Chapter 631

Russell’s smile froze on his face. It was not the first time that Melody had disrespected him tonight, but he could not get used to it.

In the past, Melody could only grovel in front of him, but now, she was so arrogant to him. How could he get used to this?

However, he hadn’t obtained the loan from Mason yet. Once the loan was made, Russell would teach Melody a lesson.

Russell forced a smile and said, “Melody, you’re getting ever funnier. How can our kinship be gone just because of an agreement? I understand that you’re still angry with me now. When you’re no longer angry, you can come back anytime.”

Melody dug her ear impatiently. “Enough. Why don’t you use this time to finish our deal earlier?”

With that, she bowed and got into the car. James immediately stepped on the accelerator. The car quickly drove away from Blue Moon Lounge, leaving Russell with the exhaust fumes.

Russell coughed from the exhaust fumes. When he calmed down, he stomped his foot. “Melody, you bitch. I’ll kill you in the future,” he yelled in the direction of the car that had disappeared into the distance.

When he was finally done yelling, he suddenly felt a cold gaze staring at him from the second floor. He turned to look at the second floor and saw nothing.

Russell wondered if he was hallucinating just now. He shook his head and strode to the car by the roadside, got in, and drove away.

As soon as Russell drove away, Moon popped her head out of a private room on the second floor.

“What a scum… How could he scold his daughter like that?” Moon mumbled. She was indignant and could not help but call Ken. It took a while for him to answer her call.

Moon said over the phone, “Melody might not be in a good mood today. When you get back from work, remember to bring her flowers. When girls see flowers, their mood will improve.”

Ken was stunned by her words. “Why is she in a bad mood?”

“You don’t have to ask about that. Just do as I say.” With that, Moon hung up the phone and downed a glass of wine angrily.

‘Damn it! He bullied Melody. Melody is kind but he is not a good person. The man is called Russell, right? Just wait and see. I’ll make him suffer today, Moon thought.

After drinking a glass of wine, Moon made a call. “Hey, help me teach someone a lesson…”

An hour later, Russell finally returned home. His gloomy mood prevented him from entering immediately. Instead, he stood at the door and lit a cigarette.

He was thinking about how to teach Melody a lesson when she returned. However, before he could think of an idea, a sack covered his head.

“Ah-” Russell shouted. Just as he was about to call for help, a man accurately covered his mouth through the sack and ordered, “Beat him up!”

In the next second, Russell was punched and kicked. By the time the beating was over, Russell’s face was bruised and swollen. He did not even have the strength to take off the sack.

Mabel had just arrived home and saw him on the ground. She asked the servant to help him into the living room.

Mabel carefully handed Russell an ice pack and asked, “Dad, why were you beaten up? Who hit you?”

“Piss off!” he shouted. Russell felt embarrassed and painful all over. The shout scared away the birds on the roof.

Mabel was so frightened that she trembled and shut her mouth.

“Mr. Fox, this is a painkiller.” The servant timidly handed the medicine over. Russell grabbed it and swallowed it.

He finally had the strength to call the police when the painkillers took effect. “Hey, someone hit me at my door,” he told the police.

The police arrived quickly, but after some investigation, they found nothing. They only told him to come to them if he had any clues.

“What a bunch of incompetents,” Russell remarked. “They said the surveillance cameras were hacked and they couldn’t find anything. I think they’re just lazy.”

Mabel remembered that Melody knew how to hack. Mabel told Russell her guess and asked, “Dad, do you think Melody did it to you? Did you provoke her again?”

“Shut up. It can’t be her.” Russell still had some rationality left in him. It was true that they had just met today, but he lost. There was no reason for Melody to send people to beat him up.

‘Moreover, that wretched girl wants Yolanda’s shares. That’s an even better reason, he thought.

“Dad, maybe you trust her too much? This isn’t the first time she’s hit you,” Mabel said.

“Enough.” Russell glared at Mabel and told her what happened at the dinner tonight.

“You mean Mason? His wife does have a good relationship with Melody. I also found out that she got pregnant because she took the medicine Melody gave her.”

Russell looked more displeased. “You’ve already found out about this. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Or I wouldn’t have been such a fool today.”

If he had known about the relationship between Melody and Mason, he would have thought of another way to get close to Mason. Russell would not have suffered such humiliation.

Mabel muttered, “How would I know… that she would go too?”

“Don’t talk back.” Russell gritted his teeth. “I told you to bring Ulric there. Why didn’t you listen? You’ve disappointed me. Can you do anything useful? You’re fooling around. Why don’t you put in more effort with Ulric?”

What Russell said was so harsh and humiliating. Mabel blushed in anger, but she was not stupid enough to argue with Russell at this moment. When Russell got really angry, he would beat her up.

Mabel had an idea and said under Russell’s cold gaze, “Dad, I’m not fooling around today. I’ve already convinced Ulric to get the Swanson Group to work with the Justalion Group as soon as possible.”

Russell was stunned for a moment before his eyes lit up. “Are you serious?”

Because he was too eager to know, the wound at the corner of his mouth split open and he gasped in pain.

However, he did not care about this pain at all. He continued, “What did Ulric say?”

Mabel, who had misunderstood Ulric’s promise, naturally would not let go of this opportunity to inflate her value in front of Russell.

She said happily, “I just mentioned it to him. I thought he wouldn’t agree easily, but he agreed to it without thinking. However, Ramon is now out of Silverlake on a business trip. He said when he comes back, he’ll help us resolve this matter.”

“That’s great!” Russell exclaimed. Russell almost jumped up in excitement.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the loan to come so that he could start mass-producing their newly designed clothes for autumn and winter.

In this way, Mason became extremely important to him. Russell was not in the mood to go to the hospital to treat his wound. He ran straight to the study upstairs and quickly drafted a share transfer agreement. Then, he trotted downstairs and asked the driver to ready the car.

Chapter 632

Mabel saw Russell rushing upstairs, only to come back down with an envelope, heading out the door in a hurry. She quickly approached

him. “Dad, it’s already dark outside. Where are you going?”

Russell certainly wouldn’t tell Mabel that he was going to see Yolanda to transfer her shares to Melody. Clutching the envelope under his arm, he said, “We’re about to finalize our collaboration with the Swanson Group. I need to meet with some of our designers to confirm the samples for the new clothing line.”

Mabel didn’t suspect anything, nodding in agreement. “Okay, just don’t overwork yourself. Make sure to come back and get some rest.”

“I will.” Russell walked a few steps, but feeling a pang of guilt, he turned back and handed Mabel a card. “Your birthday’s coming up, and I honestly don’t know what you girls like these days. Take this card and buy whatever you want. Don’t worry about the money. Our family’s about to see its glory days again.”

Mabel looked at the supplementary card from Russell, feeling a surge of joy. “Thanks, Dad!”

“Good girl.” Russell, acting like a loving father, ruffled Mabel’s hair before striding out the door.

Just as Russell left, the obedient smile faded from Mabel’s face. ‘What did he mean by not knowing what girls like? Clearly, he just doesn’t want to spend the time and effort to pick out a gift for me. But the card would certainly help me out of a tight spot,’ she thought.

Without Yolanda, Mabel had been financially strained lately. Just yesterday, she overheard some socialite gossiping about her still wearing last year’s design. Tomorrow, she would make sure to drag that socialite along and buy the latest designer bags and outfits right in front of her.

However, Mabel wasn’t entirely naive. She summoned a maid Yolanda had previously bribed and said, “Secretly follow my dad and find out where he’s going.” She didn’t guess that Russell was going to see Yolanda; she just assumed he might be off to get another loan and wanted to know the real situation. The maid, being one of Yolanda’s “old subordinates,” didn’t question Mabel and discreetly followed Russell.

It was past visiting hours, but money could do its magic and Russell managed to arrange a meeting with Yolanda. Yolanda was no longer the elegant socialite she once was. Covered in prison garb, she looked gaunt and aged in a few months, a stark contrast to Russell’s well-groomed appearance.

When Yolanda first heard Russell wanted to see her, she hesitated, fearing he would be disgusted by her appearance. But her longing for him was too strong, and she couldn’t resist. She tidied her hair and came out, but upon seeing him, she felt a surge of shame and lowered her head.

Russell, seeing Yolanda’s current state, couldn’t hide a flash of disdain in his eyes. But remembering his goal, he quickly suppressed it, feigning a look of compassion and affection. He opened his arms and forced himself to hug her. “Yolanda, you’ve lost weight!”

Russell’s attitude eased Yolanda’s anxious heart a bit. They had been married for years; she knew Russell wouldn’t despise her. With teary eyes, Yolanda hugged Russell back. “I’ve missed you so much, Russell…”

“I’ve missed you too.” Russell released her, guiding her to sit down, and patiently inquired about her situation, “Are you not eating well? How did you lose so much weight?”

Yolanda shook her head. “I eat three meals a day, but I miss you all so much that I don’t have much of an appetite.” She then changed the subject. “Russell, I’ve been sentenced to seventeen years. Have you found a way to reduce my sentence?”

‘Seventeen years! Who knows what tricks that bitch Melody used to get me such a long sentence!’ Yolanda bellowed inwardly, ‘Russell may not despise me now, but what about seventeen years from now? By then, I’ll be old and worn out. He definitely won’t welcome me back with the same warmth he does now. I can’t wait that long!’

Russell, who had done nothing outside other than hiding his wife’s imprisonment, reassured her, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them keep you for seventeen years. I’m here to share some good news.”

“What good news? Have they agreed to reduce my sentence?”

“No.” Russell shook his head and said, “But Ulric has agreed to help me, and the Swanson Group will be partnering with the Justalion Group.”

Yolanda’s eyes dimmed. “How is that good news…” She complained inwardly, ‘You’re the only one getting the benefits.’

“You’re missing the point. I couldn’t help reduce your sentence before because I didn’t have the means. Once the Justalion Group rises again, I’ll get you out without needing anyone’s help!”

Yolanda’s eyes began to sparkle again.

“Besides, even if I can’t do it, Ulric can. His agreement to help shows he really cares about Mabel. I can’t prepare a bigger engagement gift for her yet, which is why I’m here to see you.”

Yolanda weakly responded, “I don’t have much money, you know that. If I had, I would’ve given it already.”

“You may not have money, but you still have the 15% shares I gave you when we got married.” Russell produced a contract with the provider’s name left blank. “This is the transfer agreement for those shares. Sign it, and I’ll give it to Mabel as a birthday gift. Once the Swanson Group collaborates with us, the Justalion Group’s value will soar. Isn’t that a generous enough engagement gift?”

Under Russell’s persuasion, Yolanda didn’t think twice and signed her name. Knowing Russell, even though he didn’t despise her now, it was highly likely that it wouldn’t be long before the selfish and self-centered Russell would divorce her. Her safest bet was her precious daughter. Thinking of Mabel, Yolanda’s expression softened. “Make sure Mabel comes to see me often.”

“That’s not a good idea.” Russell shook his head to avoid exposure. “Ulric is very unhappy with you. If he finds out Mabel visits you frequently, he might get upset. Wait until Mabel marries him; then you can see her as much as you want.”

Yolanda, always thinking of Mabel’s best interests, nodded. “I understand. I won’t interfere.”

“Good, then I’ll be going. Take care of yourself. We’ll get you out soon.”

With hope rekindled in her eyes, Yolanda nodded vigorously. “Okay!”

Russell didn’t linger, leaving after a few brief instructions. As soon as he stepped out, Mabel appeared in the waiting room, having received word of her father’s visit.

Chapter 633

Mabel had just learned from the maid that Russell had visited Yolanda, and she immediately had a bad feeling about it. This premonition made her so anxious that she decided to go over and check things out herself.

When Mabel saw Russell coming out with an envelope from the corner of the room, her unease grew stronger. After confirming that Russell had left, she used the pretext of passing on some additional instructions to Yolanda to see her.

Yolanda was surprised to see Mabel instead of Russell and greeted her with a mix of joy and concern. “Mabel, what are you doing here? Your father said that you should avoid seeing me before your wedding to Ulric. You should go; I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

Yolanda tried to leave, but Mabel quickly stopped her. “Mom, don’t worry. I came here secretly. Neither Ulric nor Dad knows I’m here.”

Yolanda looked puzzled. “Why would you hide this from your father? Didn’t you come here together?”

“Of course not!” Mabel got straight to the point. “What did Dad come to see you about?”

“He…” Yolanda hesitated, debating whether to spoil the surprise about the shares, but Mabel’s anxiety pushed her to stomp her foot in frustration. “Mom, I think Dad might have done something bad to us. Please, tell me!”

“You’re misunderstanding your father,” Yolanda said, patting Mabel’s shoulder. “He came to have me sign over some shares to you.”

Mabel’s mind immediately flashed back to the envelope Russell had taken from the house. “What shares? Tell me exactly what happened.”

Yolanda smiled calmly as she continued, “Your father wants you to have a grander entrance when you marry into the Swanson family, so he asked me to transfer my shares to you.”

“Transfer them to me?” Mabel’s eyes widened as she connected the dots, recalling that Russell had met with Melody and Mason earlier that day.

“Mom!” Mabel’s eyes filled with tears. “You’ve been deceived! Did you look at the agreement closely? He’s not giving those shares to me. What’s yours is mine anyway because you’re my mother. He intends to give those shares to Melody!”

Yolanda’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Are you sure…?”

“I’m sure! Dad has been looking for loans to expand production, and tonight he found one with Mason. The Taylors owe Melody a big favor, and she was there too! She must have pressured Dad to take the shares from you and give them to her!”

Yolanda was shocked as if struck by lightning. “He…” The word barely left her mouth before she felt a metallic taste rising in her throat.

The next moment, Yolanda coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, her breathing becoming labored. The blood splattered onto Mabel’s clothes, causing her to scream in horror as Yolanda collapsed backward. Mabel tried to catch Yolanda but missed, and with a heavy thud, Yolanda’s head hit the floor.

“Mom!” Mabel shouted.

The guard outside, hearing the commotion, rushed in. When he saw Yolanda kept vomiting blood, he immediately panicked.”What happened? How did this happen…?” He thought, ‘A prisoner getting injured here would reveal that I had let a family member visit secretly. Damn it!’

Seeing that the guard was frozen in panic, Mabel rushed over and grabbed him by the collar. “Hurry! Save my mom!”

The guard finally snapped out of it and quickly pressed the alarm button. For a moment, Silverlake Prison was thrown into chaos.

Meanwhile, Russell had someone deliver the envelope to

Herbathrive. Nana and David had just returned from a walk when they saw the delivery person and inquired about the envelope. “This might be important. Let’s take it to Melody right away.” Nana decided.

“Right now?”

“Yes!”

Nana instructed David to drive, and soon the envelope was in Melody’s hands. She glanced inside and smiled at the two of them. “Thank you for bringing this over so late.”

“I didn’t want to delay anything,” Nana replied, waving her hand. “We’ll be going now.”

“Drive safely.”

Melody watched as the two of them drove away and was about to head inside when she saw Ken’s car pull up to the entrance. ‘It’s almost nine o’clock, and he has finally finished his work for the day. Well, perfect timing. The medicine I prepared for his seasonal cough is almost ready, she pondered.

Melody walked over to the car, about to knock on the window, when Ken stepped out with a serious expression. “I just got the news a minute ago. Yolanda has had an incident.”

“What?” Melody hadn’t heard Yolanda’s name in a long time, and for a moment, she felt disoriented. After a brief pause, she asked, “Isn’t she in prison? What happened?”

From the day Yolanda was imprisoned, Ken had planted an informant in the prison, so he knew everything that happened tonight in detail. He briefly explained the situation and added, “She’s currently being treated at First Hospital. Dr. Stanton is in charge of her care.”

“What a coincidence…” Melody said, her expression complicated. “I want to see her.”

“Get in!” Ken did not waste any time, pushing the driver aside to take the wheel himself.

Melody took a seat in the back but noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the seat. ‘Flowers? For whom? Or from whom?’ the question briefly crossed her mind, causing a ripple of emotions she didn’t even notice. She looked away, pretending not to see the flowers, and moved to the front passenger seat. Once she was seated, the car sped away from Serenity Villa like an arrow.

Susan watched them leave, wondering, ‘Why did they both rush off?’

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at First Hospital. This was Melody’s familiar workplace. As soon as she walked in, a passing nurse immediately greeted her, “Dr. Knowles.”

Melody, known as Dr. Wilona Knowles at the hospital, nodded and lowered her voice to ask, “Is there a prisoner from the jail being treated here?”

“Yes, but how did you know?”

“I know her. Where is she?”

“Operating room two.” The nurse barely finished speaking before Melody and Ken disappeared from view.

Before they reached the operating room, Melody could already hear Mabel’s sobs from afar. “Mom, you can’t die. You have to hold on…”

Chapter 634

Mabel sobbed so hard she could barely catch her breath. But what pained her more than the fact that Yolanda was now fighting for her life was the realization that Russell had deceitfully given away her mother’s shares to Melody.

‘No wonder Dad has been so generous, letting me buy my birthday gift with his own card. It was all a smokescreen for his betrayal. I have been disciplined all my life, putting myself all into studying and learning the skills expected of a socialite, just to win Dad’s approval. I thought I had done enough, but it turns out that Dad has no genuine affection for me at all, she pondered.

“Mom, you have to make it through this!” Mabel knew only if Yolanda survived could she continue to be her strategic advisor.

A nurse emerged from the operating room and gently reminded Mabel, “Young lady, your distress is disturbing the medical team. Please be quiet.”

“Sorry, how is my mother? Is she out of danger?” Mabel urgently grabbed the nurse’s sleeve.

“She’s still in critical condition. Is there no one else from your family here? Where are other family members?” The nurse asked as she glanced toward the nearby prison officer. It was her first time dealing with a critical patient coming from a prison.

Hearing the nurse mention about the family members, Mabel’s face darkened. After Russell left prison, he went out to socialize, and it took her dozens of calls to reach him. To make matters worse, he wasn’t concerned at all and instead questioned why she was at the prison.

‘Such a cold-hearted Dad. Once I marry into the Swanson family, I would have nothing more to do with him! From then on, he could fend for himself and live his lonely life, Mabel pondered before speaking through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with bitterness. “He’s on his way here.”

“That’s fine. It doesn’t matter the other family member hasn’t arrived yet,” the nurse said, handing Mabel a critical condition notice. “Since you’re an adult and a family member, please sign here. Also, remember to settle the payment. Emergency treatment is costly, so make sure to inform your family.”

“A critical condition notice?” Mabel’s hands trembled. “My mom just fainted from coughing up blood. How can you issue such a notice?”

“It’s more than just fainting; she’s showing symptoms of a cerebral hemorrhage. The doctors are planning a brain surgery…”

“A cerebral hemorrhage!” The situation was worse than Mabel had imagined.

The nurse continued, “But you brought her in quickly, so there’s still a chance for recovery. If you had been any later, there wouldn’t have been anything to save.”

Mabel grasped the nurse’s hand tightly. “Please make sure the doctors save my mom!”

“We will do our best.”

At that moment, a cold voice spoke from behind Mabel. “How is the surgery progressing?”

‘That voice… Mabel wondered as she spun around, and when she saw Melody’s face, rage surged through her. “Melody, you’ve ruined my mom’s life! Go to hell!” She suddenly charged at Melody, and thought bitterly, ‘Damn you bitch for daring to take what rightfully belongs to me. You deserve to die! I’m going to tear this ugly face apart!’

But to Melody, this was like slow motion. She calmly prepared to dodge when another hand intercepted Mabel’s raised hand and pushed Mabel against the wall.

With a dull thud, Mabel’s head hit the wall hard. “Ah!” she cried out in pain.

The prison officer, seeing what happened, instinctively moved to help but stopped in his tracks when he saw who had intervened. He pretended not to notice. ‘Are you kidding me? It’s Ken Swanson!’ he exclaimed inwardly, ‘I’m lucky just to see him in person, let alone confront him. Plus, Ken is known for having crippled his own brother. Who would dare stand up to him?’

Seeing that it was Melody, the nurse decided not to assist Mabel and instead walked straight to Melody with respect. Ignoring Mabel, who was still recovering from the shock, she addressed Melody politely, replying, “The surgery is about to start. Dr. Stanton is the lead surgeon, but if you’d like to assist, that would be great.”

Melody didn’t offer to assist; she simply said, “I’ll go in and see.”

“Of course, the sterile gowns are over there…” The nurse led Melody away. Mabel, recovering from her pain, glared furiously at Melody.

However, seeing Ken’s cold, imposing presence behind Melody, Mabel’s anger turned to frustration. ‘Damn it. It’s Ken again! How did Melody manage to get him involved so many times?’ she wondered.

But when Mabel heard the nurse was going to take Melody into the operating room, she ignored her pounding headache and Ken’s imposing presence. Mabel quickly spread her arms to block Melody’s path. “You can’t go in! You jinx, you want to kill my mom, don’t you? You’re not getting in! Don’t even think about it!”

“Kill her?” Melody sneered. “Do you even know what a cerebral hemorrhage is? Have you asked about the success rate? With Yolanda’s condition, I don’t need to do anything to harm her.”

“You-” Mabel’s face went pale but then soon flushed with anger. “You bitch! Don’t curse my mom! Wilona was short-lived, but my mom isn’t!”

In the next moment, Melody’s eyes flashed with fury, and she slapped Mabel hard. Mabel’s face turned, and she cried out in pain. Before she could react, another slap followed. Then a third, a fourth…

“Ah… Stop slapping!” Mabel screamed, clutching her face.

Melody grabbed Mabel’s hand, forcing her to look at her. “Mabel, I warned you before. I don’t care what you say about me, but you have no right to insult my mother! My mother was indeed short-lived, but that was caused by your mother! She bribed the obstetrician and had my mom killed during childbirth! Someone like your mother deserves to go to hell!”

Mabel instinctively took a step back, trembling. “Shut up! You’re talking nonsense!”

Yolanda had never seriously mentioned Wilona’s death, but Mabel had pieced it together from Yolanda’s drunken ramblings before. As a daughter, she couldn’t admit Yolanda’s doing.

“Hmph.” Melody saw through Mabel’s guilt and sneered. “You know very well whether I’m speaking the truth. So keep your mouth shut from now on! If you ever insult my mother again, I’ll smash your face in!”

Mabel wanted to retort but was silenced by Ken’s cold, threatening gaze. Frightened, she shut her mouth.

The nurse, hearing Melody’s words, looked at her with pity and hesitated before asking, “So… do you still want to go in?”

“No, I won’t go.” Melody had originally wanted to save Yolanda. She wanted Yolanda to continue suffering in prison, not die so easily. But now, she had changed her mind.

Chapter 635

Whether Yolanda should live or die, Melody decided to leave it up to fate. After all, either way, it wouldn’t be much of a blessing for Yolanda.

Just then, Russell finally arrived, fashionably late. Seeing Melody and Ken already present, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes before he walked up with a fake smile. “Melody, Mr. Swanson, you’re both here? I’m so sorry to trouble you, Mr. Swanson, to come all the way here.”

Ken glanced indifferently at Russell, his face expressionless. “Some joys are just worth witnessing firsthand to be sure.”

Russell’s face stiffened, forcing a laugh. “You really know how to joke…”

“Dad!” Mabel hurried forward. “You’re finally here! They just gave mom a critical condition notice!” Despite her hatred for Russell, she knew she still needed his protection at that moment.

Russell was about to speak when he saw Mabel’s swollen face and asked in shock, “What happened to your face?”

Mabel let her tears fall at the perfect moment. “It was Melody. I was just worried about Mom and said something Melody didn’t like, and she slapped me!”

Russell felt displeasure rise in his heart. Mabel’s greatest asset was her face; if it were ruined, she would lose her chance to marry into the Swanson family. But now, with Melody controlling his loan and Ken present, Russell didn’t dare lose his temper. He could only give Melody a reproachful look. “Melody, I know you don’t like Yolanda, but you can’t slap Mabel no matter what.” His tone was more pleading than blaming.

Melody sneered. “I slapped her because she deserved it. I did nothing wrong.”

Mabel’s anger flared. “You-“

“Enough!” Russell interrupted Mabel. “The urgent matter is your mother’s health. Let’s not worry about this right now. What did the doctors say? How did this happen out of nowhere?”

Mabel didn’t dare mention she knew about Russell cheating Yolanda out of her shares. She mumbled, “I missed my mom, so I went to see her. But when I got there, she just started coughing up blood…”

“Did the doctors say anything about her chances of recovery?”

Mabel shook her head, looking at the nurse for answers.

The nurse, sympathetic to Melody, didn’t even glance at Mabel, instead addressing Russell coldly, “It’s hard to say right now. Please remain quiet. I’ll inform you if there are any updates.” With that, the nurse nodded at Melody before returning to the operating room.

Time crawled by, each second feeling longer as they anxiously waited. After more than an hour passed, during which Russell tried to gauge Ken’s feelings toward Melody, Ken treated him as if he were invisible, leaving Russell awkward and unsure. Eventually, Russell stopped trying to engage with Ken and instead lowered his voice to ask Melody, “Melody, did you get the package?”

“Yeah.”

