.
She was trying to understand.
"How do you know which envelope I touched?" she asked quietly.
Dr. Daniel Brooks didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked to the laboratory refrigerator and removed a bottle of water.
He poured himself a glass.
Only after taking a slow sip did he speak.
"Because the DNA report isn't what someone wanted."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Daniel looked directly into her eyes.
"The DNA report..."
"...is only the excuse."
Silence filled the laboratory.
Michael looked confused.
"I don't understand."
Daniel placed the glass back on the counter.
"Neither Benjamin Foster nor Jacob Miller requested DNA testing."
Michael blinked.
"They didn't?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"They both requested genomic compatibility screening."
Emily remained expressionless.
But Daniel noticed something.
She understood the difference.
Most people wouldn't.
He smiled.
"So that's it."
Emily said nothing.
Daniel continued.
"A normal DNA test tells you who your relatives are."
"A genomic compatibility report tells doctors whether two people are genetically compatible for advanced medical treatment."
Michael slowly pieced it together.
"You mean..."
"...an organ transplant?"
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
The room fell silent.
Emily finally spoke.
"So Benjamin Foster is dying."
Daniel didn't deny it.
"The press knows he has a rare blood disorder."
"What they don't know..."
"...is that no donor has matched."
Emily looked at the envelope.
"Until Jacob."
Daniel's silence confirmed it.
For nearly a minute...
No one spoke.
Finally Michael asked,
"If Jacob is a match..."
"...why would anyone want to change the results?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"Because if Benjamin dies..."
"...someone inherits everything."
Emily lowered her eyes.
She had been hired to switch two laboratory reports.
She had assumed it was another inheritance dispute.
Nothing unusual.
Rich families did desperate things every day.
But this...
This was different.
Daniel slowly slid a photograph across the counter.
It showed Benjamin Foster surrounded by three adult children.
One son.
Two daughters.
All smiling.
"Which one hired you?"
Emily looked at the photograph.
Then quietly pushed it back.
"It wasn't any of them."
Daniel's expression changed.
"No?"
"I've never met the client."
"Only a broker."
Daniel nodded.
"As I expected."
He walked toward the laboratory computer.
Typed a password.
The hospital's internal records appeared.
Benjamin Foster.
Patient status.
Restricted.
Then another file.
Jacob Miller.
Construction worker.
Thirty-two years old.
Recently hospitalized after a workplace accident.
Daniel looked back at Emily.
"Do you know what Jacob does for a living?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"He installs structural steel."
Emily frowned.
"So?"
Daniel clicked another file.
A company photograph appeared.
Jacob stood beside dozens of workers.
One face caught Daniel's attention immediately.
He enlarged the image.
A middle-aged man wearing a hard hat.
Daniel whispered,
"There you are..."
Michael leaned closer.
"Who is he?"
Daniel slowly turned the monitor toward them.
"Jacob's foreman."
Emily stared at the photograph.
Her eyes widened.
She knew him.
Not by name.
But by face.
He was the same man who had delivered the cash to the locker at South Station two nights earlier.
She had never expected to see him again.
Daniel immediately noticed the change in her expression.
"You recognize him."
Emily hesitated.
Then nodded.
"I've seen him."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
Daniel folded his arms.
"If you don't..."
"...Benjamin Foster won't be the only person who dies."
Emily looked up sharply.
"What do you mean?"
Daniel's face became unusually serious.
"Whoever hired you already knows this operation failed."
Michael suddenly understood.
"They'll come after her."
Daniel nodded once.
"They can't leave witnesses."
The laboratory phone rang.
Daniel answered.
He listened for only five seconds.
Then his expression froze.
"What?"
He slowly lowered the receiver.
Michael stepped forward.
"What happened?"
Daniel looked at both of them.
"Benjamin Foster..."
"...went into cardiac arrest twelve minutes ago."
Emily's face turned white.
"But..."
"The real DNA report never left your office."
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Then he quietly added the sentence that changed the entire investigation.
"They didn't need to change the report."
"They only needed to make sure..."
"...it arrived too late."
👇 Chapter 4 – The Race Against Time
