Chapter 2
Serena's POV
After hanging up, I gently stroked Leo's cheek.
"Baby, Uncle Viktor's coming to get us soon," I whispered. "Nobody's gonna hurt you this time."
Leo nuzzled against my palm in his sleep, his little face already getting its color back.
For the next three days, I acted like nothing happened—kept playing the weak, doormat wife. It wasn't that I didn't want to bolt immediately, but Arthur would never let me go that easy. With his control freak tendencies and obsession with Tommy, if I tried to run now, he'd move heaven and earth to drag us back.
I had to wait for the perfect moment.
Arthur didn't come home that night. I knew he was playing daddy to Lily and Tommy. It wasn't until the third morning that he strolled through our door reeking of cheap perfume with that bullshit smile.
"Serena, you still mad at me?" Arthur carried some fancy French pastries, reaching for Leo's forehead.
I stepped back: "Leo's fever's gone, but I'm still worried."
"Great." Arthur's eyes lit up with greed. "I set up a full workup at Manhattan Central. Leo's been run down lately—let's get him checked out proper. My way of making things right."
I stared at that lying piece of shit and almost laughed.
Here we fucking go. Same exact timing as my past life. Tommy's kidneys had crashed and burned, desperately needing a donor. Arthur would use this checkup bullshit to bribe doctors into secretly testing Leo's compatibility. When they found out they were a perfect match, he'd throw his own kid under the bus without blinking.
"Fine." I shrugged. "You're the dad."
Manhattan Central looked gray and depressing, the whole place stinking of hospital disinfectant.
The second we hit the VIP area, there was Lily on a bench looking like death warmed over. She jumped up when she saw us, tears already flowing.
"Arthur... Tommy puked blood again this morning. The doctor says his kidneys are..." She started crying, her eyes sliding over to Leo like he was a spare parts catalog.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Arthur put his arm around her shoulders, then looked at me. "Serena, take Leo for his blood work. I'll stay with Lily."
"Sure thing." I nodded and walked Leo into the lab.
Dr. Smith was handling the blood draw—the head surgeon. In my past life, this bastard was the one who carved up Leo like a thanksgiving turkey.
I watched him stick the needle in Leo's tiny arm, bright red blood filling up vial after vial. Dr. Smith's eyes were practically glowing as he labeled the tubes, sneaking one into his coat pocket.
"Dr. Smith," I said casually. "That's a lot of blood for a routine checkup."
Dr. Smith nearly jumped out of his skin, almost dropping everything. "Oh, Mrs. Harrington! Just standard tests, nothing more."
"Right." I gave him a look that could freeze hell and walked out with Leo.
I ducked into a bathroom stall with no cameras and pulled out my mini signal jammer and hacking tablet.
Took me maybe two minutes to break into Manhattan Central's network. Viktor's training from years back still worked like a charm on this amateur-hour security.
Found the lab terminal just as Dr. Smith was feeding Leo's sample into the machine.
I watched the numbers dance on my screen and grinned.
Last time around, Tommy and Leo were a 90% match—that's what sealed Leo's fate. This time I went straight into the system and changed everything, dropping their compatibility to a measly 20%.
No way Arthur would risk a transplant with odds that shitty.
I covered my digital tracks and strolled back out like nothing happened.
Hour later, Dr. Smith came charging out waving papers around, but instead of looking disappointed, the guy was practically bouncing off the walls.
"Mr. Harrington! This is unbelievable! Absolutely incredible!" Dr. Smith was shaking with excitement. "Leo's compatibility results just came back—99.8% match with Tommy! I've never seen anything like this in twenty years!"
My blood turned to ice.
What the fuck? I changed those numbers to 20%!
I glanced at Lily and caught her smirking for just a split second before she switched back to the waterworks.
That sneaky bitch knew tech? Or maybe she had someone on the inside?
Goddammit! I totally underestimated her!
"Serena! Please! You gotta save Tommy!" Lily hit the floor on her knees, practically kissing the ground. "Just let Leo give up one kidney! I'll be your slave forever! Leo's young—he'll be fine with one, but Tommy's gonna die without it!"
Watching this Oscar-worthy performance made me want to puke: "Lily, you done putting on a show?"
"I'm not acting! I'm begging you!" More fake tears.
Arthur stepped right up to me, looking down like I was something he scraped off his shoe. He whipped out some papers—an organ donation form, all ready to go.
"Serena, sign this." His voice was cold as winter. "It's fate. Leo's kidney saves Tommy's life. I'll throw in a million bucks."
"Arthur, have you completely lost your shit?" I held Leo tighter. "He's five years old!"
"Exactly—he's young, he'll bounce right back," Arthur's eyes went dead and mean. "Besides, it's what brothers do."
"What brothers do?"
"Look out for each other."
I stared at this psychopath: "Leo doesn't owe you people ANYTHING!"
Arthur's face went dark: "You won't sign? Fine. I'm his father—I don't need your permission."