“And about what we discussed over dinner…”

“Don’t worry. Mason and I and I always keep our word. But you’ll still need to find something to use as collateral. Even with Mason’s help, there’s no guarantee your loan will get approved without it.”

Russell nodded repeatedly, grateful. “I understand. I’ll figure out something to use as collateral…”

To secure the loan, he had already mortgaged almost all of his properties. The only asset left to use as collateral was the Justalion Group. Though the Justalion Group wasn’t currently valued at the required 80 million dollars, with Melody’s assurance, Mason would likely relent. This loan was practically in the bag.

The more Russell thought about it, the better he felt, barely caring whether Yolanda would survive. Deep down, he even hoped she wouldn’t. That way, no one would know he had tricked her out of her shares, which was an undeniably disgraceful act.

At that moment, the doors to the operating room suddenly opened. This time, it wasn’t the nurse who came out, but the doctor, Rodney. Seeing him, Melody pressed her lips together. She knew the result.

Russell and Mabel, clearly outsiders to such situations, didn’t understand what it meant for the lead doctor to come out at this time. They hurried forward, one after the other, to ask.

“Doctor, how’s my mom? Is she out of danger?”

“Doctor, please, tell us straight. We’re prepared for anything.”

Rodney removed his mask, regret evident on his face. “We’ve done everything we could. You can go in and see her one last time.”

Mabel’s face turned ashen, her legs giving way as she collapsed to the floor. ‘Mom… really dead? With Mom gone, who will truly be there to offer me genuine advice and support? What am I going to do after that?’ she wondered. Despair washed over Mabel’s face, though she wasn’t truly grieving.

The prison officer entered the room first to confirm the situation. After a moment, he exited, phone in hand, reporting to his superior. “Sir. Inmate number 129382…”

‘Even the prison officer confirmed it. Yolanda is beyond saving. Heaven has heard my unspoken wish, Russell thought. Suppressing

his true emotions, he pulled Mabel up from the floor with his firm grip. He patted her shoulder and said, “Child. Let’s go say our goodbyes.”

With tears streaming down her face, Mabel bit her lip, nodded, and walked inside.

Ken turned to Melody. “Do you want to go in?”

“Of course.” She had to see Yolanda off in person; only then could she truly lay the grudge of her mother’s death to rest.

Passing Rodney, Melody sensed that his expression was one of hesitation. Clearly, the nurse had told him what she said. As a doctor, he did his best to save Yolanda, but as Melody’s friend, he was relieved that fate was fair. Yolanda hadn’t made it; it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

In the operating room, Melody saw Mabel clutch Yolanda’s hand. Yolanda, in a moment of lucidity, managed to utter a few words, “Ru… Ru… Russell.”

Russell rushed forward, feigning sorrow. “Yolanda, tell me. I’ll do anything you ask.”

Yolanda tried to speak but caught sight of Melody behind Russell. Her eyes widened in horror, staring at Melody as she struggled to lift her hand. In the next moment, a mouthful of blood spilled from Yolanda’s lips. Her eyes rolled back, and she was gone. She had been literally angered to death.

“Mom!” Mabel cried out, sobbing uncontrollably. The flatline on the heart monitor reminded Mabel of all the love her mother had given her.

Seeing this, Melody’s face remained impassive. She merely turned to Ken and said calmly, “Let’s go.” Confirming Yolanda’s death was enough. She didn’t want to linger and bring herself bad luck.

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Chapter 626

Ruby was not even three months pregnant and it was her first pregnancy. She did not have much experience and was at the most dangerous stage. If she was not careful enough, something might happen.

Melody immediately put down her fork and answered the call as she walked out.

“Hello? Ruby, what happened?” Melody asked.

The nervousness in her tone made Ruby smile and say, “Don’t be nervous. My baby and I are fine.”

Melody was relieved. Without telling James to drive, she turned around and returned to her room in the backyard.

“Then why did you suddenly call?” Melody asked.

“It’s like this. Mason is coming back. Before he boarded the plane, he called me and said that Russell wanted to treat me to a meal tonight. I had morning sickness and wasn’t feeling well. Now I feel much better so I called to tell you about this,” Ruby answered.

Melody raised her eyebrows. She already guessed that Russell was looking for Mason to help him lend his money.

As far as she knew, Russell had already borrowed a lot of money. Melody was surprised that he continued. Greed sometimes would turn a smart person into an idiot.

Greed sometimes would turn a smart person into an idiot. However, the more Russell trapped himself and the Justalion Group, the more beneficial the situation was for her.

Melody was silent for a while before saying, “Ruby, you know a little about the grudge between me and Russell. I wonder if it’s convenient for you to bring me along to this dinner?”

“Of course, it’s convenient.” Ruby said without thinking further, “If you ask me not to go, Mason and I won’t even see him. If you don’t want Mason to lend him money, just say it. We won’t even need you to come over. One word from you, we can reject him at once,” Ruby replied.

There was a sly look in Melody’s eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want you to lend him money, but don’t agree easily.”

“What do you mean? Do you want us to agree or not?” Ruby was confused.

Melody chuckled and said, “You don’t have to care what it means. When you arrive, you only need to take care of yourself and the baby in your belly. Mason will know what to do.”

“Okay, then I’ll give you the address. You can set off in half an hour.”

“Alright, see you then.” Melody hung up the phone and a cold glint flashed across her eyes.

‘Greed is one’s downfall. Russell is giving me the opportunity. How can I not seize it? Mother, wait for me. I’ll get the Justalion Group back soon, she thought.

Melody composed her before going out. Coincidentally, Nana, who had just finished eating, came to look for her.

“Miss Fox, I saw you come out in a hurry without even eating. Did something happen?” Nana asked.

Melody shook her head. “Nothing much. A friend asked me out for dinner,” Melody replied.

Nana heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. If there’s anything we can help with, just let us know.”

Melody smiled. “Okay. By the way… Have you decided whether you want to use the thing I gave you?”

Nana immediately lowered her eyes. What Melody gave her was evidence of her father’s infidelity.

After struggling for a day and night, Nana made the same choice as Talia. Nana didn’t want to go back to the days when she was pampered but had to listen to her father, so she decided to stay.

Nana replied, “I was just about to tell you… I’ve already sent the things back to my family. I’m afraid he’s already received it. My home should be in chaos.”

Melody misunderstood and thought Nana and Talia planned to take the opportunity to return to the Jensen family.

So Melody nodded understandingly. “I respect all your decisions. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll come often to enjoy your mother’s cooking.”

“No.” Nana immediately explained, “We’re not going back.”

“Huh?” Melody was stunned. “You’ve already sent the things back. Are you going to miss such a good opportunity?”

Nana smiled bitterly and said, “I want to work hard to get what I want. I don’t want my father’s charity. My mother also prefers her current life and doesn’t want to see those hypocritical rich women anymore. Sending the things back is our way of getting back at him for his heartlessness and selfishness.”

Melody now understood. “Again, I’ll respect all your decisions. If you want to leave one day, I won’t stop you. But if you stay here, I won’t let anyone bully you.”

Tears came to Nana’s eyes as she felt moved. “Thank you, Miss Fox.”

“I’m only one year older than you. You don’t have to call me that. Just call me by my name.”

“Okay, Melody.”

“It sounds better.”

As they chatted, their understanding had been all gone. Melody would rather have one more friend than one more enemy. It was good that Nana was sincerely repentant.

Half an hour passed before they knew it. Melody glanced at her watch and said, “It’s almost time for my appointment. Tell your mother not to save me a meal. After my appointment, I probably won’t return to Herbathrive.”

“Alright.” Nana nodded and watched her leave.

Nana walked back to the kitchen until Melody disappeared into the distance. Then she told Talia not to save food for Melody tonight.

Worried for Melody, Talia said, “Oh, she’s so busy all day. I don’t want her to tire herself out.”

Nana pretended to be jealous. “You treat Melody much better than you treat me now.”

Talia tapped her forehead. “If it hadn’t been for Miss Fox, we would have starved on the streets. Aren’t you calling her Melody yourself?”

Nana chuckled. She felt Melody gave this good vibe that no one could hate her. And the more Nana interacted with her, the more she liked her.

If Nana hadn’t dated two boyfriends and confirmed sex orientation, she would have suspected that she was in love with Melody.

When Nana thought of this, her expression suddenly became solemn. “I have to find a prescription I used to treat acne on my face and give it to Melody tomorrow. I don’t know if it can cure the thing on her face. Anyway, I’ll give it to her to try,” she said and left in a hurry.

Talia shook her head and continued to wash the dishes. Although her life at Herbathrive was not as easy as before at home, she still felt peace. It was the kind of peace that no one could take away from her this comfortable life.

Now James was Ken’s right-hand man. James’s driving skills were as good as Seventeen’s.

The traffic jam after work did not bother James at all. He swooshed all the way to the entrance of Blue Moon Lounge.

This was the address Ruby gave Melody. Looking at the antique signboard, Melody smiled bitterly.

Melody did not expect that she would have to come to this restaurant twice a day while ordinary people could not even get a table inside.

“James, wait for me in the car. I should be done soon,” she said.

“Got it.” James nodded. In a good mood, he turned around and drove away.

Although both he and Seventeen worked for Ken, they had very different characters. It would be great if they could learn from each other.

Melody did not think much about it. Just as she was about to step into Blue Moon Lounge, she heard Russell’s displeased voice asking, “Why are you here?”

Chapter 627

Melody turned around and met Russell’s disgusted face. He looked as if he wanted everyone passing to know he hated her.

In the past, Melody would be sad when she saw him like that. However, she had already cut off all ties with Russell in her heart. Therefore, facing Russell’s disgust, she did not feel anything. However, she noticed his eyes became even colder.

“Why? Is there a rule to stop me from entering? Or is there a law that states so?” she asked.

“I’m your father. How can you talk to me like that?” Russell snapped, purple in the face with fury.

Melody was amused. “Father? Mr. Fox, you’re really forgetful. Have you forgotten that I’m no longer your daughter?”

“You-” Russell raised his hand to slap Melody. However, he couldn’t do it as he cared about how others thought of him. Those who could eat at Blue Moon Lounge were either rich or powerful, and there were people he knew.

Seeing the gossipy gazes of the passers-by, Russell could only try his best to restrain himself and put down his hand.

“Melody, this is not a place for someone like you. Leave before I lose my temper,” he warned.

Melody raised her eyebrows in amusement. “What can you do if I refuse?”

“Damned girl.” The veins on Russell’s forehead bulged as he warned her in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

“Don’t think Ken will back you up now because he likes you. Go back and look at yourself in the mirror. With that ugly face of yours, which man would want you?

“I’ve already asked around. To resist his father, he treats you as a pawn in the game between him and Mr. Ramon.

“Since you’re a pawn, you’ll be abandoned sooner or later. I advise you to be careful. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude to you.”

Melody was stunned, and her eyes narrowed threateningly. “Whatever you say, I have to go in today,” she replied.

She had always known that Russell was not a good person, much less a good father. However, Russell’s acts always turned her world upside down again.

Melody didn’t want to waste her time with Russell anymore. She stepped forward and was about to walk inside.

However, Russell was afraid that she would ruin his plan. He caught up with her and said to the usher at the door, “This woman wants to cause trouble inside. Please chase her away immediately.”

The usher recognized Melody at a glance. At noon today, Ken brought her here for a meal. Moreover, Moon personally received her warmly. Even if he had a bad memory, he could not have failed to recognize Melody as Moon’s special guest.

The usher looked at Melody with anxiety and hesitantly said to Russell, “Sir, this should be a misunderstanding. She-“

Before he could finish speaking, a puzzled voice sounded behind him. “Mr. Fox, what happened?”

Melody subconsciously turned her head and saw Mason coming from the shop opposite. Russell thought they did not know each other, so he said, “President Taylor, here is the thing. This woman is hell-bent on causing trouble here. Let me bring you into the private room first so she won’t ruin your mood.”

Mason looked at Russell in disbelief. He knew about the relationship between Melody and Russell. Mason had wanted a child for a long time. He could not understand why Russell would treat Melody with such an attitude.

Just as Mason was about to speak up for her, she shook her head at him, reminding him not to say anything else.

Although Mason could not guess why she did this, he bit back his words.

Russell did not notice the eye contact between them. He even glared at Melody and warned her to get lost.

Melody smiled faintly and did not say anything else. Russell thought that she had given up, so he was slightly relieved. He looked up at the usher and said, “Just ignore her. Bring my guest to the private room I booked. My name is Russell Fox. I booked the private room yesterday.”

“Hold on. Let me check,” the usher replied. He quickly searched on the tablet. After a while, he asked with a puzzled expression, “Sir, are you sure you left this name?”

“I’m sure. I booked the room myself.” To avoid unpleasant surprises, Russell didn’t even ask his secretary to do this.

“Wait a minute. I’ll check again.” A few seconds later, the usher looked at Russell again.

“Sir, are you sure it succeeded?”

When Russell saw Mason staring at him suspiciously, Russell shot the usher a glare. “Of course, I’ve already said that I’ve made a reservation and it succeeded. Stop this nonsense. If you ask again, I’ll file a complaint against you.”

Russell’s attitude was driving the usher crazy. The usher pulled a long face and said, “Sir, Blue Moon Lounge only accepts customers with reservations. Your reservation isn’t here.”

Russell’s face darkened and then he looked at Mason awkwardly. “President Taylor, wait a minute. They must have made a mistake. I really made an appointment.”

When Mason saw that Melody was not in a hurry, he remained calm. He only waved his hand and said to Russell, “Then ask again.”

“Yes, yes.” Russell nodded repeatedly. Then, he said to the usher even more angrily, “Check again. I’m sure I made an appointment.”

The usher patiently checked again and still couldn’t find his reservation. But this time, the usher found something different.

“Sir, the system shows that you attempted to make an appointment yesterday but failed. Please come back another day,” the usher said.

“W-what? Failed? That’s impossible. I received the message…” Russell opened his phone as he spoke. He had read the first one notifying him of successful reservation-making but missed the second message of failure.

“How could this happen?” Russell mumbled.

The usher had already seen the message with his sharp eyes. His expression became even colder as he said, “I’ve already said I don’t have your reservation info here.”

“Alright…” Russell was in a dilemma. He invited Mason here because he wanted Mason to help him with something. Mason would be dissatisfied if he suddenly decided to find another place. That meant a smaller chance to get Mason’s help.

Thinking of this, Russell could only brace himself and ask the usher, “May I ask if any guests with reservations failed to come at the last minute? Can you give me their table?”

The usher said without hesitation, “No.”

“You…” Although Russell was angry, there was nothing he could do.

He could only ask Mason awkwardly, “President Taylor, I apologize for this small problem at the last minute. It’s all my fault. Can you let me make it up to you and take you to a higher-end restaurant?”

At this moment, Ruby came over with a pale face. It was obvious that morning sickness and the car ride made her very uncomfortable.

Hearing Russell’s words, she immediately frowned and complained, “Didn’t we agree to eat here? Why are we going to another place?”

Chapter 628

Russell felt even more embarrassed and forced himself to apologize. “I’m really sorry, Mrs. Taylor. It’s all my fault. I’ll have to trouble you to make an extra trip. What do you want to eat later? We can go straight to your favorite restaurant.”

Just as Russell tried to recall any restaurants as famous as Blue Moon Lounge, a female voice suddenly came, saying, “There’s no need to find another place. I’ve booked a private room.”

Russell’s eyes lit up. He thought that someone had come out of nowhere to help him. When he turned around, he met Melody’s cold eyes.

He immediately frowned and scolded, “Don’t be a busybody. Get lost. Do you know what this place is? You’re not even qualified to book a table here.”

Melody was happy to see Russell suffer but could not bear to see Ruby suffer as well. That was why Melody took the initiative to offer it. Unexpectedly, Russell did not appreciate it at all.

She glanced at Russell coldly and said to Ruby, “I’ve made the reservation on the way here. Let’s go to the private room.”

Ruby was about to speak, but Russell interrupted her. “Mrs. Taylor, don’t believe her nonsense. She’s not a good daughter. I chased her out of my house. Now that she bumped into me, she wants to make things difficult for me.”

Ruby was stunned for a moment. She knew that Russell and Melody did not get along, but she did not expect things to be so tense between them. Ruby could not help but glare at Mason, thinking, ‘I should not have agreed to eat with him in the first place.’

Ruby said with a sullen face, “Looks like Mr. Fox still doesn’t know it.

Miss Fox isn’t here to bump into you, nor is she here to make things difficult for you. She’s a guest of honor. My husband and I invited her. She saved us before.”

Her words simply blew Russell’s mind. He looked at Melody in disbelief. “That’s impossible…”

Seeing this, Mason also defended Melody. “Russell, do you think that with your current situation, I would agree to eat with you? If you weren’t Miss Fox’s father, I wouldn’t have answered tour call and brought my wife here, understand?”

Russell was thunderstruck when he heard this. ‘So all thanks to Melody, I can meet him and his wife?’ he thought. He was not just shocked but also extremely frustrated and confused.

Russell couldn’t help but wonder, ‘This useless girl was raised in the countryside. How did she get to know the two bigwigs?’ However, he didn’t have time to figure all this out at the moment. ‘Damn girl!’ he only cursed inwardly.

Russell was red with anger but could only force a smile and say, “Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, it’s all a misunderstanding. She’s my daughter. How can I not dote on her? What I said just now was just out of anger. Moreover, Melody and I always make such harmless jokes to each other.”

Melody sneered. “Is that so?” Russell was more cheekier than she had imagined.

He braced himself and continued, “It’s my great honor to dine with the two of you. It’s all my fault just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Ruby frowned and reminded, “She’s your daughter. You shouldn’t say such nasty words to her. Also, the person you need to apologize to isn’t us, but her.”

Russell looked pretty embarrassed. “Yes, Mrs. Taylor is right. Melody, sorry for that. I shouldn’t have said those words though I was angry. You’re not mad at me, right?”

Melody did not want to give Russell what he wanted. She ignored him and said to Ruby, “You look terrible. Go in and drink some water. I’ll take your pulse later and see if it can relieve your morning sickness.”

“Alright. I’ll have to trouble you again,” Ruby replied.

“No trouble at all.”

The two women smiled as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant.

Russell, who was ignored, had a sulky expression on his face. However, when he saw Ruby following Melody to the door, he immediately had a look of anticipation.

‘It’s said that the owner of Blue Moon Lounge has a very powerful backer. Even I find it very difficult to book a table here. How could Melody do it? Melody is close to Ken now. Ken is putting on an act and protecting Melody on the surface. It’s impossible for him to even help her with this. And I’ve heard the owner’s wife is very strict. Even if Ken comes, she might not let him cut the line, Russell thought.

Then he supposed that Melody was boasting because she didn’t know the rule that no one could cut in line.

In the blink of an eye, Melody had already helped Ruby to the receptionist. “I booked a private room on the way here. My name is Melody,” she told the receptionist.

When the receptionist heard this, he immediately became polite, in sharp contrast to how he had treated Russell.

“Alright, let me check,” the receptionist replied.

“Okay.”

Russell scoffed and cursed in his heart, ‘It’s all an act. A private room booked on the way here? Does she think that Blue Moon Lounge is a cheap restaurant? It’s not easy to book a private room here. I can’t wait to see her make a fool of herself.’

Just as Russell was filled with anticipation, the receptionist put down his tablet.

‘It’s on. Let the receptionist teach her a lesson on my behalf, he thought happily.

In the next second, the smile on the receptionist’s face grew wider. To Russell’s disappointment, he politely gestured for Melody to enter.

“Everyone, follow me. The private room is on the second floor,” the receptionist said.

“W-What?” Russell’s eyes widened. ‘She did make a reservation successfully?’ he thought in shock.

“Melody, you’re still the best. Why do I feel that there’s nothing in this world that you can’t do? Even Mason and I find it difficult to get a table here in such a short time,” Ruby praised.

“It’s nothing. I’ll explain it to you later.” Melody smiled humbly. This was all thanks to Ken, so she would not take credit for it.

Russell felt even more upset when he heard Ruby praise Melody. He could not help but wish Mabel could do the same. That would make him so proud.

‘Unfortunately, it is this bitch,’ he cursed inwardly.

However, an even bigger blow followed. Russell had a sulky expression as he followed them in. Suddenly, he saw a graceful figure walking out from the corner of his eye.

The woman was a bit old but attracted more men’s attention than a young girl. Russell quickly recognized her because he had seen her on the news before. This woman was Moon, the wife of the owner of Blue Moon Lounge’s lady boss.

No wonder they wouldn’t talk about her without mentioning her powerful backer when they were drunk. With her outstanding temperament and pretty face, it would be strange if she didn’t have a backer.

Russell could not help but think of Yolanda. She was in prison and he needed a woman by his side. Moon was his type.

However, he was not qualified to hit on such a woman. He had to wait until the Justalion Group could make a comeback.

Russell tried his best to suppress the desire in his eyes. He was even more determined to revive the Justalion Group.

At this moment, he was surprised to see Moon walking towards him with a face full of joy.

Chapter 629

Ever since Yolanda went to prison, Russell hadn’t had sex. He now instantly became excited.

‘Could it be that I’m Moon’s type?’ he wondered lustfully. Russell was indeed very handsome when he was young. Otherwise, Wilona, the woman of many men’s dreams back then, would not have married him. He became confident and quickly thought about how to talk to Moon later.

Melody also saw Moon walking over. When Melody saw the look in Russell’s eyes, she guessed what he was thinking. She felt disgusted and looked away.

Russell saw Moon getting closer and closer. He was so excited.

At this moment, Moon was finally in front of him. “Mo-” Before Russell could finish pronouncing her name, Moon had already walked past him and held Melody’s hand enthusiastically.

“Melody, you’re finally here! If you were one minute late, the specialty dishes I specially asked the chef to make for you would have turned cold,” Moon said.

Only then did Russell realize that Moon was not here for him, but for Melody.

When Moon passed by him, she did not even glance at him. He was thinking too much just now.

Russell stood rooted to the ground, consumed by embarrassment and anger. ‘Damn it! Why is this bitch again?’ he cursed inwardly.

Russell narrowed his eyes and glared at Melody. She noticed it but pretended not to see anything. She smiled and said, “Thank you so much, Moon.”

“No problem.” Moon tapped Melody’s forehead and said, “I’m more than glad to have you here. Next time, you don’t have to call the restaurant’s number for a reservation. Just call me. I know you have my phone number.

“Fortunately, I was right behind the door at that time. We have so many guests here as it’s fully booked. If I hadn’t canceled the reservation for someone, you might not have been able to eat here.”

It was difficult to book a private room at Blue Moon Lounge. Melody knew this so she made a reservation call on the way here.

However, when she heard Moon’s words, she suddenly realized something. Russell’s reservation was successful at first, but Moon canceled it after Melody’s call and left the best private room Russell had booked for her.

By chance, Moon retaliated against Russell for Melody. Russell was not stupid. He also realized this and his eyes turned red from anger.

However, Melody was familiar with Moon and Mason’s guest of honor. Although Russell was angry, there was nothing he could do. He just swallowed his anger.

“Oh, right.” Melody started introducing Mason and Ruby to Moon. When Moon heard they were friends, she immediately greeted Mason and Ruby.

Moon was famous. Mason and Ruby were honored to receive her warm welcome.

After greeting Mason and Ruby, Moon noticed Russell. “And this is?” she asked.

Russell quickly put away his emotions and was about to introduce himself, but Melody said lightly, “Oh, don’t mind him.”

Russell choked. Before he could say anything, Moon led Melody to the private room. He couldn’t believe they just ignored him.

Russell was so angry. To get Melody back for this, he could only secretly text Mabel to order her to bring Ulric over quickly. However, he got no reply, which made him angrier.

Unlike Russell, the others were in a good mood. Moon welcomed them warmly, didn’t charge Melody, and even gave them a bottle of expensive red wine.

Even after Moon left the private room to greet the other guests, Russell was still angry. He didn’t come to his senses until Mason asked him why he was here today. Now Russell remembered he had business to do.

Russell hurriedly stood up and took the initiative to pour wine for Mason. He then filled Ruby’s drink before speaking humbly.

“President Taylor, you’re a smart person. You must know why I came. I’ll get straight to the point,” Russell said.

Mason said patiently, “Go ahead.”

“I want to expand the business of the Justalion Group, so I need a lot of money to buy and expand clothing processing factories. I wonder if you can make an exception and let your subordinates make things easier for me.”

The bank owned by Mason was the largest in Halcyon, excluding the four major banks.

Moreover, Mason was very influential in the banking industry in Silverlake. As long as he was willing to express his stance, Russell’s loans from other banks would be approved as soon as possible. Then Russell would obtain funds faster.

Mason raised his eyebrows slightly. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Melody did not say anything, so he only said, “Mr. Fox, you

borrowed money from me a year ago. You haven’t even paid it off. Now, you want me to approve more loans. This puts me in a difficult position.”

Russell hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be able to pay it off very soon, including what I’m asking for now. I’m going to work with the Swanson Group soon. There will be enough cash, once I get the orders and the goods are delivered.”

As Russell spoke, he took out a small exquisite box made of sandalwood. “This is a small token of my appreciation. It’s for your unborn child. Please accept it,” Russell said.

