Chapter 25
Chapter 25:
“Check him,” Aurora said, turning her head slightly to address Stone while maintaining eye contact with Elias. “Run your toxicology screen again. Specifically for synthetic opioids. You won’t find them anymore. The needles flushed the system p>
“Toxicology?” Stone laughed nervously. “We thought it was a stroke p>
“Run the test,” Elias ordered. He handed the water glass back to Aurora.
Stone, trembling with suppressed rage, pricked Elias’s finger and ran the sample through the bedside portable analyzer. The machine whirred and clicked for an agonizing minute.
A small slip of paper printed out.
Stone ripped it off. He read it. He read it again.
“Clean,” he whispered. “All markers… normal. The traces of… whatever was spiking… are gone p>
He looked at Aurora like she was a monster. Like she had broken the laws of physics just to spite him.
Elias closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing the information. When he opened them, the dismissal was absolute.
“Leave, Xavier. You are fired. Send your final bill to my assistant. If I see you in my home again, I will have security throw you out p>
“But Mr. Thorne p>
“Get. Out p>
Dr. Stone grabbed his bag and fled, his humiliation radiating from his stiff, hurried walk. The door clicked shut behind him.
Julian let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for an hour. He looked at Aurora with newfound reverence. The skepticism was gone, replaced by awe.
“Thank you,” Julian said. “Thank you, Dr. Vance.” He used the title instinctively this time.
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Elias raised an eyebrow. He shifted himself up against the pillows, wincing slightly. “Dr. Vance p>
Julian blushed. “She… she took charge, sir. She saved you. Again p>
Aurora corrected him immediately. “It’s Ms. Vance. I don’t practice officially. Or Doctor, if you’re paying extra p>
Elias let out a short, dry chuckle. It was a rare sound, rusty from disuse. He looked at her, really looked at her. He saw the cheap clothes, the tired eyes, the defiant posture. He saw the intelligence that burned behind her gaze.
“Name your price,” Elias said. His voice was business again. Transactional. Safe.
Aurora maintained eye contact. She was not intimidated by the silk sheets or the millions of dollars represented in this room.
“Seven figures,” she stated flatly. “Wire transfer. Today p>
Julian choked on air.
Elias didn’t blink. He appreciated the audacity. He appreciated the lack of false modesty. He nodded to Julian. “Pay her p>
He paused, his gray eyes darkening with a different kind of interest. He picked up his tablet, tapping the screen with deliberate slowness.
“And Julian,” Elias added, his voice dropping to a dangerous murmur. “Reopen the investigation into Ms. Vance. Dig deeper than last time. The ‘trailer park girl’ narrative she fed us during the divorce proceedings is obviously a cover. You don’t learn ancient neural-circuit acupuncture in a mobile home. Find out where she really learned that technique p>