The harsh white lights of the operating room at Mount Sinai burned through Isadora's hazy consciousness. A mask was pressed over her face, and the sterile smell of antiseptic filled her nostrils.

"We're losing her! BP is dropping fast!" a voice shouted from somewhere above her.

A cold sensation spread up her arm as a needle slid into her vein. The world dissolved into a vortex of pain and muffled sounds. She felt a primal urge to fight, to protect the life inside her.

"Hold her down!"

Her body was a battlefield. A sharp, slicing pain across her abdomen made her arch her back, a scream tearing from her throat, though no sound came out.

Then, the piercing, relentless shriek of the heart monitor. A flat line.

"She's coding! Get the paddles! Charge to 200!"

A violent jolt, like lightning, shot through her. Her body convulsed on the table. For a moment, there was nothing. Just a silent, black void.

Then, a faint, wavering cry. A baby's cry.

"We have a boy. He's small, but he's breathing."

The flatline on the monitor blipped, then settled into a weak, thready rhythm. They had brought her back.

Another cry, this one even weaker.

"A girl. Get her to the NICU, now!"

The surgeon was about to close when he froze, "Wait. I feel another heartbeat. My God, there's a third."

Although his expectations were shocking, his actions seemed to indicate that he already knew about the existence of the third child.

The room erupted into controlled chaos. The third baby, another boy, was delivered in silence. He was terrifyingly still.

As the medical team swarmed around Isadora, fighting to stop the bleeding, a nurse with cold eyes exchanged a look with the lead surgeon. He gave a barely perceptible nod.

"The third one didn't make it," the surgeon announced, his voice devoid of emotion. "Time of death, 2:37 a.m."

The nurse moved with practiced efficiency. Using her body to block the view of a security camera in the corner, she lifted the tiny, still form. In one fluid motion, she placed him in the bottom of a medical waste cart and covered him with soiled linens. From the same cart, she pulled out a small, white-shrouded bundle-a stillborn infant obtained from the morgue hours earlier-and placed it in the empty incubator.

The entire exchange took less than ten seconds. A life stolen in the shadow of a life saved.

Isadora will probably never know that, from the moment she became pregnant, her three children were already under Elmira’s watchful eye. In this operating room right now, every doctor and nurse is someone Elmira has placed here.

Six years later.

The London rain streaked down the window of the pristine office. Isadora sat perfectly still, her hands clenched around the leather straps of her Hermès handbag.

"So there's nothing?" she asked, her voice carefully neutral.

Dr. Alistair Price, a man with kind eyes and a weary face, pushed a thick file across his mahogany desk. "I'm sorry, Isadora. We've searched every global bone marrow registry. There are no viable matches for Leo."

The words were a physical blow. She felt the air leave her lungs. Her nails dug into her palms, leaving deep crescent moons in the skin. "What are the other options?"

Dr. Price hesitated. He turned his monitor towards her, displaying a complex genetic map. "A sibling's cord blood offers the highest chance of a cure. A perfect match."

Isadora's gaze dropped. "Mia is too fragile. Her system couldn't handle the donation process. You know that."

Dr. Price took a deep breath, preparing for the final, most difficult suggestion. "Then there are only two options left. You can either use the child’s biological father’s blood, or have another child with the biological father and use that child’s blood. Just a reminder: using the child’s blood is more effective than using the father’s blood."

Biological father.

The phrase slammed into her like a physical force. The sterile office dissolved, replaced by the memory of a cold voice on the phone, the scent of blood and antiseptic, the crushing weight of betrayal. Her post-traumatic stress, a beast she kept chained in the darkest corner of her mind, roared to life.

She shot to her feet, the chair scraping violently against the floor. "No. Absolutely not."

Six years ago, due to Julian’s indifference and heartlessness, she almost died during surgery. Of the three children she gave birth to, only two survived. Heartbroken, she filed for divorce and left with her two children.

But when Leo was just six months old, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Over the past six years, he’ve spent most of his time in the hospital. He never experienced the joys of childhood and became far too mature for his age, not acting like a child at all.