Mason did not even look at what was in the box. He asked in a businesslike manner, “How much do you want to borrow?”

“Not much, just like this.” Russell extended eight fingers to suggest the number.

“8 million dollars? You can use your house as collateral.”

“No, no, no.” Russell hurriedly said, “It’s not 8 million dollars. It’s 80 million dollars.”

“What?” Amused, Mason continued, “With your company’s current qualifications, even if you use the entire company as collateral, you can’t get a loan of 80 million dollars. Do you think I can lend you that much just because you said you’re about to cooperate with the Swanson Group? Mr. Fox, are you joking with me?”

“I’m not joking…” Russell panicked and suggested without thinking, “If you don’t like this little gift, I can promise you a portion of the dividends after the goods are sold.”

Mason looked at Melody again. Seeing her eating and not looking up,

he simply rejected Russell. “Don’t try to trick me. Our bank can’t lend you 80 million dollars. Find someone else.”

“Well…” Russell did not expect Mason to be so difficult to talk to.

Mason was right about Russell’s company. Russell had already mortgaged everything else to other banks. There was nothing that could be mortgaged for 80 million dollars.

However, Russell had already signed the acquisition contracts for those factories. The payment was due soon. If Mason refused to lend, what would he do? At this moment, Melody suddenly put down her fork.

Chapter 630

This action caused the other three people in the private room to look at Melody.

Only then did Russell remember that Melody was also in the private room. His mind raced as he guessed, ‘Melody is Mason and his wife’s guest. So Mason might listen to Melody, right?’

With the idea in mind, Russell said coaxingly and threateningly, “Melody, you’re my daughter. Let’s put aside old enmities, okay? You know President Taylor and his wife well. Come on and say something for me. You know I’m not the kind of person who can’t repay his loan.

“When the matter is over, I’ll bring you home. I’m always worried about a young lady like you living alone outside. When you get home, I’ll definitely make it up to you double.”

In other words, as long as Melody got this done, he would let bygones be bygones and welcome her home. Otherwise, she would have nothing to do with the Fox family anymore.

Unfortunately, Melody did not care about any of this. From the moment she signed the agreement to cut all ties with him, she had never thought of renewing their relationship.

She would go back to the Fox family sooner or later, not as Russell’s daughter, but as head of the Fox family.

Her mother bought the house where he now lived. Of course, Melody had to take it back from Russell. In front of the Mason couple,

Melody did not need to beat around the bush.

So she said bluntly, “If you want me to help you, I have a condition.”

“Name it,” Russell replied.

“I want Yolanda’s the Justalion Group shares.”

As far as Melody knew, Yolanda held 15 percent of the Justalion Group shares. Russell’s shares would belong to Melody sooner or later, but the shares in Yolanda’s hands were hard to get.

After all, Yolanda saw her as a thorn in her side. She wanted to get rid of Melody as soon as possible. In addition, Yolanda had nothing to lose now. It was impossible for her to give Melody the shares.

Therefore, Melody could only use this special method. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to dine with Russell. She would feel disgusted just by looking at him.

“You… want Yolanda’s shares?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Melody answered.

Russell was slightly stunned as he fell into deep thought. He had long planned to divorce Yolanda. It wouldn’t do him harm if he used Melody to get his shares back.

When Mason saw the hesitation in Russell’s eyes, he expressed his stance under Ruby’s urging gaze.

“If Miss Fox can vouch for you verbally, I can do you a favor,” Mason said.

After hearing Mason’s words, Russell was less hesitant, quickly rolling his eyes.

‘What Melody has is mine, right? She’s a smart girl, but what can she do to me? Ken will protect her for a while, but not forever. Moreover, she is still weak. Once Mabel gets married, Ramon will force Ken to divorce Melody. Then without Ken’s protection, Melody will still have to listen to me, Russell thought.

After much consideration, Russell nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll

transfer Yolanda’s shares to you as soon as possible. Please keep your word, President Taylor.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t go back on my word,” Mason said.

Russell heaved a sigh of relief and continued to pour wine for Mason. “President Taylor, do as you please. I’ll drain this one.”

He drained his glass as if it wasn’t wine he was drinking but a chance to make a comeback.

Mason took a sip of wine in response and turned to take care of Ruby, who had a bad appetite.

Ruby did not try meat or fish and would frown when she saw anything greasy. She stopped after having a few bites of vegetables.

When Melody saw that, Melody could not help but remind her, “The baby in your belly needs nutrition. No matter what, you have to eat something. Even if the baby is fine, you will starve yourself.”

Hearing that, Ruby barely managed to eat more vegetables. But Ruby was now pregnant. This bit of food was obviously not enough. Mason saw this and was anxious. He looked at Melody for help.

Melody thought for a moment and stood up. “My cooking skills are not bad. I’ll go to the kitchen to cook a dish for Ruby. She might like it.”

Ruby replied embarrassedly, “No, I don’t want to trouble you. I heard that morning sickness doesn’t last long. I’ll be fine after it ends.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just making a dish. If you like it later, I’ll write down the recipe for you. You can get the chef at home to make it for you.”

“But…”

“It’s okay. I’ll go to the kitchen now.”

“Hey, Melody…”

Ruby hurriedly stood up to stop her. Mason was also very embarrassed and blocked Melody’s path.

“Miss Fox, you’ve already helped us a lot. Without you, I might have lost my eyesight, and we don’t know when the morning sickness will pass. I can’t trouble you with this again,” Mason said.

“It’s just a dish. It’s nothing,” Melody replied.

“Miss Fox, please!”

“That’s right, Melody. If you continue like this, I’ll feel so indebted that I won’t come and see you again,” Ruby said.

Ruby and Mason were extremely determined. Melody could only sit back down.

Russell said ingratiatingly, “Yeah, Melody, Mrs. Taylor doesn’t even like the dishes cooked by the chef here, let alone your cooking. Don’t work for nothing. Come, have a chicken drumstick.”

He obsequiously picked up a chicken drumstick and placed it on Melody’s plate. However, in the next second, Melody pushed away the plate and pressed the call button. “Please get me another dinner set,” she called out.

She didn’t even want to touch the things Russell had touched. This was simply an open humiliation to him.

Russell was furious but could only laugh dryly and find an excuse for himself. “So Melody, you don’t like chicken drumsticks. I’ll remember it.”

Melody didn’t even glance at him. This made Russell even more furious. Although he had achieved his goal, he still felt terrible.

‘Damn it, Mabel is such an idiot. She actually didn’t bring Ulric over. If Ulric were here, Melody wouldn’t have dared to give me a hard time, Russell cursed inwardly.

Russell had been having a hard time throughout the meal. Now it finally ended.

“President Taylor, let me send you back,” he offered.

“No, my driver is already waiting outside,” Mason said coolly. Then he smiled and asked Melody, “Miss Fox, do you need us to send you back?”

“My driver drove me here. Don’t worry about me. Hurry up and go back. It’s almost autumn. Don’t let Ruby catch a cold,” Melody replied.

“Alright, I’ll look for you when I learn the specific date from Insterimond.”

“Okay, bye.” Melody waved goodbye to them. James happened to drive over.

Russell quickly walked closer and said, “Melody, don’t go to your clinic. Come home and stay. It’s still more comfortable at home than outside.”

Melody was amused. “Mr. Fox, you’re so forgetful. We are no longer father and daughter. I’ll be disgusted by myself if I go back and stay, okay?”

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Chapter 621

With Rodney around, Melody didn’t ask any more questions.

Fortunately, Rodney said goodbye after coming to the parking lot. “Miss Fox, you must be tired today. I have to go back and rest well. It’s too tiring. You should go back and rest well too. Also, Mr. Swanson, thank you for today.”

Ken nodded slightly in response.

However, Rodney did not care about Ken’s cold attitude. If not for Melody, Ken would not even need to look at him.

He was already very satisfied.

Soon, Rodney got into the car and left.

After Melody watched Rodney drive away, she could not help but ask Ken curiously, “Why aren’t you saying anything? What are you thinking?”

Ken suddenly looked up at her with an extremely serious expression. “I don’t agree with you.”

“What?” Melody was confused.

“You just said that the three of them are stupid. I don’t agree.” Ken said.

Melody was even more confused. “Why not?”

Ken was silent for two seconds before saying, “I agree with what you said about that Gerard being stupid. It’s just that Oliver and Miranda are both willing to sacrifice for the person they love, so they’re not stupid.”

Melody laughed when she heard that. She asked, “Not stupid? Then why did they do that? Because they were deeply in love with someone?”

“Right.” Ken agreed.

Melody’s eyes widened in shock. She had always felt that Ken was the same as her. He was the kind of person who regarded love as a burden and only fought for the goal in his heart.

But now, Ken sounded quite treasure love.

“You don’t think… love is important, do you?” Melody asked.

“Of course,” Ken answered.

Melody choked again. She could not help but ask, “If you were Oliver and your beloved wanted you to endure humiliation for decades for someone else, would you agree to her suggestion like him?”

“I don’t know if this was Miranda’s suggestion or not, but if I were Oliver, I would take the initiative to suggest it, but my solution might be different from his. Similarly, I wouldn’t let my woman suffer like that.” Ken said.

Melody’s eyes trembled slightly. “Do you mean that if you love someone, you will give up everything just like Oliver?”

“Of course. Loving someone means giving up everything for her or him. Otherwise, what love is there to talk about? Liking someone is different from loving someone.” He met her gaze and said extremely seriously, “If I love someone, I’ll be like Oliver and spend my lifetime with her without hesitation and forever. I won’t hesitate even if I have to go through a lot of trouble. As long as that person is worthy of my love.”

Melody suddenly felt that Ken’s gaze was a little hot. It was so hot that she did not dare to look at him directly.

At the same time, she felt uncomfortable.

However, this discomfort was different from ordinary discomfort. It was even more touching, the kind that made her very afraid.

She was afraid that she would be convinced by Ken to fall in love with someone again.

In her previous life, she was a fool like Miranda. She was willing to suffer anything for Ulric, but what happened in the end?

Loving someone was too scary. The price she paid made her not dare to love anyone again.

But Miranda was luckier than her. At least, she had Oliver, who was willing to give everything for her.

As for Melody… she had been betrayed by everyone. Even the relatives she had once acknowledged were looking forward to her death day and night.

Melody closed her eyes and said with a heavy heart, “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s go. We still have to take a look at Seventeen.”

Ken wanted to say something, but when he saw the fatigue in her eyes, he swallowed his words.

Forget it. There would be plenty of opportunities to confess in the future. Now was not the right time.

Moreover, they still had a long way to go in the future. He was not in a hurry to scare her.

Soon, the two of them went to see Seventeen. Seventeen’s wounds had all been treated, but he needed to recuperate for at least half a month.

Seeing Ken, Seventeen struggled to sit up from the bed. Melody quickly pressed down on his shoulder.

“Don’t move! You can’t move around now. It’s best if you don’t get out of bed for the next few days. We’ll find a nurse to take care of you.” Melody said.

Seventeen was about to speak when he suddenly felt Ken’s cold gaze. He quickly said, “It’s okay, Miss Fox. This injury is really nothing to me. I can work normally tomorrow.”

“Don’t force yourself. You can’t help me much in this state. We’ll talk about it after you recover.” Melody said.

Seventeen did not dare to answer. He glanced sideways at Ken.

Ken then said, “Listen to her.”

“Yes!” Seventeen did not dare to have any objections and lay down obediently.

“Seventeen’s identity is special. He can’t be hospitalized. Can he rest in Herbathrive?” Ken asked.

“Yes.” Melody nodded. “We have a ward. We can let him go to Herbathrive and rest there. It’s also convenient for me to take care of him.”

“Alright, let’s do that. James…” Ken called James.

James immediately understood. He walked forward and said, “I’ll arrange for someone to move him to Herbathrive now.”

“Good.” Ken nodded slightly and said, “Let’s go and eat. It’s time to eat.”

When James heard this, he quickly mustered his courage and reminded Ken, “Mr. Swanson, the board of directors is still waiting for you to go back and continue the meeting. Do you think…”

“Let them disperse,” Ken replied.

“Yes.” James did not dare to say anything else. He took his phone and went out.

Melody looked at Ken in shock. “You came over before you were done?”

“I was just telling them about my arrangements after taking office. I’ve already made most of the arrangements before coming over. There’s no need to go back.” Ken said.

Moreover, it might be a good choice to give them a cold shoulder.

Ken’s guess was correct.

His sudden departure in the middle of the meeting frightened the directors who had not cooperated at first.

Although on the surface, Ramon seemed to be more inclined to let Ulric take over the company in the future, Ken was the son of Ramon and his first wife.

Ken should be the heir.

No one could be sure who would take over the position of the chairman in the future when Ramon retired.

As time passed, Ken still did not appear. The more they waited, the more terrified they became. They began to consider their escape route.

Previously, the plan they had prepared was to stall time and let Ken have no real power. Maybe, they had to change their plans.

The few of them exchanged glances and finally decided to give up on making things difficult for Ken for the time being.

At the same time, the news that Regina was brought to the police station for review also reached the ears of Ulric and Jennie.

Before the news came, the two of them were discussing how to rope in the other malicious doctors.

“Actually, many of them escaped from Quentin back then, but most of them were not powerful. But now, many of them have developed. It’s the best time to rope them in.” Jennie said.

Ulric saw through Jennie’s true thoughts at a glance. “You took the initiative to look for me and offered to treat my leg disease. You didn’t do that for your own future and money, but to strengthen the team of malicious doctors, right?”

Having her thoughts exposed, Jennie was not in a hurry. She smiled and said, “Mr. Swanson, you are really smart. However, strengthening malicious doctors is good for me and also good for you. Malicious doctors are no less useful than an army. In the future, if you want to get rid of anyone, I can do the job for you with an order. There’s no need to plan as hard as you did in the past.”

Chapter 622

Jennie kept persuading Ulric to help her rope in all malicious doctors of Halcyon.

Back then, when she just returned to the country, she did not know about the situation in Silverlake, so she chose a rich but powerless man. Now that Melody had taken him down, Jennie benefited and rode on Ulric’s coattails.

Jennie knew that as long as Ulric agreed, she would become the leader of malicious doctors. She might even change the situation where people hated malicious doctors.

‘However, the difficult part is that Ulric is very shrewd. He might not be willing to take the risk for himself, Jennie thought.

Therefore, Jennie said it all from his perspective. “Didn’t you turn the Swanson Group branch in Insterimond into Ken’s turf because of your legs? Because of the suppression, malicious doctors are now in different corners throughout Halcyon.

“If malicious doctors can revive with your help, the branch company in Insterimond will be nothing. The headquarters will be yours sooner or later. By then, I can have Ramon killed without anyone knowing if you let me.”

“Shut up!” Ulric’s expression suddenly changed drastically. “How can you say such treacherous words?”

Jennie was shocked. She had thought that Ulric didn’t care about his father’s life as long as he could achieve his goals, but he sounded like he cared.

Just as Jennie thought that she had just made a mistake, Ulric suddenly calmed down, saying, “Don’t say such things again in the future.”

Jennie was stunned to hear this. Joy filled her heart, and she did not suck up to the wrong person.

However, Ulric was so hypocritical that even he was lying to himself.

She tried hard not to smile and probed, “Then you mean to say that you’ve agreed to help me complete my grand undertaking?”

Ulric slowly lit a cigarette. The smoke hid the look in his eyes. After a while, he replied, “Halcyon has waged war on malicious doctors for a long time. With my current power, the risk of going against the police is too high… I need more time to consider it.”

‘He will consider it. It means there will be a chance, Jennie thought.

Jennie could not hide her joy as she nodded. “Understood. Take your time then.”

At this moment, Ulric’s subordinate Daniel ran in to report. He did not even knock on the door and hurriedly said, “Mr. Swanson, bad news…”

Ulric looked up coldly and said, “Knock the door!”

Daniel was so frightened that his face jiggled. He quickly retreated and knocked on the door. “Mr. Swanson, I have something urgent to report.”

Ulric’s expression softened slightly. “Come in.”

“Yes!”

“Shoot.”

Daniel glanced sideways at Jennie and said, “Ms. Taylor’s daughter was arrested by the police.”

“What? Who called the police to arrest her? Was it the director of First Hospital?” Jennie asked. She was shocked but not too worried.

This was because her first guess was that Regina had been caught pretending to be a miracle doctor, so First Hospital had called the police.

Jennie thought it was not a big deal. Ulric could settle it with a word. However, Daniel’s words disappointed her.

“First Hospital called the police, but as soon as she was brought to the police station, she was taken away by the Special Task Force.”

The Special Task Force was specially set up in Halcyon to capture and crack down on malicious doctors.

This force could go over the superior’s head and directly arrest people. They did not need to ask any department for permission. Their authority was much higher than the police’s. The people they captured were basically all related to malicious doctors.

Jennie’s face instantly turned pale.

Ulric looked very unhappy. “What happened?” he asked in detail.

Daniel immediately briefed him on the situation. In the end, he gritted his teeth and glared at Jennie. “Ms. Taylor, your daughter was very reckless. She actually said Mr. Swanson’s name in front of the police.”

Jennie’s legs went weak and she fell to her knees before Ulric. “Mr. Swanson, I know my daughter is stupid, but she wouldn’t have the guts to expose you,” she said.

Ulric did not even glance at Jennie. He continued to ask Daniel. “What’s their attitude towards me?”

“We don’t have any people in the Special Task Force, and their department is impregnable, so I can’t get any useful information. However, Regina only mentioned your name once. Due to your status, they won’t come looking for you for the time being. But I’m afraid… they’ll start investigating you sooner or later.”

With a crack, Ulric crushed the coffee cup in his hand. His hand bled and blood dripped onto the floor.

Jennie was even more terrified and could not stop trembling. It wasn’t easy for her to convince Ulric to help her with her undertaking. Unexpectedly, it was all ruined by Regina.

“Jennie, is this how you teach your daughter?” Ulric asked.

“I-” She didn’t know what to say in response.

“You want me to help you get what you want? Do you think you’re worthy of my help?”

“Mr. Swanson, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for not educating her well. I…” In her panic, she gritted her teeth and added, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”

Ulric narrowed his eyes. “It’s also my fault for indulging you too much recently. However, don’t forget that you’re not the only one who can treat my leg in the entire country. If this isn’t handled well, you know the consequences.”

Jennie trembled again and bowed.

Daniel mustered his courage and asked, “Mr. Swanson, about this incident… what’s the next step?”

“We can’t touch the Special Task Force, or we’ll attract their attention. We can only wait and see. But we have to think of a way to suppress the news. We can’t let my father learn it,” Ulric answered.

“But…” Daniel said awkwardly, “Ken and Melody were both present at that time. If they want to leak the news, I’m afraid we can’t hide it.”

“What? You can’t even do such a small thing?”

Ulric’s question made Daniel tremble. Daniel’s mind raced. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Then he suggested uncertainly, “Ken has always wanted his mother’s Pearly Antiques. I wonder if we can use this to exchange with him.”

Ulric’s face darkened at his idea. Pearly Antiques was the leader in the industry and had connections with antique-loving bigwigs from all walks of life. So giving it back to Ken would be a loss to Ulric.

“That’s the plan for now. Give him a hint,” Ulric ordered.

It was not a bad thing to give in at the right time. Ulric was wise enough to make such a choice.

“Yes,” Daniel replied and carefully walked out.

Ulric looked down coldly at Jennie who was kneeling on the ground.

“Let me give you a piece of advice. Only the dead don’t betray anyone. If you want to achieve your goal, you have to make a choice,” he said.

The implication was clear. She had to choose between the undertaking of reviving malicious doctors and Regina.

Jennie was usually strict with Regina, but Regina was her biological daughter. Jennie felt torn as it was an extremely difficult choice to make.

Ulric was not in a hurry. He took another cup of coffee and drank it slowly.

Chapter 623

Jennie knew that Ulric was waiting for her answer. In just a few minutes, she thought of all the humiliation she had suffered over the years because of Halcyon’s suppression of malicious doctors, including her husband who had been sentenced to death.

However, then she thought of Regina as a cute and sweet little girl. She often despised Regina for being stupid, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t love Regina.

She had never given up on Regina, though Regina had no talent in medicine and never had the potential to be a malicious doctor.

If that hadn’t been the case, she wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to get Regina to pretend to be the miracle doctor and go to First Hospital to train.

The pressure was driving Jennie crazy. She couldn’t make a choice.

Just as she was in extreme torture, Ulric’s voice came. “Ms. Taylor, do you think that Regina will be fine if you do nothing?” he said faintly.

Jennie froze. Then Ulric continued, “When the time comes, you will also be in trouble. However, if you want to die with her, of course, you can sit back. I will erect a monument for you and name it The Mother’s Love.”

Jennie gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly.

The only official sentence for malicious doctors was death. Jennie thought, ‘I can’t die. I promised my late husband that I would revive malicious doctors. The plan has yet to begin. I can’t die just like that.’

Gritting her teeth, she finally said, “I’ve made up my mind, Mr. Swanson. However, even a mosquito can’t enter the base of the Special Task Force. Before the matter is settled, they won’t let anyone visit. I’m afraid I won’t have the chance to do anything.”

Ulric’s thin lips curved into a smile. “I didn’t misjudge you, Ms. Taylor. Don’t worry. I’ll find a chance for you. You just have to do it. As long as you do a good job, I’ll agree to your grand plan. Also, as you heard, the ones who sent your daughter in are Melody and Ken. As long as you serve me honestly, I will avenge your daughter for you.”

Jennie nodded and said, “Thank you, Mr. Swanson.”

At the same time, Ken brought Melody to Blue Moon Lounge for dinner. It was still the same private room as last time. Moon was as welcoming as ever and even gave her a bracelet.

At a glance, Melody knew the bracelet must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. She was surprised and stood up to decline politely. “Moon, I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”

Moon smiled, put the bracelet on her wrist, and said, “It’s not for nothing. Didn’t you promise me something last time? Consider it a thank-you gift.”

Melody suddenly remembered it. Moon had asked her to take care of Ken in the future because Moon had a terminal illness. To reassure Moon, Melody could only accept the bracelet.

“Thank you,” Melody said.

“You deserve it,” Moon replied.

Coincidentally, there was a mistake in the kitchen. The waiter came over and called Moon to help out.

Moon winked at Melody and sashayed away. Melody couldn’t help but wonder if she really had a terminal illness.

However, she thought that Moon had no reason to lie to her. Moreover, normal people would not make such a lie. So Melody put away her doubts and thought that Moon was pretending to be strong. After all, heavy makeup could indeed hide one’s complexion.

As soon as Moon left, Ken asked, “What did you promise her?”

Melody smiled and said, “Nothing. It’s just something between girls. You shouldn’t ask about it.”

Ken nodded and reminded her, “She’s not like others. Don’t be bribed by a bracelet. If you have any difficulties, just tell me. Don’t worry about her.”

“I don’t have any difficulties.” She promised Moon that she would keep the secret. Melody was afraid that Ken would ask more questions, so she quickly changed the topic. “When Regina was taken away, she mentioned Ulric. I wonder if she can drag him down with her.”

She and Ken had reached a consensus on how to deal with Ulric since the fire at the youth center. Ulric was an evil man and always got away.

Even before that fire, Ken had never taken Ulric seriously. Ken continued to stay in the Swanson family only to take back his mother’s Pearly Antiques.

‘But now looks like that guy doesn’t deserve to live at all, Ken thought.

As long as Ulric was still alive, countless people would be in trouble. People like Sid that Ken cared about would be in danger, so Ken changed his mind afterward. However, Regina alone couldn’t guarantee Ulric’s fall.

“You don’t know him well enough. His foundation won’t be affected by such a small incident. However, it will leave him with a less important place in his father’s heart. That’s a good thing. Then this is not a waste of time,” Melody said.

Melody wanted to tell Ken that she knew Ulric much better than him.

But then she thought, ‘Back then, I gave Ulric all my love but he always kept me in the dark. As an outsider, Ken sees things much clearer than me.’

She might not know Ulric as well as Ken, so she grunted with mixed feelings.

Ken frowned when he saw that she was not in a good mood. “What’s your relationship with Ulric? Why do you look so upset every time he’s mentioned?” Ken asked.

He had long wanted to ask this question but he just couldn’t do it. Whenever he remembered that Ulric was supposed to marry Melody, he found it even harder to ask it.

“What relationship can we have?” Melody pretended to smile and said, “If there is anything, then he is my enemy.”

Ken looked at her deeply and said with a strange expression, “You’re not good at lying. But it doesn’t matter. When you want to say it, I’m here for you.”

Melody opened her mouth but did not say anything in the end.

‘Rebirth is something people refuse to believe. If I say it out loud, he will take me for a lunatic. If I tell others and they believe it, I’ll end up worse. The authorities will take me and have me dissected. So I should keep this secret to myself,’ Melody thought.

“By the way, there’s one more thing I think it’s better to tell you.” As Ken spoke, he naturally picked up a chicken wing and placed it on her plate. If Melody refused it, it would make her look like she was making a fuss.

She forked the chicken wing and asked, “What is it?”

“Do you still remember Pamela?”

