He reassured me:
"Ma'am, go pay the fees now. We'll keep her stable and contact Dr. Harding to return for the surgery as soon as possible."
"Okay! Thank you!"
I bowed gratefully to Dr. Chavez, then stumbled toward the payment counter.
The POS machine beeped coldly.
Insufficient balance.
I froze. Must've entered the wrong PIN in my panic.
Three tries. Same result.
I opened my banking app.
$0.
My knees buckled. I caught myself on the counter.
"Impossible… there was $500,000 in there!"
I pulled up the transaction history.
One minute ago. $500,000 transferred out.
Recipient: Victoria Summers.
My mind went blank. My whole body shook.
I called Dominic again. This time he picked up fast.
I forced my voice steady: "Dominic. The money in our joint account. Did you transfer it?"
He didn't even hesitate: "Yes."
"I knew you'd try to bribe someone to get my mom bumped up the queue. So I moved it to Victoria for safekeeping—so you wouldn't drag my name through the mud."
I exploded: "Dominic! That's YOUR mother! She's in the ICU waiting for surgery!"
"This is life and death!"
"Transfer the money back NOW, or she will die!"
Victoria's syrupy voice cut in: "Sara, I'm not trying to be rude, but even though your mother-in-law is technically family, you can't just spend your husband's money without boundaries, right? If your mom can't afford treatment, maybe don't hog medical resources."
Blood rushed to my head. "Victoria Summers, you're letting someone die for money!"
Victoria whimpered: "Dominic, she's being so mean to me… but I'm just telling the truth! She doesn't think about you at all—first pressuring you to break hospital rules, now stealing your money… You're so pitiful having a wife like this…"
Dominic's voice turned harsh: "Sara Hughes! Victoria is trying to help. How can you be so vicious? Apologize to her. Now."
My mother-in-law was dying. I didn't have time for this. I swallowed my pride, ready to beg him to transfer the money back—
The nurse kept urging me to pay.
From the phone: "What an act you're putting on."
Click.
I called back. Blocked.
I messaged him on every platform I could think of.
Please, transfer the money back. Your mom needs it for surgery…
Please, come back. That's your own mother…
Read. No reply. Or deleted and blocked.
I slid down the cold wall to the floor, sobbing.
Doctors and nurses rushed past me, shouting that the patient's blood pressure was crashing, that she was in critical danger…
Then I remembered—Harold Harding. Dominic's father. He had to have money.
I called him frantically.
"Dad! Mom was in a car accident. She's in the ICU. Only Dominic can save her, but he won't come back. He won't do the surgery. He even transferred away her life-saving money. Please—just wire me $100,000 first to keep her alive—"
Silence on the other end. Then:
"Sara. Dominic already told me. You wanted to pull strings and have him bump someone for surgery."
