Chapter 3 - MIA’S NAME
Sarah had not planned to tell Mia about the investigation. Her
seven-year-old daughter already knew that money was tight and that the
hospital had postponed her operation twice.
But when Sarah collected her from school, Mia noticed the hospital
envelope in her hand.
“Did they find a date for my surgery?”
“They’re checking everything, sweetheart.”
Mia looked down. “It’s okay if I have to wait. I don’t want you to lose
your job.”
Sarah knelt. “You are never the reason I lose anything.”
Luca arranged for an independent specialist at a children’s hospital to
review Mia’s records. He insisted that Sarah choose the physician and
that the fund pay the hospital directly.
Sarah accepted only after the arrangements were put in writing.
The specialist confirmed that the operation was appropriate and that
delaying it further could complicate Mia’s recovery. A date was reserved
for three weeks later.
Sarah cried in the parking garage.
Luca stood nearby without trying to comfort her before she was ready.
The next morning, Elena called with troubling news. Mia’s name had been
removed from the digital register eleven months earlier, even though
Evelyn’s handwritten ledger showed an approved medical grant.
“The deletion was processed under a staff account assigned to Richard
Bellini’s office,” Elena said.
Sarah went cold. “He knew?”
“We’re still tracing who used the account.”
Sarah found a folded note inside the ledger. Evelyn had written:
Sarah Collins. Mia Collins. Approved after first assessment. Richard
instructed me to wait. I refused. He said the fund could not help every
unfortunate family.
Sarah read it twice.
“He knew my daughter needed surgery, and he blocked it.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “We won’t let him block it again.”
That evening, the hospital confirmed Mia’s surgery date.
When Sarah returned to her apartment, a white envelope lay beneath the
door. Inside was a photograph of Mia leaving school.
On the back, someone had written:
May you like
Stop helping the Morettis. Children get hurt when adults refuse to stay
quiet.