“Of course, Mabel’s follower. However, after the incident with the stall owner from the black market, her relationship with Mabel also

became distant.” Melody paused and asked, “Is there any movement from the Clark family?”

Melody had ruined the collaboration between the Clark family and the Swanson Group and slapped Pamela’s face time and time again. Troy and Pamela would let her off easily.

However, she had not heard from Troy and Pamela for too long. If Ken had not mentioned them, she would not have thought of them.

Ken nodded and said, “Yes, Troy is making a move.”

Chapter 624

Melody had never seen Troy and Mabel as her match. Melody didn’t make trouble but she was not afraid of it and never underestimated her enemy.

If she took her enemies too lightly, she would be ambushed by the hidden ones easily. A minor damage might not be fatal, but it was upsetting enough.

“What did he do?” Melody asked. Seeing Ken’s expression, she supposed it wasn’t a big problem.

As expected, Ken said calmly, “That guy didn’t know that you and the Fox family had already reached the point of war, so he made the Fox family his primary target. Of course, it’s also possible that he didn’t know about our relationship and thought that the Fox family was your best escape.”

Melody had a wicked smile. “He wants to deal with the Fox family?”

“Yes, to be precise, he wants to deal with the Justalion Group. My men noticed that he has been very close to a few designers of the Justalion Group recently. Originally, I didn’t need to tell you about this little thing, but when I thought of the fact that your mother built the company, I decided to ask your opinion.”

“He’s very close to those designers… Looks like he wants to start with them and then take down the Justalion Group.”

“That’s right. The company is now relying on the designers that had studied under your mother back then. If they also switch sides with Troy, I’m afraid the company will soon shut down.”

“Does Russell know about this?”

Ken shook his head. “That guy saw that I was getting closer to you and turned to Ulric. He wanted Ulric to come forward and get the Swanson Group to work with him. Now that he’s busy expanding his factory, how can he have the mood to pay attention to his rivals?”

“Yeah, Russell is smart, but greed has blinded him.” Melody pondered for a moment and continued, “Don’t do anything for now. Just keep an eye on him. If they fight each other, I might be able to reap the benefits in the end.”

“I agree. Don’t worry. I’ll continue to have my men keep an eye on things.”

“Thanks a lot.”

As soon as she said that, Ken frowned and then reminded her, “I’ve said it many times. You don’t need to say thanks to me.”

“Alright.” Melody shrugged and replied, “As a thank-you gift, I’ll treat you to a meal today.”

“That’s fine.” Ken pressed the service bell. “Bring me the most expensive wine in the shop.”

‘Damned businessman! He’s going to bankrupt me, Melody cursed inwardly. The meal cost her 40,000 dollars.

Just as she was about to pay, the cashier told her, “Mr. Swanson is also one of the bosses of Blue Moon Lounge, so we don’t charge you.”

Melody’s expression froze. She took a few steps to the door and glared at Ken. “Alright, you played me,” she complained, pouting.

Ken looked at Melody’s bulging cheeks and suddenly felt that she was like a little hamster. Without thinking, he pinched her face with his right hand.

“You fool. How can I let you pay for it?” he said.

Melody missed Ken’s words as she felt her back stiffen. ‘Isn’t this guy obsessed with cleanliness? Since when has he liked to touch people?’ she complained inwardly, but her heart was pounding again.

“Let’s go.” Ken opened the car door and gestured for her to get in first.

After Melody sat inside, she realized that Ken still had to make a trip back to the Swanson Group headquarters.

“Just get back to work. Don’t worry about me,” she said quickly.

Ken nodded and told her to be careful again before getting into another car and leaving.

James would send Melody back. She looked at him and asked about Sid. At the mention of Sid, James immediately beamed with joy.

“He’s recovering quite well now. The doctor said that he’d probably wake up in a few days. This is all thanks to you, Miss Fox. If not for your acupuncture technique that woke him up and you stopping Mr. Quant, I’m afraid he would have been tricked again,” James said.

“I’m happy that he’s recovering well. The sooner he recovers, the sooner he can undergo the second surgery. After the second surgery, he’ll be completely out of danger,” Melody replied.

James grunted in response. Seeing Ken’s car already driving in the opposite direction, he quickly asked gossipily, “Miss Fox, what you said before… that your treatment might make him impotent. Is it true?”

Although Melody had married someone in her previous life, she was still a virgin. Even though she was a doctor, she still felt a little uncomfortable when someone mentioned this kind of thing.

She covered her nose and cleared her throat awkwardly. “I made it sound a little serious at that time. It’s not to the extent of impotence, but it decreases his sex drive for sure.

James gloated and clicked his tongue. “That’s not a bad thing. It might even help Mr. Quant stop messing around and find true love. He won’t have to get new girlfriends all the time.”

Melody shrugged. “If we look at it this way, it’s actually a good thing.” However, she was not a man, so only Sid’s experience would count.

“Oh, Miss Fox, should we return to Serenity Villa or…?”

“Take me to Reply Herbathrive.”

“Yes,” James replied. It was noon peak, and it took them about an hour to get to the entrance of Herbathrive.

Melody first helped the doctors check on a few patients they were not confident about. She was too busy to take a break until almost four in the afternoon.

She checked her account balance online and did some maths. After deduction, there were 180 million dollars left.

The money came from the order she took at the black market forum, the proceeds from the sale of the residence she had bought, and the 20 million dollars that Ramon gave her to make her leave Ken.

There were also rewards from the families of the children she had saved at the youth center. It was 100 million dollars in total. She had to return the money but she hadn’t had the time.

Melody called David over and asked him to go to the bank to help her make the transfer. It was too much money. It could not be done on the phone.

When David heard the transfer amount, his legs went weak. “M-Miss Fox, why don’t… I get two tall and strong people to come with me?”

Melody smiled as she gave him the routing numbers and some documents in case he needed them. “Up to you.”

“Then, I’ll go now.” David turned around and left. His footsteps were unusually steady.

Melody’s smile gradually disappeared. Earning money was not difficult for her, a reborn woman.

She could have bought stocks or continued to invest in real estate, but she wanted to earn money through hard work. She would not take that shortcut unless necessary.

This was not because Melody had better morals, but because the shortcut would easily arouse others’ suspicion. Since she planned to keep her rebirth to herself, she could not make money that way often.

Moreover, she felt that although she did not say it, Ken might have already guessed something. But she couldn’t find anything to confirm it. Melody wasn’t sure if Ken would treat her as a monster once he had proof.

Melody stopped thinking about it and transferred some money to Colin. Soon, Colin called to ask about the money.

Chapter 625

Melody held her phone and explained, “Previously, I took Deathtenaire from you, but you refused to accept the money. I’ve been thinking about it…”

“I was wondering why. So it’s this. You’ve been working so hard for Herbathrive recently. I’m not a petty person. I’ll give the money back to you.”

“Don’t.” Melody hastened to add, “If you don’t accept it, I won’t be able to sleep well every night.”

“You’re really…” Colin had no choice but to accept the money.

They chatted for a while about Beverly’s illness and what had happened in Herbathrive before hanging up. In another half a month, Colin and Beverly would be back. She would be a little free.

At this moment, David ran back. “What happened?” Melody asked him.

“Miss Fox, the dean from First Hospital sent some documents over,” he replied.

Melody took the document bag and took a look. She was surprised to find that there were several share transfer contracts inside..

She quickly scanned them and found that Oliver had transferred almost all the fixed assets under his name to her.

‘No way! What the hell? These fixed assets and shares combined are worth more than 180 million dollars in my bank account, Melody thought in shock.

Melody quickly asked David, “Where is Oliver?”

David looked at the documents in her hand curiously. He scratched his head and answered, “He left after handing it to me. Miss Fox, what’s wrong? What’s this?”

“Don’t worry about that for now. Go get him back.”

“Yes.” David turned around and ran out.

However, Oliver had already left. David ran back, panting, and said he couldn’t catch Oliver up.

Melody tried to call Oliver, only to find the number no longer in use. Helpless, she had no choice but to ask David to go to the bank for her. Then she called Gerard.

Gerard answered it very quickly, and Miranda’s voice came from the other end of the phone, asking, “Gerard, when can you perform this surgery?”

Gerard gestured for Miranda to wait for a moment. He held his phone tightly and asked, “Melody, what is it?”

Melody told him about Oliver. Gerard was also shocked for a moment before he spoke again.

“He probably doesn’t want to stay in Silverlake anymore. It’s just that I didn’t expect… He left without even saying goodbye to us.”

Melody asked tentatively, “Has the misunderstanding between you and Ms. Gill been resolved?”

“Yes, it has been a sham marriage, between her and him. An hour ago, they just got a divorce.”

Melody completely understood.

Miranda made up with Gerard, and Oliver became an outsider. There was no longer a place for Oliver in Silverlake. He was indeed a pitiful person.

So what could love do to people? It brought more harm than sweetness, right?

Melody’s eyes narrowed as she got down to business. “But I can’t keep these things. Can you pass your phone to Miranda?”

“Okay,” Gerard said.

Gerard briefly told Miranda what had happened. Miranda immediately called Oliver. No one answered, so she could only call her adopted daughter.

However, her adopted daughter knew nothing. She only said Oliver had left a message that he was going on a business trip and asked her to go to Herbathrive or Miranda if she needed anything in the future.

A person would only leave quietly if they had made up his mind and had no attachments.

Miranda was silent for a moment before taking Gerard’s phone. “Miss Fox, thank you for saving my life,” she said.

“This is what I should do as a doctor. You don’t have to thank me. As for the things Mr. Wallrich gave me, I’ll get someone to send them to you now, right? Where are you?” Melody asked.

“I’m here…” Miranda changed the topic and said, “No need. Since it’s something he left for you, it’s yours.”

“But…”

“Miss Fox, you saved me and were misunderstood and hurt by him. He even injured your friend so badly. He must feel very sorry. He says mean things to people, but he’s actually very kind. There are two reasons for doing so. First, he is guilty and grateful; second, he trusts you. He must be very confident in you. That’s why he handed those assets to you to manage.”

“But you’re here, aren’t you? There’s no reason to leave all this to me.”

“Gerard and I originally planned to travel around the world after my surgery, but Oliver left like this and I’m worried about him. So I plan to find him with Gerard after the surgery. The three of us grew up together, so there’s no reason for us to separate now. After we find him, we might never come back.”

Melody’s expression froze slightly as she guessed, ‘Are they going to live together?’

However, Melody had nothing to do with their private life and did not want to pry. But at the request of Miranda and Gerard, she had no choice but to accept the Wallrich family’s assets.

“There’s also my adopted daughter and her daughter. After we leave, please help us take care of them. I’m a little worried about them staying home alone,” Miranda said.

Whether Miranda reminded her or not, Melody wouldn’t leave the mother and daughter unattended.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of them,” Melody replied.

“Thanks a lot.”

After the call ended, Melody thought about the assets in her hand and suddenly felt overwhelmed.

She would not accept these assets like this. She was just temporarily managing them on behalf of Oliver and Miranda’s adopted daughter to prevent Charlotte from taking them.

Melody knew Miranda’s adopted daughter and granddaughter. If Melody didn’t help, the assets would probably fall into Charlotte’s hands sooner or later.

“Alas…” Melody let out a long sigh and called James over.

“I’ll have to trouble you to help me find someone who can manage my assets. It doesn’t matter if it costs more than average, as long as this person is reliable,” she said to James.

Melody didn’t have that much time to take care of the companies and fixed assets left behind by Oliver.

In particular, Oliver’s assets were more abundant than she believed. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

James rolled his eyes and said, “Miss Fox, have you forgotten Zack, the guy you personally poached? That’s what he does. According to the company’s rules, no workers are allowed to work part-time outside. But Mr. Swanson should agree if he knows it’s you.”

His words enlightened Melody. She had forgotten about the financial genius, Zack.

She first sent a text message to Ken. After getting Ken’s approval, she called Zack. Zack agreed without hesitation and refused to charge any fees.

“That won’t do. I can’t you work for free,” Melody said over the phone.

Zack was already helping to run Ximber Tech. With the work on both sides added up, he would be extremely busy.

However, Zack refused to accept it. In the end, he made a compromise and said, “How about this? My grandfather has been talking about you. He relapses often. Why don’t you help me treat his illness in return? You can visit him more often. That would be a great help to me.”

“Alright.” Melody agreed readily, but she still secretly decided to give Zack 10% of the annual income of Oliver’s assets as dividends. This was a lot of money, even more than what Zack earned at Ximber Tech.

In the blink of an eye, the sun was already setting in the west. Melody ate directly in Herbathrive’s kitchen.

Talia’s cooking tasted as good as the dishes from restaurants. Melody was about to eat when Ruby suddenly called.

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Chapter 616

Miranda could finally see clearly. Her mind also became clear.

The first thing she did was to question the police officers. “What are you doing? Why are you pinning my husband to the ground!”

The police officers recovered from their shock.

The leading police officer quickly walked towards Miranda. After confirming that she was indeed fine, he told Miranda what had happened in the shortest possible language.

“Poisoned? Me? Poisoned?”

“That’s right.” The police officer nodded and said, “Your heart stopped beating just now. All of us saw it.”

“Then why am I still alive?” Miranda asked.

The police officer could not answer this question for a moment.

A miracle?

Or did God save her?

After being a police officer for so many years, this was the first time he had seen someone die and come back alive.

Miranda’s heart stopped beating. In the opinion of the ordinary people, she was dead.

Rodney told the truth. “Miss Fox saved her! Mrs. Wallrish has woken up. It’s enough to show that we were indeed saving her just now, not harming her! Let us go quickly!”

The police officers hesitated and subconsciously looked at Melody.

Melody did not care about her own contributions. She was not in a hurry to defend himself. Instead, she asked Miranda directly, “Mrs. Wallrich, do you still remember what happened before you fainted?”

When Regina heard this, goosebumps instantly crawled all over his body.

Reflexively, she wanted to run out.

However, Melody reacted faster than Regina. Melody had already thought of this possibility, so she took a few steps forward and tripped Regina.

“There’s something wrong with her. Get her!” Melody’s hands were handcuffed, so she could only let the police officers do it.

The police officers did not know why, but they did as Melody said and controlled Regina.

Seeing this, Melody looked at Miranda again.

The police officer in the lead also hurriedly asked, “Ms. Gill, who saw you before you fainted? Did you eat anything strange?”

Miranda didn’t lose her memory, and she wasn’t stupid.

She recalled what the police officer had said just now and saw Regina running away. She roughly understood what was going on.

She frowned and looked at Regina. She pointed at Regina and said, “Before I fainted, she gave me a pill.”

Regina’s entire body trembled. Her entire face instantly turned pale.

The police officer looked at Regina and said, “Can you be more detailed?”

Miranda nodded and continued, “I had to undergo surgery today. I

was very nervous. She was the chief surgeon for my surgery, so she came to see me. Seeing that I was nervous, she gave me that pill and said that I wouldn’t be nervous after taking it. Not long after that, I felt very dizzy… I don’t know what happened after that. I only know that I woke up and saw you guys.”

The police officer nodded and asked, “What kind of pill is it?”

“A small one. It was placed in a bottle.”

Regina quickly explained, “No! Don’t misunderstand me! That pill is really only used to stabilize her emotions. It’s not poisonous at all. I can swear to God!”

Hearing this, the police officer immediately waved his hand and ordered his subordinates, “Search her body!”

“Yes!” Other police replied.

Two of them went to search for Regina’s body. During the process, Regina was extremely uncooperative, but they still quickly found a small bottle in her pocket.

“This is it.” Miranda quickly said, “She gave me a pill in this bottle.”

The police officer said with a serious expression, “Bring it back for testing immediately!”

“Our hospital has a laboratory!” Oliver quickly said, “I can take you there.”

“We can’t let you go just yet,” one officer said. He turned to a nurse. “Take us there.”

“Okay, okay.” How could the head nurse dare to say no? She immediately brought her people to the laboratory.

However, as soon as the head nurse left, a man in his fifties entered.

“Who’s there? We’re working on a case. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter.” Immediately, a police officer wanted to stop them.

Oliver recognized the person at a glance and said with a dark face, “Gerard, why are you here?”

Gerard ignored Oliver and stuck his head out to look at the bed. Seeing that Miranda was sitting well, he heaved a sigh of relief and said to the police officer who stopped him, “I’m the director of Central Hospital, Gerard. The person on the bed… is my friend.”

When he said the word “friend”, the expression on his face was complicated. Melody noticed that Miranda’s expression had obviously changed.

She became uneasy and sad.

Melody could not help but confirm that there was indeed a huge misunderstanding between Gerard, Oliver, and Miranda.

However, the police officer still stopped Gerard. He said righteously, “You still can’t go in even if you are his friend. As long as you are not related to the case, you can’t go in. Just wait outside.”

“Well…” Gerard didn’t know what to do.

He received a call from Rodney saying that Miranda had been poisoned. He also said that the person who impersonated Melody had appeared here, so he rushed over at all costs.

Unexpectedly, he was not even qualified to enter this room.

“Gerard.” However, Rodney’s eyes lit up. He said to the police officer, “He’s not an unrelated person in this case. We called him here. We want him to prove something. That’s why he’s in this hospital.”

Upon hearing this, the other police officers asked the leading police officer for instructions and let him in.

Gerard looked at Miranda with a complicated expression. His voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible. “Are you all right?”

Miranda looked away and said emotionlessly, “I’m fine.”

“It’s good that you’re fine.” Gerard did not say anything else. His gaze landed on Melody and Rodney. When he saw that they were handcuffed, his eyes were filled with confusion. “What’s wrong with you guys?”

Rodney quickly said, “Ms. Gill has been poisoned. They suspect that we poisoned her. Mr. Williams, you have to help us explain!”

As Rodney spoke, he raised the handcuffs in his hand again. “Officer, the three of us really misunderstood. Now that she’s awake, can you unchain us first?”

The police officers hesitated for a moment. After a discussion, they undid the handcuffs on the three of them. However, before the test results were out, the three of them still could not leave.

This was because the police could not be sure that Regina was the poisoner.

Even though the situation was already very clear, they still needed evidence. They wouldn’t make random guesses.

Seventeen had long been taken for treatment. Melody could not leave to see Seventeen, so she could only wait in the ward.

Soon, the handcuffs on her and Rodney were removed. Without the restraints, Melody walked to Regina. “Regina, I don’t understand why you would poison an innocent person.”

She could understand why Regina had poisoned her. After all, she had already ruined Regina’s plans several times in a row.

But she really couldn’t understand why Regina poisoned Miranda.

Chapter 617

Regina didn’t have any grudges against Miranda or Oliver, so Regina didn’t need to take such a huge risk. However, Regina was a rather stupid person. Regina’s thoughts were different from normal people’s, so Miranda didn’t think of a reason for the time being.

Of course, Melody did not expect to get an answer from Regina when she asked this question. She only asked the question to sort out her thoughts.

After all, for someone like Regina, she wouldn’t admit her mistake before evidence was put in front of her.

As expected, Regina glared at Melody and said, “Don’t slander me! I didn’t poison Miranda! You poisoned her. Let go of me. Let go of me!”

However, the more she struggled, the tighter the police officers held her. Soon, Regina was already panting from exhaustion.

Melody straightened her back and ignored Regina.

Soon, Ken arrived with James and the others. Seventeen might have contacted Ken when he was treated.

James came forward to talk to the police, so the police officers did not dare to stop them at all. They even went forward and greeted Ken politely, “Hello, Mr. Swanson.”

When Melody heard this, she turned around and saw Ken. She was clearly stunned as she asked in surprise, “Didn’t you say that today is your first working day and you can’t leave?”

Ken, who suddenly left the meeting room, said calmly, “I just finished my work.”

Melody did not think too much about it. She nodded and said, “Seventeen should have told you what happened. We have nothing else to do now. We just have to wait for the test results to come out.”

Ken stared at her arm and frowned. “You call this fine?”

Only then did Melody remember that his hand had been cut by Oliver.

Although the wound was long, it was not deep or particularly serious. However, it was likely that a scar would be left there.

She had never cared about these things. She used her other hand to block the wound and said, “It’s just a little blood. Seventeen’s injury is much worse than mine. When the matter is over, let’s go and see him.”

Ken did not say anything. For the death warriors like Seventeen, getting injured was quite common. He was much safer after following Melody.

He took her hand and said, “You don’t have to worry about anything else. Go and treat your wound first.”

“Don’t… Wait for the test results first…” Before she could finish her sentence, Ken had already wrapped her belt around her waist and left.

Before she could finish her sentence, Ken had already held her waist and took her out.

This was a hospital, so it was very convenient to treat her wound. Under Ken’s strong request, the nurse even gave her a tetanus shot.

The tetanus shot was very painful. It was much more painful than when her arm was cut. Melody could not help but groan.

Ken’s gaze immediately turned to the nurse. He was warning the nurse with his eyes. “Do you know how to give an injection? If you don’t, find someone else.”

The young nurse, who was already frightened by Ken’s aura, was even more flustered. She quickly used a cotton swab to ease Melody’s pain.

Fortunately, the shot was over soon.

In order to ease the atmosphere, after walking out of the consultation room, Melody joked, “This tetanus shot is really not an ordinary needle. It should not be much different from the pain of giving birth.”

Unexpectedly, Ken didn’t cooperate at all. He said in a cold and deep voice, “It’s good that you know it hurts. I should let her shoot you harder so that you can remember the lesson!”

Melody choked and heard Ken say again, “You clearly promised not to put yourself in danger. Why? Are you a fish? Did you forget everything you said after sleeping for a night?”

Melody did not know where his anger came from, but she could only comfort him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect Oliver to suddenly go crazy. I won’t do it again…”

Ken snorted coldly. Fortunately, he did not continue to blame her.

It was too sudden. Nobody expected that.

When the two of them returned to the ward, Miranda could already get out of bed and walk.

However, one of her hip joints had already died, so she was limping. She looked like she was in great pain, but she still managed to walk to Oliver with the help of the head nurse.

“Officer, can you let go of my husband? I don’t know what happened when I was unconscious, but he’s really not a bad person, and he definitely won’t get involved in the poisoning.”

The police officer said in a complicated tone, “The poisoning indeed has nothing to do with him. His crime is…”

Coincidentally, the police officer saw Melody and Ken entering the door. He quickly greeted Ken and started talking about Oliver. Then, he asked on behalf of Miranda, “I wonder if the two of you will agree to deal with the matter in private…”

“I won’t accept it.” This was Ken.

“Sure.” This was Melody.

The two of them spoke almost at the same time, but their answers were completely different.

Melody could only say to Ken, “I can understand what he’s doing. We don’t need to send him in. This will be very troublesome for me. I’ll have more things to do.”

Only then did Ken relax and say, “We can settle this privately, but he must sincerely apologize.”

“He’ll apologize, honey…” Miranda pushed Oliver, who had been pulled up from the ground by the police officers.

Oliver looked embarrassed, but he was stubborn. Even though he recognized Ken, he still gritted his teeth and said, “When the results are out and it is confirmed that this matter has nothing to do with you, I will naturally apologize.”

Ken’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and a dangerous look flashed across his eyes.

Seeing this, Melody quickly went to comfort Ken. “He’s already so old. Don’t argue with him. The results should be out soon.”

Speak of the devil. The person in charge of delivering the pills had returned.

However, Melody keenly noticed that the police officer’s expression was very complicated and solemn.

She knew what was going on at a glance. This poison was definitely related to malicious doctors.

However, Melody did not say anything. If she said this on such an occasion, she would be caught up in it.

As expected, the police officer who was sent for inspection whispered to the police officer in the lead, “The result is out. And according to the preliminary judgment, only malicious doctors have such poison.”

The police officer in the lead was shocked. He thought that it would be a poisoning case at most, but he did not expect it to be more serious than he had imagined.

Malicious doctors…

This was not something a normal police station like the one he worked in could handle.

Everyone in Halcyon knew how much the higher-ups hated malicious doctors.

He went out to make a call with a pale face. When he returned, he walked to Regina with a very dark face. “The evidence of you poisoning Ms. Gill is conclusive. Come with us now!”

Obviously, the only thing the police officers could handle was the poisoning. When Regina was brought to the police station, there would be someone more authoritative who would personally examine her identity.

“No, it’s not me. No, that pill isn’t mine. You’re mistaken. Someone framed me!” Regina still refused to admit it even at this moment. She even asked Oliver for help. “Mr. Wallrich, help me! How could I poison your wife?”

Oliver could not think of a reason for this.

However, considering that Regina was a genius doctor that he had personally hired, he still said to the police officers, “Are you sure? Could there be a misunderstanding? Her name is Wilona Knowles. She’s a genius doctor that our hospital has painstakingly found…”

Gerard’s eyelids twitched when he heard this.

Chapter 618

When Gerard saw Miranda rush toward Oliver after she went out of bed, he did not say a word. His face was dark.

However, when he heard Oliver call Regina Wilona and say that she was a miracle doctor, he could not hold it in anymore. He pulled Oliver over and asked, “What did you say? You said her name is Wilona?”

Oliver still did not think that Regina was an imposter.

He also thought that Gerard was angry because Wilona was once Gerard’s employee.

