Page 54 of Billionaire’s Ruin

“Hey.” He tilted his head, studying me through the grainy camera. “Is that someone you care about?”

“Yes,” I said slowly. “And he saved my life.” I prayed silently he wouldn’t press for details. That part of the story was one I wasn’t ready to uncover.

“I see,” he murmured. “And now you feel the need to save him.”

“Yes.” The word was small but heavy.

He leaned back slightly, thinking. “Can you tell me more about his case? And where exactly you are?”

So I did. I told him about Dannie—what happened, what I’d discovered in his chart, how he’d collapsed, and how powerless I felt in a system that wasn’t mine.

“Are you sure it’s wise to intervene?” He asked quietly. “It sounds like you might be too close to him.”

“He’s just a friend.” The lie felt hollow even to me, but I didn’t know how else to define what Dannie had become.

A moment of silence before I burst into a reckless question, “Is there any way we could… get control of a hospital in Malaysia?”

He blinked, clearly taken aback.

“You mean… buy the hospital?”

A head shake came first, followed by a conflicted nod. “Maybe. Can we afford it?”

“Well, the group’s always looking for expansion opportunities.”

“Yes, that’s right.” I leaned back, remembering those endless boardroom meetings—coffee gone cold, powerpoint slides that blurred together, heated discussions about markets we’d never enter. “The Asian project,” I murmured. “Wasn’t there talk about working with the Chinese? But it didn’t happen. Covid ruined it, right?”

“Yes, but uhh…” He paused. Once. Twice. Like he was stalling for time.

“It was Covid that ruined it, right?” I pressed. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I killed the project.”

“You?” My brows knitted so tightly I saw the line between them in the screen reflection. “Why?”

“I found out who was behind it.”

“Who?” My patience thinned. “Liam, please don’t do that thing again—half-telling me something like it’s a riddle. Just say it.”

He exhaled sharply. “Lincoln’s friend. The one who gave a bag of cash for your birthday.”

“Kai?”

“Yes, that’s who.”

“So what? Why does that matter?”

“Honestly, June—you really don’t remember the terms of that deal?” His tone sharpened, frustration mixing with disbelief. “Didn’t you think it was odd that they named you specifically to head their Chinese headquarters? We offered them other doctors—just as good, more experienced—but no, they wanted you.”

I snorted softly. “Because I was the best.” The words came out proud, defensive—and the moment I heard myself, I cringed. I sounded like the woman the media painted me to be: confident to the point of arrogance.

“Yes,” Liam said flatly, “but he wanted you for himself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Gosh, June, you have no idea how men think, do you?”

I scoffed. The irony wasn’t lost on me—my brother, who’d never even been on a date, lecturing me about men.