Melody Strikes Back by Myra Walker (Chapters 586, 587, 588, 589, and 590)

Chapter 586

‘They aren’t wearing glasses or contact lenses, which is normal. They don’t have headphones or any kind of embedded micro-earpieces. No, that’s not right… Melody wondered.

Her eyelashes fluttered as her gaze fixed on Charlotte’s earrings.

“What are you staring at?” Charlotte’s face briefly showed a flicker of guilt as she instinctively moved her hair, which had been tucked behind her ear, back to cover most of her face.

“Nothing. Just keep answering the questions,” Melody said, her eyes keenly observing Elton beside Charlotte. As Charlotte made her move, Elton’s whole body tensed up.

At the same time, she noticed Elton had an identical earring in his right ear.

The earrings resembled a slim version of a Bulgari charity pendant, but she quickly identified them as not Bulgari products because the earrings were marked with an X and had a small hole near the back of the ear that looked like a speaker.

‘These can’t just be decorative, she thought.

In that instant, all her doubts were resolved.

The two students, who had always been at the bottom of the class, had achieved a perfect score on this test.

This exam was several times harder than the ones from the medical school, with some questions not even covered in the school textbooks.

So when David inquired about the second assessment, she hadn’t even considered that these two could pass it.

But now, if they continued and scored full marks, she wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Their shamelessness was glaringly evident.

Melody squinted but soon returned to her natural demeanor, calmly waiting for a few minutes.

Once the two had relaxed, she approached the pharmacy clerk. “I need to use the restroom. Keep an eye on them for me. I’ll be back soon.”

“Understood,” the clerk replied immediately.

As soon as Melody left, Elton and Charlotte completely relaxed.

Charlotte even subtly gave Elton a look, as if saying, “See, I knew we wouldn’t get caught.”

Elton managed a forced smile and glanced toward the door. Although he knew that the latest cheating tools were unlikely to be detected, he couldn’t shake a vague feeling of unease.

He pushed down the anxiety and continued answering the questions based on the cheating tool’s prompts.

Time ticked by, and soon there were only five minutes left in the exam.

At that moment, Melody returned.

She spoke up. “Five minutes remaining. Please make sure to finish up.”

Charlotte finished writing the last word just then. “I’m done with my answers. Can I submit my paper early?”

Melody raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”

Charlotte immediately stood up to hand in her paper, and as she passed by Melody, she quietly warned. “Please be responsible when grading. Don’t give us a low score just to prevent us from getting the hospital internship.”

Melody shrugged. “Ms. Wallrich, you can rest assured. If you don’t trust me, we can grade the papers in front of you later.”

“That sounds perfect,” she said.

As they spoke, Elton completed the last question.

“Feel free to start grading. My time is very valuable,” Charlotte said impatiently.

Melody, with a faint smile, led the two downstairs. “There are so many people here, including patients from our hospital as witnesses. You shouldn’t worry about us deliberately failing you now, should you?”

“I doubt you’d dare to deliberately make things difficult for us,” Charlotte said, maintaining her superior attitude and pointing a finger. “You can start grading now.”

Since Herbathrive offers herbal medicine preparation services, many patients and their families waiting for their herbs gathered around to watch the scene unfold.

Soon, the lobby was filled with onlookers.

Melody nodded. “Now we’ll begin grading. However, Ms. Wallrich, according to our rules, you must verbally guarantee before we start that you did not engage in any cheating during the exam. If you violate this rule, please leave and never apply for a position at Herbathrive again.” Charlotte frowned, feeling a pang of guilt. She instinctively straightened her neck and said, “What are you implying? You’ve had someone watching us the whole time. How could we have cheated? Don’t accuse us of cheating just to obstruct our internship.”

“Exactly,” Elton chimed in.

Melody smiled slightly. “Guys, I’m merely asking for a verbal guarantee. Isn’t your reaction a bit too extreme? Are you feeling guilty?”

Charlotte’s face paled. “You’re talking nonsense. We have nothing to feel guilty about.”

Melody shrugged. “Then please repeat what I said and make a guarantee. It’s just words. It’s not that difficult, is it?”

Charlotte was about to lash out, but Elton quickly placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Miss Fox, right?” Elton met Melody’s gaze. “Since it’s your rule, we will of course abide by it. We both guarantee that we did not engage in any cheating during the exam.”

