?Chapter 1238:


    “Tina, reach out to every top neurosurgeon in the country—bring them here,” she said, her tone firm despite the weariness tugging at her edges. “Tomorrow, during the surgery, they’ll assist Hurst. He’ll lead the entire procedure.”


    She hated cing her trust in a man she couldn’t stand—but right now, Hurst’s skill was the only card left in her hand.


    Tina’s expression twisted with unease. She bit her lip, her voice dropping to a cautious murmur. “Sadie, Hurst is slick—too slick. I trust him even less than I ever trusted Nathan. There’s something off about him.” Her concern was sincere.


    Complication was thest thing Noah’s fragile condition could afford. Sadie knew. All too well.


    Her eyes closed briefly, the weight of the situation pressing her down. Her voice, when it came, wasced with quiet bitterness. “I wish we had another choice, but we don’t, Tina.” Everything now hinged on tomorrow.


    Their final gamble. Onest shot—sink or swim.


    Changing the topic, Sadie asked about the safe. She needed to know whether it had been opened or not.


    Tina’s demeanor changed instantly. She grew serious, pulled out a tablet, and handed it over. “It’s open. All contents have been digitized and uploaded.”


    Sadie epted the device with a nod. “Thank you, Tina. Please ask the private investigator to elerate the investigation.”


    Tina gave a quick nod in return and quietly stepped away.


    Sadie tapped the screen, opening a photo album. A series of images loaded—documents, records, and then, unexpectedly, a photograph.


    It was an old group photo—she and her parents, frozen in time from her childhood.


    The edges of the image had yellowed with age, but her parents’ faces remained strikingly clear.


    Her fingertips hovered over their faces, lightly tracing the once-familiar contours on the screen.


    They looked as if they had smiled just yesterday, yet they now seemed impossibly distant—separated by years, by absence, by silence.


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    She swiped to the next image—and froze.


    A document filled the screen. It was a contract.


    “Notification of Hiring Dr. Brenda Stewart as a Researcher at NE Research Institute.”


    Her breath caught.


    Brenda Stewart—her mother’s maiden name.


    She erged the image, her eyes scanning every line of text.


    Sadie remembered, even as a child, how often her mother had been away—always traveling for work, gone for weeks at a time.


    She had always believed her mother’s frequent absences were due to corporate responsibilities—business trips, meetings. But this?


    NE Research Institute? What kind of ce was that?


    With a jolt of unease, Sadie pulled out her phone, her hands unsteady as she typed.


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