Tiffany said it loudly enough for the entire hospital lobby to hear.
And because she was livestreaming, hundreds more heard it too.
Katherine Hayes stood motionless beneath the towering glass atrium of Apex University Hospital, iced coffee dripping from her white suit onto the polished marble floor.
The suit had been a gift from her late father on his final birthday.
Now it was stained brown from shoulder to waist.
Tiffany, dressed in a hot-pink designer dress, held her phone high and smiled toward the screen like she had just won something.
“My husband owns this hospital,” she announced. “So apologize.”
The lobby went silent.
Then Katherine asked one question.
“What did you say your husband’s name was?”
Two senior doctors walking past stopped cold.
Tiffany laughed.
“Mark Thompson.”
Katherine’s expression barely changed.
“The CEO?”
“Exactly.”
Tiffany folded her arms.
“One call from me and you’ll never step inside this hospital again.”
Across the lobby, elderly valet Henry stood frozen near the entrance.
Dr. David Chen had just finished helping stabilize a collapsed patient, but even he was watching now.
What Tiffany didn’t know was that Katherine had landed in New York only minutes earlier after thirty-one days in Germany negotiating a multimillion-dollar medical equipment deal.
She had told almost no one she was returning.
Not the board.
Not the staff.
And certainly not her husband.
Mark Thompson.
The celebrated CEO of Apex University Hospital.
Katherine looked around the lobby.
Dozens of people were watching.
Some looked embarrassed for her.
Others looked fascinated.
A few had already raised their own phones.
Tiffany seemed to enjoy every second.
“You heard me,” she said again. “Get down on your knees.”
Katherine did not move.