Charlotte, albeit reluctantly, repeated the guarantee. She then asked, “Are you satisfied now? Can we start grading?” “Certainly.” Melody nodded, and in front of everyone, she pulled out the answer key and began grading.

Since the test consisted mostly of multiple-choice questions, it took Melody less than three minutes to finish grading.

The pharmacy clerk, who had been monitoring the exam with Melody, was most curious about the results and eagerly awaited the final score.

The total score was quickly calculated.

When the pharmacy clerk saw the score, his face immediately changed. He looked at Melody with a mix of panic and concern. “Miss Fox, well…”

Melody remained composed, offering a calm smile as if the scores hadn’t affected her at all.

She gave the pharmacy clerk a reassuring look and then said, “The scores have been calculated. Elton scored 86, and Charlotte scored 100.”

Elton’s face darkened for a moment when he heard that Charlotte had scored a perfect 100.

A perfect score made it easy to spot discrepancies.

If the people at Herbathrive knew their past performance, it would be like putting a spotlight on their flaws.

‘Why can’t she even be discreet about her cheating? What an idiot,’ he thought.

However, Charlotte was completely oblivious to Elton’s reaction. Beaming with delight, she said, “Your requirement was eighty. I scored a perfect 100. Doesn’t this mean I should skip the next assessment and be directly admitted?” She raised an eyebrow at Melody and continued, “I have strong connections with the Medicines Control Agency. Keeping us would be beneficial for you. And we’ve already proven with our scores that we’re qualified for the hospital internship, haven’t we? Why waste more time?”

Charlotte tried both persuasion and coercion, hoping to bypass the upcoming clinical assessment. She was completely unaware that Melody’s expression had become increasingly intriguing.

Chapter 587

“Ms. Wallrich, your perfect score really shows that you’re exceptional… This is the first time anyone has achieved a full score on this test,” Melody said, not holding back her praise. Her words left the rest of the Herbathrive team looking completely bewildered.

‘Could it be that Melody is actually intimidated by these two incredibly arrogant and ill-mannered guys? This is a stark contrast to her usual approach, they wondered.

However, considering that Charlotte had already pulled out the Medicines Control Agency’s name, it was understandable that Melody would compromise. Otherwise, Herbathrive might indeed face serious difficulties in the future.

They could understand her compromise.

Still, the team couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.

They had held Melody in such high regard. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

One of the team members couldn’t help but murmur, “She managed to get us out of every tough spot before, but against the Medicines Control Agency, it seems she’s out of her depth.”

“Yeah, Miss Fox is just an ordinary person. She can’t always get us out of every mess. It’s really frustrating.”

“Our days ahead are going to be tough.”

“I felt frustrated when Michael was around too. Finally, he left, and just when we were starting to enjoy some peace, it was already over. Ugh…”

Charlotte, overhearing the murmurs, felt even more triumphant. ‘I’m Charlotte. What can this ugly woman do to me?’

She lifted her chin arrogantly. “You can stop with the flattery. Just answer me. Can we finalize the hiring now? But before you answer, I hope you’ve considered the pros and cons.”

Melody naturally heard the murmurs of the team but didn’t let them bother her. She maintained her smile and said, “Ms. Wallrich, your suggestion is feasible…”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up instantly.

She took it a step further, pulling Elton closer and saying,

He’s my boyfriend. It would be troublesome to set up a separate assessment just for him. Why not hire him along with me?”

Elton felt a pang of irritation. Charlotte’s words were incredibly insulting.

‘What does she mean by hiring me along with her? Is she mocking my abilities? We both cheated together. Damn it. But if I have to go through a clinical assessment, given my abilities, passing it would be tough, he wondered.

So, he had to suppress his annoyance and said, “Charlotte, you’re right. With so many patients in the hospital, it’s better not to waste time on additional assessments.”

Melody raised an eyebrow slightly and was about to continue talking to the two when she caught sight of David entering with two strong-looking team members.

She immediately exchanged a knowing glance with David, who had a gleam of excitement in his eyes. Melody understood right away.

David had obviously completed the task she had sent him on under the guise of using the restroom.

Seeing that Melody had not responded to them but was instead looking towards the door, Charlotte’s displeasure grew. “Hey, we’re talking to you. Can’t you hear us?”

Elton, who was about to make a case for himself, was interrupted when David stepped forward and whispered something in Melody’s ear.

Elton’s unease grew as a bad feeling settled in his gut.

In the next moment, he saw Melody’s smile vanish abruptly, and his sense of foreboding spiked.

