Chapter 2 - Ethan Survived the Emergency Transfusion, but His Blood Revealed a Hidden Blackwood Marker No One Was Supposed to Know ExistedEthan survived the surgery.
Barely.
The doctors removed no tumor.
Found no internal injury.
Found no obvious cause.
His organs simply began bleeding internally.
The strange genetic marker was the only clue.
Adrian remained beside the intensive care unit.
He didn't leave.
Neither did I.
At 3:40 a.m., the attending physician finally approached us.
“His bleeding has stabilized.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Will he wake up?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian asked:
“What is the marker?”
The doctor looked at his tablet.
“We ran the genetic sequence against three databases.”
“And?”
“It doesn't exist in ordinary medical records.”
“Then where did it come from?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Military research.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
The physician turned the screen.
The sequence was classified under an old government program.
Project Aegis.
I stared.
“Why would my son have that?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Did anyone ever take blood from Ethan?”
“No.”
“Medical tests?”
“Routine pediatric exams.”
“Anything unusual?”
“No.”
Then I remembered something.
“When he was three.”
Adrian looked at me.
“What happened?”
“He got sick.”
“How sick?”
“High fever. We went to a private clinic.”
“Which clinic?”
I gave him the name.
He immediately called someone.
A minute later:
“That clinic closed four years ago.”
“Why?”
“Fraud.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
“Unauthorized genetic testing.”
I felt sick.
“Someone tested Ethan.”
Adrian's face became colder.
“Someone has had his DNA for years.”
We investigated.
The clinic had been purchased by a company.
The company belonged to a man named Victor Dane.
Adrian knew him.
“He's an old enemy.”
“What does he want?”
Adrian looked at Ethan through the glass.
“I don't know.”
The doctor interrupted.
“There is another issue.”
“What?”
“The classified alert didn't originate from our system.”
I stared.
“Then who activated it?”
“Someone remotely.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“That means they knew Ethan was here.”
The hospital had been compromised.
Someone had been watching.
The hospital security cameras were checked.
At 11:14 that morning, a man entered wearing a maintenance uniform.
He walked directly toward pediatric surgery.
Then disappeared.
His face was never visible.
But his badge number belonged to a man who had died three years ago.
I stared.
“It's impossible.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Nothing is impossible.”
He turned toward his head of security.
“Find who issued the badge.”
“Yes, boss.”
Then Adrian looked at me.
“Sloan.”
“What?”
“Pack a bag.”
“Why?”
“Because this hospital isn't safe.”
I looked at Ethan.
“He can't be moved.”
“Then we move him with security.”
“Where?”
“To somewhere they can't access.”
“You mean your home.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want him in your world.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“My world found him anyway.”
That was impossible to argue with.
Two hours later, Ethan was transported through a private medical corridor.
Armored vehicles surrounded the ambulance.
The city didn't know.
But someone did.
Halfway to the Blackwood estate, our convoy was attacked.
Three vehicles.
Professional drivers.
Military-grade weapons.
Adrian ordered the convoy to stop.
I heard gunfire.
Then he opened the ambulance door.
“Stay down.”
My heart hammered.
“Adrian.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Don't let them take him.”
Then he stepped outside.
Gunfire erupted.
His men returned fire.
I held Ethan.
And for the first time in seven years, I understood something terrifying.
Adrian hadn't become dangerous because of his empire.
May you like
He had become dangerous because someone had given him a reason to protect.
His son.
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