The Do Not Resuscitate Order

Chapter 4 The Golden Cage

The penthouse of Moretti Tower had a 360-degree view and no door I could open. Arthur's men had removed the glass from my feet, bandaged them, and left me above the city.

The reinforced steel door stayed locked. Two of Arthur's men waited outside, close enough for me to hear them change shifts.

No doctor came. No medicine followed. Arthur had put me in the most expensive room he owned and waited for me to ask his forgiveness.

He would be waiting a long time.

At sunset, I went to the floor-to-ceiling window. The city filled the glass beneath me, each street too far down to hear.

My clutch still held one tube of dark red lipstick, *f*******n Crimson*. Arthur had always hated the color.

I used it to write a supplementary clause to my will on the glass.

*I, Evelyn Pierce, being of sound mind, do hereby add: Under no circumstances are my remains to be interred in the Moretti family mausoleum. I refuse any memorial, charity, or foundation established in my name by Arthur Moretti or his estate.*

The red letters covered the center of Arthur's view.

(Felix's POV)

I kept seeing Evelyn's feet and the blood between the crystal shards. I had given Arthur the nerve-blocker story because it protected his pride and my position.

Alone in my office, I couldn't make myself believe it.

Back in my private office, I unlocked the encrypted server and opened the raw lab data from before Lily's “consultant” revised it.

I pulled up the file: *Pierce, Evelyn. GENETIC MARKER ANALYSIS: CARDIOMYOPATHY, STAGE IV.*

The genetic markers were aggressive. Evelyn's prognosis had been measured in months, not years. The raw values matched the decline in her recent examinations.

Every line of Lily's report was false.

I had put my license and my friendship with one of the city's most powerful men behind that report. Exposure would end both.

The red light on the office security camera blinked above my monitor. I opened Lily's report. *Blood type: O-negative. Cardiac health: Excellent. No genetic abnormalities detected.*

Lily had a healthy heart.

I printed Evelyn's real report, carried it to the shredder, and fed it in. The camera recorded every page disappearing.

(Evelyn's POV)

Day four. The System put my metabolic functions at 45%. My peripheral vision had blurred, and the city lights merged whenever I tried to focus.

Sitting upright exhausted me. I stayed on the white sofa and watched clouds cross the windows.

Keeping my eyes open took too much effort. I let them close.

Metal shifted inside the door.

I listened.

*Click.*

The high-security lock had disengaged.

I opened my eyes. The steel door, secured by Arthur's biometric scan, swung inward.