Chapter 4

“Did you do anything wrong, Dr. Park.”

“I didn’t think I did… but it feels like maybe I did something wrong.”

“What. Which part.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I did wrong.”

Flustered, Suji started rambling without any logic.

“Professor Crowell… he kept stressing confidentiality, so I shouldn’t have told the police… like that. And I didn’t know the article would come out that fast…”

“I’m the one who called the police. And you know I already told them everything. You did the right thing telling them about the patient’s condition. This is a criminal case. They need that information to catch the culprit faster. And you were the first one to check the patient.”

“That’s… but I was just so shocked, doctor.”

Suji lifted her head and looked up at Lucas. Her flushed cheeks and wide, trembling eyes looked ready to spill tears any moment.

Then Suji grabbed Lucas’s left hand and placed it on her chest. His palm pressed just below her collarbone.

“My heart’s probably at one hundred forty beats per minute, right.”

Thump thump thump thump.

Lucas felt her heartbeat clearly through his palm. Startled, he cleared his throat and pulled his hand back.

“Why’re you so scared when you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s because they’re professors. I tried to say what I thought, but Professor Crowell got so angry. And Mr. Harrington looked furious too.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean you have to be scared. They’re the ones who got angry for no reason.”

“…Yes.”

Lucas studied Suji’s face as she nodded slowly. Her delicate features came together neatly. He realized he’d never looked at her this closely.

Even without much makeup, her skin was clear, her eyebrows were dark, her nose sharp, and her lips naturally red. His gaze lingered on her full, crimson lips for a moment before he turned away.

“Um… do you think I’m gonna get punished.”

Lucas snapped back to reality and frowned hard.

“Why would you.”

“Because that’s what Professor Crowell said.”

“No. There’s no way.”

“Really.”

“Yeah. I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“Dr. Harrington.”

Suji grabbed his hand again, her eyes filled with pure admiration.

“Thank you so much. I feel so reassured because you’re here.”

Lucas looked down at his hand in hers. Suji jumped a little, then gently released him as if she’d grabbed something hot.

“I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

She bowed her head again like she’d committed a serious crime. Lucas felt something tight in his chest as he left the stairwell.

* * *

Lucas held a glass filled with whiskey. He almost never drank after work, but tonight his head was too tangled. He needed it.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and downed the drink. His hair was still damp from the shower, and a large towel hung around his hips.

His apartment looked out over downtown Boston. Above that, the Charles River and Cambridge spread across the skyline. His penthouse on Park Avenue was quiet enough to feel like time had stopped. It was the thing he appreciated most about living there.

Looking out at the view always calmed him.

Bzzzt.

His phone vibrated. The name Charles Harrington lit up the screen.

“Hi, Grandpa.”

Lucas didn’t take his eyes off the city below.

[So is that patient recovering well.]

“Yeah. She’s in the ICU. Her life’s not in danger.”

[That’s good to hear.]

“I saw the article. You were the first one to publish it.”

[Accuracy matters, but speed is everything in news.]

Lucas’s grandfather, Charles Harrington, was the founder of Harrington Media. After years as a reporter, he’d built his own media company. Now he owned cable news, a daily paper, digital media, and a studio that made movies, dramas, and documentaries.

It started as a small Boston outlet and had grown into one of the three biggest media groups in the country.

[What do you think. I’m worried Jonathan got himself into trouble.]

“You think my dad’s the attacker.”

[You never know with people.]

“I don’t think so. He takes his future way too seriously. He’s got enough self-control for that. Although he changes women like he changes meals.”

[Yeah. Jonathan may act like a fool sometimes, but he’s not the type to wave a gun around. So who do you think the culprit is.]

“I have no idea. That’s the police’s job. I treat patients.”

A loud laugh came through the phone.

[How about you check things out yourself. I can’t trust the police.]

“I’m busy, Grandpa. Please don’t expect too much.”

Charles Harrington had graduated from Harvard Law before choosing to work for a small newspaper. In a chaotic political climate filled with scandals, he’d clung stubbornly to the belief that only truth mattered.

He’d never feared the powerful. The editor in chief even told him once to stop risking his life and be more careful.

More than forty years had passed since he founded Harrington Media, but he still held the same beliefs.

[If my son ever disgraces Harrington Media, I’ll never pass down the company to him. Not even over my dead body.]

He’d always wanted Lucas to inherit the company, but Lucas had turned him down. With no choice, Charles had started considering Jonathan instead. Jonathan was still family after all.

“Well, the truth always comes out eventually.”

[By the way, were you the hospital staff member mentioned in that report.]

“I told them most of the information. The intern doctor was with me.”

[I figured it might be you. That intern must’ve been really shaken.]

“Yeah. Naturally.”

After hanging up, Lucas drank the rest of his watered-down whiskey in one go.

Jonathan Harrington, the head of Harrington Legal Group, was practically untouchable. He handled massive cases like corporate mergers and elite family scandals. His win rate was one hundred percent, earning him the nickname undefeated attorney.

He had a huge dream. To become President of the United States. As a man in his fifties without political experience, it was a distant goal, but he planned to reach it within twenty years.

He loved media attention too. Everyone in America knew his name.

“Someone with such big dreams can’t even manage his private life right.”

Angela Chan, the gunshot victim, was Jonathan’s personal secretary. And his mistress. Jonathan had a terrible habit of getting involved with his own secretaries. After firing Claire Dunham, who’d worked for him for years, he’d hired the young twenty-something Angela Chan. Lucas had known right away they’d get involved. They were glued together even during unofficial events.

Now darkness settled over Boston, blending with the city lights.

A faint reflection appeared in the window.

“My heart’s probably at 140 beats per minute, right.”