"Isadora," the doctor said, his tone firm but compassionate. "Leo's leukemia is aggressive. The last round of chemo barely slowed it down. We are running out of time."

Isadora slumped back in her chair, covering her face with her hands.

If she had known, she would never have allowed the children to be born, preferring to bear the pain alone.

Moreover, she certainly didn’t want a child to be born just to serve as a blood donor for his brother. That would be extremely cruel. Suddenly, Isadora thought of the third child who hadn’t survived.

After a long, silent minute, she lowered her hands. The vulnerability in her eyes was gone, replaced by a sheet of ice.

"If I were to pursue IVF," she said, her voice chillingly calm, "how much of a... biological sample would be required?"

Dr. Price looked taken aback by her sudden shift. "A viable sample is all that's needed. But the legalities are... complex. It would require signed consent, extensive legal waivers from the donor."

A bitter, mirthless smile touched Isadora's lips. "I'm a lawyer, Doctor. I'll handle the paperwork."

Although she asked the doctor about in vitro fertilization, her first choice was still to have Julian’s DNA tested, in order to find a way to get him to save Leo. But if there was any chance, she would also be willing to bring that deceased child back to her side once again.

She stood, tucked the file into her bag, and walked out of the office without another word.

Back in her sprawling Kensington apartment, the door to her bedroom creaked open. Six-year-old Mia stood there, clutching a stuffed rabbit, her eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Mommy?"

Isadora's icy composure melted instantly. She swept her daughter into a fierce hug, burying her face in Mia's soft hair, drawing strength from her warmth.

"Where's Leo?" Mia asked, her small voice muffled against Isadora's shoulder.

A pang of pain, sharp and familiar, shot through Isadora. "He's in his room, sweetie. He's not feeling well today."

After tucking Mia back into bed, Isadora walked to the other end of the apartment. She stood before a thick glass wall, looking into a sterile, isolated room.

Inside, Leo sat propped up in bed, his face pale, a laptop balanced on his knees. His small fingers flew across the keyboard, his expression one of intense concentration. He was in the final round of a global hacking competition, a battle of wits against a single, anonymous opponent. The prize was ten million dollars.

For a moment, his fingers paused. A look of intense frustration crossed his small, serious face. He had lost. Again. To the same opponent with the black avatar.

His big eyes were fixed intently on the completely black profile picture on the screen. Before meeting this person, he had never lost. He thought to himself that he wanted to beat him once before leaving this world.

Seeing Leo’s distressed expression,Isadora's heart clenched. He had been out of the isolation room for a few days, a brief respite, before the fever had returned, forcing him back into this sterile prison.

He looked up then, as if sensing her presence. He gave her a smile-weak, but so full of love and understanding it felt like a knife twisting in her gut.

She pressed her palm against the cold glass, her own reflection a ghostly image superimposed over her son. Her fingers trembled, but her eyes were sharp, her resolve hardening into something unbreakable.

She turned and walked to the study. She pulled open a drawer and removed a dark red passport. An American passport, untouched for six years.

For Leo.

She would go back. She would face the devil himself. She would take what she needed.

In the room, Isadora was reading a copy of Forbes magazine.The face of Julian Sinclair IV stared up from the cover, his expression arrogant, his eyes the color of a winter storm. The headline read: Sinclair Holdings Faces Billion-Dollar Cyber-Lawsuit. The Titan Seeks a Champion.

Her lips twisted into a humorless smile. A champion. How fitting.

Over the past six years, she had buried Isadora Hayes. In her place, she had forged a new identity in the crucible of London's most ruthless courtrooms. "Isadora." No last name. A legal phantom, a name whispered with a mixture of fear and awe. She was undefeated. She was untouchable. And she was Julian's only hope.

This was her way in.

She picked up her phone and dialed a secure, encrypted number. It was answered on the first ring.

"Cornell."

"Izzy," Cornell Carpenter's warm, familiar voice came through the line. "You sound like you're about to declare war."

