Chapter 4 - The Fallen Surgeon
The silence in the dining room was deafening.
Derek shifted his body instantly, placing himself between the stranger and Clara, while sending a quick signal to the head security guard of his estate, who materialized at the side entrance.
"Who the hell are you?" Derek demanded, his voice laced with pure authority. "And how did you get past my gate?"
"My name is Julian Vance," the man replied smoothly, adjusting his coat. "Lydia’s cousin. And Mrs. Evelyn Vance’s legal representative. Your gate guards were presented with a court-issued subpoena, Mr. Whitman."
Julian turned his gaze to Clara, his smile widening with malicious delight. "It took my investigators three weeks to track you down, 'Clara'. You changed your name, dropped off the medical registry, and took a job as a domestic maid. Quite a fall from grace for Baltimore’s most celebrated young pediatric surgeon."
Derek turned his head slightly, staring at Clara in utter shock. A chief pediatric surgeon?
Clara stood rigid, her breath coming in shallow gasps, but she refused to bow her head. "Leave this house, Julian. You have no business here."
"Oh, but I do," Julian declared, waving the legal paper. "Evelyn has officially filed for emergency custody of Finn, Eli, and Jasper on the grounds that you, Derek, are employing a disgraced, medically negligent felon to care for her grandsons!"
"Felon?" Derek growled, stepping up to Julian, his height easily imposing over the lawyer. "Watch your mouth in my house."
"Check the public records, Whitman!" Julian sneered, backing up a step under Derek’s imposing presence. "Two years ago, Dr. Clara Winslow operated on a six-year-old child while allegedly under the influence of exhaustion and stress. The child suffered brain damage. Her license was suspended, a criminal negligence charge was filed, and she vanished before the civil trial finalized!"
"That is a lie!" Clara cried out, her voice breaking with deep, agonizing pain. "You know it was a lie, Julian! Your family’s medical group owned that hospital! Your legal team altered the surgical logs to cover up the equipment failure from your cheap suppliers!"
Julian’s eyes flickered with a dark threat. "Careful, Clara. Defamation is an expensive charge for a maid."
"Get out," Derek said. His voice was no longer loud; it was an icy, quiet rumble that carried absolute promise of violence. "If you or your security team take one more step into my home, my men will throw you through those glass doors."
Julian glared at Derek, realizing he wouldn't back down. "This court order requires a full fitness assessment of this household. We will see you in court on Monday, Derek. And when the judge sees that you left your traumatized sons in the care of a disgraced surgeon accused of maiming a child, you will lose them forever."
Julian turned and swept out of the house with his guards, leaving behind a shattered quiet.
The triplets were crying softly near the table, terrified by the yelling. Clara sank to her knees right there on the floor, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with silent, desperate sobs.
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Derek looked at his crying sons, then at the broken woman kneeling on his floor.
He didn't run away. He didn't yell. Instead, Derek walked over to his sons, hugged them tightly, and whispered, "It’s okay, boys. Daddy’s here." Then, he looked up at Clara. "Get up, Clara. We have a war to win."