Charlotte, oblivious to the underlying tension, continued to press. “Hey, are you deaf? Hurry up and answer us. Our time is valuable.”

“Charlotte…” Elton was about to calm her down when Melody looked up at them with cold eyes. “I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to hire you.”

Charlotte froze for half a second. ‘Did she just say we’re not being hired? Did I hear that correctly?’

Fury welled up inside Charlotte, and she demanded. “Why?”

“I’m not going to explain the reason,” Melody replied coldly. Please leave immediately.”

Although Elton was unsure of the sudden change in attitude, he was enraged by the abrupt dismissal. ‘How shameless can they be? I’ll make sure the whole Herbathrive is at the center of public scrutiny.’

Raising his voice, Elton addressed the crowd. “Everyone, tell me this isn’t unjust. We were invited by Herbathrive for this interview and passed the initial assessment. But now they’re suddenly asking us to leave. Isn’t this unreasonable?”

The onlookers, puzzled by the turn of events, asked, “Yeah, they scored perfect marks. Why are you making them leave now?”

Melody raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “Because they cheated during the exam. According to the rules, anyone caught cheating will never be hired by Herbathrive.”

Both Elton and Charlotte were taken aback and exchanged a quick, worried glance.

They had indeed cheated, but their methods were

sophisticated enough that Herbathrive’s team should not have been able to detect them.

Elton didn’t believe Melody had any evidence; she must just be suspicious. ‘It’s all Charlotte’s fault for insisting on scoring a perfect mark while cheating, he wondered.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Elton retorted. “You’re talking nonsense. We didn’t cheat at all.”

“Yes, we didn’t cheat. You’re just refusing to let us intern at your hospital and are trying to smear our reputations,” Elton continued to rally the crowd. “Imagine if your child or even you went through all the effort to secure an interview and passed the assessment, only for the company to unfairly accuse you of cheating and send you packing because of personal bias. Wouldn’t you be outraged?”

The crowd, empathizing with the situation, responded instinctively, “Yes, we would be outraged.”

Elton was skilled at manipulating the crowd, quickly turning himself and Charlotte into victims.

He addressed Melody directly. “Please don’t be prejudiced against us or try to intentionally tarnish our reputations. The public is watching, and you wouldn’t want to risk losing their trust in Herbathrive, would you?”

Charlotte, adept at moral high ground, chimed in, “If you’re willing to defame and accuse us to achieve your goals today, what’s to stop you from making harmful decisions for patients in the future? Is this really the kind of organization you want to be?”

Although most of the onlookers had previously trusted Herbathrive, their trust was fragile and began to waver as they whispered among themselves.

“Herbathrive’s handling of this situation does seem a bit biased.”

“That young woman has a point. If they’re willing to treat candidates like this, what’s to stop them from treating us patients the same way?”

Some even turned directly to Melody, pleading. “Dr. Fox, you should reconsider and keep them. If word gets out, it could damage Herbathrive’s reputation.”

Melody responded calmly, “Since I’ve said they cheated, there’s no way it’s not true.”

Chapter 588

Charlotte sneered. “Are you claiming that what you say is the absolute truth? If you’re so sure, why don’t you show us the evidence?”

“Why?” Melody retorted with a smile. “Do you think I don’t have any evidence?”

Charlotte, with unshakable confidence, replied, “Then stop talking and just present your evidence.”

Melody shrugged. “I initially thought you were too young and sensitive to handle this, so I was considering sparing you some embarrassment. But it seems you have no shame and refuse to admit your wrongdoings. Since you insist on seeing proof, here it is. David…”

“Yes,” David responded immediately upon being called. David’s voice trembled with excitement. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now he was on the verge of swearing.

He called out loudly toward the door. “Bring them in.”

Charlotte’s sense of unease intensified as she began to realize something was amiss. Fear and guilt surged within her.

However, she subconsciously believed that Melody couldn’t possibly have evidence of their cheating, so she maintained her composure and said, “Bring someone in? I’d like to see who you’re going to use to slander me.”

Just then, Elton was about to speak when he noticed a familiar person being forcefully escorted in by Herbathrive’s staff. His face turned ashen in an instant.

The person being brought in was Ira Knight, who was on the other end of their cheating network, the one who had provided the answers through the cheating tools, their classmate.

Upon seeing Ira, Charlotte’s once confident expression twisted into one of panic.

She blurted out, “How is this possible…”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she covered her mouth in shock, but it was too late.

