Medical Center.
Adam arrived at the hospital in a taxi, dragging along a completely unhinged Dr. Svedik.
"What happened?"
Dr. Susan Lewis, who'd been scribbling patient charts at the nurse's station, looked up and hurried over.
"…He needs to be admitted to psych for special care," Adam explained, filling her in with a gentle warning.
"How did this happen…?"
Susan stared at her boyfriend, who was giggling like a fool, and froze in shock.
Adam gave her a sympathetic glance. Poor Susan—stuck with a trainwreck of a sister and now a boyfriend like this. She was such a kind, good-hearted person; why did life keep throwing her curveballs? 😔
"Let's get Dr. Svedik upstairs to the psych ward first," Adam said softly. "He needs some rest, and then we'll have a doctor check him out properly."
"Yeah…"
Susan nodded numbly. Right now, she didn't have any better ideas. Letting him loose outside would be irresponsible—to him and everyone else. The psych ward had rooms designed to keep patients from hurting themselves or others.
"Dr. Svedik…?"
The psych interns, once they heard the story, were just as stunned.
Dr. Svedik was their attending, the big boss, the rock of their department. Who'd have thought he'd end up like this? Their whole goal had been to become a top doc like him, but seeing their idol in this state? Their motivation took a nosedive.
So the rumors around the department were true. This gig was officially a mess! 😅
"Find him a room to rest in first," Adam instructed. "Then call Dr. Jason to come take a look and maybe do some counseling."
"Oh, uh, right!"
The interns snapped out of it. One ran off to phone the other attending psych doc, while another led Adam and the group to a room.
After settling Dr. Svedik in, Adam gave Susan a quick goodbye and headed to the ER. He had a gut feeling tonight was going to be a long one—no sleep in sight.
Sigh. He'd been hoping to head back, jam with Heather, and enjoy her killer drumming. But nope, no chance now. Mood's gone, and saving lives comes first. 🥁
ER.
"Adam, come check this out!"
A woman dressed to the nines in high heels strutted in, clutching her chest dramatically.
"Mrs. Lyon, what's wrong?" Adam asked.
"Call me Piki," she waved a hand dismissively. "I think I'm having a heart attack!"
"Relax," Adam said, his lips twitching into a half-smile. "It's probably not a heart attack."
A real heart attack didn't look like this. He knew Piki well enough—she was extra in every way. Married to a wealthy guy, she lived the high-society life. Lately, her circle of socialites had been obsessed with flaunting "promotions and raises."
Uh-huh. "Promotions" to motherhood, with their rich husbands handing out bonuses for it.
For women like Piki, most became socialites after marrying into money. Prenups were ironclad. They couldn't touch their husbands' main assets—just the agreed-upon allowances: wedding cash, yearly payouts, bonuses for staying married X years, and of course, baby bonuses. Everything had a price tag.
Sure, once they got money of their own, they'd schemed to break free. Consulted lawyers, compared notes with their clique—only to realize the prenups were airtight. So they shelved the "takeover" dreams, pocketed their fixed salaries and bonuses, and lived it up.
When the trend of showing off kids hit the group, Piki jumped on it, "buying" herself a pair of twins.
Yup. Socialites like her were all about looking fabulous—actually having kids themselves? No way.
A while back, that led to a classic scene at the medical center. Inside the delivery room, a woman in labor was groaning in agony. Outside, Piki—who'd gotten word her "order" was ready—rolled up and told her maid to go in and hush the laboring mom. Too noisy, apparently.
After Dr. Montgomery chewed her out, Piki "graciously" left the delivery area and wandered over to the ER to chat with Adam.
Yup! The real elite circle in New York wasn't that big. Adam had met the Lyons before. As the youngest self-made billionaire—handsome, talented, and loaded—he was a hot topic among the socialites. Piki wasn't about to miss her shot.
With her prenup in place, she wasn't scheming anything shady. She wasn't dumb—her life was already peak luxury. Hooking up with Adam would just blow it all up; he'd never marry her anyway. But flirting with a legendary billionaire hottie and snagging some gossip to flex on her fake friends? That was a must. 😏
So she launched into a sob story with Adam—how tough it was to "get" kids, how hard she'd have it as a mom. All while waving her maid over to grab water, unscrew it, and hand it to her. Then sending the maid to check the delivery room: "Are they done yet? Bring them out when they're born—I've got a hair appointment with the girls later!"
When Adam pointed out newborns can't just be paraded around—they need the NICU incubator first—she frowned and dropped the idea. Then, hearing labor might take over ten hours, she sighed dramatically and clicked off in her heels.
Word was, after the twins were born, she called the boy "defective" and refused to hold him. The "perfect" girl? She'd only hold her when the mood struck, passing her off to the maid after a literal second.
Total daily kid time: maybe three hugs, less than a minute combined.
"Not a heart attack?" Piki gasped, slapping her chest theatrically. "Are you sure? I feel like I'm about to die of fright!"
"What's going on?" Adam's curiosity piqued. "Did the Lyons get hit by the Channing scam too?"
"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Piki nodded furiously.
"How much did you lose?" Adam gave her a pitying look. "Not much, I'm guessing?"
If it were a lot, she wouldn't be this over-the-top—she'd probably have a real heart attack.
"Nothing! We didn't lose a dime," Piki said, clutching her chest and taking a deep breath.
"…"
Adam's mouth twitched.
"But we're terrified after the fact," Piki said, catching his expression and explaining earnestly. "David almost invested, but his business was expanding, so he held off. When I think about how we could've gone bankrupt too, I nearly lose it!
Some of my girls in the circle? Their husbands went bust, got kicked out of their mansions, and now they've got nothing.
Watching them end up so poor they don't even have money left?
We're scared out of our minds!
It's horrifying!" 😱
(End of Chapter)