Chapter 3 THE DEVIL'S DIAGNOSIS

Three days in the gilded cage felt like three years.

Lily had learned the rhythm of the penthouse. She learned that Mrs. Jenkins marched through the halls at exactly 6:00 AM, that the chef prepared meals entirely devoid of salt, and that Adrian Blake left the estate before sunrise and returned long after midnight. She was a ghost in a palace, entirely alone.

But today, the isolation was broken.

At exactly nine in the morning, a black SUV with tinted windows pulled into the underground garage. Mrs. Jenkins escorted Lily down, her grip firm on Lily's elbow as if she expected her to make a run for it.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, her voice echoing in the concrete space.

"Mr. Blake's private medical facility," Mrs. Jenkins said, opening the car door. "It is time for your initial evaluation."

Lily's stomach twisted. She had known this was coming it was in the thick contract she had signed but the reality of it was terrifying. She was going to be poked, prodded, and evaluated like a broodmare.

The drive was silent, the city blurring past the dark windows. When they arrived, the facility looked less like a hospital and more like a high-end spa. It was pristine, quiet, and smelled of lavender.

Dr. Aris, a tall, gray-haired man with a gentle demeanor, met her in a private examination room.

"Ms. Carter, please, sit. Let's go over your baseline health," he said, offering a warm smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

For the next hour, Lily was poked, scanned, and questioned. Dr. Aris took blood, ran an ultrasound, and nodded approvingly at her charts.

"You are exceptionally healthy," Dr. Aris finally said, pulling off his gloves. "Your body is more than ready for the procedure. We will begin the hormone treatments tomorrow to sync your cycle."

Lily pulled her thin gown tighter around her shoulders. "And Mr. Blake? Doesn't he need to be evaluated too?"

Dr. Aris hesitated. It was a fraction of a second, but Lily caught it. The doctor looked away, tidying up his instruments. "Mr. Blake's genetic material has already been thoroughly vetted and prepared for the surrogacy. His health is not your concern, Ms. Carter. Your only job is to carry the pregnancy to term."

Before Lily could ask another question, the door opened, and one of Adrian's security guards stepped in. "The car is waiting."

Frustrated, Lily dressed quickly and was escorted back out into the hallway. They were walking toward the exit when she realized she had left her jacket in the examination room.

"Wait," she told the guard. "I forgot something. One second."

She turned and hurried back down the corridor. As she approached the examination room, she heard voices through the slightly ajar door. She recognized Dr. Aris's voice, and then, chillingly, Adrian's. He was here.

Lily stopped, pressing herself against the wall just outside the door.

"You can't keep hiding this from her, Adrian," Dr. Aris was saying, his voice low and urgent. "The genetic testing is back. The Huntington's gene is active. The progression is accelerating."

"I know," Adrian's voice replied. It was tight, strained in a way Lily had never heard before. The usual cold arrogance was gone, replaced by a grim exhaustion. "How much time do I have?"

"At this rate? Two years. Maybe three," Dr. Aris said softly. "If you don't start the aggressive treatments soon, you will lose motor function. The tremors will become visible to the board. You can't hide this forever."

Lily's hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp. Huntington's disease. A degenerative, fatal genetic disorder.

Adrian is dying, she realized, her heart pounding against her ribs. He's dying, and he needs an heir before he loses his mind.

"I don't need forever," Adrian snapped, his voice regaining its sharp edge. "I need an heir. I need the Blake legacy secured before my brother, Julian, can tear my company apart. The treatments can wait. The surrogate is my priority."

"And what if the child inherits the gene?" Dr. Aris asked quietly.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

"My lawyers had the embryo screened," Adrian finally said, his voice hollow. "The child is clean. He will live a long, healthy life. He will be everything I cannot."

Lily couldn't breathe. The sheer coldness of it all the calculated nature of creating a life just to secure a business empire because his own body was failing him. It was tragic and deeply disturbing.

"We need to proceed with the implantation immediately," Dr. Aris said.

"Then proceed," Adrian ordered.

Footsteps approached the door. Lily scrambled backward, her heart hammering in her throat. She ducked into an alcove just as the door swung open. Adrian walked out, his jaw set, his eyes fixed straight ahead. He didn't see her. He walked past, flanked by his security team, a man marching toward his own inevitable death.

When the elevator doors closed behind him, Lily let out a ragged breath, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the cold floor.

She wasn't just carrying an heir. She was carrying the last hope of a dying man.

But as the shock began to wear off, a new, darker thought crept into her mind. If Adrian was dying, and his ruthless brother Julian was circling like a shark... what happened to Lily once the baby was born?

Would she just be thrown out with a check? Or would she become a loose end that needed to be silenced?