Chapter 6: Arthur Makes His Move
Arthur Sterling did not wait.
By noon, Julian's attorney — a sharp, silver-haired woman named Carol Reiss — called to say that Arthur had already retained counsel and filed a preemptive complaint with the Pennsylvania Medical Board, alleging that Genevieve had improperly accessed confidential patient records during her time as a nurse at the hospital.
"It's a pressure tactic," Carol said.
"Designed to make Genevieve look unstable and self-interested before any of our documentation goes public.
He's trying to define the narrative first."
Julian was standing at the window of their suite.
Genevieve sat at the desk, listening.
"Can he make it stick?" Julian asked.
"Not with what we have.
But it creates noise.
It gives friendly journalists something to print while we're still assembling the case." A pause.
"He also called your stepmother this morning.
I don't know what was said, but Beatrice's assistant contacted my office an hour ago to say she was temporarily unavailable."
Julian's expression didn't change.
"Get me Dr.
Moss this afternoon."
"Already scheduled.
Two o'clock, my office."
He ended the call and looked at Genevieve.
"He moved fast," she said.
"He's been preparing for this for years.
He always knew there was a chance you'd talk."
"He didn't think I'd have anyone who'd listen." She said it without bitterness, just clarity.
"That's why he let me get close to you.
He thought if I married into your family, he'd have more control over what happened, not less."
Julian looked at her.
"He thought he could use the marriage the same way he used the adoption."
"Yes." She stood up.
"We can't let him get to Beatrice."
"I know."
He called Beatrice directly.
It rang four times, then went to voicemail.
He left a short message: *"Beatrice.
Whatever Arthur said to you this morning, I need you to call me before you make any decisions.
Please."*
He set the phone down.
Genevieve was already pulling on her coat.
"Let's go see Dr.
Moss."
Carol Reiss's office was on the fourteenth floor of a building on Market Street.
Dr.
Harlan Moss was already there when they arrived — a trim man in his sixties with careful eyes and a manila folder on the table in front of him.
He stood when Genevieve walked in.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," he said.
"I wasn't sure either," she said.
"But here we are."
They sat.
Carol opened a recording application on her laptop and stated the date and time.
For the next ninety minutes, Dr.
Moss walked through everything.
The pre-op files.
The consent documentation.
His handwritten notes.
The conversation he'd had with the surgical team lead before the second procedure.
The third surgery — the one Genevieve had been told was an appendectomy — and what the actual operative report showed.
When he finished, the room was quiet.
Carol looked at her notes.
"Dr.
Moss, in your professional opinion, were these procedures performed in the medical interest of the patient?"
"No." He didn't hesitate.
"They were performed in the medical interest of a third party, with the patient's welfare treated as secondary.
In any ethical framework I am aware of, that constitutes a fundamental violation of the duty of care."
"And the consent forms?"
"Signed by Arthur Sterling as legal guardian.
No independent medical advocate was appointed.
No second opinion was sought.
No one in that process was acting solely on behalf of Genevieve." He looked at her directly.
"You should have had someone in your corner.
You didn't.
And the people who were supposed to protect you made sure of that deliberately."
Genevieve's hands were folded on the table.
She didn't look away from him.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"For keeping the records."
"I should have done more." He said it simply.
"I know that."
Carol closed her laptop.
"I'll have a formal statement prepared for your signature by end of day tomorrow, Dr.
Moss.
In the meantime, please do not discuss this with anyone outside this room."
He nodded and stood to leave.
At the door, he paused.
"There's one more thing.
The agency Arthur used — it was shut down in 2009 by Romanian authorities.
But before it closed, it processed forty-one adoptions using the same compatibility-matching model." He looked at Carol.
"Genevieve was not the only child placed this way."
He left.
Carol looked at Julian.
Then at Genevieve.
"That changes the scope," she said.
"I know," Julian said.
His phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number — but the area code was Scottsdale, Arizona.
*"This is Raymond Holt.
I heard Harlan Moss is talking.
Before you use his testimony, there's something about the third surgery you need to know.
May you like
Something Moss doesn't know he has in those records.
Call me."*
