Chapter 4

Shifting Currents

The following morning brought a crisp clarity to the estate’s gardens, yet Lena’s thoughts remained clouded. She entered the dining room at the appointed hour, her hair pinned neatly away from her face, she wore another soft scrub. Voss was already seated, exuding an air of absolute command.

“Sit,” he ordered without preamble. “You will finish the entire plate before you. Avocado, eggs, berries, and almonds. No skipping protein or healthy fats. Your body must sustain fourteen-hour days without faltering. From now on, I will dictate your meals. You eat what I approve, when I approve it.”

He ready dictated when she slept. Now it extended to her foods. Lena couldn’t remember the contract saying anything about her food program. Her eyes widened slightly at the stern tone.

“Sir ... but there isn’t a clause in the contract about my food.”

“What you eat ... how much ... the ingredients ... they all shape your body. Your health. A successful surgeon must first follow a correct diet for herself. This is a very demanding program Lena. It requires special endurance for the body and mind.”

She obeyed, though confusion stirred within her heart. He had seemed almost disappointed in her endurance the previous night, as though her visible strain had displeased him.

“Additionally,” he continued, cutting into his own meal with precise strokes, “you will receive eight full hours of sleep each night from now on. Lights out at ten o’clock. No exceptions. The previous schedule was clearly too ambitious for your current limits.”

“Sir ... I thought the long hours were required,” she ventured softly, her voice laced with innocent bewilderment.

Voss’s gaze fixed on her, cool and unyielding. “I adjust the rules as I see fit. Your only concern is compliance. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

As she ate under his watchful eye, a faint memory surfaced again sharp and fleeting. Those commanding features, that velvet voice. She set her fork down.

“Sir ... have we met before? Somewhere outside the journals or lectures? I keep feeling as though I’ve seen you long ago.”

Voss regarded her in perfect stillness for several heartbeats. “No,” he answered flatly. “You have not.” The denial came wrapped in obvious finality, offering no further room for questions.

Lena nodded, though the puzzle of him only deepened. He was strictness and generosity intertwined in ways she could not unravel.

Later that afternoon, during a brief walk between the main laboratory and the surgical wing, she encountered a new face. A middle-aged man in a crisp driver’s uniform was polishing one of the estate’s sleek black vehicles near the private garage.

“You must be the new assistant,” he said with a warm, respectful smile. “Name’s Thomas. Been driving for Dr. Voss for nearly eight years now.”

Lena offered a shy smile in return. “It’s nice to meet you. Everyone here seems to ... owe him something.”

Thomas chuckled softly, pride evident in his voice. “Owe him? He saved my life, miss. Car accident years back — doctors said I’d never walk properly again. Dr. Voss took my case when no one else would. Not only fixed me, but gave me this position, a home for my family on the grounds, and stability I never dreamed of. He’s done the same for dozens. The man’s a quiet benefactor. We’d all walk through fire for him.”

Lena listened with growing wonder, her lips parted slightly. Martha’s glowing words, Thomas’s heartfelt gratitude, the nurses’ affectionate respect, everywhere she turned, people spoke of Elias Voss as a savior. Yet the same man had coldly reminded her that stepping out of line would see her buried under insurmountable debt, her future destroyed.

Why the vast difference? Why did his benevolence flow so freely to others while he bound her with invisible iron chains?

As she continued toward her next task, Lena glanced toward the far wing of the estate, the restricted areas with their coded doors and darkened glass. What secrets lay behind them? What parts of this heavenly world remained hidden even from her?

She pushed the questions down, focusing instead on the path ahead. Dr. Elias Voss remained an enigma: generous saint to many, unyielding master to her alone. And with every passing hour, she felt herself sinking deeper into the intricate web he had woven around her.