Nora came to Dallas hoping to earn enough money for nursing school, but on her first day inside the Caldwell mansion, she challenged the billionaire’s daughter—and discovered the family needed her for something far more important.

For forty-five minutes, Nora remained on the floor beside the billionaire’s daughter. She guided Madison’s breathing, massaged the tension from her spasming neck muscles, and kept her stable without triggering the household alarm that would have brought Elaine Caldwell in with screeching hysteria.

Slowly, the monitor on Madison's finger beeped at a steady, rhythmic pace. Her color returned. The suffocating tightness in her chest dissipated into sheer exhaustion.

Nora helped her up onto the bed, pulling the down duvet over her shivering frame. She brought a glass of warm water and placed one of the prescribed heart pills on the nightstand.

"Take it," Nora said softly.

Madison looked at the tiny white tablet, her lip quivering. "It makes me dizzy. It makes me feel... broken. Like I'm seventy years old."

"Taking medicine isn't weakness," Nora replied, sitting on the edge of the mattress. "Fighting reality is what breaks you. You want to prove you're strong? Live long enough to figure out who you actually want to be."

Madison stared at Nora for a long time. The arrogant, untouchable heiress was completely gone.

"Why didn't you call my parents?" Madison whispered. "My mother would have called an ambulance. The press would have had pictures by morning."

"Because you didn't need a spectacle. You needed help," Nora said gently.

Madison reached out with trembling fingers, picked up the pill, and swallowed it with the water. She sank back into the pillows, her eyes heavy with sedative exhaustion.

"Don't tell anyone about this," Madison murmured, her eyelids drooping. "Especially not Julian."

"Who is Julian?" Nora asked.

Madison didn't answer; sleep had finally claimed her.

Nora cleaned the scattered makeup from the floor, pocketed her stethoscope, and stepped out into the dark hallway. But as she closed the door, she caught sight of a shadowy figure at the end of the corridor.

It was Elaine Caldwell, Madison's mother, clutching a martini glass, watching Nora with narrowed, calculating eyes.