Chapter 2 - The Emergency Room RevelationThe emergency department at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital was a blur of bright lights, sterile smells, and the steady beep of heart monitors. Dr. Rhodes had accompanied me in the ambulance, refusing to leave my side until a trauma team took over.
A young resident named Dr. Vance—ironically, no relation to Derek, though the name made my stomach twist—shined a penlight into my eyes.
"You have a mild concussion, a split lip requiring two stitches, and two cracked ribs on your left side," Dr. Vance said gently, signing off on my chart. "Given the abdominal surgery you just underwent two days ago, you are extraordinarily lucky that internal sutures didn't rupture."
My breath hitched. "Will I need another procedure?"
"No, but you need absolute bed rest and zero physical stress." Dr. Vance hesitated, lowering his clipboard. "Madison, the police officer outside asked me to update him. He found something in Derek Vance’s jacket pocket when they booked him at the precinct."
My heart hammered against my cracked ribs. "What?"
"A hidden micro-camera and a notarized document transferring your late father’s entire estate, house, and insurance payout directly to Derek, dated three days after your father's funeral. The signature... it looks heavily forced or traced."
May you like
I stared at the white ceiling tile. My father had left everything to me. Every brick of that house, every cent of his carpentry business. Derek and his mother had systematically starved me of information, isolating me while draining accounts.
And now, the real war was about to begin.
