Chapter 8

Nora swayed, her eyes rolled back, and she went limp, collapsing to the floor.

Linda gasped. Manuel walked over quickly and checked her breathing, then let out a sigh of relief. "She's still breathing. Must have passed out from the shock."

Richard closed his eyes for a moment. "Take her to her room and get a doctor."

Manuel had the servants carry her upstairs.

Linda took Sylvia's hands and apologized. "Sylvia, I'm so sorry. You've been through so much because of us."

"This has nothing to do with you. What she did is on her. You don't need to blame yourselves or apologize."

Linda shook her head. "We didn't raise her right. If we'd seen what kind of person she was sooner, you never would have been in danger."

"Mom, you raised her for eighteen years and treated her well. That's her problem, not yours."

Richard's throat moved. His voice came out rough. "Sylvia."

"Dad." Sylvia looked at him. "Don't feel guilty. I know how good you've been to me."

Manuel hung his head like a big dog that knew it had done something wrong. "Sylvia, it's my fault. If I hadn't taken you to the racetrack, none of this would have happened."

"Manuel." Sylvia said his name. "You took me there because I wanted to go. You didn't do anything wrong. The person who did wrong is the one who had bad intentions."

Seeing the looks on their faces, Sylvia let a small smile tug at her lips. "Besides, I'm fine, aren't I? Stop acting like you're at a funeral."

Manuel choked on that, caught between laughing and crying, then felt bad for almost laughing, and ended up with a completely confused look on his face.

Linda wiped her tears, a reluctant smile breaking through.

Sylvia pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. "Mom, Dad, Manuel — I'm hungry."

"Of course, of course. I'll go get dinner ready right now."

Richard looked at Sylvia, his eyes full of tenderness and pride. "Sylvia, thank goodness we found you and brought you home."

As the night grew late, Sylvia tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Her stomach growled.

She got up and headed downstairs to find something to eat in the kitchen.

As she passed Nora's room, she heard muffled sobbing from inside.

"Ms. Martinez, please don't cry. Your eyes will get all puffy."

Sylvia slowed her steps. Through the crack in the door, she saw the servant Pippa holding Nora in her arms. The hand stroking Nora's hair wore a very old emerald ring. Sylvia recognized the pattern — she had seen it in Jade's photo album. It was something only the head housekeeper of Lynn Manor would have.

Why would an ordinary servant be wearing something that belonged to the Lynn family?

"Pippa, they're going to send me away. I'm not part of the Martinez family anymore." Nora sobbed, barely able to catch her breath.

"Shh, don't cry. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

The way Pippa comforted her was too familiar — almost like someone who had a personal stake in it, something far beyond a normal employer-employee relationship. Sylvia looked away. A flicker of suspicion crossed her mind, but she didn't dwell on it. She went to the kitchen, got some milk and cake, and headed back upstairs.

Back in her room, well-fed, Sylvia found herself thinking again about the way Pippa had looked at Nora. That quiet, protective instinct was not something a servant would have. Her eyes sharpened. She reached into the bottom of her suitcase and pulled out a plain-looking laptop.

When it powered on, a stream of code flashed across the screen — nothing like a normal operating system. Green text on a gray background, a terminal interface only she could read.

Her fingers moved across the keyboard, fast enough that the keystrokes were almost a blur.

Code scrolled down the screen like a waterfall. Within seconds, the patient database from Healing Haven Hospital, over twenty years old, appeared in front of her.

The system logs spread out along a timeline.

On the day Jade and Linda had both given birth, one nurse's name appeared again and again, each time marked with an asterisk.

Sylvia narrowed her eyes. She was about to dig deeper into that name when a pop-up appeared on screen:

[WARNING: Another user detected accessing the same system]

Sylvia raised an eyebrow. Someone else was breaking into the hospital's computer system at the same time she was.

And their access path went deeper than hers.

Sylvia stared at the unknown user ID on the screen and typed a message, sending it along the other user's intrusion path:

[You noticed something wrong with this hospital too?]

A few seconds of silence. Then: [Who are you?]

[Same as you. Looking into what happened back then.]

King: [My name's King. Want to work together?]

Sylvia stared at the ID. [What kind of deal?]

King: [I handle the data. You handle the people. We share what we find.]

Sylvia thought for a moment. [Fine.]

The other user sent an address for an encrypted communication channel, then dropped out of the system.

The following evening.

Sylvia had just finished dinner when Adrian called.

"Sylvia, come out tonight. I'm putting together a group — all people we know."

Linda heard Adrian's voice and smiled. "Go, Sylvia. It'll be good for you to get out. You've been cooped up in the house long enough."

Sylvia had been home for days, and Linda was starting to worry she'd go stir-crazy.

Sylvia hadn't really wanted to go, but since Linda was encouraging her, she went along with it. "Okay. Send me the address."

She went to her room, changed, and drove to the club.

Adrian had gathered a lively crowd of young people.

"Sylvia, you made it! Come sit down, let me introduce you to everyone."

Adrian spotted her and waved her over with a big smile.

Sylvia had just sat down when she accidentally knocked a glass on the table, spilling the drink all over her hand.

"I'll be right back — just need to wash my hands."

She went to the restroom, washed up, and on her way back, turned the corner and nearly walked straight into two people.

Luna had her arm linked through Louis's and was talking to one of the servers.

Sylvia thought to herself — of all the places. Just her luck.

Sylvia ignored them and started heading back to the private room.

Then Luna spotted her. "Well, if it isn't Sylvia. What are you doing here?"

Louis glanced over at Sylvia, a look of contempt in his eyes.

Sylvia had no interest in engaging, but Luna stepped in front of her and blocked her way. "Sylvia, this place is for people with money. You and your whole family are from the poor side of town — can you even afford to be here?"

"Move," Sylvia said flatly.

"What, are you embarrassed?" Luna's smile turned mean. "Sylvia, after the Lynn family kicked you out, how did you even get into a place like this? Did you find yourself a sugar daddy?"

Her eyes swept over Sylvia's face, a flash of jealousy behind them.

Louis let out a scoff and draped his arm around Luna's shoulder, his gaze sliding over Sylvia with something that looked a lot like hunger. "Sylvia, if you're in some kind of trouble, you can come to me. We've known each other long enough. You don't have to go sleep with some old man."

"Louis, shut your mouth," Sylvia said, rolling her eyes.

Louis's face darkened. "What did you just say?"

Luna flushed with anger. "Sylvia! Watch what you say!"

"Was I wrong?" Sylvia looked at Louis with a cool half-smile. "When you were chasing me and wouldn't take no for an answer, you didn't seem to mind how I talked. Did you ever bother asking Luna before you tried to get with me?"

"Let me be clear — I never wanted you. And right now, you're even less worth my time."

Louis went red with fury. Luna bit down hard on her anger. She knew exactly how Louis felt about Sylvia — she always had.

Sylvia glanced at Luna, the corner of her mouth curving up. "Oh, and I should actually thank you for picking up this piece of trash so I didn't have to throw him out myself. Honestly? The whole thing kind of disgusts me."