Chapter 9
When Elena and Arthur returned to the main lobby, the charity gala was winding down. Most of the wealthy donors had already departed, whispering about the dramatic scene that had played out earlier in the evening. Only a few board members and hospital staff remained, clustered near the grand staircase where Clara Vance waited patiently in her wheelchair, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
Clara looked up as Arthur and Elena approached. Her sharp eyes immediately drifted to Elena’s left shoulder, noting the slight slump and the tension in her posture. "Looks like you tangled with a cornered animal, Elena."
"She tried to wipe the servers," Elena said, pulling up a chair next to her grandmother and sitting down with a quiet sigh of relief. "We managed to freeze the transfer and recover the funds, but it was a close call."
Arthur pulled out a silk handkerchief from his pinstripe suit pocket and gently wiped a smudge of dust from his cuff before addressing Clara directly. "Dr. Vance, your granddaughter saved this institution tonight. Not just from a public relations disaster, but from financial ruin. Julianna’s embezzlement scheme has been completely exposed, and the federal authorities have already been briefed using the logs Elena secured."
Clara nodded slowly, a look of quiet pride crossing her wrinkled face. "Elena has always possessed the courage of her convictions. She didn't spend ten years in the emergency ward just to watch corporate cowards steal from sick children."
Arthur looked between the two women, a profound sense of respect settling over him. He realized that the Sterling family name, which he had spent decades trying to protect through polite diplomacy and heavy donations, had actually been saved by the very people Julianna had looked down upon.
"I want to make this right," Arthur said quietly, stepping closer to Clara's wheelchair. "Tomorrow morning, I am calling an emergency board meeting. I am proposing that we rename the pediatric oncology wing after Dr. Clara Vance, and I want Elena to step onto the board as the primary patient-advocate director."
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Elena blinked in surprise, her eyes widening slightly. "Mr. Sterling—Arthur, I'm just a nurse. I don't know the first thing about corporate governance."
"You know what matters, Elena," Arthur insisted, his voice warm and resolute. "And that is something money can never buy."