Melody, observing Charlotte’s growing fear, asked with a half-smile, “What’s wrong? Ms. Wallrich, are you surprised that I caught the person who helped you cheat?”

“No…” Charlotte was now thoroughly flustered.

Elton, slightly more composed, feigned ignorance and asked, “What is this supposed to mean? We don’t even know this person. On what grounds are you claiming he’s evidence of our cheating? It seems like you’re just trying to discredit us by hiring someone. You’re going to great lengths to keep us from working at your hospital, aren’t you?”

Melody let out a dismissive laugh. “I don’t need to put on a show for you.”

“Miss Fox, don’t waste your breath arguing with them. Let me handle this,” David said eagerly.

Melody nodded in agreement.

David immediately walked over to Ira and pointed at him, addressing the crowd. “This guy was caught assisting them in cheating from outside. His name is Ira, a classmate of theirs from university. And the evidence of the cheating is in his backpack.”

As he spoke, David grabbed Ira’s backpack and pulled out a tablet and a notebook.

The tablet clearly displayed the exam questions, while the notebook contained detailed solutions.

Some curious onlookers compared the solutions in the notebook to the exam papers of Charlotte and Elton, finding nearly identical answers to the short-answer questions.

“They really did cheat,” one person said angrily, holding up the notebook. “The answers in this notebook match exactly with the exam paper. Damn it, these two played us all.”

The crowd, who had previously defended Elton and Charlotte, now felt betrayed and outraged. “So you used us as pawns? Do you think we’re fools? You’ve exploited our goodwill.”

“Elton…” Charlotte frantically grabbed his sleeve.

Elton, seething with anger, wanted nothing more than to punch Charlotte. ‘She copied the answers word for word. What an idiot!’

But he knew this wasn’t the time to argue with Charlotte.

He forced himself to stay calm and countered. “Maybe this was all planned in advance. Perhaps you took photos and had someone copy Charlotte’s answers?”

Before Melody or David could respond, Elton continued, You say he helped us with the answers. So where did you find him?”

David answered honestly, “In a coffee shop on the street.” “A coffee shop on the street? Hey,” Elton scoffed.’ Herbathrive is located in the middle of this street, and the coffee shop is several hundred feet away. How could we possibly have coordinated with him during the exam?” Melody, uninterested in further debate with Elton, turned to David and nodded toward the two strongmen.

David immediately understood and led the two men directly in front of Elton.

Elton instinctively took a step back. “What do you want to do…”

Before Elton could say a word, David’s men swiftly reached out and forcibly removed the earring from his ear.

Seeing this, Charlotte instinctively tried to remove her own earring discreetly.

However, with all eyes on her, she was immediately stopped by a female doctor from Herbathrive, who quickly snatched the earring from Charlotte’s hand.

Startled, Charlotte screamed, “What are you doing? How dare you take our things!”

But this was Herbathrive, Melody’s territory.

No matter how loudly Charlotte protested, both earrings ultimately ended up in Melody’s hands.

Holding up one of the earrings for everyone to see, Melody calmly asked Charlotte and Elton, “Do I need to explain to everyone what these are?”

Elton’s eyes were filled with disbelief. ‘How could she know about this?’ he thought. ‘This device hasn’t even hit the market yet! How did this ugly witch find out? And when?’

He suddenly recalled how Melody had left to use the restroom during the exam. It must have been then that she sent someone to find Ira. But how on earth did she track him down?

A cold chill ran down Elton’s spine, leaving him utterly speechless.

Beside him, Charlotte was in a similar state. Her legs felt weak, and she could barely stand.

She wanted Elton to support her, but he didn’t even glance her way, his eyes fixed solely on Melody.

Frustrated and powerless, Charlotte could only glare at Melody alongside Elton.

Seeing their silence, Melody decided to enlighten the crowd. “This is a remote communication device designed by a tech company. It allows the image in front of the earring wearer to be transmitted to a laptop within a one-kilometer range. Once the person on the other end of the laptop sees the exam questions, they can relay the answers back to the wearer through a barely audible voice. That’s how they cheated.”

The crowd murmured in amazement and unease. “Wow, I didn’t know such advanced cheating tools existed. If this is used on the SATs, it’s completely unfair to regular students!” “Not just the SATS, this would make any exam unfair!”

“Who in the world made this? This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Just then, someone in the crowd recognized the symbol on the earring. “This is a product of Ximber Tech. I’ve bought their stuff before, and I’d recognize that X logo anywhere.”

