It was 2:00 AM at the Sterling-Khan Community Clinic. The hallways were silent, save for the wet slap of a mop against linoleum. Julian Sterling, once the scion of a billion-dollar empire, was erasing scuff marks outside the office of the woman he loved.
The door to Maya’s office was ajar. On her desk lay the clinic’s general ledger, open to the current quarter.
Julian paused. He leaned on his mop handle, staring at the book. He remembered the business card burning a hole in his pocket–Dante Ricci’s offer. *Spy on her finances, and I’ll get your medical license back*.
He looked at his hands–raw, chapped, smelling of bleach. He looked at the diploma on Maya’s wall, a reminder of the world he had been exiled from.
“I’m doing this to save us,” Julian whispered to the empty room, lying to himself. “If I’m a doctor again, I can fix everything.”
His hand shaking, Julian pulled out his phone. He snapped three high-resolution photos of the financial statements. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and picked up the mop, scrubbing harder to clean the stain on his conscience.