Chapter 4 - The War in Room 402By six o'clock in the morning, the rain had stopped, giving way to a crisp, golden sunrise over the Boston skyline. Vivian lay in a high-tech pre-op bed on the fourth floor of Massachusetts General Hospital, dressed in a light blue surgical gown and hair cap.
The door burst open, and Lily Hart rushed in, her eyes wide with fear and love. She pulled her daughter into a fierce, tearful embrace, pressing her cheek against Vivian’s forehead.
“You foolish girl,” Lily sobbed softly, kissing Vivian’s hands. “Why didn't you tell me sooner? You don't have to carry the whole world on your shoulders.”
“I was scared, Mom,” Vivian whispered, finally allowing herself to be a child again. “I didn't want to break your heart.”
Standing near the doorway was Noah, holding a brown paper bag containing two fresh bakery pies he had picked up at dawn. He had insisted on walking Vivian to the hospital doors before leaving to meet his son.
While Lily comforted Vivian, the room’s peace was shattered by the arrival of Ethan Caldwell, Hartwell Biotech’s COO. Sleek, sharp, and smelling of expensive cologne, Ethan walked in holding a tablet showing crashing market figures.
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“Vivian, this is madness,” Ethan demanded, ignoring her hospital gown and her mother’s presence. “The board discovered you checked into neurosurgery without executive disclosure. Stock is down twelve percent! You need to sign over temporary voting control to me right now before they call an emergency vote to strip you of the CEO title!”
Vivian looked at Ethan, then at the predatory legal documents he placed on her bedside table. For months, Ethan had been pushing to raise the prices of their life-saving neurological drugs to boost quarterly profits—a move Vivian had fiercely blocked.
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