Chapter 589

“Ximber Tech? Never heard of them, but any company that designs something like this can’t be up to any good,” someone muttered, shifting the group’s focus entirely. Their attention had now completely diverted, and they all began joining in on the verbal attack against Ximber Tech.

After all, the fate of Charlotte and Elton was none of their concern.

But this cheating device directly threatened their own interests.

For ordinary people, exams were the only way to climb the social ladder. In Halcyon, exams were the fairest way to compete.

If this balance was disrupted by these cheating earrings, those who couldn’t afford them would undoubtedly suffer the most significant losses.

Melody had anticipated that someone would recognize the product as belonging to Ximber Tech, so she was well-prepared.

She spoke calmly, “Everyone, please stay calm and listen to me. Yes, this product was indeed developed by Ximber Tech, but they took into consideration the very concerns you’ve just raised. That’s why they never released it to the market. In fact, not long ago, they carried out a mass destruction of this product.”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. They hadn’t expected Ximber Tech to forgo making money off something like this.

Soon, someone began to question the situation. “If they’ve already destroyed it, then how did these two get their hands on these cheating earrings?”

“That’s exactly the issue here, but I’m sure Ximber Tech will provide you all with an explanation,” Melody replied smoothly.

Immediately, someone began searching the news and found a statement released by Ximber Tech just minutes ago.

The notice was brief, detailing that an employee responsible for destroying a batch of volatile products had secretly kept some of the Ximber Communication Earrings during the disposal process.

This person had then sold them at high prices on the black market.

The news quickly spread among the crowd.

Everyone looked at Elton and Charlotte with disdain. “So you bought those cheating earrings off the black market? How shameless. If you put that much effort into your studies, you wouldn’t need to cheat.”

“Exactly. So young and already messing around with this shady stuff. I’d say any hospital or whatever that takes you in is cursed with bad luck.”

Charlotte’s face turned gloomy with anger. “Say that again! Do you even know who I am?”

“I don’t care who you are. I’m just here to get my medicine. I’ Il say whatever I want, and I’ll call you out for being despicable.”

“You…”

Charlotte lunged forward, ready to fight, but Elton was quick to step in and hold her back. “Charlotte, the priority here is the interview, not bickering with these lowlifes. Calm down.”

Charlotte’s eyes were blazing with anger, but she managed to pull herself together, realizing what was more important. She clenched her teeth hard, glaring at Melody with fierce intensity. “Yes, we cheated. So what?”

Her shameless admission left the crowd in stunned silence. But Charlotte had already thrown caution to the wind. She shook off her earlier panic and assumed a haughty posture, looking down at Melody. “You had us take part in this assessment just for show, didn’t you? Why so serious? Or are you really planning to kick us out? You’d better think carefully before you speak.”

Faced with Charlotte’s blatant threat, Melody remained unfazed. “I’ve already made it clear. Cheaters will never be hired by Herbathrive.”

Charlotte narrowed her eyes coldly. “Fine, you’ve really impressed me. It seems like you’re hell-bent on picking a fight with the Medicines Control Agency.”

Melody smiled slightly. “I have faith in the universe’s fairness and justice.”

‘If not for such fairness and justice, why else would I have been given a second chance at life?’ she thought to herself. Charlotte sneered. “Today, I’ll make sure reality slaps you in the face. I’ll show you that I, Charlotte, am the embodiment of justice.”

With that, Charlotte took out her phone and dialed a number. “Mr. Turner, could you come to Herbathrive? I’m being bullied by their staff. What? Are you working nearby? Great, I’ll wait for you right here.”

After the call, Charlotte immediately transferred 2 million dollars to Rowan Turner, confident that he would understand her message.

Transaction complete, she looked at Melody with smug satisfaction. “You’re done for, and so is Herbathrive. I hear you’re in charge, but you’re not the owner, right? I suggest you kneel down and beg for forgiveness while you still can. Maybe your boss will go easy on you and save you from losing too much money.”

Having said this, she waited for Melody to show some sign of fear or panic, but Melody remained as calm as ever, like a mountain unmoved by the wind.

Charlotte frowned and wondered, ‘Is this ugly woman just pretending to be calm, or does she really not care if Herbathrive gets shut down?’

Before she could figure it out, Melody’s lips curled into a smile.

“What are you laughing at?” Charlotte snapped, her irritation growing.

