Chapter 9 - The Pregnant One
Leah did not sleep.
"The pregnant one," she said.
"I heard it."
"That is how they talk about me when they think I am a problem. Not Leah. Not a person. The pregnant one."
Elliott put both hands on the counter.
"I should have seen more of this."
"Do not make this about your guilt."
"I am not."
"You are."
He looked at her.
She softened.
"I need you useful, not ashamed."
"Understood."
Leah kept no physical copies in the house.
At nine, Corinne filed an emergency civil complaint.
It accused Leah of possessing confidential patient material, interfering with hospital operations, and threatening to weaponize donor records for personal leverage.
The complaint used one word six times.
Extortion.
"She is calling me a criminal."
Rachel nodded.
"Because she wants the public argument to start before the facts do."
"Can she win?"
"Anyone can win a headline. Court is harder."
By noon, the headline existed.
WEALTHY HEIRESS'S WIFE AT CENTER OF HOSPITAL RECORDS SCANDAL.
Leah laughed bitterly.
"Heiress's wife? That does not even make sense."
Elliott did not smile.
His clients were already calling.
Evelyn called it cowardly.
Charles Lang called it necessary.
Then Alicia Moreno posted a video.
She sat at her kitchen table with Mateo beside her, stacking blue blocks.
"Nobody paid me to ask what happened," Alicia said. "Nobody stole my story. I asked for records because I wanted answers. Leah Sutton did not invent my transfer. I lived it."
Within an hour, the story changed.
Not completely.
But enough.
Rachel came to the house carrying another surprise.
"Brooke Lang contacted me."
Elliott stared.
"Charles's daughter?"
"She wants to meet Leah. Alone if possible."
Leah frowned.
"Why?"
Rachel handed her a screenshot.
It was a text from Brooke.
I DID NOT KNOW THEY MOVED ANOTHER PATIENT FOR ME.
A second message followed.
MY FATHER TOLD CORINNE TO CLEAR THE ROOM.
May you like
Then a third.
I HAVE THE TEXTS.
