"Ethan!" Olivia screams at the top of her lungs, cutting through the monotonous beeping of the heart monitor that sounds relentlessly.
Her body lunges onto the patient’s bed, gripping Ethan’s tiny fingers as they suddenly turn cold. The wail of emergency sirens echoes throughout the intensive care unit, triggering hurried footsteps as medical teams burst in, carrying defibrillator equipment.
"Clear the area!" the lead doctor shouts, pressing two electrical pads onto Ethan’s small chest. "Charge to fifty joules! Shock!"
The little Ethan’s body jerks rigidly on the bed before collapsing powerless again. The green line on the monitor screen shows an almost flat wave, trembling weakly before straightening once more.
"Charge to seventy joules! Shock!"
"Don’t let my son go!" Olivia screams hysterically, her hands forcefully held back by Daniel to prevent her from interfering with the frenzied medical team fighting against time. "Ethan, open your eyes, sweetheart! Don’t leave Mommy!"
"Heartbeat is back! Weak, fifty beats per minute!" a nurse yells, adjusting the oxygen mask.
A doctor wipes cold sweat off his forehead, then turns to look at Alexander and Olivia with a face full of pure despair.
"We’ve managed to restore his reflexes, Mr. Rington," the doctor says trembling. "But this is only a temporary delay. The synthetic toxin is attacking his autonomic nervous system. Without the antidote serum within six hours, his organs will fail completely."
"Six hours?" Olivia repeats the number with a disbelief that burns her chest. She releases Daniel’s grip and approaches the doctor, grabbing his white coat by the collar. "You’re the best specialist here! Do something! Use any medicine!"
"We don’t have the antidote," the doctor whispers pleadingly. "The molecular formula is patented privately by Rington Bio-Tech. There’s only one place in the world that holds its supply."
Olivia slowly releases her hold. She turns to look at Alexander, standing unmoving under the cold neon lights.
"Your mother..." Olivia whispers, her voice hoarse and broken. "Your mother did this to Ethan?"
Alexander doesn’t answer aloud. His silence is the cruelest confirmation Olivia has ever received in her life.
"You said you’d protect him!" Olivia yells, lunging at Alexander and hitting his broad chest with trembling fists. "You said no one could hurt him! But your own family injects poison into my child’s body!"
Alexander allows every punch Olivia lands to hit his chest without flinching. He gently but painfully holds her wrists, restraining her.
"I will find the antidote," Alexander says low, his voice carrying an absolute promise of death. "Even if I have to burn down the Rington estate tonight."
"I’m coming with you," Olivia declares, wiping her tears roughly, her face pale.
"I won’t let you go alone," Olivia sharpens, her eyes blazing with the courage of a mother who’s lost all fear. "If that woman wants a show, I’ll give her one!"
Alexander gazes deeply into Olivia’s eyes. He sees the iron resolve that cannot be broken by any threat in the world. Without delay, Alexander nods quickly at Daniel.
"Daniel, place ten armed guards at the door," Alexander orders coldly, pulling Olivia toward the door. "Anyone who approaches Ethan without your explicit permission, shoot to kill."
"Understood, Alex," Daniel replies firmly.
Alexander steps out, pulling Olivia into his grip, breaking through the double doors guarded by two black-suited guards.
"You’re ten minutes late, Alexander," Eleanora calls out with a calm voice radiating undeniable authority.
Alexander steps forward, releasing Olivia and standing face to face with his mother.
"Hand over the antidote, Mother," he demands bluntly, his voice like a blade ready to cut.
"You talk as if I’m a villain, Alex," Eleanora responds coldly. "I’m just cleansing the dirt trying to corrupt our pure family bloodline."
"He’s your grandson!" Olivia shouts, stepping out from behind Alexander. "Ethan has Rington blood! How can you be so cruel as to inject poison into an innocent child?!"
Eleanora shifts her gaze to Olivia, sneering as if she’s looking at an insect.
"Some girl from the Carter family who doesn’t know her place," Eleanora mocks. "You think that by giving birth outside of marriage, you can sneak into the Rington Empire? That child is a stain, a defect in our family history. She has no value in international law."
