A few people turned. A few phones came out. Katherine felt heat climb her neck, but she did not move.
“Put the phone down,” she said.
Tiffany smiled.
Then, with a sudden jerk of her wrist, she slammed the iced coffee straight into Katherine’s chest.
Cold liquid exploded across the white suit. It soaked through the fabric, ran down Katherine’s waist, and dripped onto the marble floor. The smell of coffee filled the air.
For one frozen second, Katherine could not breathe.
The suit had been a gift from her father during his final birthday. He had buttoned the jacket himself and told her she looked like a woman born to lead.
Now it was ruined.
Tiffany gasped theatrically. “Oh my God! You pushed me! You ruined my dress!”
The crowd murmured.
Katherine looked down at the spreading brown stain, then slowly lifted her eyes.
Tiffany leaned close, her voice dropping into a poisonous whisper.
“You better apologize and pay me. Do you know who my husband is?”
Katherine’s pulse went quiet.
Tiffany smiled with the confidence of someone who had never been truly challenged.
“My husband is Mark Thompson. The CEO of this entire hospital. He can have you thrown out, blacklisted, ruined. So unless you want every doctor in New York refusing to treat your family, you better get on your knees.”
For the first time since stepping into the lobby, Katherine smiled.
It was not a warm smile.
It was the kind of smile that made Henry take one step back.
“You said your husband is Mark Thompson?” Katherine asked.
“That’s right,” Tiffany said. “Scared now?”
Before Katherine could answer, David Chen stepped between them, his jaw tight, his eyes moving from the coffee stain to Tiffany’s phone.
“Miss Jones,” he said, “why are you causing a disturbance in my hospital?”
Tiffany scoffed. “Your hospital? You’re just a doctor. Mark runs this place.”
David’s expression did not change. “A hospital is run by people who save lives. Not people who shout into cameras.”
Tiffany flushed. “I’ll have Mark fire you.”
Katherine touched David’s arm lightly. “No,” she said. “Let her call him.”
Then she pulled out her own phone.
Tiffany’s smirk flickered.
Katherine tapped Mark’s number and put the call on speaker.
It rang four times.
When Mark answered, his voice was low and hurried. “Honey, I’m in a major meeting. Did you land? Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve sent a car.”
The lobby went silent.
Tiffany’s face drained of color.
Katherine stared directly at her.
“You need to come to the main lobby,” Katherine said.
“What? Katherine, I’m with the Department of Health and the Singapore investors. This is not a good time.”
“I said come downstairs.”
“Katherine—”
“Come downstairs and meet your new wife,” she said, her voice finally cracking with fury. “She just threw coffee on me, threatened my staff, and announced to the entire lobby that she is married to the CEO of the hospital my father built.”
Silence.
Then the faint sound of a chair scraping.
“Katherine,” Mark whispered, “what exactly did she say?”
“You have five minutes,” Katherine said. “After that, my lawyer walks into your conference room with every document I have.”
She ended the call.
Tiffany’s phone slipped slightly in her hand.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Katherine dabbed coffee from her sleeve with a handkerchief.
“Keep filming,” she said softly. “America loves a good ending.”
Mark arrived in four minutes and thirty seconds.
He burst from the executive elevator with his tie crooked and his face slick with sweat. Behind him, several board members and two foreign investors hovered at a distance, pretending not to watch while watching everything.
Tiffany ran to him at once.
“Baby!” she cried, grabbing his arm. “Tell them! Tell this crazy woman who I am!”