The Natural Healing Influencer

Chapter 2 Revoking the Lifeline

I ran down the marble hallway. People whispered as I passed, but the crash still rang in my ears.

I shoved open the lab doors. Portable photography lights crowded my workstations. Chloe’s crew directed her poses while she held one of my Erlenmeyer flasks by the stem like a champagne glass.

People in crisp, fashionable clothes had shifted equipment to make room for the lights. None of them wore gloves.

Under the lights, a specialized cryo-vial lay in pieces. It had held the progenitor cells for Strain 117, my mentor’s legacy and the only sample in the world.

The cells could not be synthesized from a formula. The lineage had ended when the vial hit the floor.

Chloe glanced over. Her smile stayed in place. “Oh, Harper. We were clearing out some old junk to make room for a new, positive energy.”

I stepped between her and the broken vial. “That was not junk.”

Julian came in and looked at me instead of the glass. “Harper, what is the meaning of this? You’re making a scene in front of Chloe’s media team.”

I kept my eyes on the vial. “She destroyed the 117 strain, Julian.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s just some old cells. We can synthesize more.”

He had never learned enough about my work to understand what was on the floor. He only knew its profits.

He followed the revenue from every treatment. The research that produced it had never held his attention.

He stepped closer. “Stop this, Harper. You always cool off and come back. Don’t do something stupid because Chloe upset you.”

He caught my arm. “Now hand over the formula for the new compound. You’re nothing without the Sterling name to protect you.”

His grip said he still considered me, my formulas, and my patents Sterling property.

I pulled free and called my lawyer. “David, bring the package. Sterling Tower, west-wing lab. Yes, effective immediately.”

Less than ten minutes later, David entered with a leather portfolio. The PR team lowered their cameras one by one.

Chloe stepped away from my bench, still holding her bottle of oil. Her smile tightened.

David laid three documents on the one clean spot on my main lab bench.

I picked up a pen and signed the first without hesitation. “This is the termination of our engagement.”

I signed the second. “This is my official resignation from Sterling Medical.”

The third was a thick notice bound with legal tape. I slid it across the steel bench to Julian.

“This is formal notice. I am revoking every license for every patent I hold, effective immediately.”

I touched the top page. “That covers all formulas, research data, and proprietary compounds. You can’t produce, administer, or store them here.”

I met his eyes. “From this moment on, Julian, your survival and your patients’ survival are no longer my concern.”

He stared at the papers and waited for me to soften. He still thought I was negotiating.

David closed the first two documents into his portfolio. I returned the pen and left the revocation notice in front of Julian.

He did not pick it up. The licenses were already revoked whether he touched the paper or not.