Chapter 79
Brandon’s medical files spread across the sleek conference table like a paper battlefield. Each scan, each test result painted an increasingly complex picture that had Irene’s mind racing with calculations and contingencies. Behind her surgical mask, her expression remained unreadable as she absorbed the full scope of the damage.
The nerve damage is extensive,” she stated, keeping her tone cool and professional. Multiple fractures, severe tissue trauma. And honestly? Those previous surgeries were a total mess.”
Henry hovered nearby like a kid waiting for test results, practically bouncing on his toes. “But you can fix it, right? Please tell me there’s something you can do!”
Irene’s eyes never left the scans. As Dr. Joy, she’d built her reputation on making the impossible possible but this one hit differently. Every injury, every botched repair job felt personal in a way she couldn’t afford to think about.
After what felt like forever but was probably minutes, she gathered the files with precise movements. “I need to talk to the patient.”
The walk to Brandon’s room felt like the longest ever. Each step carried the weight of her double life – Dr. Joy the miracle worker, and Irene Sterling the cast–out daughter. One wrong word, one slip of the mask, and everything would come crashing down.
Brandon’s head snapped up the moment she entered, that champion’s intensity burning in eyes that were way too familiar. The trophies lining his window still gleamed, but they felt more like gravestones now – monuments to a career hanging by a thread.
Well? His voice was rough with barely contained emotion. “What’s the verdict?”
Irene met his gaze head–on. “It’s complicated, but not impossible. I can repair the damage, get you back on your feet.” She paused, letting that sink in before dropping the other shoe. “But full recovery? That’s going to take at least a year. Maybe longer.”
The silence that followed was thick enough to cut with a scalpel. Brandon’s fingers twisted in the sheets, his face a storm of
emotions.
“A year?” He finally ground out. “My whole career-”
“Will be toast if we don’t do this right,” Irene cut him off clean as a surgeon’s blade. “You want back on the track? This is your only shot. But you’ve got to be all in. One wrong move, one skipped therapy session, and we’re back to square one.” Her voice could’ve frozen fire. “Your call. Take it or leave it.”
Henry looked ready to pass out, but Brandon’s expression had shifted. The desperate fury faded, replaced by something harder – pure determination.
“Do it,” he said simply. “Whatever it takes.”
Irene nodded once, turning to the hospital director who’d been hovering like a nervous shadow. “Contact me once everything’s ready for surgery. I need your best operating theater, full equipment setup. My assistant will handle the details.”
Katherine stepped forward smooth as silk, tablet already in hand. “I coordinate everything with your team.”
“Dr. Loy!” Henry burst out, lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve “Thank you, thank you so much!”
Brandon said nothing, but his eyes followed her movements with new intensity like he was trying to solve a puzzle he couldn’t quite piece together,
The front door had barely clicked shut behind her when Irene got home and sensed something was off. Grandfather sat in his
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Chapter 79
favorite armchair, looking every bit his age with worry etched deep his face.
“Grandfather? She crossed to him quickly. “What’s wrong?
Brandon,” he said heavily. The family just called. They’re saying. They re saying he might never walk again.”
Irene’s heart squeezed. Leave it to the Sterlings to dump this bombon an elderly man without thinking twice. Grandfather, it’s okay,” she said softly, kneeling beside his chair. “I’ve already seen him today. As Dr. Joy.”
His eyes widened slightly. “You have?”
She nodded, taking his weathered hand in hers. “The damage is serious, but not impossible to fix. I can handle this, Grandfather. I
promise.”
“Your brother…” His voice caught. “Even though they…”
“He’s still your grandson,” Irene said simply. And I’m still a doctor.
His eyes went misty. “I need to see him.”
“Of course.” Irene squeezed his hand gently. “I’ll take you right now
They took a cab to the hospital, the ride passing in contemplative silence. As they approached Brandon’s room, the murmur of multiple voices drifted through the partially open door. The entire Sterling family had assembled – John and Rose, Nathan, and even Anna were all crowded inside, hovering around Brandon’s bed like mourners at a wake.
Rose’s voice rose above the others, thick with tears. “Why didn’t you come home sooner? Why did you wait until it got this bad?” She dabbed at her eyes with an expensive handkerchief, the picture of maternal distress.
The sound of that familiar family tableau – one Irene had never truly been part of – made her steps falter. She couldn’t risk being recognized, couldn’t face that room full of Sterlings who had once cast her aside without a second thought.
Irene touched Joseph’s arm gently. “I’ll wait out here, Grandfather.
He nodded in understanding, but paused before entering. “You’re a good person, Irene. Better than this family deserves.”
She watched him disappear into the room, her heart heavy with unspoken words. Through the door, she could hear Rose’s sobs turning to exclamations of relief as someone – probably Henry – explained about Dr. Joy’s intervention.
Standing in that sterile hospital hallway, Irene felt the weight of her double life more keenly than ever. Dr. Joy would save Brandon’s career, heal his injuries, restore his future. But Irene Sterling would remain in the shadows, her existence unknown to the very people whose lives she was about to change.
It’s better this way, she told herself firmly. Some bridges, once burned, should stay ashes. She had her own family now – three brilliant children who filled her life with joy, a grandfather who loved her unconditionally. The rest was just… professional obligation.
Irene straightened her shoulders as Rose’s tear–filled voice drifted through the door. The past was the past she had patients to heal and surgeries to plan. As a doctor, that was all that mattered.
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Genius Kids‘ Scheme: Claiming Daddy’s Billionaire Empire
Chapter 80
