Chapter 1 - The Billion-Dollar Rescue
"Get my medical team on the phone. Now."
I didn't yell, but the absolute authority in my voice made my driver, Thomas, sprint toward the door of the charity clinic. Within minutes, the cramped, bleach-scented waiting room was swarming with my private security detail and the best concierge doctors money could buy in Chicago.
Julian was too weak to protest. His skin was pale, and his breathing was shallow, a harsh rattle echoing in his chest. Severe bacterial pneumonia, exacerbated by years of exhaustion and physical labor.
"Dad," Julian rasped as the paramedics transferred him to a state-of-the-art mobile ICU stretcher. "Leo..."
"I have him," I promised, my voice breaking. I looked down at my eight-year-old grandson, whose small hand was gripped tightly in mine. "He's riding with me. You just focus on breathing, Julian. I've got you."
We bypassed the crowded public hospitals entirely. I had Julian transported to the penthouse VIP suite of Chicago Medical Center—a wing I had entirely funded five years ago.
While a team of specialists worked on Julian behind closed doors, I sat in the luxurious private waiting room with Leo. The boy was devouring a plate of hot food my assistant had rushed over, his eyes wide as he looked at the mahogany paneling and leather sofas.
"Are you really a billionaire?" Leo asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"I am," I said softly.
"If you have so much money," Leo said, his innocent eyes piercing straight through my soul, "why did you let my dad work until his hands bled? Why did you ignore his letters?"
I froze. My coffee cup rattled against the saucer.
"His letters?" I asked, my heart pounding against my ribs. "Leo... your father sent me letters?"
May you like
"Yeah. Every Christmas and every birthday," Leo nodded. "But he said you always sent them back unopened. He said Uncle Robert told him you never wanted to see him again."
A cold, deadly realization washed over me. I had never received a single letter. And the only person who handled my private estate mail was my late wife's brother, Robert—the current Chief Operating Officer of Sterling Holdings.
