His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 525 Dr. Aris Thorne

A flicker of primal fear crossed Arya’s face, but it was quickly smothered by arrogant defiance. She let out a sharp, brittle laugh. "Ha! If you dare, my brother will stop treatment immediately! He is the most famous doctor in this city! He will ban you from every private facility! And if you try a public hospital, the government will catch all of you! You think you can threaten me?"

The guards exchanged looks of pure, unadulterated frustration.

Bella had heard enough. The sight of the gun had chilled her, but Arya’s gloating over Leo’s helplessness was the final straw.

"Don’t worry," Bella said, her voice cutting through the tension like cold steel. She did not raise it. The calm was more terrifying than any shout. "We will be moving him to a better facility immediately. We do not need your gratitude, or your brother’s threats."

She had resources here. Bella had helped countless people in City F without ever asking for anything in return. Business owners, community leaders, even a rising tech mogul whose daughter she had secretly aided. They had all reached out to her, and she had helped them without expecting anything back. They had all told her that if she ever needed them, they would always be available, and they had even provided her with their emails and contact details.

And she knew a doctor. Not just any doctor. Dr. Aris Thorne. A pioneering revolutionary in non invasive surgical techniques. Bella had helped him two years ago. His research server had been hit by a sophisticated ransomware attack, crippling years of data on experimental nerve repair surgeries. The local authorities were useless. In desperation, through a mutual contact, he had reached out to Bellatrix_019 on Hackerverse.

She had taken the job. Not for money, but because the research aimed to cure paralysis. Over seventy two sleepless hours, she had not only broken the encryption and restored his data but had also planted digital traps that led her to the attackers, a rogue pharmaceutical company. She delivered the evidence to Dr. Thorne, who used it to secure his patents and funding. He never knew her face, only her digital alias, but his debt was absolute. He had vowed that if "Bellatrix_019" or anyone she ever vouched for needed his help, he would move heaven and earth.

Without looking at Arya again, Bella sat in the chair by Leo’s bed. Her eyes were red rimmed from tears and fatigue, but her focus was sharp. She pulled out her phone and began to scroll through a heavily encrypted private file, searching for contact details she had not needed in years. She had saved everything in case she ever needed it.

Arya watched her, a smug smirk twisting her lips. She’s just scrolling through her contacts like a lost tourist, Arya thought, feeling a surge of vindication. My brother is the king of medicine here. His network is everything. Who else would dare take him, especially after we refuse?

After a long, tense minute of searching, Bella finally found it. A simple entry: Dr. A. Thorne. Without a moment’s hesitation, she tapped the number and walked out onto the room’s small balcony for privacy, closing the glass door behind her.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

"Hello, this is Dr. Thorne’s office. Who is speaking, please?" The voice was polite and efficient, belonging to a middle aged man, likely his personal assistant.

"Is Dr. Thorne available? I need to speak with him directly," Bella said, her voice low but clear.

"May I ask who is calling? The doctor is very busy."

"Please tell him it’s regarding Bellatrix. It’s an emergency."

There was a brief pause, a muffled conversation, and then a new voice came on the line, sharper, more alert. "This is Dr. Thorne. Who is this?"

"Doctor, this is Bellatrix speaking," she whispered, the alias feeling strange on her tongue after so long.

A sharp intake of breath hissed through the phone, followed by stunned silence. Then came a disbelieving, guarded reply. "What? Is this some kind of joke? Who are you really?"

"It’s not a joke," Bella said, her tone leaving no room for doubt. "I need you to listen. We’ve never met, but we worked together two years ago. Your research on neural grafts was locked by Hydra class ransomware. I was the one who cracked the Cerberus encryption. I not only restored your primary drive but also traced the attack vector back to a server farm in Belarus owned by Kronos Pharmaceuticals. I sent you the evidence in a secure packet signed with the key Aesculapius. You used it to break their patent block."

Every word was a precise, verified fact known only to the two of them. On the other end of the line, Dr. Thorne’s skepticism shattered into stunned recognition. The color drained from his face in his sleek, modern office. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"My God," he breathed, his voice trembling slightly. "It really is you."

"Yes, doctor, and now I really need your urgent help. My husband’s back was injured. Some doctor gave him stitches, but I think there is further treatment needed," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Don’t worry," Dr. Thorne said, his voice now firm with resolve. "I will help you. I’m sending the address of my private surgical center to this number now. I will personally arrange a VVIP suite and have my top team waiting. What is his primary injury?"

"A severe laceration across the upper back, stitched, but the bruising is... extreme. He’s been unconscious," Bella replied, her professional calm momentarily overriding her panic.

"Understood. Keep him still and monitor his breathing. I’ll dispatch a secure medical transport team to your location immediately. Just send me the address. And Bellatrix... thank you for reaching out."

The call ended. Bella stood on the balcony for a second longer, letting the cool air steady her. Then she walked back inside, her posture straight, the plan crystallizing. She did not even glance at Arya, who was now standing sullenly in the corner, her earlier smugness replaced by wary confusion.

Bella went straight to Leo’s bedside, her eyes scanning his body. She looked at the first guard, Atlas.

"How much time has passed since his injury?" she asked, her voice crisp.

Atlas’s face tightened. "Four days, ma’am."

Four days. The number hit Bella like a physical blow. Her eyes widened in horror before flying back to Leo’s back. The wound looked cleanly stitched, but the horrific, sprawling bruising told a different story, a story of massive trauma and internal bleeding that had been left to settle for too long. Even without being a doctor, she could feel the wrongness of it, the gravity of what four days of delay could mean.

"Where is his personal medical team? Where are the doctors who always travel with him?" she demanded, taking a sharp, steadying breath.

The pain that flashed across Atlas’s face was answer enough.

"Ma’am... the two doctors we brought with us... they were killed in the same ambush."