My Heart Keeps Him Alive 1 Chapter 04
Chapter 4
By the time Margot convened the hearing, I could no longer stand.
They pushed me in a wheelchair into the first-floor atrium of Blackwood Institute.
Every seat was full. Board representatives. Lawyers. Head nurses. Security directors. Outside consultants
brought in for the hearing.
Their eyes landed on me with sympathy, suspicion, disgust.
Margot stood in front of the main screen, perfect makeup, unwrinkled dress.
I sat in my sweat-soaked hospital gown, the skin below my collarbone raw and torn from patches being
ripped off and reapplied.
She turned on the projector.
“We’re here today to handle a scandal that’s been buried in this institute for years.”
The screen filled with those so-called kickback agreements and offshore transfer receipts.
Her voice was clear and sharp.
“Ivy Brennan: foster care upbringing, not a Croftfield employee, not a medical researcher. But she has occupied the highest-grade suite in this institute for years, consuming Croftfield private medical resources.”
“Our preliminary investigation suggests she colluded with device suppliers, fabricated a medical condition,
and embezzled special funds.”
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
“No wonder she’s always been on the top floor.”
“I heard she doesn’t do anything all day.”
“Do you think Mr. Croftfield was tricked?”
I kept my eyes down. I didn’t say anything.
Explaining wouldn’t help. Margot wasn’t looking for the truth. She was looking for a conviction.
She turned to a few nurses. “Tell us, what does Ivy usually do on the top floor?”
The head nurse stood up first. She glanced at Margot and spoke quietly.
“Ms. Brennan doesn’t participate in any treatment work.”
Another nurse added, “She rests most of the day. Her meals, environment, medication, everything is handled by assigned staff.”
A third nurse was even more direct. “None of us understand why she has access to such advanced
equipment.”
Two guards held Chloe back outside the doors; she was crying. “That’s not true! Ms. Brennan’s monitoring
data goes directly into Mr. Croftfield’s system!”
They dragged her away before she could finish.
Margot’s lips curved with satisfaction.
“You all heard that.”
I slowly raised my head and looked at every person who had testified.
I memorized their faces, one by one, not for revenge, but because if I died, I wanted someone to know what
they had done.
The door opened. Julian was brought in.
His face was bruised. His eyes were bloodshot. But the first thing he did was look at me. “Ivy!”
Margot smiled. “Dr. Morse. Perfect timing.”
She pointed below my collarbone.
“Dr. Morse, you mentioned before that Ivy carries a Croftfield core medical chip inside her body?”
Julian’s expression shifted. “She didn’t steal that chip. Mr. Croftfield personally signed off on that implant. It’s
a sync chip. It cannot be removed.”
Margot pressed, “And who takes responsibility if it’s removed?”
Margot had been waiting for that question.
She turned to face the room.
“You all heard that.”
“A non-employee of Croftfield carries a highest-level Croftfield medical chip.”
“This isn’t just fraud. This is theft of core technology.”
Julian shouted, “Margot! That chip is connected to-”
“Gag him.” The guards silenced Julian.
Margot walked to me, bent down, and gently straightened my messy collar.
“Ivy,” she said softly. “I gave you a chance.”
“You chose not to confess.”
She raised her hand.
“Extract the chip now. Send it for legal analysis.”
My eyes widened in horror. “No.”
For the first time, I actually fought. “Margot, that chip cannot leave my body.”
Margot pressed her hand down on my shoulder. “Scared?”
I could barely breathe. “Nathaniel is already on his way.”
Margot froze for a second. Then she laughed.
“Even if Nathaniel comes back, he’ll thank me for getting rid of a con artist like you.”
They pushed me onto a surgical chair. There was no anesthesia.
Julian was gagged, his eyes wide with rage.
The cold scalpel touched the skin below my collarbone. My entire body went rigid.
The first cut. Blood welled up instantly.
Pain exploded. I almost bit through my lip.
Forceps slid into the wound and clamped onto the sync chip buried under my skin.
The monitoring screens in the atrium all flashed red.
[Base frequency disruption risk.]
[Remote artificial heart shutdown warning.]
Margot didn’t even glance at them. She reached in with forceps, stared into my eyes, and yanked the chip out.
In that second, everything went black.
But just as I was about to pass out, I heard the institute’s front doors crash open.
Someone pushed a wheelchair through the doors.
Nathaniel sat in that chair, his face white as paper.
His eyes landed on the bleeding wound below my collarbone.
Then the artificial heart in his chest let out a deafening alarm.
He grabbed his chest and fell off the wheelchair.
He collapsed right before Margot.
Collect
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