The South Side streets were quiet under the late evening sky, the glow of streetlights casting long shadows across the modest brick houses. Sayrn Sauns sat on the porch of Maria Isiah’s home, where Ethan had been taken for safety after Varga’s chilling threat—“The nurse is next”—and the DNA results confirming him as Daniel’s son. At twenty-eight, with her RN degree earned earlier this year, Sayrn was used to the high-pressure chaos of Chicago General’s ER, but the past week had tested her in ways no trauma bay could: Ethan’s arrival, the shock of his paternity, and her fainting spell under the weight of it all. The Velvet Contract, her bond with Daniel Isiah, anchored her, but Varga’s escalating threat and the new reality of Ethan left her heart heavy.
Inside, Maria bustled in the kitchen