He also felt a little guilty, but there was competition for talent everywhere, so he only felt guilty for a while before he regained his self-confidence and said, “That’s right. Her name is Wilona. She used to be a doctor in your hospital. However, she’s already my employee now. You can’t blame us for poaching her.”

“No… What the hell!” Gerard looked at Melody and then at Regina. He was so speechless that he laughed.

He had thought that this Wilona was not that Wilona and might have the same name. However, when he heard Oliver say that the person was poached from his hospital, he immediately understood everything.

To think that during this period of time, he had heard that the genius doctor, Wilona, had gone to First Hospital. He thought that while Melody worked in two hospitals at the same time. He felt a little unhappy.

Unexpectedly, it was all a misunderstanding!

He glanced at Melody again and gave her a guilty look.

Melody pursed her lips, indicating that she did not care about this misunderstanding. She said, “Sir, we called you over to clarify the matter of poaching. Now, it’s time to make things clear.”

Oliver was dumbfounded. He already felt that something was wrong after Gerard heard he poached Wilona.

Logically speaking, Gerard should have been angry or deliberately pretended not to care, but Gerard’s expression at that time was clearly filled with speechlessness and shock.

How could this be?

Now that he heard the conversation between Melody and Gerard, he could not hold it in anymore and asked directly, “What are you two talking about?”

He suddenly remembered what Rodney had said before the police came. Rodney said that the person he had poached was an imposter. He immediately felt even more uneasy.

The next second, Gerard looked at him and said, “Oliver, you’re really stupid. Didn’t you investigate carefully that this woman isn’t Wilona at all?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t try to anger me on purpose! I don’t believe it!” Although Oliver had already begun to have doubts, he still refused to admit it. Otherwise, Gerard would have plenty of reasons to mock him.

Gerard said unhurriedly, “Once, two people in my hospital caused trouble. One was fired by me, and the other was demoted by me. Not long after, you took them in. Although I don’t know if the poaching thing is related to them, they know Wilona. If you don’t believe me, you can call them over and ask.”

“Sure!” Oliver immediately ordered the head nurse to call Liam Scott and Dan Maxwell over.

Although the police officers were anxious to bring Regina back for interrogation, none of them dared to take her away with them. They could only wait patiently for the matter to be settled.

Not long after, the head nurse returned with Liam and Dan, who were happy and proud.

After Dan came to First Hospital, he could be considered to have entered a retirement life. Meanwhile, Liam became the deputy director of the hospital since he helped poach Wilona.

Although he had no real power, he was already very satisfied. It was better than returning to the clinic in Central Hospital and suffering there.

However, as soon as the two of them entered, they saw Gerard standing there. They were immediately dumbfounded.

“Mr. Williams… Why are you here?”

Liam instantly panicked.

Wasn’t it said that Gerard and Oliver were sworn enemies and never interacted with each other? Why did they appear together?

In that case, wouldn’t the matter of Wilona be exposed?

Gerard smiled coldly and said, “Wow, you really find a good place to work in.”

Dan’s legs were already weak. As the deputy director, Liam looked calmer. He thought that Gerard’s appearance here might be a coincidence and not because of “Wilona”.

He tried his best to calm down and smiled apologetically. “Mr. Williams, what are you talking about? If Central Hospital needs me in the future, I will definitely help.”

Gerard sneered again and said, “I’m not here to listen to the two of you talk nonsense. Just answer me directly. How did the woman on the ground become the genius doctor of Central Hospital?”

Liam’s face turned pale and cold sweat broke out on his back.

Gerard really came for this matter!

He looked at Oliver with a pale face and was horrified to find that Melody was also there.

Melody was Wilona. This was a secret outside, but it was not a secret in Central Hospital.

Since she was already here, how could they… quibble?

No matter how he argued, it was useless!

After all, Gerard had worked with Liam for so many years. When he saw Liam’s expression, he knew that the poaching had something to do with the two of them.

He narrowed his eyes coldly and said, “You can’t poach her, so you find a fake to deceive Oliver? You guys are really something! You’re really embarrassing me and Central Hospital!”

Seeing that Gerard had revealed the truth, Liam’s knees went weak and he knelt on the ground.

Instead of continuing to hold on, he might as well beg for mercy. Perhaps Gerard and Oliver could spare him.

Liam bowed to Gerard and Oliver. “It’s, it’s all a misunderstanding. It’s all our fault… I was forced into a corner at that time. It was impossible for us to poach Wilona, but I had to support my family. I can’t really lose my job. Moreover, Mr. Wallrich, you know the situation at that time. You only proposed such a condition… We really had no choice but to find someone…”

Seeing this, Dan also hurriedly knelt down.

However, he was worse than Liam. He pushed all the blame on Liam. “This is all Mr. Scott’s idea. It has nothing to do with me… Please investigate.”

Liam’s expression changed drastically. “Dan, you ingrate!”

The two of them immediately fought. It was only when the police officers stepped forward to stop them that the two of them stopped fighting but they were still panting.

Oliver’s expression changed. He felt complicated.

It was now clear that Regina was indeed an imposter.

However, he would rather not know the truth. He didn’t want to be humiliated in front of Gerard like this!

Chapter 619

Although Liam and Dan were stopped by the police officers, they were still shirking their responsibilities.

“Enough!” Oliver could not take it anymore and roared.

The ward instantly fell silent.

Oliver looked at Regina coldly. “Who are you? What is your real name?”

“I, I…” Regina looked at the police officers around. She still refused to admit that she was the imposter. “My name is Wilona Knowles…”

“How dare you quibble!” Oliver was about to flare up when Gerard said, “You said your name is Wilona Knowles. Do you know my name?”

“You…” Regina guessed that Gerard was the director of First Hospital. She racked her brain to remember the name of the director of First Hospital, but no matter how she thought about it, she could not think of his name.

Gerard chuckled and said, “If you’re Wilona, it’s impossible that you don’t know me, let alone my name. That’s because I personally visited Wilona several times, begging her to work in our hospital. At a time like this, are you still unwilling to admit it?”

“I…” Regina still wanted to explain.

“Furthermore!” Gerard interrupted her again and said, “The person you impersonated is here now.”

“What?” Regina’s eyelids suddenly lifted, and her gaze quickly swept across the entire ward.

There were only doctors from Central Hospital and Melody here. There was no…

Wait a minute!

Regina looked at Melody in disbelief. She quickly remembered a few words: genius doctor, a young female doctor…

She then thought about Gerard’s attitude towards Melody. Also, she had investigated Melody. Melody’s biological mother’s name was Wilona Fox.

Wilona Fox, Wilona Knowles…

The family names were different but the name Wilona was the same.

Her eyes widened even more as she looked at Melody in disbelief. “You… You’re Wilona Knowles?”

Melody smiled. “Now you know that the person you’re pretending to be is me? Aren’t you a little too slow?”

Regina instantly felt like she had been struck by lightning.

Anger, humiliation, and fear shattered her rationality like a bomb.

Gerard looked at Oliver, who was also dumbfounded. He pointed at Melody and said to Oliver, “Let me introduce you again. This is the young genius doctor in First Hospital, Wilona Knowles.”

“This… This can’t be right, right?” Oliver’s expression turned cold again.

From the bottom of his heart, Oliver was unwilling to admit that Melody was Wilona Knowles.

Because just ten minutes ago, he had slashed Melody’s arm in a frenzy.

Now, Gerard told him that the genius doctor he had always valued and valued was actually Melody. The world instantly collapsed and he could only try his best to find an excuse for himself.

“She’s clearly the person in charge of Herbathrive. Her surname is Fox…”

“That’s right. My surname is indeed Fox. My name is Melody. I introduced myself to you before. However, I forgot to mention that I also have an alias called Wilona Knowles. In order to avoid some trouble, when I work for Central Hospital, I usually call myself Wilona Knowles. Do you have any other questions?”

Problem?

How could he have any problems!

Oliver’s frustration instantly rushed to his brain, and his entire face turned red.

This time, even if Ken didn’t say anything, he would have to apologize to Melody seriously.

“That’s impossible…” Regina mumbled.

This sound successfully attracted Oliver’s attention.

The police officers were right beside him. Although he was angry, he couldn’t hit Regina. He could only try his best to suppress it and scold, “How dare you lie to me and fool the entire hospital? They’ve respected you so much recently. Don’t you feel any guilt?”

Regina was awakened by the scolding.

She also understood that her lie would never be made up again. Her anger was no less than Oliver’s.

However, she was different from Oliver. Once she lost her temper, she would lose all her rationality and directly throw caution to the wind.

“It’s all because you’re stupid! I’ve been here for a month and you haven’t realized it. Aren’t you stupid? Besides, how am I not worse than that slut, Melody? I know everything about traditional medicine and modern medicine. Other than not knowing how to perform hip replacement surgery, I’m not inferior to her in any way!”

When Melody heard Regina’s words, he suddenly realized something.

She narrowed her eyes in disbelief and asked, “So you poisoned Mr. Wallrich’s wife because you don’t know how to perform hip replacement surgery? You’re afraid that others will doubt your identity because you don’t know that, so you might as well let her die before the surgery so that no one will suspect you again?”

Regina replied without thinking, “Yes, so what? She’s old. What’s the problem of letting her die?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Are you still human?”

Oliver and Gerard were angered by these words at the same time. The two of them raised their fists at Regina almost at the same time.

Ken reacted quickly. He quickly gave James a look, and James immediately brought people up. This prevented Oliver and Gerard from beating Regina in front of the police officers.

Seeing that the situation was clear, Melody turned to the police officer and said, “She just confessed. We don’t have to go back with you, right?”

“You don’t have to.” The police officer in the lead nodded and said, “But I might need you to take a statement later. I hope you can leave me your contact information.”

“Sure.” Melody nodded and gave her number to the police officer.

“In that case, we’ll take her away.” Seeing that they were almost done talking, the police officer walked forward and said.

Oliver and Gerard were so angry that they did not want to answer any questions.

Seeing this, the police officer stopped looking at them and said to Regina, “Come with us!”

Only then did Regina realize that she had admitted her crime in a fit of anger? She quickly struggled again while resisting. “I’m not going! She’s not dead. Why should I go!”

“There are witnesses and evidence, and you’re still suspected of fraud. At this point, you’re still not cooperating with us?” The police officer also hated people like Regina. He waved his hand and said, “Take her away!”

Even if the police needed more evidence for the poisoning, he had to take Regina away since she was related to malicious doctors.

Things about Malicious doctors were a bottom line in Halcyon.

When Regina saw that they really wanted to take her to the police station, he immediately shouted, “Let’s see who dares to take me away! My mother is Ulric Swanson’s assistant. If Ulric finds out, he won’t let you off!”

Ken and Melody raised their eyebrows at the same time, and their eyes lit up.

Regina mentioned Ulric. This would definitely bring trouble to Ulric.

She was really a good helper for them!

Rarely, Melody smiled at Regina. She asked knowingly, “Are you talking about the second young master of the Swanson Group, Ulric Swanson?”

Chapter 620

“Of course it’s him. Whoever else in Silverlake is called Ulric?” Reginal said.

Melody raised her eyebrows and looked at the police officer who was already recording. Satisfied, she continued to ask, “Then is your mother’s name Jennie Taylor?”

However, Regina suddenly came back to her senses. “Why are you asking this?”

Melody shrugged. She knew that there was nothing more useful she could get. She waved her hand and said, “It’s fine. If it’s as you said, Mr. Ulric definitely has the ability to save you. Just wait for him to save you.”

Although Regina came back to her senses, she was still stupid. She did not understand what Melody meant at all. She only glared at Melody fiercely and said, “Just stop that! I won’t let you off. When the time comes, I’ll settle the old and new grudges with you!”

“Cut the crap!” The police officer finished recording and shouted at Regina, “Hurry up and follow us!”

“Don’t get in touch with me! Let go of me!” However, this time, no matter how much Regina warned and resisted, the police officers ignored her and brought her out.

As soon as Regina left, the entire ward fell silent.

Gerard was the first to break the silence. “Since everything is clear, let’s go.”

With that, he led the way out.

“Wait!” Oliver suddenly stopped him.

“Is there anything else?” Gerard looked at Oliver with a frown. It was as if he felt disgusted just looking at Oliver.

Melody, who knew their story, understood Gerard’s feelings well.

Gerard’s former friend stole his wife from him. Gerard was already being polite by not punching Gerard when he saw Oliver

Oliver took a deep breath and said, “About what happened to me and Oliver back then… After today’s incident, I want to clarify that matter.”

“Oliver!” Miranda, on the other hand, instantly looked terrified. She sat in the wheelchair and grabbed Oliver’s sleeve tightly. It was obvious that she was telling Oliver not to say anything.

However, Oliver had already made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and said, “Miranda, are we really going to let him scold us in his heart for the rest of our lives? I’ve already gotten over it. Life is short. I don’t know when we will die. I’ve had enough after so many years. I don’t want to bring this secret to my coffin.”

“You…” Miranda wanted to stop him, but when she saw the pain in Oliver’s eyes, she looked away in discomfort and did not continue persuading him.

However, Gerard, who was at the door, only felt disgusted. “If you want me to see your public display of affection on purpose, there’s no need for that. I don’t care about what happened in the past anymore. I have a son and a daughter now. Although my wife passed away early, I’m very happy! If you have a conscience, don’t be an eyesore in front of me!”

He was about to walk out.

Melody quickly gave Rodney a look.

Rodney understood and boldly tried to stop Gerard.

At this moment, Oliver spoke again, “Are you really not curious at all about why you suddenly wanted to be with me back then?”

Gerard stopped and turned to look at the two of them coldly. Suddenly, he quickly walked in front of Oliver and grabbed Oliver’s collar. He could not take it anymore and said, “Oliver, we’re already so old. Don’t force me to hit you!”

Oliver met Gerard’s gaze fearlessly.

“She’s never betrayed you!” Gerard was stunned. His hand, which was holding Gerard’s collar, froze…

Oliver took the opportunity to push Gerard away. He said with a dark face, “Back then, for the sake of your future, you went overseas to do medical assistance. You don’t know anything about what happened to your family, right?”

“What… happened?” Gerard asked.

“Your mother was addicted to gambling and had a huge debt outside! When I went to visit her, the debt collectors happened to go to your house. They made a condition. As long as Miranda slept with them… for one night, that debt would be written off!”

Gerard’s eyes trembled violently as he looked at Miranda in disbelief. “What… did they do to you?”

Miranda lowered her head and didn’t say anything, but her lips had lost their color from her bite. They were terrifyingly green.

Seeing that Miranda couldn’t say anything, Oliver decided to tell Gerard everything. “Not only did they rape her, but they also removed her organs. If I hadn’t arrived in time, she would have died!”

“How… How did this happen…” Gerard’s legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

Oliver sneered. “Looks like your mother didn’t dare to tell you about this even until her death! You’ve always felt that you were betrayed by us and are the most miserable person in the world. Do you know that you’re the lucky one? We suffered all the grievances.”

“Oliver… don’t say anymore…” Miranda was already in tears.

Gerard was stunned. It took him a while to find his voice. His eyes were red as he asked, “Why… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why? Hmph! It’s all because you didn’t have an artificial heart at that time. We were afraid that you wouldn’t be able to take it, so we kept it from you! Moreover, after that incident, Miranda couldn’t have children. However, she knew that you liked children the most and was afraid that you would find out about that matter, so she used the worst method to pretend that she fell in love with me. And you idiot! All these years, you actually never investigated what happened back then once! You’re simply a beast! Idiot!” The more Oliver spoke, the angrier he became. In the end, he was so angry that he threw a punch at Gerard.

Melody subconsciously wanted to stop him, but she stopped halfway.

It was better for outsiders like her not to interfere in this matter.

She gave Ken and Rodney a look and quietly left the ward.

On the way, Rodney shook his head and sighed. “Our director is really stupid… He’s the stupidest person in the world!”

Melody disagreed. “The stupidest person is not us, Gerard, but Oliver.”

“Why?” Rodney asked.

“Only an infatuated fool would be willing to take the blame for stealing his good friend’s wife. And he took the blame for most of his life. Don’t you think he’s the stupidest one?” Melody said.

Rodney slapped his head. “That’s right! Mr. Wallrich might… love Ms. Gill more than Gerard.”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the most complete fool among the three of them! Of course, Miranda is also very stupid. Why make things difficult for herself for so many years?” Melody said.

“But now, I feel that Ms. Gill is the most foolish one. She can clearly explain things in one sentence, but she has to swallow so many grievances…” Rodney said.

“It doesn’t matter who’s more stupid now. It’s not too late for them to make it clear.” As Melody spoke, she suddenly realized that Ken had not spoken about this matter. Instead, he lowered his head. It was unknown what he was thinking.

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Chapter 611

“You finally arrived,” Melody said with a half-smile, watching Regina burst into the hospital room, accusing her in front of Oliver.

Regina shivered involuntarily at Melody’s gaze and couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

Even though she and Melody were about the same age, every encounter with her left Regina feeling an inexplicable pressure.

Taking a deep breath, Regina forced her unease down and ignored Melody’s comment.

She turned back to Oliver and continued, “Mr. Wallrich, this woman has a terrible reputation outside. She even sent her own mother to prison and ended up being kicked out by her family. You mustn’t believe a word she says.”

Oliver looked at Melody with shock. “Sent her own mother to prison? There are people this malicious in the world?”

Seeing this, Charlotte quickly added fuel to the fire. “Grandpa, I told you she’s not a good person. Why won’t you believe me? She acts one way in front of you and another behind your back. She’s clearly the most likely person to have poisoned Grandma.”

Oliver’s gaze darkened. He grabbed Melody from the bedside and said, “Don’t come any closer to my wife.” He stepped in front of Melody and asked the head nurse, “Have you called the police?”

The head nurse nodded quickly. “Yes, the police should be on their way.”

“Good.” Oliver nodded and glared coldly at Melody. “You can’t escape. You’d better pray nothing happens to my wife, or I will use all my resources to ensure you never leave prison.”

Oliver’s daughter, Dahlia Wallrich, was extremely anxious. “Dad, I can vouch for Miss Fox. She isn’t the person they’re making her out to be.”

Oliver frowned slightly. “Dahlia, you’re kind-hearted and haven’t seen many bad people. It’s easy for you to be deceived by her. I understand why you’re speaking up for her, but please, stop.”

Dahlia tried to continue defending Melody, but she was distracted when her daughter, frightened by Oliver’s stern expression, began to cry loudly.

As a mother, Dahlia immediately turned her attention to soothing her child, cooing softly to calm her down.

At that moment, Miranda’s heart rate plummeted again, falling to abnormal levels.

The heart rate monitor began emitting a loud, persistent alarm.

The doctors quickly mobilized their efforts to save her, but not only did their actions prove ineffective, Miranda began to vomit blood uncontrollably.

“Miranda!” Oliver, now ignoring Melody completely, rushed to the bedside and grasped Miranda’s hand. “Miranda, hold on. Trust me. You’ll be alright. They will save you.”

But Miranda had lost all consciousness and could not hear Oliver’s words.

With veins bulging on his forehead, Oliver shouted angrily, “Are you all useless? Save her, now!”

The doctors had exhausted all their methods, but none seemed to work. As Miranda’s condition worsened, they dared not try anything further for fear of making things worse.

In fact, it was strange. The more intensive their efforts, the worse her condition seemed to become.

Seeing the doctors growing increasingly desperate, Oliver’s frustration turned into fury. “Are you deaf? If Miranda dies, I’ll fire all of you!”

Faced with Oliver’s rage, the doctors continued their efforts, but as anticipated, Miranda’s condition deteriorated further, her heart nearing the point of complete failure.

Melody, seeing the dire situation, clenched her teeth and stepped forward. “Let me try.”

She knew that intervening now would only increase Oliver’s suspicions about her, but she couldn’t stand by and do nothing while the patient’s life was in danger.

However, Oliver blocked her once again. “Don’t move.”

Melody’s brow furrowed. “Oliver, think this through. If I don’t step in now, your wife might not make it.”

“Don’t try to fool me. You just want to stop them from saving Miranda to cover up your poisoning,” he said.

Regina and Charlotte chimed in from the side. “That’s right.”

Melody’s expression darkened further. “It wasn’t me who poisoned her.”

“If it wasn’t you, then who else has both the motive and the means? You’re the head of Herbathrive. Creating poison would be a breeze for you. Let me tell you. You will get what’s coming to you,” she cursed.

“You…” Melody was angry.

“Miss Fox,” Rodney said, pulling at Melody’s sleeve with a pained expression. “Although I don’t want to see the patient die either, they’re all saying it’s you. Maybe you should just leave it to fate.”

“No,” Melody replied with unusual firmness.

Aside from the teachings her mentor had instilled in her, which forbade her from ignoring such situations, there was also the matter of the poisoning.

If she didn’t save Miranda, her own suspicions would only grow stronger.

She met Oliver’s gaze. “Your wife has been poisoned in a way that they can’t treat.”

“That’s absurd. If they can’t help her, do you think you can? They’ve been practicing medicine longer than you’ve been alive,” he mocked.

Melody raised her chin defiantly. “I’ve already told you that the poison is unique. I’m the only one here who can treat it.”

“Dad,” Dahlia, ignoring her crying child, said urgently. “Let her give it a try.”

Oliver, however, remained unmoved. “I said no.”

In his view, Melody was the poisoner.

The poisoner would never want to help. Otherwise, that would only make things worse for herself.

At that moment, the heart rate monitor suddenly displayed a flat line.

“Not good,” the doctors exclaimed. “Mr. Wallrich, Mrs. Wallrich’s heart has stopped.”

“Then start the rescue immediately!” Oliver’s face reddened with urgency, but even so, he did not consider letting Melody take over the treatment.

Melody was frustrated.

‘No wonder Charlotte calls Oliver a stubborn old fool. He truly is one,’ she wondered.

But if this dragged on any longer, even if God were to step in, Miranda would be doomed.

Ignoring Oliver’s attitude, she took a step closer to the bedside.

Seeing this, Oliver’s anger flared. He quickly extended his arms to block Melody. “Stop! What do you think you’re doing? I warn you! Don’t you dare do anything to my wife!”

“Get out of the way,” Melody said, pushing Oliver aside.

Oliver stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Grandpa!” Charlotte rushed over to help Oliver up, seizing the opportunity to make herself look good.

Given Oliver’s age, the fall had hurt his lower back, and despite Charlotte’s help, he struggled to stand up.

In his desperation, he ordered the head nurse and a few doctors. “Stop her. Quickly, stop her!”

Chapter 612

Chapter 612

The head nurse had never met such a situation before and was already panicking.

Miranda was already dying anyway, so the doctors didn’t stop Melody at all.

Could the situation still get worse? At most, she would die a few minutes earlier.

Since they could no longer save her, they might as well let this young lady give it a try.

Everyone had their own plans. Once Melody was involved in the treatment, Miranda’s death would have nothing to do with the doctors.

Therefore, even though Oliver shouted at the top of his lungs, the doctors did not do anything. Instead, they made way for Melody.

“You guys!” Oliver was about to die from anger. He struggled to get up.

However, the more anxious he was, the more his tailbone hurt. Charlotte tried her best to pull him up but still failed.

Seeing that no one could stop Melody, Regina did not care about anything else and went forward to attack Melody with her hidden weapon.

However, just as she took two steps forward, Melody had already sensed her action. Melody pierced a silver needle into her forehead.

Regina exclaimed and subconsciously wanted to resist. However, she was shocked to discover that her entire body was weak. She collapsed to the ground and could not move.

Charlotte, who had wanted to step forward to help, did not dare to do anything.

Regina cursed angrily, “Melody, you bitch! What did you do to me?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. I’ll just let you be quiet for a few minutes.” Melody glanced at Regina indifferently. Then, she instructed Rodney, “Dr. Stanton, come and help.”

“Ah… Yes, yes.” Rodney came back to his senses and stepped over Regina who was lying on the ground. He quickly went forward to help.

“Take off her hospital gown,” Melody said.

“Yes…” Rodney said.

Melody looked at the other doctors. “I need some herbs. Please get them for me immediately. 11 herbs in total. Grind them into powder and soak them with warm water..”

The herbs Melody talked about were all quite common.

There was a traditional medicine shop next to the hospital. It was very convenient to get them.

However, one of them was hard to get in ordinary traditional medicine shops.

Seventeen volunteered, “Is the herb available in Herbathrive? I’ll go get it from Herbathrive.”

“Yes. Call David in advance and ask him to meet you on the way. Save some time.” Melody said.

It took half an hour to drive from Herbathrive to First Hospital.

However, if Seventeen and David set off at the same time, they could save at least half the time.

Seventeen’s driving skills were not bad. He could reduce the time to at least ten minutes.

“Yes!” Seventeen replied and quickly left the ward.

Regina was immediately shocked when she heard the names of the herbs.

She was a little worried that Melody might be able to detoxify Miranda but she still didn’t think Melody had the ability.

But when she heard the names of those herbs, she was so terrified that she had cold sweat on her forehead.

Because that was the antidote for the poison she had poisoned.