Melody shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to say, Ms. Wallrich, if you don’t leave now, things might get even more embarrassing for you later.”

“How clueless can you be? Go ahead, and keep laughing. Let’s see if you can still laugh in a bit.” Charlotte retorted, her tone dripping with disdain.

Melody shrugged again but didn’t bother to engage with Charlotte any further. Instead, she simply returned to her work, attending to her patients.

The other hospital staff, seeing this, resumed their duties as well.

Only David stayed behind, ready to handle any unexpected situation that might arise from the trio’s presence.

Meanwhile, Ira, the one who had helped Elton and Charlotte cheat, was already at his breaking point.

His eyes were red with frustration as he approached Charlotte. “I’ve done what you asked. My reputation is ruined. Can I go now?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. “The show isn’t over yet. What’s your rush? When Mr. Turner gets here, I’ll make sure that ugly woman apologizes to you. Then you can insult her all you want.”

Ira shook his head, his voice trembling. “I don’t want an apology, and I don’t want your money anymore. Just let me leave, please. I don’t want to be involved in this mess any longer.”

Charlotte’s gaze hardened. “You’ve already taken the money, and now you’re saying you don’t want it?”

Elton, his expression cold and unreadable, added, “Ira, you can leave if you want. But let me be clear: your dream is to get into Central Hospital, right? If you walk away now, forget about that dream. Neither Charlotte nor I will ever let you work at Central Hospital.”

Ira’s heart sank as he bit his lip in frustration, too scared to mention leaving again.

He realized that they were making him stay to witness Herbathrive’s supposed humiliation.

These two were too proud to tolerate any slight, and they wouldn’t allow him to leave before their intended victory was achieved.

Now, Ira deeply regrets his decision to help them cheat for a small profit. He was stuck, unable to back out, forced to stay by their side.

He could only hope that they truly had the power to embarrass Herbathrive. Otherwise, he feared he’d end up suffering the consequences of their failure.

Before long, the person Charlotte had been waiting for finally arrived.

Chapter 590

“Hi, Mr. Turner.” Charlotte’s eyes sparkled with uncontrollable joy as she sprinted toward the hospital entrance.

David, who had been closely monitoring Charlotte and the other two, immediately lifted his gaze toward the entrance. There, he saw a middle-aged man, dressed in the uniform of the Medicines Control Agency, smiling as he waved at Charlotte. A group of people wearing the same uniform followed closely behind him.

As an employee of Herbathrive, a traditional hospital, David recognized this uniform at once.

It was unmistakably the uniform of the Medicines Control Agency staff. But what was even more alarming was that David had seen this middle-aged man before. He was none other than the second-in-command at the Medicines Control Agency.

They never expected that Charlotte could actually summon people from the Medicines Control Agency, let alone such a high-ranking official.

Under Colin’s management, Herbathrive had always been a diligent and patient-focused hospital. However, there was no guarantee that the other party wouldn’t find fault in every little thing, even when there was none to be found. David’s expression grew increasingly grim. After pinching his thigh hard, he quickly turned and sprinted toward the consultation room.

“Miss Fox, we have a problem…” At that moment, Melody was in the middle of a consultation with a middle-aged patient.

She didn’t often personally see patients. Herbathrive had no shortage of experienced traditional doctors, including some with exceptional talent, like David.

Melody preferred to give them as much opportunity as possible to gain experience, only taking over cases when the other doctors couldn’t handle them.

The patient before her had come a month ago, seeking help from another doctor without success. Eventually, he was referred to Melody for treatment of his tinea versicolor.

His name was Orion Riley, forty-seven years old, in his prime but suffering greatly from this condition.

He had tried modern hospitals for years with no relief, which led him to seek help from traditional medicine.

To his surprise, this very young doctor had significantly improved his condition. He was here today to get a new prescription to further consolidate his recovery.

When David burst into the room, Melody frowned and reprimanded him. “Why are you rushing like this? Don’t forget that this is a hospital.”

David was extremely anxious, but when he met Melody’s stern gaze, he instinctively softened his tone as he tried to explain, “Miss Fox, the two applicants brought a whole group of people with them. They’re…”

David began, but Melody cut him off abruptly. “Whatever it is, wait until I finish Mr. Riley’s consultation,” she said, her tone firm.

David was momentarily stunned.

He knew Melody must be aware that Charlotte had brought people from the Medicines Control Agency, yet she remained so calm, continuing her consultation as if nothing was wrong.

