The Forgotten Heir's Reckoning

Chapter 2: The Truth Beneath the Surface

Frederick had been working in his family's medical research laboratory for exactly seventy-two days when the first patient walked through the doors. Her name was Sarah, and she was only sixteen years old. She had the same rare blood disease that his team had been developing a cure for over the past three years.

The work that Ivy had known nothing about. The work that he had been forced to put aside while helping her build Sterling Corporation into an empire.

"We're ready to run the preliminary tests," Dr. Helen Park, his lead researcher, told him one morning. She was a woman in her fifties with sharp eyes that missed nothing. "If the results are positive, we could have the cure ready for human trials within six months."

Frederick nodded, his mind already running through the implications. If they succeeded, it would not just be a medical breakthrough. It would make the Ashford name synonymous with saving lives. It would make him one of the most powerful men in the city, not because of family connections or inherited wealth, but because of his own genius and determination.

It was exactly what he needed right now.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Another message from one of Ivy's contacts. She had been texting him constantly over the past few weeks, asking him to meet with her, to discuss something important. He had ignored all of them.

But this message was different.

"Frederick, I need to see you. It's about my health. Please."

He stared at the message for a long time, his thumb hovering over the keyboard. Every rational part of his brain screamed at him to ignore it, to delete it, to move on with his life. But his heart, traitorous as always, wanted to know what was wrong with her.

"Run the tests," he told Dr. Park. "I have somewhere I need to be."

The cafe was small and quiet, tucked away in a corner of the city that neither of them had ever visited before. Ivy was already there when he arrived, sitting at a corner table with a cup of coffee that she was not drinking. She looked different from the powerful CEO he had seen in that office three months ago. She looked scared.

"Thank you for coming," she said softly.

"What's wrong with you?" Frederick asked, sitting down across from her without any pleasantries.

Ivy's hands trembled slightly as she wrapped them around the coffee cup. "I went to see a doctor last week. The results came back yesterday."

Frederick waited. Whatever this was, it was big enough to make her reach out to him after three months of silence.

"I have the blood disease," she whispered. "The same rare disease that your grandmother died from."

The world seemed to stop moving for a moment. Frederick felt the ground shift beneath his feet. His grandmother had died from a rare blood disease. That was the whole reason his family had invested so much money into finding a cure. That was the reason he had been so passionate about his research, even though he had set it aside to help Ivy.

But Ivy's grandmother had died from it too. He suddenly remembered. She had mentioned it once, years ago, when they were first dating. She had said that her grandmother's death was the reason she wanted to be successful, to have power and control over her own fate. She had been terrified of being helpless, terrified of being unable to save the people she loved.

"How long?" he asked.

"The doctor says six months to a year if I don't get treatment. But there is no treatment. Not yet. The disease is still considered incurable."

Frederick's mind was racing now. His research. His cure. It was not ready yet, but the preliminary results had been promising. If everything went according to plan, they could have it ready for human trials in six months. Ivy might be able to be one of the first people to receive it.

But that was also the moment he understood something else. That was why she had pushed him away. That was why she had asked for the divorce. She did not want him watching her get sick. She did not want him to feel obligated to stay with her out of pity or guilt. She had been trying to protect him by setting him free.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because I knew you would blame yourself," Ivy said, her voice breaking. "I knew you would feel like you had to stay with me, like you had to help me. And I couldn't bear that. I couldn't bear the thought of being a burden to you."

Frederick stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. All around them, people turned to look, but he did not care. He was too angry, too hurt, too confused by the revelation.

"You had no right to make that decision for me," he said coldly. "You had no right to push me away without telling me the truth."

"I did it because I love you," Ivy whispered.

"Don't," Frederick said, his voice sharp as a blade. "Don't you dare use that as an excuse. If you loved me, you would have trusted me. You would have told me the truth. Instead, you lied to me. You made me think I was not good enough for you. You made me think our marriage was nothing but a business transaction."

He turned to walk away, but then he stopped. There was something else he needed to know.

"There's no Marcus Chen, is there?" he asked, turning back to face her.

Ivy shook her head, tears streaming down her face now.

"Then why did you say there was?"

"Because I needed you to hate me," she said. "I needed you to walk away without looking back. I needed to make sure you would never come back to me and watch me die."

Frederick felt something break inside his chest. He wanted to be angry with her, but all he could feel was a deep, aching sadness. She had been so terrified of being a burden that she had destroyed their marriage. She had sacrificed their love on the altar of her fear.

"My research team is close to finding a cure," he said finally. "We could have something ready for human trials in six months."

Ivy's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Frederick turned and walked out of the cafe. As he walked, he made a phone call.

"Dr. Park, accelerate the timeline," he said. "I need the cure ready in three months, not six."

The next thing that would happen would change everything for both of them. But Frederick did not know that yet.

Because there was someone else who knew about the cure. Someone who would stop at nothing to get their hands on it.