‘Damn it!’ Regina cursed in her heart. She tried her best to get up from the ground to stop Melody, but the silver needle was like a seal. It sealed her on the ground. She could not get up at all.

“No, no!” She shouted anxiously. Oliver, who was also angry, couldn’t help but feel doubtful when hearing her voice.

Miranda was his wife. There was no reason for Regina to be more anxious than him.

With that thought in mind, Oliver calmed down and was no longer in a hurry to stop Melody.

Although he hadn’t been involved in clinical medicine for many years, he had studied medicine when he was young. He could tell that Miranda almost stopped breathing at this moment. The chances of her surviving were extremely low.

Seeing how serious Melody was, he suddenly looked at the doctors in the hospital and said, “What are you waiting for? Do as she says!”

Just now, the doctors were afraid that Oliver would be dissatisfied if they went to get the herbs. Now that Oliver had given the order, they no longer hesitated and quickly ran out to buy herbs.

Melody didn’t have time to waste on others. She opened the bag she carried with her and quickly disinfected the silver needles one by one before stabbing them into the various acupuncture points on Miranda’s body.

Rodney was also busy. He was busy cleaning Miranda’s nose and mouth, which were blocked by blood, to prevent the blood from flowing backward and causing choking in the trachea.

Soon, Miranda’s entire body was covered in silver needles, making her look like a hedgehog.

Finally, when the last silver needle landed, Melody let out a long sigh of relief. She held onto the edge of the bed with one hand to prevent herself from collapsing. She used too much energy just now. She was exhausted.

The last time when she treated Sid, she fainted. After that, she would try her best to stop such things from happening.

However, even so, she still felt dizzy.

Melody felt that things were not right. She pinched her fingers to wake herself up.

She soon felt much sober. She no longer felt dizzy.

“Miss Fox, how is it?” Rodney did not notice Melody’s abnormality and asked anxiously about Miranda’s situation.

Miranda’s heart rate was still not stable. The situation was the same as just now. Occasionally, it would turn into a terrifying straight line, so Rodney had no idea what the situation was. He could only ask Melody.

Melody took Miranda’s pulse and said with a dark expression, “It was too late. I’m not sure now. I still have to wait for the herbs to be delivered. I’ll see after I feed her the medicine.”

Rodney was secretly shocked.

Melody was always calm when he needed her before. This was the first time when Melody said that she wasn’t sure.

Oliver heard the conversation between the two. He immediately shouted, “Didn’t you say that you would definitely be able to save her? Why are you saying that you’re not sure now? You promised that if you can’t save her, you’ll have to take responsibility!”

Melody looked at Oliver coldly as a wave of frustration surged from the bottom of her heart.

If it weren’t for Oliver stopping her time and time again, she wouldn’t have waited for so long. She could have detoxified Miranda earlier. The poison had already invaded Miranda’s organs.

However, she could not be bothered to argue with Oliver. She waited for Seventeen to send the herbs over.

The few doctors had already ground the medicine that they could buy into powder. The powder was already delivered. They just needed the last herb.

But Seventeen still needed time.

Melody looked at Miranda’s face worriedly and sighed in her heart. She did not know if Miranda could hold on until then.

If Miranda couldn’t hold on, she would be in trouble then.

Oliver looked crazy. She ignored him and turned to Rodney. “Give her the medicinal powder mixed with warm water.”

“Yes.” Rodney quickly did as he was told.

However, Miranda couldn’t swallow water at all. Melody went over to help lift Miranda’s chin. Then Rodney managed to feed some.

Regina felt anxious when seeing this.

Of everyone present, she was the only one who didn’t want Miranda to be saved.

Once Miranda woke up, everyone would know that she poisoned Miranda.

How could she not be anxious?

Coincidentally, at this moment, a series of messy but rapid footsteps suddenly sounded from the door…

Chapter 613

Hearing the footsteps, Regina was shocked. She thought that the last herb Melody needed came.

She quickly racked her brain to think of a way to stop Melody, but she saw people in police uniforms rushing into the ward.

Regina’s eyes instantly lit up.

The police were here!

“Who called the police?” the policeman in the lead asked.

“It’s me…” The head nurse walked forward slowly, asking Oliver what his decision was with her sideglance.

Oliver was in a dilemma. Regina took the opportunity to speak first. “Stop that woman! She tried to poison our director’s wife. I don’t know what method she used to make me unable to get up from the ground. She wanted to kill the director’s wife! Stop her!”

The police officers looked at Melody coldly. “Miss, please stop what you’re doing immediately. Otherwise, we will use force against you.”

Melody frowned. She did not expect the police to arrive at the hospital before the herb.

“Miss Fox, what should we do…” Rodney had never met such a situation before. He was so flustered that he could only grab Melody’s sleeve.

Melody explained in a deep voice, “I didn’t want to kill anyone. I’m a doctor with a doctor’s license. I’m saving her now. If you don’t believe me, you can go and check. I work in Central Hospital. And I’m in charge of Herbathrive.”

“Herbathrive?” The police looked at Regina. “Is there a misunderstanding?”

“This is not a misunderstanding. All of us saw it with our own eyes!” Regina said as she tried her best to convince Oliver. “Sir! Do you really want to watch that woman kill your wife and not do anything? If your wife really can’t be saved, you will regret it for the rest of your life!”

She tried her best to convince Oliver with her title as the magical doctor. “You should let me have a try. I might be able to save her. What? You believe the suspect who wants to kill your wife more?”

Oliver was stunned.

The situation was urgent just now and he had forgotten that “Wilona Knowles” was a good doctor that he had spent a lot of effort to poach from Central Hospital.

Her medical skills were definitely better than Melody’s.

“Damn it!” Oliver cursed himself in frustration. Then, he said to the police, “Everyone, I’m the director of this hospital. The person who was poisoned on the bed was my wife. I can testify that she wanted to harm my wife!”

Oliver suddenly turned against them and once again stood on the same side as Regina. This completely put Melody in a passive position.

Rodney was furious. “Oliver, I always thought that although you had a conflict with our director, you always make wise choices. I was wrong! Let me tell you. This woman isn’t the doctor you want to hire. Her name is not Wilona Knowles. The magical doctor you want to poach is Miss Fox!”

“What nonsense are you spouting…” Oliver said with a dark face, “Are you desperate? You can even come up with such a lie at a time like this. How dare you!”

Although he had also suspected that Wilona Knowles’s medical skills might not be as good as the rumors said, he had never doubted Wilona Knowles’s identity.

How could the two doctors who had poached people for him dare to lie in front of him? The ones lying must be these two people.

“I won’t believe you! Officer, please arrest the two of them immediately and file a case for investigation!”

When Regina heard this, she relaxed. She helped Oliver and said, “That’s right. Hurry up and capture them! We have to use this time to save Mr. Wallrich’s wife.”

The police officers nodded and warned Melody and Rodney again. “Both of you, put your hands on your heads and squat down immediately!”

Rodney did not expect Oliver to not suspect the imposter at all. Oliver thought that he and Melody were lying.

His face was dark and he panicked. He called out, “Miss Fox…”

“Let’s do as they say first…” Melody said to Rodney before squatting down with her hands on her head.

The police officers immediately went forward to arrest them.

At that moment, footsteps sounded at the door again.

Melody looked up and happened to see Seventeen, who had taken back the herb.

Her eyes lit up as she ordered Seventeen, “Quickly give the patient the medicine!”

“Yes!” When Seventeen saw the police officer’s uniform, he roughly understood the situation.

The most important thing now was to save Melody, but he could not disobey Melody’s orders.

After hesitating for two seconds, he took the small glass of white liquid in his hand and quickly approached the bed.

“Stop him! He is their accomplice!” Regina quickly shouted.

Only then did the police officers notice that someone had broken in.

They were about to stop him, but they obviously could not keep up with Seventeen. By the time they moved, Seventeen had already arrived by the bed.

“Stop!” The police officers hurriedly caught up.

Melody narrowed her eyes. With one hand on the ground, she kicked the offices.

In the next second, the police officers were knocked down by her.

The sound of heavy objects falling to the ground rang out one after another.

“Now!” Melody turned around and reminded Seventeen.

Seventeen quickly came back to his senses. With the help of Rodney, he quickly fed Miranda the medicine.

Oliver was extremely anxious. He thought that it was the poison that would kill his wife. Ignoring the pain in his body, he erupted with great strength and quickly ran towards the bed. “Stop! You murderers!”

Seeing this, Melody hurriedly went forward to stop him.

However, Oliver was already in a manic state. Also, Melody had just finished treating Miranda, so she was weaker than usual. She was knocked to the side by Oliver.

With a muffled bang, she fell onto the machine of the heart rate monitor.

A piercing pain came from her waist, causing her to suck in a breath of cold air.

However, she didn’t have time to care about her own injury. She just quickly looked at the bed.

She only heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Seventeen and Rodney had already finished feeding the medicine.

Before she could get up from the ground, a few police officers had already pressed her to the ground.

“Don’t move! Or we’ll shoot!” The police pistol was pressed against her back. Melody could only bow and stop moving.

Seeing this, Seventeen immediately went forward to help.

Melody hurriedly shouted to stop him, “Don’t do anything rash! Cooperate with them!”

Seventeen hesitated for a moment. Then he was also pressed to the ground.

He had always listened to orders, so after being pressed to the ground, he did not struggle.

Rodney’s situation was not any better. His hands were handcuffed and he was pressed against the wall.

When Regina saw this scene, a hint of smugness flashed past her eyes.

Dared to go against her?

This was the outcome!

Melody had defeated her once or twice. Did Melody still want to win for the third time?

On the bed, Miranda totally stopped moving. Oliver wailed, “Miranda! Miranda!”

Chapter 614

“Wake up, Miranda! Don’t you want to travel around the world with me when I retire? As long as you can wake up, I’ll take early retirement now. I don’t want anything else, as long as you wake up. Miranda!” The sound of grief made the police officers present feel a lump in their throats.

Melody could clearly feel that the police officer pressing her down began to use more force.

“Sir, let us take a look!” The doctors quickly went forward to examine Miranda. However, after a round of examination, they looked at each other, but no one dared to say anything.

It was the head nurse who mustered her courage and asked, “How’s… Mrs. Walllrich?”

One of the most experienced doctors shook his head with a solemn expression and said, “Her heart has completely stopped beating…”

When Charlotte heard this, she didn’t know whether to be sad or happy. However, in order to please Oliver, she walked forward and comforted him. “Grandpa, Grandma is already gone. Sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself!”

However, Oliver acted as if he didn’t hear anything. He just hugged Miranda and cried silently.

Men didn’t cry easily. Oliver was in his fifties. It was rarer for him to cry. It could be seen how deep his feelings for Miranda were.

Seeing this, Regina had coldness and smugness in her eyes.

Very good. Miranda was dead. No one else in the world would know that she was the one who poisoned Miranda.

As for Melody, this bitch would be taken away by the police for investigation. No one would expose her for impersonating “Genius Doctor Wilona Knowles.”

As she heaved a sigh of relief, she felt extremely relieved.

This was the consequence of going against her!

At this moment, Regina felt that her body was no longer weak. She immediately stood up from the ground and pointed at Melody. “Hurry up and arrest these murderers! The director’s wife can’t die in her hands for nothing. She must receive the punishment she deserves!”

After Regina’s reminder, the police officers recovered from their emotions.

Melody was pulled up from the ground by the police officers. The next second, she was handcuffed.

“We suspect that you poisoned the director’s wife and harmed her life. Now, please follow us to the police station immediately!” They saw with their own eyes that Melody had instructed her people to give Miranda something. Even if she wasn’t the one who poisoned Miranda in the beginning, she was now the biggest suspect.

The specific results would come after the investigation.

To undergo the investigation, they need to do an autopsy on Miranda.

The lead officer picked up the walkie-talkie. “Tell the criminal police team to get ready. We’ve found a murderer. We’ve got the suspect under control-“

“We were not harming her!” Rodney was the first to lose his composure. He said with a pale face, “We were saving her! Do you understand?”

The police officers frowned and looked at Rodney.”Whether you’re telling the truth or not, we’ll only know after an investigation. Don’t worry, we have always been fair and just in handling cases. We won’t wrong any good people, nor will we let any bad people off.”

“That’s right. You can keep quiet now, but everything you say will be used against you in court!” One officer said.

Rodney had only heard these words on television. When he heard it with his own ears, his eardrums instantly felt a roar.

Even so, Rodney did not give up. He continued to shout at the top of his lungs, “We are innocent!”

The police officer in the lead waved his hand. “Take him away!”

Another officer replied, “Yes!”

Seventeen quickly looked at Melody, wanting to seek her opinion.

He saw Melody staring thoughtfully at the clock on the wall in the ward.

How could Melody still be in the mood to look at the time?

Seventeen could not help but say, “Miss Fox…”

Melody did not give the order. Otherwise, he would definitely not be able to watch Melody being taken away by the police. He would resist forcefully and bring Melody to Ken’s side safely.

As long as he brought her to Ken, Ken would definitely be able to think of a solution.

However, Melody seemed to have sensed his thoughts. She suddenly shifted her gaze away from the clock and looked at his face solemnly.

She was telling him not to act rashly.

Seventeen was helpless and could only unclench his clenched fists.

“Let’s go!” The police officers urged, not forgetting to cover the handcuffs on their hands with concern.

Before the verdict of the case was completed, they could not directly treat these people as murderers. They still had to take care of these people’s dignity.

“Thank you.” Melody nodded slightly at the police officers and walked towards the door cooperatively.

Her polite look made the police officers doubt their judgment.

Could it be that there was indeed something hidden about this case?

However, this police officer quickly collected his thoughts.

This case was already a criminal case. It concerned the people. As for the actual situation, it was not something they could judge.

“The few of you, please follow us to the police station to give your statements as witnesses.” The police said to Regina and Charlotte.

Regina and Charlotte quickly nodded. “Alright!”

However, Oliver did not seem to notice anything around him. He continued to hug Miranda tightly in his arms without moving as if he had been completely petrified.

“Forget it!” The police officer sighed and said, “Leave two people here to guard them and also pay attention to the family member’s situation.”

“Yes!” Another office said.

Rodney, who was following behind, was so scared that his back was covered in cold sweat.

He was both terrified and regretful. However, he did not regret following Melody into this mess. Instead, he regretted telling Melody about the imposter in the first place.

In the end, if it wasn’t for him, Melody wouldn’t be here.

Guilt and fear made him cry.

“Miss Fox, Miss Fox, I’m sorry… You… Quickly think of a way to explain to them!”

Rodney felt terrified when Seventeen felt conflicted. Compared to them, Melody acted as if nothing had happened. She said to Rodney in an extremely calm tone, “Rodney, don’t be anxious. We didn’t do anything wrong. I believe that the police will definitely give us a fair outcome.”

“But… When Rodney was about to say something, Oliver, who had been in a daze just now, seemed to have suddenly gone crazy.

He picked up the scissors on the tray and rushed towards Melody.

“A life for a life!” As he shouted, he waved the scissors in his hand wildly.

The police officers didn’t expect Oliver, who had been like a blockhead just now, to suddenly flare up, so they didn’t react immediately.

By the time they came back to their senses and wanted to stop Oliver, he had already appeared in front of Melody and raised the scalpel in his hand high.

“Go to hell!” Oliver shouted.

“Miss Fox!” Seventeen said.

“Miss Fox, be careful!” Rodney also called out.

Seventeen and Rodney spoke at the same time.

Seventeen had seen Melody’s fighting skills before, but the bad thing was that Melody was handcuffed now!

Chapter 615

How could a handcuffed person fight with a man with pointed scissors in his hands?

Seventeen was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat. He exerted strength in his hand and broke free from the police officer who was restraining him. He rushed towards Melody.

Melody did not stand there and let Oliver attack. She lowered her body and dodged Oliver’s first attack.

But even so, her arm was still cut by the scissors. A red mark instantly appeared on her skin. Blood flew out.

Oliver attacked too suddenly. Even she did not expect it. It was already not easy for her to dodge so quickly. Ordinary people might already bleed a lot when faced with this.

Oliver missed. His eyes turned even redder. He was more irritable. He charged at Melody again.

The ward was small. Melody was quickly forced into a corner.

The police officers quickly went up to help, but they were stopped by Oliver.

“I’ll kill anyone who dares to come over!” Oliver shouted.

The police officer warned coldly, “Sir, calm down! If she really poisoned your wife, the law will definitely not let her off. However, if you attack her, you will also go to jail!”

“Yes, sir. If you don’t put down the scissors in your hand, we’re going to shoot you!” Another officer said.

Even if Melody was confirmed to be the murderer, they still had to protect Melody.

“Grandpa!” Charlotte rushed forward to help dissuade him.

However, she had just taken a step when she stopped.

If Oliver went to jail, wouldn’t she be the biggest beneficiary?

She would have all the assets of the Wallrich family!

Thinking of this, she immediately fell silent. In her heart, she hoped that Oliver would kill Melody directly. In this way, not only would she obtain everything, but she would also get rid of this annoying ugly woman.

The nurses and doctors also tried to persuade Oliver. “Sir, calm down! If someone dies, our entire hospital will be in trouble.”

“I don’t care!” He roared with bloodshot eyes, “I don’t care about anything anymore! Go to hell!”

Melody held her breath and waited for Oliver to pounce on her before she used her legs to counterattack.

However, at this moment, Seventeen suddenly rushed over to face Oliver.

With the sound of a sharp weapon piercing through flesh, blood immediately seeped out of Seventeen’s chest.

“Seventeen!” Melody suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Oliver coldly. She began to look vicious.

She could understand why Oliver attacked her in anger, but she could not allow him to attack her people.

A second before Oliver charged at her again, Melody directly kicked away the scissors in Oliver’s hand.

“Ahh!” Oliver cried out in pain. A second kick came towards him and landed on his stomach.

This kick was quite powerful. Oliver immediately covered his stomach and squatted on the ground.

Seeing this, the police officers quickly put down the guns in their hands and rushed forward to press Oliver to the ground.

When Regina and Charlotte saw this, regret appeared in their eyes.

What a pity… he didn’t kill her.

Melody wasn’t in the mood to care about that much. She ran to Seventeen and squatted down. “Seventeen, are you okay?”

Seventeen shook his head and said expressionlessly, “I’m fine, Miss Fox. What about you?”

“Of course I’m fine!” She glared at Seventeen with mixed feelings and lowered her body to check Seventeen’s wound.

When she saw the hideous wound, she immediately frowned. “Your wound must be treated immediately!”

“I’m fine. This injury is nothing to me. It’s good that you’re fine.” Seventeen said.

“You’re really…” Melody did not know what to say to Seventeen.

Yes, he was loyal, but she could deal with the situation just now. Why did he rush over?

What Melody did not know was that in Seventeen’s opinion, his life was not important at all.

Even if Melody could avoid it, he could not take any risks that Melody might not be able to avoid.

This was their rule as death warriors.

Melody gritted her teeth and looked at the police officers. “Can you treat his wound first? If the blood continues to flow like this, he will die!”

Charlotte said angrily, “It’s best if you die! Murderers like you deserve to die!”

Melody turned to look at Charlotte coldly. The pressure brought by her frightened Charlotte so much that Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat. Charlotte cowered and did not dare to speak for a moment.

Fortunately, the police officers were nice. They nodded and said, “We’ll take him to handle it. The two of you can come with us first.”

Hearing this, Melody was slightly relieved. She stood up and nodded. “Okay.”

Seventeen’s wound looked terrifying, but fortunately, it was not serious. There should only be internal bleeding in the large intestine.

Of course, if the wound wasn’t dealt with in time, something big would happen.

Melody believed that people in Central Hospital could deal with such wounds.

However, she wasn’t sure if they would take revenge when treating him.

“Can you…” Just as she wanted to say something, a doctor suddenly said in surprise, “Mrs. Wallrich seems to have moved!”

Everyone immediately looked at Miranda, who was lying on the bed.

Even Oliver, who was pinned to the ground and struggling frantically, stopped struggling. He tried his best to turn his head to look in the direction of the bed.

In the next second, everyone was surprised to see that Miranda’s fingers were really moving.

“Mrs. Wallrich!” The doctor closest to Miranda quickly ran over.

Just as he was about to check Miranda’s heartbeat, he saw her slowly open her eyes again.

The doctor immediately shouted excitedly, “She’s awake! Mrs. Wallrich is awake!”

“How is this possible?” Charlotte exclaimed subconsciously, but she quickly reacted and covered her mouth tightly.

Regina looked even angrier. She stood rooted to the ground in disbelief.

The poison she used should be able to end the victim’s heartbeat before obvious symptoms appeared.

Miranda’s heart had clearly stopped beating at that time. How did she suddenly wake up?

Was that an illusion?

Regina could not believe her eyes. She stood rooted to the ground in horror.

The most excited person in the room was Oliver.

After being stunned for a moment, he shouted in surprise, “Miranda, Miranda, you’re awake? How are you?”

Because his face was pressed to the ground, the sounds he made were inarticulate, and everyone could only hear some vague sounds.

But after being married for so many years, how could Miranda not understand what Oliver was saying?

She was in a daze as she looked at Oliver, who was pressed to the ground by the police, and then at the room full of people. She tried her best to sit up from the bed and asked in confusion, “What’s going on? Why are there so many people in the ward? Has my surgery ended?”

Only when Oliver heard Miranda’s voice did he feel that everything was real.

His tears flowed again.

He said, “Miranda, you finally wake up!”

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Chapter 606

But in an instant, Ulric regained his composure. Unknown to the outside world, ever since his legs had been crippled, he was not only unable to move freely but also incapable of having sex…

In other words, he was impotent.

Thinking of this, a surge of frustration arose within him. He furrowed his brows and said, “Mabel, get up and speak.”

Mabel was momentarily stunned, unable to understand why her honey trap never seemed to work on Ulric.

She was heartbroken but had no choice but to stand up under Ulric’s somewhat indifferent gaze, afraid of angering him.

Fortunately, Ulric’s expression soon softened. “Don’t be afraid, Mabel. I’ve taken care of everything. Cadence’s death won’t implicate you.”

Mabel nodded, her eyes glistening with tears as she asked, ” Is that true?”

“Of course.” Ulric nodded and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “Rest assured. With me around, no one can smear your reputation. I’ve erased all traces of your visit to that restaurant.”

“That’s a relief.” Knowing that all evidence of her visit had been erased, Mabel felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “There’ s one more thing… I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

“Go ahead,” Ulric said.

Mabel bit her lip and said, “My father has been troubled about expanding the factory lately. Ken had promised him an opportunity to collaborate with the Justalion Group. Originally, the Clark Group was supposed to cooperate with the Swanson Group, but after Troy got into trouble, the collaboration was canceled, leaving an open slot. However, after Melody left our family, Ken didn’t mention the collaboration again… I was wondering if you could help my father?”

Before Ulric could respond, Mabel added, “I know this request might put you in a difficult position, but I’m really at a loss. My mother is in prison, and now, it seems like my father is my only family. He’s exhausted himself over this matter, and I can’t think of any other way to help him, so I had to come to you.”

As she spoke, she let a few tears fall.

A beauty in tears would be hard for Ulric to refuse.

Moreover, this collaboration was only about the Justalion Group working with the Swanson Group’s subsidiary, Swanson Universal Entertainment, not directly with the headquarters. She believed Ulric could easily arrange it.

Yet, despite her pleas and tears, Ulric did not give a clear answer.

Mabel grew anxious but maintained a contrite expression as she asked, “I’m sorry. Am I putting you in a difficult position? If this is too much, I can try to find another way.” “This matter…” Ulric said vaguely, “I’ll bring it up with my father when he returns.”

The incident involving the Clark Group had left a stain online, affecting not only their reputation but also the Swanson Group’s.

As a result, Ramon’s review of collaborations became increasingly stringent.

At present, the Justalion Group does not meet the qualifications for a partnership.

If he brought it up recklessly, he would only create trouble for himself. However, if Mabel proved her worth once she entered Ander’s laboratory, he wouldn’t mind taking a risk to speak up for the Fox family.

But since Ander hadn’t made any move yet, he was reluctant to take risks at the critical moment of Ken’s new appointment.

Mabel, however, mistook Ulric’s words as an agreement. Her eyes lit up instantly as she stood up and hugged Ulric’s shoulder. “I knew you would agree.”

Ulric forced a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes. Meanwhile, outside the door, Jennie had clearly heard the conversation, and a trace of mockery flickered in her eyes. ‘A brainless beauty, I really don’t understand why Ulric would be interested in such a woman. However, Ulric is cunning. It’s hard to say whether he genuinely likes her or not.’ she thought.

Just then, Jennie’s phone vibrated.

She glanced at the caller ID, frowned, and walked to the end of the hallway before answering.

“What is it now? Didn’t I teach you how to perform a hip replacement surgery last night? And Mr. Swanson arranged for someone to assist you specifically. What more could you be worried about?” her tone was a little harsh.

On the other end, Regina’s voice was tinged with tears. Mom, Oliver said he would be my assistant during the surgery. If that’s the case, Mr. Swanson’s arranged personnel won’t be able to help me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to complete the surgery on my own.”

Jennie clenched her teeth in frustration.