“But, Miss Fox…” he tried again, but Melody’s frown deepened. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

Startled, David didn’t dare say another word and quickly turned to head downstairs.

After he left, Melody smiled apologetically at Orion. “I’m sorry. The doctors under me can be a bit hasty at times.”

“No worries,” Orion replied, shaking his head with understanding. “From the way he was speaking, it sounds like something serious is happening downstairs. I don’t mind waiting a bit longer if you need to handle it.”

Melody gave a slight smile. “As long as you’re here, there’s no rush.”

Orion looked puzzled. “What do you mean by that?”

With a hint of mystery in her voice, Melody explained, “We originally scheduled your appointment for tomorrow, but I asked you to come in today so you could witness something interesting.”

Orion’s curiosity was piqued. “What kind of show?”

“Don’t worry,” Melody said, her tone assuring. “The show hasn’t started yet. Let’s focus on your treatment first.”

“Alright… but you’re making me a bit restless now,” Orion admitted, shifting in his seat.

Melody chuckled softly before continuing, “I’ve already examined you, and it seems your tinea versicolor has nearly cleared up. However, next summer, you’re likely to develop a heat rash again, which will bring the tinea versicolor back. To prevent a temporary fix, I’m going to treat the root cause now, so you won’t have to worry about it reoccurring.”

As she spoke, she diligently wrote down the prescription.

Orion’s attention was elsewhere. He was more interested in getting downstairs to see what this show was all about.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the rest of the Herbathrive staff noticed David returning without Melody and approached him with puzzled expressions. “Dr. Marrow, where’s Miss Fox?” they asked curiosity and concern in their voices. David didn’t know how to explain the situation, so he could only tell the truth. “Miss Fox said she’ll come down after she finishes with her current patient…”

“What?” The group was shocked. “Things are already so critical, and she still has the mind to continue the consultation? Charlotte brought in the Medicines Control Agency to shut our hospital down!”

After a moment of silence, David responded, “Miss Fox must have her reasons for doing this. Let’s focus on keeping the Medicines Control Agency occupied for now.”

The others sighed in frustration.

“What reasons could she possibly have? Sure, Miss Fox is brilliant and skilled, but she’s still too young to understand the gravity of this situation.”

“Exactly. To her, the safety of her patients always comes first, even above the survival of the hospital.”

“I think I should go upstairs and bring her down myself. I’m two decades older than her. She might listen to me,” said a middle-aged doctor, stepping forward to head upstairs.

David quickly stopped him. “Mr. Hamilton, please don’t go. You know Miss Fox’s temper. If she says she’ll come down after treating the patient, no one can persuade her otherwise. And I still believe that whatever she does, there’s a reason behind it.”

“You’ve been completely brainwashed by her. No matter how talented she is, she’s still just a girl in her early twenties.” Felix retorted.

David’s expression darkened. “Mr. Hamilton, how can you say that about Miss Fox? If it weren’t for her, Herbathrive might have shut down when that couple tried to scam us.” Realizing his words had been too harsh, Felix Hamilton pursed his lips and fell silent.

At that moment, Charlotte entered with Rowan.

Rowan looked sternly at the group gathered in the lobby, his voice cold as he demanded. “Where’s your person in charge? Hand her over.”

The arrival of Rowan and his team caused a stir among the patients in the lobby.

His uniform was unmistakable, and it immediately gave the impression that something serious had happened at Herbathrive.

Some of the patients, especially those visiting for the first time, panicked and quickly decided to leave.

David watched helplessly as the patients walked out, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness. His gaze turned even more furious as he looked at Charlotte.

David thought, ‘It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t agreed to let Charlotte and Elton come for interviews, none of this would have happened!’

Since Melody was currently unavailable, David had no choice but to step up.

He couldn’t keep hiding behind Melody.

Taking a deep breath, David stepped forward from the crowd and said, “I am the person in charge of this hospital. If there’s an issue, you can address it with me.

“That’s not true,” Charlotte interjected, speaking to Rowan. Mr. Turner, Miss Fox is in charge of it. He is just a common doctor.”

Rowan, who had already accepted Charlotte’s 2 million dollars and valued her due to her grandfather’s past mentorship, was inclined to take Charlotte’s word.

He gave a slight nod and addressed David with a cold tone. “Where is Miss Fox? Bring her to me immediately. I’ve received a complaint and need to conduct a thorough investigation of your hospital.”

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