"I don’t care about your rotten empire!" Olivia shouts, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Give me the antidote now, or I’ll make sure all of Europe’s media know that the head of Rington Group is a murderer!"
Victoria giggles wildly from the sofa. "What media would believe you, Olivia? The psychological files of your father have been spread on the chief editors’ desks for over an hour. You’re just a crazy woman imagining things!"
"One more word from your mouth, Victoria, and I’ll snap your neck in front of my mother!" Alexander snaps, his eyes blazing with furious rage.
"Let her go, Alexander!" Eleanora orders, rising from her chair with a hardened face. "You’re acting like a madman just for this fallen woman!"
"She’s the woman I love, Mother!" Alexander’s voice booms, tearing through the grandeur of the main hall and freezing all the guards surrounding the room. "And Ethan is my child! If he dies tonight, Rington Group dies with him!"
Eleanora pauses, stunned. She’s never seen her cold-blooded son yell with such raw emotion. But the stern expression quickly returns.
"You want the antidote, Alex?" Eleanora asks, pulling out a small silver box with a special serial number from her coat. She holds a blue vial of liquid in front of Alexander’s eyes.
Olivia holds her breath. "The antidote?"
"You can take it now," Eleanora continues with an evil, calm smile. "But there’s a price you must pay."
Eleanora gestures to her lawyer, who steps forward carrying a thick, stamped document with a red ribbon.
"No!" Olivia screams hysterically. "You can’t separate me from my child!"
"The choice is yours," Eleanora replies coldly. She rotates her gold watch on her wrist. "The child has four hours left. Every second you waste arguing will lead to his organs’ irreversible destruction."
"Sign it, Alex," Olivia whispers, her voice broken.
Alexander quickly turns. "Olivia, no! I won’t let you be cast aside again!"
"Ethan’s life is more important than anything!" Olivia shouts, snatching the pen from Eleanora’s lawyer. "I don’t care if I never see him again, as long as he keeps breathing! Sign the papers, Alexander!"
"Good," Eleanora smiles smugly, signaling her hand to hand the antidote bottle to Alexander. "A very wise decision from a father."
Alexander grabs the bottle, then pulls Olivia’s arm to leave that cursed place.
"Go to the hospital now!" Alexander yells to his driver as they jump into the car.
The car speeds through the rain that’s beginning to clear. Olivia clutches the small glass bottle to her chest, praying silently in agonizing silence.
They arrive at St. Thomas Hospital in fifteen minutes. Alexander bursts into the intensive care room where Ethan lies.
"Doctor! I have the antidote!" he shouts, handing over the blue vial.
The lead doctor quickly takes the bottle, inserts a syringe, and injects the entire clear liquid into Ethan’s IV line.
For what feels like ten centuries but is only ten seconds, they all stand frozen, staring at the heart monitor.
Olivia kneels beside the bed, pressing her forehead to her child’s tiny hand as she cries uncontrollably from relief.
Ethan’s fingers move slowly. His large black eyes open gradually, gazing at his crying mother.
"Mommy..." Ethan whispers weakly, offering a small, innocent smile.
"Yes, sweetheart. Mommy’s here," Olivia responds, kissing his fingers repeatedly.
"Your time is up, Miss Carter," the lawyer says coldly, showing a copy of the signed document from the main estate. "According to the legal agreement, the private jet to Geneva is ready at Heathrow. You have ten minutes to leave this room before our guards forcibly remove you."
"Alex..." Olivia mutters softly.
Alexander stands still. His large hand clenched into a fist at his side, bowed down in front of the legal power he just signed himself.
"What do you mean?" the lawyer yells into his phone, his voice shaky. "The second DNA test just came from the Geneva lab?!"
Alexander quickly turns, locking eyes with the lawyer. "What’s going on?"
"What did you say?!" Alexander growls, stepping forward and grabbing the lawyer’s collar.
"The blood samples show a deep incompatibility in the main chromosomes!" the lawyer stammers in fear. "The child is directly descended from your late brother, who died five years ago!"