‘The biggest mistake of my life was giving birth to such a foolish daughter,’ she wondered.

“Listen to me. I have important matters to discuss with Mr. Swanson and can’t leave. Use your brain, either find a way to prevent Oliver from entering the operating room, or review the surgery procedures before the operation starts,” Jennie said coldly.

“But, Mom…” Regina said timidly. “I’m really nervous. Can’t you come and help me?”

Jennie took a deep breath. “It’s just a basic surgical procedure. If you can’t handle it, you don’t deserve to be my daughter.”

Regina was taken aback, about to speak, but found that Jennie had already hung up.

She dared not call back and could only pace anxiously in her office, trying to think of a solution.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowing coldly.

Jennie’s suggested solutions were impossible for Regina to carry out given her skills.

Although her medical knowledge was lacking, Regina was a great malicious doctor.

If something went wrong with Miranda before the surgery, Regina wouldn’t need to perform the hip replacement surgery herself.

A cold, calculated smile curled on her lips as she stepped out of the hospital room.

Just then, a nurse passed by, and Regina called out to her.” The surgery is about to start. Has Mr. Wallrich finished his work and returned yet?”

The nurse quickly replied, “Mr. Wallrich called the nurse’s station earlier. He’s on his way back and asked us to inform you that the surgery should not begin until he arrives.”

“Alright, I understand.” Regina nodded and waited for the nurse to leave before heading towards Miranda’s VIP room.

Inside the room, Miranda waited anxiously.

When Regina pushed the door open, Miranda forced a smile.

“Dr. Knowles, you’re here? Is it time for the surgery? I was hoping we could wait for my husband to arrive before starting, if possible…” she said.

“Of course,” Regina said smoothly. “I just wanted to let you know that this is a minor procedure. Once you go in and fall asleep, you’ll wake up to find the surgery completed.”

Miranda nodded, clearly reassured by Regina’s words.” Thank you so much, Dr. Knowles.”

Regina smiled and pulled a small, transparent brown pill from her pocket. “This is for you.”

Chapter 607

Miranda took the object with a puzzled expression and asked, “What is this?”

Regina smiled slightly and replied, “It’s a pill I’ve developed myself. It can ease tension and is completely harmless to the body. After you take it, you won’t feel nervous anymore.” “Is it really that amazing?” Miranda, fully trusting Regina, swallowed the pill while continuing to praise her. “Everyone says you’re an extraordinary doctor who has performed nearly impossible surgeries. It’s a great fortune for our hospital that my husband managed to recruit you…”

Regina’s smile widened. “You don’t have to flatter me so much. I just spend my leisure time studying and developing medicines.”

After saying that, she glanced at her wristwatch and added, “I need to go prepare for the surgery. Please continue to rest for a while.”

“Alright.” Miranda smiled.

Regina gave a final meaningful look at Miranda, then turned and left with a detached expression.

She didn’t want to harm anyone, but she had no choice.

‘Miranda’s so kind-hearted. She would likely understand me once she died,’ Regina wondered.

Without any psychological burden, Regina walked toward the operating room.

“Miss Fox, we’re here,” At the First Hospital parking lot., Seventeen said, turning to remind Melody. “I see Dr. Stanton’s car right up ahead.”

“Okay.” Melody nodded and got out of the car to meet Rodney.

“Hi, Miss Fox!” From a distance, Rodney spotted her and waved excitedly.

Despite being known as a composed and seasoned top surgeon in front of others, he seemed to transform into a different person entirely when he was with Melody,

Melody was accustomed to Rodney’s enthusiasm and approached him with a few quick steps. “I hope I’m not interrupting your rest by coming over unexpectedly.”

“No, not at all,” Rodney said, shaking his hands. “Ever since I learned someone was impersonating you and deceiving people at First Hospital, it’s been like a thorn in my side, constantly on my mind. Once we resolve this today, I won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Melody nodded and asked, “Have you mentioned anything to Mr. Williams?”

“No,” Rodney replied. “I didn’t want to interfere with any plans you might have. However…” He hesitated before continuing, “There was a very challenging surgery yesterday. I suggested that you take it on, but Mr. Williams refused. Fortunately, the surgery was completed successfully. Of course, if the surgery had been problematic, he would have definitely called you in.”

Melody immediately understood Rodney’s concern.

It seemed that Gerard was still suspicious, suspecting that she had secretly cooperated with First Hospital.

For someone like Gerard, who already had issues with Oliver, this would be seen as a betrayal.

Given that Gerard had restrained himself so far, it was probably out of respect for her talent. If it were someone else, they might have been dismissed long ago.

Curious, Melody asked, “May I ask… what exactly is the conflict between Mr. Williams and Mr. Wallrich? Even at their age, what could they possibly hold a grudge over that they can’t let go?”

“Let’s discuss it while we walk,” Rodney suggested. “Sure.”

“To be honest, I only know the broad outline of the story. Apparently, Mr. Wallrich’s current wife was once in a relationship with Mr. Williams. When Mr. Williams returned from overseas medical aid, he discovered that his girlfriend had betrayed him and was now with Mr. Wallrich, his best friend. From that point on, they became enemies, and the hostility continues to this day,” he explained.

“So it’s because of Mrs. Wallrich that their relationship deteriorated,” Melody said thoughtfully. “If they are to reconcile, it seems the only way would be through Mrs. Wallrich.”

Rodney shrugged. “That’s correct, but it’s unlikely they’ll ever reconcile. However, there’s a strange rumor…”

“What’s that?”

“The rumor is that Mrs. Wallrich has never had any children of her own. Their children were adopted. I wonder if this rumor is true. Could it be that Mrs. Wallrich is infertile and that Mr. Williams, who loves children, might have turned to Mr. Wallrich out of his affection for her?”

“We don’t know that yet,” Melody replied.

Rodney sighed again. “The animosity between the two hospitals has led to years of no collaboration between them. Even when they have mutual patients, they work separately. Multi-hospital consultations are rare, which makes things inconvenient for patients.

“It would be great if they could reconcile. Then I could come to First Hospital to learn their latest minimally invasive techniques. Both sides could benefit, and Silverlake’s medical standards could reach new heights.”

He continued, “Also, you might not know this since you didn’t grow up in Silverlake, but when someone from Silverlake faces a serious illness and finances allow, they often choose to go to Insterimond for treatment. This isn’t necessarily because Insterimond’s hospitals are significantly better than Silverlake’s, but due to the various restrictions caused by the discord between the two hospitals…”

Melody remembered that Sid’s father had wanted to send Sid to Insterimond for treatment as soon as he arrived in Silverlake, without ever considering the two major hospitals in Silverlake.

If the two hospitals could resolve their issues, such situations might significantly decrease in the future.

Melody made a mental note of this and quickened her pace towards the lobby of First Hospital.

By coincidence, she ran into Oliver, who had just returned from Herbathrive to First Hospital.

Seventeen’s driving skills were nearly at a professional level, so despite Oliver leaving Herbathrive first, he had managed to catch up with Oliver.

“Should we go tell Oliver about the fraud now?” Rodney asked excitedly.

Melody shook her head. “His wife you mentioned is about to undergo surgery. Nothing is more important than a patient’s life. Let’s wait until her surgery is successfully completed before bringing this up.”

Rodney, clearly concerned about the patient’s well-being, nodded vigorously. “Understood.”

With the hospital crowded, Melody and the others blended into the crowd, and soon, they followed Oliver to Miranda’s ward without him realizing their presence.

As soon as Melody stepped out of the elevator with Oliver, she noticed the hospital staff hurrying towards one of the patient rooms.

“Quickly, everyone, move fast. Get anyone who isn’t busy to find Dr. Knowles immediately…”

The head nurse, seeing Oliver looking puzzled, immediately stopped and said, “Mr. Wallrich, something’s wrong. Mrs. Wallrich has suddenly gone into shock.”

“What?” Oliver exclaimed, rushing swiftly toward the room.

The head nurse ran after him, adding, “Dr. Knowles had mentioned she was going out to get a coffee to stay alert, so she’s not in the hospital at the moment. We haven’t been able to locate her.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get everyone who’s able to leave their posts to find her,” he urged.

“Understood,” she replied.

Melody exchanged a glance with Rodney, and they both, in tacit agreement, followed Oliver toward the patient room.

Chapter 608

When Melody, Rodney, and Seventeen arrived at the hospital room door, it was already packed with medical staff. There was no way they could squeeze in, so they could only hear the sounds coming from inside.

After all, if Miranda were to suddenly die here, the staff on this floor would be held accountable.

Fortunately, Oliver knew that too many people couldn’t crowd around during an emergency, and he shouted loudly, “Everyone who can’t help, get out and find Dr. Knowles!”

As soon as he said that, the crowd dispersed quickly, leaving only a few people working on Miranda and Oliver himself.

Melody, however, noticed a girl huddled in the corner of the room.

It was none other than Charlotte.

But at this moment, Charlotte had completely lost her usual arrogance. Her face was as pale as the walls, and her expression was filled with panic and terror.

Melody did not go into the room but stayed at the door, observing the situation inside.

This was a hospital, and there were plenty of doctors skilled in emergency care. Unless absolutely necessary, she did not need to intervene, as it might only complicate matters.

Oliver, clearly oblivious to Charlotte’s presence, was anxiously watching the team working on Miranda, looking as if he wished he could somehow bear the shock for her.

“What’s her condition right now? Is it due to high blood pressure?” he asked urgently.

“No,” a doctor shook his head. “It looks like symptoms of poisoning. We’ve already taken blood samples for testing. She had also been given an emetic before you arrived, but it didn’t help at all… We’ll have to wait for the blood test results to determine what kind of poison she might have ingested.”

“Poisoned? How could she get poisoned in a hospital? And she was supposed to be fasting before the surgery. She couldn’t have eaten anything by mistake…” Oliver’s face turned a dark shade of anger.

“Well… we don’t know,” the doctor replied, then quickly took over from another doctor to continue performing CPR.

Oliver didn’t want to disturb the doctors, so he turned to the head nurse for answers. “When did this happen? Out of nowhere, why would she suddenly be poisoned? She wouldn’t disobey me and eat something carelessly.”

“When did this happen? Why would she suddenly be poisoned for no reason? She couldn’t have disobeyed me and eaten casually.”

The head nurse spoke tremulously, “About ten minutes ago. Everything was fine before that. When I got your call and came to inform Mrs. Wallrich that you were on your way, she seemed a bit nervous but otherwise was fine. It wasn’t until someone pressed the call button that we discovered she had already gone into shock…”

Oliver quickly asked, “Who pressed the call button?”

The person who pressed the button might know something.

The head nurse looked up and fixed her gaze on Charlotte.

Oliver followed her gaze and, upon seeing Charlotte cowering in the corner, his already furrowed brows tightened even more.

“It was you?” he demanded.

In the next moment, he strode over and yanked Charlotte by the collar, interrogating her. “Did you poison your grandmother?”

“No… it wasn’t me,” Charlotte stammered, her face pale with fear.

She had seen Oliver angry before, but compared to now, his previous outburst was nothing.

She had never seen Oliver look so terrifying as if he might kill her.

“Not you? How dare you deny it,” Oliver said, his voice trembling with anger. “Why is it so coincidental? You just happen to visit her, and she goes into shock. Is there such a thing as coincidence in the world? I’ll tell you this. If your grandmother doesn’t make it, you can expect to be buried with her.”

Although Charlotte was his granddaughter, his two children were adopted, and Charlotte herself was not related by blood.

Even though he had watched Charlotte grow up, she was obviously less important than his wife.

If his wife could not be saved, he would certainly follow through on his threat.

Of course, Charlotte was unaware that she was not truly Oliver’s granddaughter.

The head nurse beside them was stunned for a moment before finally reacting and reminding Oliver. “Mr. Wallrich, what’s most important right now is not to assign blame. The priority is to determine what poison was used so the doctors can treat it properly. If we delay any further, it might be too late…”

“Yes, exactly. Miss Wallrich, you need to speak up. If you don’t tell the truth, someone might really die. This is your own grandmother.”

The other doctors chimed in.

“It really wasn’t me…” Charlotte sobbed. “I didn’t do anything to my grandmother. I had just entered the room and hadn’t even had a chance to greet her before I saw her vomiting. That’s when I immediately pressed the call button. Grandpa, believe me. I’m telling the truth. I won’t lie…”

Oliver hesitated upon hearing this.

Seeing Oliver release his grip on her collar, Charlotte quickly continued, “Grandpa, it really wasn’t me. Grandma has always been so good to me. Why would I poison her? Besides, you froze my card. I had to come here on foot. I don’t have any money to buy poison.

“And another thing. I came to see Grandma to get her to persuade you to change your mind and not kick me out of the house. Believe me. I’m even more worried about Grandma than you are.”

Oliver frowned deeply, lost in thought.

Indeed, even though Charlotte could be arrogant, she wouldn’t resort to murder, especially killing her grandmother who had always favored her.

If anything happened to Miranda, Charlotte would be forever cut off from the Wallrich family.

She had no motive for the crime.

The head nurse spoke up, “Mr. Wallrich, Miss Wallrich might truly be innocent. When I arrived, I saw her trying to help Mrs. Wallrich. If she were the poisoner, she wouldn’t have pressed the call button or stayed at the scene. I believe the real culprit must be someone else.”

“Grandpa…” Charlotte’s eyes were red. “It really wasn’t me.”

Oliver took a deep breath and said, “Maybe it wasn’t you, but you still can’t avoid suspicion. I’m calling the police right now.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in disbelief at her grandfather’s harshness.

She glared at Oliver, saying coldly, “Old fool, I’ve said it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t me. Am I crazy enough to commit murder? Even if I were to kill someone, it wouldn’t be her but you, the stubborn old man.”

Charlotte’s true nature showed, making Oliver nearly lose his composure.

Being over fifty himself and having high blood pressure, he clutched his chest and gasped for air while saying, “Call the police

immediately. And then tie her up.”

“Yes…” The head nurse hurriedly went to call the police.

At that moment, a calm, cold voice interrupted from the doorway. “Wait.”

Chapter 609

At the command, the head nurse, who had been hesitant to restrain anyone, immediately halted her actions.

Seeing this, Oliver instinctively turned his gaze toward the source of the voice. When he recognized the speaker as the person in charge he had met at Herbathrive not long ago, a look of confusion crossed his face.

Melody leaned in and quietly instructed Seventeen to inform Central Hospital of, Gerard.

After giving the instructions, she stepped forward into the room and greeted Oliver. “Mr. Wallrich, it’s good to see you again.”

“Why are you here? Didn’t we already resolve that issue? If you have other demands, you should have come to see me before now. My wife is in trouble, and I don’t have time for anything else,” he said.

“Mr. Wallrich, you misunderstand. I came here specifically because of Mrs. Wallrich. From the looks of her condition, it does appear to be poisoning, but I can determine that it probably wasn’t poisoned by Ms. Wallrich,” she added.

“Why…” Oliver’s words were cut off as Charlotte pointed a finger at Melody and spoke first. “It’s you. You’re the one who poisoned my grandmother, aren’t you?”

Melody raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean, Ms. Wallrich? I’m here to help, and yet you accuse me?”

Charlotte sneered and said, “If it wasn’t you who poisoned her, then who could it be? You’ve left your post at Herbathrive to come here, clearly holding a grudge against me.”

She then turned to Oliver and said, “Grandfather, it’s clear what’s going on. She’s targeting my grandmother out of revenge, intending to frame me for it. Plus, as the head of Herbathrive, she has ample access to poison. Her suspicion is the highest. I suggest you arrest her immediately and hand her over to the police.”

Oliver struggled to believe that a head of Herbathrive would jeopardize his wife’s life out of such petty revenge.

This would not only ruin Herbathrive’s reputation but also her own future.

However, Charlotte’s points were not without merit.

The fact that Melody appeared here at this time was indeed suspicious.

Oliver’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Melody. “I remember you are Miss Fox, correct?”

“That’s right. My name is Melody Fox,” she replied.

“Very well, Melody. Please explain why you are here at the hospital. Are you the one who poisoned her or not?” he asked.

“Of course not. I have no grievances with your wife. Why would I do such a thing?” she smiled.

Charlotte took a few steps forward. “Stop trying to deny it. It’s you. There’s no one else who had a motive.”

Rodney, seeing that both Oliver and Charlotte were pointing fingers at Melody, intervened quickly. “This is absurd. This is a case of misplaced blame. We just arrived here. How could we have had time to poison anyone? Besides, Miss Fox is known for her compassion and always prioritizes her patients’ well-being. She would never do something like this.”

“And who are you?” Oliver asked.

“I’m Dr. Stanton, from Central Hospital. Miss Fox is a contracted physician with us. We came here today because…” he said.

“What? People from Central Hospital?” Oliver interrupted Rodney abruptly, his face turning a shade of anger. “I never allow Central Hospital personnel in my hospital. You need to leave immediately. As for you, Melody, until you clarify this situation, you’re not going anywhere.”

Rodney was equally frustrated. “You…”

At a time like this, Oliver was still clinging to old grudges.

“Dr. Stanton, calm down,” Melody quickly interjected before Rodney could say anything more offensive.

She turned to Oliver and said, “Mr. Wallrich, regardless of my relationship with Dr. Stanton or Central Hospital, the priority right now is to save your wife’s life. Her heart rate has dropped significantly. I want to help, and perhaps once the situation is resolved, the truth will become clear.”

“This is ridiculous. These doctors are among the best in our hospital. I don’t need assistance from Central Hospital,” he snorted.

At this moment, Oliver seemed to have completely forgotten that Melody was not only a contracted physician from Central Hospital but also the head of Herbathrive.

It was clear that any mention of Central Hospital caused him to lose his composure and nearly lose his mind.

Melody could only respond in the calmest tone possible. “Yes, there are indeed many excellent doctors here, and I don’t deny that some of them are highly skilled. But the reality is that Mrs. Wallrich’s condition has worsened, not improved. I can’t stand by and watch someone die before my eyes while doing nothing, so I took the risk of intervening.”

“Exactly,” Rodney said, raising his chin. “If Miss Fox didn’t want your wife to die in vain, why would she come here and risk being accused of poisoning?”

The doctors who were working to save Miranda glanced over at the commotion and couldn’t help but advise Oliver. “Mr. Wallrich, having an extra doctor on hand is always a benefit. Why not let them help?”

“Yes, Mr. Wallrich, Mrs. Wallrich’s poisoning symptoms are quite unusual. Her heart rate spikes and then drops almost to zero. This kind of case is unprecedented for us. We’re at a loss…”

“Mr. Wallrich, we don’t know when the blood test results will be available, and we can only test for common poisons. I suspect this poison is rare, so even when the results come in, we might not know what antidote to use. Besides, her convulsions make it impossible to perform a stomach wash…”

One by one, the doctors expressed their concerns about Miranda’s condition, which only darkened Oliver’s mood further. “Useless. All of you are useless.”

The First Hospital had always considered itself on par with Central Hospital. Now, having to rely on Central Hospital’s help felt like admitting they were inferior.

But seeing his wife’s dire state, despite his dissatisfaction with Central Hospital, Oliver had to suppress his anger. “Do you two truly believe you can save her?”

Rodney looked at Miranda’s condition and felt a twinge of doubt. ‘I am at a loss, unsure if Miss Fox could make a difference.’

Before he could voice his concerns, Melody spoke up. “I can save her.”

Rodney was taken aback.

Melody’s tone was unusually confident. ‘Isn’t she risking giving others ammunition if she fails?’ he wondered.

Doctors usually avoided making such absolute statements to patients’ families, as it could lead to disputes.

Oliver was momentarily stunned as well, clearly surprised by Melody’s resolute assertion. “You really…”

Oliver barely got the words out when Charlotte interrupted, “Grandfather, don’t listen to her nonsense. Aren’t you the one who dislikes Central Hospital the most? Besides, who knows if she’s nervous about getting caught? She might be afraid that if Grandma is saved, the truth about her poisoning will come out. Don’t let her interfere.”

Chapter 610

Charlotte’s words were driven by multiple motives. First, she genuinely did not trust Melody and was repulsed by her arrogant demeanor.

Second, she wanted to impress Oliver. Knowing Oliver as she did, she was certain he would never allow Central Hospital to interfere in their matters.

Third, she considered that Oliver cared deeply about Miranda. If she were to die, he would lose the person he valued most, making Charlotte the person he would care about most.

“Grandpa, you really can’t trust this woman. You can’t leave Grandma’s fate in the hands of this murderer.” Charlotte’s relentless persuasion caused Oliver’s wavering resolve to solidify once again.

“We don’t need Central Hospital’s involvement in our affairs,” Oliver said, urging the head nurse to call the police immediately.

Rodney was furious. He stepped forward to argue with Charlotte and Oliver. “Stop making baseless accusations. Miss Fox did nothing but try to help. How can you call her a murderer? We could sue you for defamation.”

“Go ahead and sue,” Charlotte retorted provocatively. “Before you file a lawsuit, ask Miss Fox if she dares to sue us for defamation.”

Rodney found himself at a loss for words against Charlotte’s shamelessness. Frustrated, he turned to Melody. “Miss Fox, well…”

Just as Melody was about to respond, two figures appeared suddenly at the door.

“Dad!”

“Grandpa!”

The elderly man and the young girl spoke almost simultaneously.

Seeing the newcomers, Oliver furrowed his brow. “Mia isn’t well yet. Why did you bring her here?”

The woman holding the little girl shook her head. “I heard about Mom’s situation and rushed over to see her. Dad, what happened to Mom? Isn’t the surgery still pending?”

“She’s been poisoned,” he replied.

“Why did this happen?” The woman’s face instantly turned ashen.

Charlotte sneered and spat. “Hypocrites.”

The woman frowned and looked at Charlotte. “Charlotte, what do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean? Don’t you get it? You insisted on marrying into a poor, remote place. Now that you can’t stand the hard life there, you come running back to grab a share of the family assets, right?” she mocked.

“You…” The woman’s face darkened with anger.

Oliver’s voice was cold as he reprimanded, “Charlotte, be quiet.”

Charlotte was deeply unwilling but, under Oliver’s pressure, had no choice but to remain silent.

The woman was about to inquire about Miranda’s condition when she caught sight of Melody out of the corner of her eye. “It’s you?”

Melody looked puzzled, as she didn’t seem to recognize the serene-looking mother and daughter in front of her.

Oliver also asked in confusion, “Do you know her?”

The woman nodded, looking at Melody with some excitement. “When I returned to Silverlake that day, Mia had a sudden emergency. I had no money and no one around to help us. But I happened to run into this young lady, who helped us, saved Mia, and even arranged for me to get free medicine at Herbathrive…”

Oliver was stunned, and his gaze toward Melody grew complex.

At that moment, Melody remembered who the mother and daughter were.

The day she went to check on Owen’s daughter, she coincidentally encountered this mother and daughter at the Nathan family’s doorstep.

Now, dressed in clean clothes and no longer looking pale and thin, they were hard to recognize at first glance. Melody hadn’t realized them.

And she didn’t expect them to be Oliver’s daughter and granddaughter.

No wonder David had mentioned that no mother and daughter had come to get medicine later.

Oliver’s daughter and granddaughter wouldn’t come to Herbathrive for medicine once they found Oliver.

“So it’s you,” Melody said, reverting to her professional habit. “Is her illness not fully cured yet?”

“Yes…” The woman was about to continue when she suddenly remembered her mother was still in critical condition. She stopped and turned to Oliver. “Dad, this young lady is very skilled. Why don’t you let her try to help Mom with the detoxification?”

She had overheard some of the conversation in the hallway earlier.

There was no way she could believe that Melody was a murderer.

Someone who could offer help to strangers couldn’t possibly be such an evil person.

With the support of the mother and daughter, Melody took the opportunity to speak. “Mr. Wallrich, all your doctors are here. Even if I wanted to harm your wife, I wouldn’t have the chance. Are you really going to watch her die and let the real culprit go free?”

Perhaps Melody’s earnest gaze, combined with his daughter’s words, finally swayed Oliver once more.

The doctors, anxious, urged him to let Melody try. “Mr. Wallrich, we are all here watching. Just let her give it a try,” they said.

Oliver clenched his teeth, his personal grudges momentarily forgotten as he felt the urgency of the situation.

With a complicated expression, he said, “Fine, you can try. But if anything happens to my wife, regardless of whether you are the poisoner or not, you will be held primarily responsible.”

“Agreed,” Melody said without hesitation, then moved towards the bedside.

Her decisiveness surprised Oliver even more.

Charlotte, however, was panicking. “Grandpa, why are you really letting her…”

“Be quiet,” Oliver snapped, delivering another hard slap to Charlotte’s face.

“Grandpa?” Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears from the pain.

Oliver showed no sympathy on his face. Coldly, he exposed Charlotte’s true nature. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. Regardless of whether your grandmother can be saved, the Wallrich family will have nothing to do with you from now on.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in shock.

Oliver’s words were like a death sentence to her.

Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor. ‘What should I do?’ she wondered.

Her only hope now rested on whether Melody could save her grandmother. She would beg her grandmother for help if she succeeded.

Charlotte who had hoped for Miranda to die quickly now desperately wished for her to recover.

