Chapter 2 - The Gilded Cage
I lunged toward the man in the wheelchair.
Gabriel stepped between us, shoving me backward with effortless strength.
I hit the floor hard, but I scrambled right back to my feet.
"Where is my son?" I screamed.
Sebastian simply took another sip of his amber liquor.
"He is perfectly safe," the crime boss replied smoothly.
"I had my private medical team move him to a secure wing of the city hospital."
He explained that Oliver was currently receiving the best respiratory care money could buy.
I felt a sickening mix of profound relief and absolute terror.
"You kidnapped him," I whispered.
"I secured an investment," Sebastian corrected me.
He rolled his wheelchair closer to where I was standing.
"You just told me my paralysis was intentionally caused by a surgeon."
He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine.
"That means there is a traitor in my inner circle."
He stated that I was the only medical professional he could currently trust.
"You are going to live in this penthouse."
"You are going to fix my back."
"If you succeed, your son will never want for anything again."
He let the silence hang in the air for a moment.
"If you fail, or if you try to run, Oliver's medical funding disappears."
I was trapped in a gilded cage with a ruthless monster.
For the next three weeks, my life became a grueling routine of intense physical therapy.
I spent hours massaging the deep scar tissue, slowly breaking down the surgical wire trap.
Sebastian pushed through the agonizing pain without ever making a sound.
His sheer willpower was unlike anything I had ever witnessed.
Late one night, I was reviewing his original surgical files on a secure tablet.
I zoomed in on the signature of the doctor who had operated on him twenty years ago.
It was Doctor Arthur Vance.
I knew that name because he was the same doctor who ran the charity clinic treating my son.
I realized with horror that the man holding Oliver's life in his hands was the traitor.
Suddenly, the heavy oak door of the library swung open.
Sebastian rolled into the room, holding a suppressed pistol in his hand.
"We have a major problem," he said darkly.
May you like
He pointed to the security monitors on the wall.
Every single one of his armed guards in the hallway was lying dead in pools of blood.
