"You tell me now—boy or girl? If it's a girl, save the mother. If it's a boy, save the baby." The delivery room fell into the precise silence of people holding their breath. "Mrs. Fields, that's not how this works," the obstetrician said. He looked like a man who had learned to say soft things to powerful women to keep his hands steady. Valentina folded her hands and smiled like she was arranging a deal. "This does work. My son runs StreamWave. My grandson will inherit. You will not make decisions that cost us that future." Ethan stood by the foot of the bed, hands clenched. He kept his eyes on Lenora so he wouldn't have to look at his mother and see what she had become. "Lenora," Nurse Nicoletta said from the corner as if the name could bring order. She had been at Lenora's side since labor began. Her voice was pinched with effort and something else that tried to make the words small. "We need to focus on the delivery." Valentina laughed softly. "Focus on what? The baby's sex? The mother's life? I will make the focus." The midwife, a younger woman with palms that could tell a thousand births, stepped forward and repeated Valentina's words without the softening tone. "If it's a girl, save the mother. If it's a boy, save the baby." Lenora's mouth went dry. Her hands were strapping against the sheets