"I am," she said, her tone devoid of warmth. "I'm sending you a link. The Sinclair Holdings case. I want it."

There was a pause on the other end. "Are you sure about this? That's not just a case, Izzy. That's him. The biggest, nastiest shark in the Wall Street tank."

Cornell is his strategic partner, and the only person who knows her true identity. Not all of it, but enough. He knew she had fled New York with two infants and a shattered heart, and he had helped her build her new life from the ashes.

"That's why he needs me," she said, her voice like chipped ice.

"There has to be another way," he argued, his voice laced with concern. "You've built a fortress around yourself here. Going back there... you're walking back into the fire. What if you can't handle it?"

"It's the only way to save Leo," she stated flatly. The words were a sentence, absolute and final. "I can't afford to fail."

Cornell sighed, a sound of weary resignation. "That man broke you into a million pieces, Izzy. I was the one who helped you glue them back together. I don't know if I can do it again if this goes wrong."

"Then we won't let it go wrong," she said. "For Leo, I'll do anything. I'll become whatever I need to be."

"You must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve this one," Cornell muttered, the affection and pain in his voice unmistakable. "Alright. What's the plan?"

"Intercept the case," she commanded. "Use every contact, every piece of leverage we have. I want Sinclair Holdings to have no other choice but me. And make it clear: I only speak to the CEO."

"Forty-eight hours," Cornell promised. "The case will be yours."

She hung up and walked back to the glass wall of Leo's room. He was asleep now, his small chest rising and falling in a shallow rhythm. The machines beside him beeped softly, a constant, terrifying reminder of how fragile his life was.

"I will save you, my love," she whispered to the glass. "I promise."

Inside the room, Leo's eyelashes fluttered. He wasn't asleep. He had heard every word. He knew his mother was going to face a monster for him.

He pretended to stir, his eyes opening slowly. "Mommy," he said, his voice weak. "I'm sorry I make you worry so much." He looked at his own small hands. "I don't know if I'll have time to grow up."

The words were a dagger in Isadora's heart. She forced a bright, confident smile. "Don't you worry about that. I've found a way to make you better. A real cure. Soon, you'll be able to run and play and do whatever you want. Mommy promises."

His eyes widened with what looked like genuine hope. "Really? So I'm not going to die? I can stay with you and Mia forever?"

"Yes," she said, her voice thick with unshed tears. "We will always be together."

She would make it true. No matter the cost. She had already lost one child; she would not lose another.

Through the glass, she saw the flicker of something else in his eyes—a shadow that belied the hopeful smile. She watched as his small hands clenched into fists under the thin blanket, his jaw setting with a quiet, stubborn determination that mirrored her own.

Leo was in bed, didn’t believe it. He noticed a strange look in his mother’s eyes.

He knew very well about his own condition. Unless a match was found, there was no hope of recovery. But finding a match was a extremely lengthy process—three years, five years, or even a lifetime might pass with no success.

And his body couldn’t hold on much longer. His mother was probably just trying to comfort him. But he wasn’t really sad either. After all, everyone has to die eventually.

Over these six years, Mommy gave him all her love. He was very happy. He only hopes that in his next life, he’ll have a healthy body, so he can return and be Mommy’s child again.

Thinking about the phone call just now, Leo had no idea what his mother was willing to do for him. But it must be very dangerous. He felt guilty. The incredibly smart Leo clenched his little fists under the covers, determined to use his hacking skills to help his mother find out more about that man.

Isadora turned away from the glass and walked to her dressing room. She stripped off the soft cashmere sweater, the uniform of a worried mother. She replaced it with a suit of armor: a black, razor-sharp power suit.

She twisted her long hair into a severe chignon at the nape of her neck. She slid on a pair of frameless, anti-glare glasses, a shield to hide her eyes. The soft, gentle mother vanished, replaced by a predator.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. The woman looking back was a stranger, her eyes cold and hard as diamonds.

"The game begins, Julian," she whispered to her reflection.