Dr. Harrison's face twisted with anger as he stepped between us. "Absolutely not! Ms. Ashworth, I cannot allow this—this charlatan to touch you."
I held my ground despite the hamring of my heart. "I can perform the technique through clothing, but it won't be as effective."
The doctor's face reddened. "This is outrageous!" He turned to the two stone-faced bodyguards by the door. "Remove this man imdiately!"
The larger of the two n stepped forward, his expression making it clear he'd enjoy the task. I swallowed hard, my newfound confidence wavering. What was I thinking? I had nowhere to go, no one to help if they threw out.
"Wait."
Isabelle's voice cut through the tension like a blade. Everyone froze.
She studied , her intelligent eyes searching for deception. Another coughing fit seized her, this one leaving her visibly weaker as she dabbed blood from her lips with a handkerchief.
"Ten minutes," she finally said. "You have ten minutes to prove yourself, Mr. Knight."
Dr. Harrison sputtered. "Ms. Ashworth, you can't possibly—"
"I can and I will." Her tone left no room for argunt. "I've tried every conventional treatnt available. If there's even a small chance this works..." She turned to . "Besides, if he's a fraud, I'll know soon enough and can report back to my grandfather." The M|V|LE&MPYR team worked hard on this chapter.
My heart sank. So that was it—she was just testing to confirm I was a fraud. I couldn't entirely bla her. Who would believe soone like could help soone like her?
The bodyguards positioned themselves closer, their ssage clear: one wrong move and I was done.
Isabelle sat gracefully in a nearby armchair. "How should we proceed, Mr. Knight?"
I moved toward her, trying to hide how my hands trembled. "I'll need to place my palm over your heart. You may feel warmth, maybe so discomfort as the blockages clear."
She nodded and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her silk blouse, revealing the smooth skin of her upper chest while maintaining her modesty. The gesture was clinical, but my face burned with embarrassnt nonetheless.
"This is absurd," Dr. Harrison muttered, crossing his arms.
I ignored him and closed my eyes, recalling the knowledge that had sohow been downloaded into my brain. The ridian pathways appeared in my mind like glowing rivers, and I could see the blockages in Isabelle's system as clearly as if they were physical objects before .
I placed my palm gently against her skin, just above the modest neckline of her blouse. Her skin was warm and soft beneath my hand.
"Now what, miracle worker?" she asked, a hint of mockery in her tone.
"Please try to relax and breathe normally," I murmured, focusing inward.
I'd never channeled qi before, but sohow I knew what to do. I focused on the energy center in my dantian, feeling the strange new power that had awakened within . I guided a thread of that energy through my palm into Isabelle's body, seeking the blocked ridians in her lungs.
The room faded away as I concentrated. I could sense the damaged pathways, the inflammation that had plagued her for years. Foreign particles had accumulated in her lungs—pollution, perhaps, or so other environntal toxin that her body couldn't process.
Isabelle inhaled sharply. "It feels warm."
I nodded but didn't break my concentration. I directed the qi to surround the blockages, slowly dissolving them like ice under a gentle fla. But there was so much damage, far more than I had initially sensed. This would take ti.
Minutes passed in silence. I was vaguely aware of Dr. Harrison checking his watch repeatedly, of the bodyguards shifting their weight impatiently.
"I don't feel any different," Isabelle said after several minutes, disappointnt evident in her voice.
"Please," I whispered, "give it ti. The damage is extensive."
Five minutes. Seven minutes. The energy flow was working, I could feel it, but the process was slower than I'd anticipated. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I pushed more qi into the healing.
"Eight minutes," Dr. Harrison announced triumphantly. "And nothing has happened."
I could sense Isabelle's growing impatience, her hope turning to disappointnt. In her position, with her resources, she must have endured countless false promises of cures. I was becoming just another disappointnt, another fraud who had wasted her ti.
Nine minutes.
"That's enough," Isabelle said abruptly, pulling away from my touch. Her voice had turned cold. "I appreciate your... creativity, Mr. Knight, but I've indulged this experint long enough."
I opened my eyes, desperate. "Please, just another minute—"
"No." She stood, rebuttoning her blouse. "Dr. Harrison was right. I shouldn't have allowed this."
"But the process was working," I insisted. "I could feel the blockages dissolving—"
"Yet I feel worse, not better," she cut off. A coughing fit seized her, more violent than before. When it passed, her eyes were hard with disappointnt. "You're either delusional or deliberately deceiving . Either way, this is over."
My shoulders slumped. I had failed. The one chance I'd had to prove myself, to show that I wasn't worthless, and I'd failed.
"I'll have soone drive you back to the city," Isabelle said, her tone now distant and formal. "Out of respect for my grandfather's regard for your father, I won't take further action against you for this... charade."
Dr. Harrison smirked. "I'll call security to escort him out."
I nodded mutely, defeat washing over in a bitter wave. I had been so certain that the knowledge was real, that I could help her. Had it all been a delusion? A desperate fantasy born from my rock-bottom state?
As I turned to leave, Isabelle suddenly doubled over, seized by the most violent coughing fit yet. But this ti, sothing was different. She wasn't just coughing—she was expelling sothing.
Black, tarry fluid spilled from her mouth onto the pristine marble floor as she gasped for breath. Dr. Harrison rushed to her side, his face pale with shock.
"What did you do to her?" he demanded, but there was fear in his voice now, not anger.
I watched in stunned silence as Isabelle continued to expel the dark substance. After several agonizing monts, the coughing subsided. She straightened slowly, her hand at her throat, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"I can breathe," she whispered, drawing in a long, deep breath. "I can actually breathe."
She took another breath, then another, each one deeper than the last. Wonder spread across her face as she pressed a hand to her chest.
"The weight... the pressure that's been there for years..." She looked up at , her expression transford. "It's gone."
Dr. Harrison bent to examine the black fluid on the floor. "This is... impossible. What is this substance?"
I found my voice at last. "The accumulated toxins in her system. Her body couldn't expel them naturally. The treatnt accelerated the process."
Isabelle stared at , truly seeing perhaps for the first ti. Her eyes, no longer clouded with pain or suspicion, were a striking clear blue.
"Ten years," she said softly. "I haven't been able to breathe freely for ten years."
She turned abruptly to her bodyguards, who were staring at the scene in disbelief.
"Quick," she commanded, urgency in her voice. "Go and bring him back!"
But I hadn't left. I stood frozen by the door, as stunned as everyone else by what had transpired. Our eyes t across the room—hers filled with new questions and possibilities, mine with the dawning realization that my life had just changed irrevocably.
"Mr. Knight," she said, her voice steady now, authoritative. "I believe we have much more to discuss."
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