At the bedside, Melody took Miranda’s hand and carefully checked on her condition.

After about half a minute, she released the hand and turned to Oliver. “It’s indeed poisoning. The poison is called…”

“Why are you here?” Before Melody could finish, a sharp female voice interrupted.

Melody instinctively looked toward the source of the voice.

Her gaze met Regina’s.

Regina had been hiding well but feared that First Hospital personnel might find her, so she decided to sneak out to the parking lot and leave.

She didn’t expect to run into those searching for her in the parking lot and was forced to return to the ward.

To her dismay, Melody, whom she despised, was now in the room.

Panicking and disgusted, Regina said to Oliver, “Mr. Wallrich, this woman is no good. You need to get her out of here immediately.”

Regina knew Melody’s identity and feared that Melody might expose her for impersonating someone else.

Knowing that Melody’s medical skills could potentially counteract the poison, Regina couldn’t allow Melody to stay for any reason.

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Chapter 601

“What else do you want?” Charlotte glared at her with a twisted expression.

Her face was already covered in scratches from when Rowan had attacked her earlier. Now, with this fierce expression, she looked downright terrifying. Even David couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

But Melody’s expression didn’t change at all. She remained completely calm as she spoke. “It seems your memory isn’t very good. Have you already forgotten the promise you made to me in the storage room just a while ago?”.

David slapped his forehead and reminded Charlotte. “Hey, you ruined Mr. Herbert’s rare collection in the storage room. You agreed to compensate us, remember? Don’t even think about backing out now.”

Melody then turned to Orion and said, “Mr. Riley, you were there too. I would appreciate it if you could act as a witness.”

“Of course,” Orion nodded, looking at Charlotte. “Ms. Wallrich, I’ll have to ask you to compensate them for those two herbs right now.”

The people around them all glanced at Charlotte with amused expressions, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Charlotte felt incredibly irritated, but her pride wouldn’t let her back down. Without thinking, she snapped, “Fine, I’ll pay. I’m not the type to back out of a deal. Just tell me. How much? I’ll pay you ten times the amount.”

“Ten times, huh?” Melody’s lips curled slightly. “Ms. Wallrich, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to afford that. Let’s stick to the original value.”

“Don’t underestimate me. Just tell me how much. I don’t want to waste any more time talking to you,” she said.

‘Revenge is a dish best served cold, Charlotte thought. She refused to believe that Oliver would truly abandon her in this situation.

Melody nodded, pulled out a calculator, and quickly did some calculations. A few seconds later, she presented the number to Charlotte, saying, “Forget about the loose change. Just give me a round figure. I won’t accept checks, only a bank transfer or cash.”

Charlotte looked at the calculator dismissively.

‘It’s just a wildflower and a few herbs, how expensive could they be?’ she wondered.

But when she finally saw the shockingly long number on the screen, her expression froze in an instant. “40 million dollars? Are you kidding me?”

Elton, standing beside her, widened his eyes in disbelief when he heard the amount “40 million dollars? How could those few herbs be worth that much?”

Elton instinctively dismissed the rapidly withering flower, just as Charlotte had. Deep down, he had also assumed it was a worthless wildflower, thinking the real value must be in those carefully cultivated herbs.

Melody shook her head. “You’re mistaken. The value of those herbs cannot be measured in money. You’ll need to contact the Medical and Agricultural institutes to settle the compensation for those.”

Elton swallowed hard, struggling to find his voice. “So, this 40 million dollars is just for that wildflower? Do you think we’re fools? It’s just a flower! Even if it were made of gems, it couldn’t possibly cost that much.”

“Exactly! You’re only doing this because we’re students, and since my grandfather’s not backing me up, you think you can extort us. There’s no way a flower could be that expensive,” Charlotte said, her anger rising.

But seeing that they were outnumbered by the people from Herbathrive, she turned to Orion for support. “Aren’t you supposed to be impartial? Why are you just standing by and watching her extort us?”

Orion frowned, feeling a wave of hesitation.

He trusted Melody’s character.

‘She isn’t the type to resort to extortion. But a flower worth 40 million dollars? It seems too unbelievable,’ Orion wondered.

After a brief pause, Orion asked, “Dr. Fox, is there some misunderstanding here? Does this flower have some unique quality that justifies such a high price?”

Orion asked several questions, but never once did he accuse Melody of extortion.

This trust didn’t go unnoticed, and Melody felt a deep sense of gratitude.

Patiently, she explained, “This flower isn’t just some wildflower like they think. It has a name, Snowblossom.” “Snowblossom?” Orion’s eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. “You mean the legendary flower that blooms only once a year and grows on sheer cliffs?”

“That’s right,” Melody confirmed with a nod. She then turned to Elton and Charlotte. “This flower is extremely rare and cannot be cultivated artificially. I spent four to five years searching for just one Snowblossom. During those years, I studied the perfect conditions for its growth and climbed countless mountains before I finally found it.”

Charlotte and Elton, both medical students, were familiar with the name Snowblossom.

If it truly was Snowblossom, it was indeed worth 40 million dollars, and even at that price, many would be eager to buy it.

Charlotte’s forehead was slick with cold sweat as her eyes darted around rapidly.

Suddenly, she realized something and retorted. “You’re lying. Snowblossom only blooms for a single day, but that flower of yours has clearly been in the storage room for more than a day and is still in bloom. It must be a fake. It can’t possibly be Snowblossom.”

Melody calmly explained, “That’s because Mr. Herbert used a special method to preserve it. Remember, it was only after you broke the glass cover that the Snowblossom wilted? The glass cover is a high-tech product designed to keep Snowblossom blooming. The compensation amount I calculated included the cost of this high-tech glass cover.”

As for the Snowblossom Melody had given to her grandmother that continued blooming, it was because her mentor had developed a wax oil with similar effects to the glass cover, allowing the flower to remain in bloom when she handed it over to Maria.

Of course, her Snowblossom was not as exceptional as Colin’s, so it wasn’t worth 40 million dollars.

Colin’s Snowblossom was truly a rare gem among rare gems.

“That’s absolutely impossible…” Charlotte’s face turned pale as she staggered backward.

She hadn’t expected that the random flower she had kicked aside was such a rare Snowblossom.

‘If I hadn’t been kicked out of the Wallrich family, it wouldn’t be so bad. But now, how could I possibly come up with 40 million dollars?’ she thought.

Melody, losing patience, said, “Even though the flower has wilted, many experts can still identify it as Snowblossom. If you don’t believe it, we can go to the police station and have professionals verify it.”

With the matter laid out so clearly, Charlotte had no choice but to admit that the flower she had dismissed as a wildflower was indeed Snowblossom.

But she couldn’t afford the compensation, so she was left with no choice but to try to avoid paying.

Melody saw through Charlotte’s thoughts immediately.

She coldly reminded her, “You’ve destroyed valuable items, and there is ample evidence. If you try to deny it, I will report it to the authorities right away. 40 million dollars could result in a long prison sentence for you.”

Charlotte was instantly overwhelmed and disoriented. Her already bleak world seemed to darken even further. In her desperation, she glanced at Elton and suddenly remembered the gifts she had given him over the years, which together were worth more than 40 million dollars. With that thought in mind, Charlotte immediately grabbed Elton’s sleeve and said, “Didn’t I give you many gifts before?

You could return those to me, and I’ll buy new ones for you later.”

Elton was silent for a moment, then suddenly frowned and pushed Charlotte’s hand away from his sleeve. “Charlotte, let’s break up.”

Chapter 602

Charlotte was stunned, unable to process what she had just heard. “What?”

“I said… we should break up,” Elton repeated impatiently.

Charlotte, in disbelief, asked, “Why?”

Elton took a few steps back, putting some distance between them before continuing with a look of disgust. “I’ve had enough of you. You’re a spoiled, unreasonable fool. If it weren’t for the fact that you might inherit the Wallrich family fortune, why would I ever be with someone like you?” “Are you joking? Didn’t you say you loved me? You said you’d never felt this way about anyone before, that without me you’d go crazy and die, and that you’d be with me forever,” she asked.

Elton smirked, clearly exasperated. “Do you believe everything a man says? I did mean what I said, though. When your grandfather changes his mind and gives you the inheritance back, I might come around again.”

Charlotte’s face darkened with anger. “Elton, you…”

Elton cut her off, clearly uninterested in any further conversation, and turned to leave.

Charlotte rushed forward, blocking his path with urgency. No… Elton, you can’t leave me like this. You’re all I have. You can’t just walk away.”

“All you have? Can’t live without me? How come you never said you couldn’t live without me when you were insulting me and treating me like a servant? Now that you’re in a tough spot, you suddenly need me. It’s pathetic. Unfortunately, I don’t need you anymore,” he snorted.

With that, he pushed Charlotte aside and walked away without a second glance.

Charlotte’s mind was blank, and she didn’t even think to chase after him.

She couldn’t comprehend the situation ‘The man who has been by my side all these years, caring for me, is actually interested in my position rather than me as a person. In a crisis, he shows no sentiment and just walks out…’

She felt a deep sense of betrayal.

Melody looked at Elton’s retreating figure with disdain, thinking, ‘This man is as disgusting, selfish, and cold-hearted as Ulric.’

She couldn’t resist sending a text message and then turned to Charlotte. “Ms. Wallrich, as much as I sympathize with you, please transfer the compensation to me as soon as possible. I’ll give you three days. If you don’t bring the money by then, I’ll have to report this to the authorities.” The flower wasn’t hers. It belonged to Colin, and he might be furious when he found out.

So, she needed to get that 40-million-dollar compensation to calm Colin down a bit.

Charlotte glared at Melody with intense anger. “Bitch. Even now, you dare to kick me while I’m down. It’s just 40 million dollars, right? Just wait. I’ll throw the money in your face. Don’t complain when it hurts.”

Melody, not wanting to engage further, waved her hand at David. “Show them out.”

“Okay,” David said with a nod and made a gesture for Charlotte to leave.

Charlotte let out a scornful sniff and left Herbathrive with her head held high, like an arrogant swan. She carried herself with dignity, completely ignoring the fact that Oliver had cut ties with her.

However, once she was outside of Herbathrive, Charlotte realized something was off when she tried to call a cab. She discovered that all the cards linked to her phone were frozen and unusable. Not only was she unable to book a hotel, but she didn’t even have enough money for a taxi.

Her entire cash amounted to just a single dollar in her wallet.

One dollar wouldn’t even buy a hot dog in Silverlake. At that moment, panic set in. She shakily dialed Oliver’s number, only to have the call rejected.

When she tried calling again, the number was disconnected. Oliver had blocked her.

‘Did Grandpa really go this far? No, I don’t believe it. I have to find Oliver and explain that I genuinely understood my mistakes. And even if Grandpa won’t acknowledge me, Grandma will surely soften her stance, she wondered.

Charlotte recalled that Miranda was undergoing surgery at First Hospital today. Clenching her teeth, she decided to head to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Elton had just gotten out of a cab and was passing through an alley when suddenly a large hand covered his mouth, and he was dragged into the alley.

Before he could react, a sack was pulled over his head, and the next moment, a barrage of punches began to rain down on him.

Screams echoed from the alley, but the surrounding street corners were deliberately blocked off, making it impossible for anyone to hear what was happening in the alley.

Meanwhile, in the backyard of Herbathrive, Orion looked apologetic as he addressed Melody. “Dr. Fox, I’m truly sorry for the trouble my people caused you today. If you need anything in the future, just give me a call. As long as it’s within legal bounds, I’ll make sure to help.”

Melody offered a slight smile. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Your support has already been very helpful. The Medicines Control Agency is lucky to have you.”

“Dr. Fox, you flatter me.” Orion raised a hand and said, “I’ll be on my way now. There are numerous matters that need my attention at Rowan.”

“Alright, take care,” she said.

After Orion left, the other doctors at Herbathrive gathered around Melody, chattering and praising her. Only Talia and Nana silently slipped away.

Melody noticed this but discreetly shifted her gaze.

Everyone put in a lot of effort today. David told me that while I was upstairs, all of you stood firm and didn’t budge. I’m pleased for Mr. Herbert. I hope we can continue to strengthen our unity.”

“Absolutely, Miss Fox.”

“With you and Mr. Herbert here, we’ll always stick together.”

Melody smiled slightly. “Since you’re all so united, I won’t let you down. After the hospital closes tonight, I’d like to treat you all to dinner. You can choose the place.”

“Wow… then I’m picking the most expensive place in Silverlake.”

“Sure thing, I’ll make the arrangements.” Melody nodded with a smile.

Cheers erupted, filling the air.

“Alright, it’s still working hours, so get back to taking care of the patients,” Melody said.

“Yes, Miss Fox.” The group dispersed quickly. Once everyone had left, Melody returned to her room briefly and then sought out Talia and Nana.

Seeing Melody enter, Talia and Nana quickly stood up.

“Melody Fox?” Nana said hastily. “I’m sorry. I was just about to take a break… I’ll head to the accounts office now.”

“No need to rush.” Melody waved her hand. “I have something for you.”

“What is it?” With Talia and Nana looking on in curiosity, Melody took out an envelope and handed it to them.

Chapter 603

“What is this?” Nana asked, puzzled.

Talia, who was next to her, clearly misunderstood Melody’s intent and nervously explained, “Miss Fox, did you misunderstand us? We didn’t flee the scene. We went to First Hospital to bring Oliver over before leaving. We…” Melody quickly interrupted Talia, clarifying, “You misunderstood me. I know you went to get Oliver, not that you fled. If you hadn’t brought Oliver over in time, Charlotte and Elton might have had a bigger fallout and continued causing trouble here. So, the contents of this package are a gift from me to you as a token of thanks.”

“Of course, I’m not sure if you’ll need or like what’s inside. Open it and see. I need to head out for a while, so I’ll leave you to it,” Melody said before turning and leaving, leaving Talia and Nana alone in the room.

After Melody left, Talia and Nana grew more curious about what was in the envelope.

“Nana, why don’t you open it?” Talia had a strange feeling, sensing that whatever was inside the envelope might leave her with mixed emotions.

“Okay,” Nana said, not thinking much of it. She assumed it might be a bonus or something, and that Melody had hurried off to avoid them rejecting it.

She opened the envelope casually, but because she was a bit rough, it tore open, spilling a few photos and a USB drive onto the table.

“Why are there photos?” Nana wondered as she picked up the pictures, confused.

In the next moment, her eyes widened in shock.

The photos depicted an intimate scene between a man and a woman.

The woman in the photos was the mistress her father was involved with, but the man was clearly not her father.

Realizing that the mistress was involved with someone else, Nana’s eyes sparkled with realization.

“Mom, look at this!” She eagerly handed the photos to Talia, her face beaming with excitement. “The mistress is also being unfaithful. Dad’s been cheated on!”

Talia was momentarily surprised but soon composed herself. “Let’s see what’s on the USB drive.”

Prompted by Talia’s suggestion, Nana quickly connected the USB drive to her tablet.

The tablet had originally been a gift from Melody to make her work easier, but Nana never expected it would be used for this purpose.

In less than a minute, Nana had finished viewing the contents of the USB drive.

It contained a video and some hotel booking records.

The video clearly showed the mistress and her lover engaging in a rendezvous in a parking lot. The footage was clear enough that their faces and bodies were fully visible.

But the most crucial piece of evidence was a paternity test. It clearly stated that the child the mistress had was not her father’s.

Nana was thrilled with this discovery. Her excitement grew as she grabbed Talia’s hand and said, “Mom, let’s go find Dad and expose that bitch right now!”

However, Talia remained silent, her gaze shifting from the tablet to the gray, oppressive sky outside the window.

Seeing Talia’s reaction, Nana couldn’t help but ask, “Mom, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy about this?”

Talia forced a bitter smile and said, “Why should I be happy? Even if these things cause a rift between them, it doesn’t lessen the damage he’s done to us.”

Nana paused, her excitement fading.

“Even if he finds out that his current partner is unfaithful and calls us back, it doesn’t change the fact that he betrayed you and abandoned us. To him, we’re no different from that woman, just expendable. The only thing he cares about is himself,” she added.

As Talia finished speaking, both she and Nana fell into silence.

It was at this moment that Nana fully understood Melody’s words. “I’m not sure if you need this, or if you’ll like it.”

She was no longer sure if they needed these things.

Even if they showed the photos and video to her father, making the man who abandoned them feel discomfort, it wouldn’t erase the pain and the feeling of being forsaken by the world.

So, the significance of these things seemed rather minimal. After a long silence, Talia suddenly grasped Nana’s hand and asked, “Nana, I need you to answer me truthfully.” Nana nodded, “Sure, go ahead.”

“Do you want to go back?” Talia asked.

“Hmm?” Nana was puzzled.

“If you really want to go back, I’ll use these documents to confront him. Your father won’t tolerate anyone making a fool of him. He’ll definitely kick that woman and her child out. You’re his only blood relative now, and with the misunderstanding with Miss Fox cleared up, he won’t use her as an excuse to keep you away,” she added.

Nana sensed something was off and furrowed her brow. You keep talking about me, but what about you?”

Talia forced a bitter smile and said, “You might not believe it, but I’ve felt happier here in Herbathrive than I ever did at home. I no longer have to revolve around him or deal with those pretentious high-society wives. I feel more relaxed here and like I’m living for myself.”

“So, you don’t want to go back?” Nana asked.

“Yes.” Talia nodded, looking at Nana. “But I won’t stop you from going back. If you return, you’ll be the young lady of the Jensen family again, and you’ll quickly resume your luxurious life.”

“I…” Nana bit her lip and thought for a moment before replying, “Mom, let me think about it.”

“Sure, take your time. Once you’ve decided, we can figure out what to do next,” she nodded.

Meanwhile, as soon as Melody left Talia and Nana’s room, Seventeen approached and reported quietly. “Miss Fox, as you instructed, I’ve broken Elton’s legs. He won’t be able to move freely for the next six months.”

Melody, her expression unreadable, nodded slightly and asked, “He didn’t see you, did he?”

“Don’t worry. No one will trace it back to you or me,” he said.

“Good.” Melody nodded again. “Prepare the car. We’re going to First Hospital now.”

It was time to expose the woman who had been impersonating her. Melody wondered what Oliver’s reaction would be when he found out she was the real Wilona.

Once in the car, Melody called Rodney. When Rodney learned she was going to reveal the fake Wilona’s identity, he nearly shouted with excitement. “I’m not on duty today. I’ll head to First Hospital right away to meet you.”

“Okay, see you at First Hospital,” she said.

After ending the call, Melody noticed an unread text message from Mason. She opened it and smiled.

The last herb needed for her appearance restoration, Green Velvet, would be auctioned off in a month.

This herb was crucial, and she was determined to obtain it.

Chapter 604

Once the herbs were gathered and brewed properly for a week, her appearance would return to its original state. Melody instinctively touched her face, feeling the uneven, bumpy spots that gave a rather unpleasant sensation.

For some reason, knowing the approximate recovery time made her unexplainably anxious.

“Miss Fox?” Seventeen, in the driver’s seat, glanced back at her. Seeing that she didn’t respond, he called out again, Miss Fox?”

Melody snapped back to attention and asked, “What is it?”

“My team has reported that Charlotte is also heading to First Hospital. Should I send someone to stop her?” he asked.

Melody thought for a moment before replying, “I’ve checked into her family. She’s surely going to see Oliver’s wife, who is also her grandmother. Since her grandmother is about to undergo surgery, Charlotte’s attempt to plead now will only infuriate Oliver more. So, there’s no need to stop her. Let her go.”

“Understood.” Seventeen nodded but still looked hesitant.

Noticing Seventeen’s expression in the rearview mirror, Melody smiled and said, “If you have something to say, just speak up.”

Seventeen pressed his lips together and said, “Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Mr. Swanson? He should be finishing up soon. You promised before you left that you’d return to Serenity Villa first and go to the hospital with him.”

Had Seventeen not mentioned it, Melody would have forgotten about it.

She glanced at the time and said, “We’ve already wasted too much time on Charlotte. We won’t have enough time to go to Serenity Villa now. Let’s head straight to the hospital. I’ll send a message to Ken.”

“Got it.” Seventeen, respecting Melody’s decision, pressed the accelerator and headed toward First Hospital.

Melody hesitated for a moment before pulling out her phone to text Ken, informing him that she wouldn’t make it back to Serenity Villa and was going directly to First Hospital instead.

Meanwhile, Ken was at the Swanson Group headquarters attending a meeting.

Today’s meeting was his formal welcome to the company, but since Ramon was out of town, only four out of eight board members were present. Naturally, Ulric was among those who didn’t show up.

Ken was well aware that the absentees were all bought off by Ulric, deliberately trying to put him in a difficult position, signaling that even though he had joined the headquarters, his path ahead wouldn’t be smooth.

Ken used some tactics to force the remaining board members to come to the headquarters. When Melody sent him the message, the others had just arrived under pressure, so the welcome meeting had only just begun.

Ken read the text with a look of resigned frustration in his eyes.

He had suspected that Melody wouldn’t just follow his instructions without question, but his schedule was too tight to accompany her to First Hospital. He could only explain his situation and remind her to be careful.

While First Hospital itself wasn’t dangerous, the impersonator was a malicious actor, and that introduced a lot of uncertainties.

This was precisely why he had wanted to accompany Melody to the hospital in the first place.

Melody: [I’ll be careful.] When she received Ken’s response, she texted back and glanced up, noticing her own smiling reflection in the car window.

The smile froze on her face, and her mood grew heavier.

She was shocked at how her spirits had lifted simply from receiving a text from Ken.

She tightened her grip on her hands, mentally scolding herself not to get too caught up in it.

Meanwhile, Mabel, having been on edge all night due to Cadence’s death, finally began to calm down when the police didn’t come knocking, and no news reports were linking her to Cadence’s death.

She knew that her apparent lack of involvement must be due to Ulric’s intervention.

With this realization, her mood improved gradually.

‘Only Ulric’s heart belongs to me. No matter how powerful Melody becomes, she can’t possibly compete with Ulric, she thought to herself.

Not only Melody but even Ken wouldn’t stand a chance against Ulric. She trusted her own judgment.

After a moment of reflection, Mabel’s heart settled. She carefully applied her makeup, donned an elegant haute couture dress, and took her purse as she headed downstairs, intending to thank Ulric.

However, as she reached the stairway, she heard Russell on the phone, his tone ingratiating as he spoke to the person on the other end. “President Taylor, you’re coming back tonight? Perfect timing. You must be tired from your trip. I’d like to host a welcome dinner for you. I also have a few things I’d like to discuss with you…”

It sounded like the person on the other end had agreed, as Russell’s face lit up with satisfaction. “Great, I’ll personally pick you up from the airport at five o’clock. You can bring your wife along as well. I hear she’s pregnant. I know a remedy that’s very beneficial for expectant mothers. Alright, see you at the airport lobby then.”

After hanging up, Russell noticed Mabel descending the stairs and immediately waved to her. “You’re just in time. Clear your schedule for tonight and come with me to dinner. The guest will be bringing his wife, and having you there will make the conversation easier.”

In the past, Mabel had often accompanied Russell to such dinners and even felt pleased to be valued so highly.

However, things were different now. She was about to become Ulric’s fiancée, and the thought of hosting guests for Russell was beneath her and made her feel disrespected.

Mabel was reluctant to agree and tried to avoid the request.

“I’m supposed to meet Ulric soon. I might not have time tonight… Or, I’ll see if I can make it. If I have time, I’ll come by.”

“Ulric…” Russell’s eyes lit up as he realized something. “I almost forgot. Ulric could be useful here. Try to bring him along to the dinner if you can. It would be perfect if he could come. If they know we’re backed by Ulric, it will definitely speed up the approval of my loan.”

“Loan?” Mabel’s expression turned serious.

“I remember Owen recommended a few banks to you. You got your loan approved already. Why do you still need more money?” Mabel asked, her voice tinged with concern.

“Do you even understand?” Russell shot her a glance. “That amount of money isn’t enough. With this additional loan, I’ll finally be able to expand my business empire.”

Mabel’s uneasy feeling returned.

She quickly asked, “How much are you planning to borrow this time?”

“Not too much, just 100 million dollars,” he said.

“100 million dollars?” Mabel’s eyes widened in shock. Excluding the recent loans you’ve taken, your total debt is already over 200 million dollars. And we haven’t even secured the deal with the Swanson Group yet. Aren’t you worried that if the deal falls through, all this money will be wasted?”

“Why do you speak like that? You ungrateful wretch.” Russell’s anger flared, and he slapped Mabel hard across the face.

The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the living room, causing the servants to flee in fear, worried about being caught in the crossfire.

Chapter 605

“Did you hit me?” Mabel stared at Russell with a mix of terror and anger, unable to believe what had just happened as she clutched her throbbing cheek.

Before her mother went to prison, Russell would never have hit her so casually, nor would he have struck her with such force. It felt as though her face might split open from the pain.

Now that her mother was in prison, Russell’s attitude toward her had become erratic, treating her as nothing more than a pawn.

She had always known Russell had a temper, quick to hit or berate servants and even her mother, but he had always been somewhat indulgent with her, his daughter who

brought him prestige.

But now, he had struck her simply because she had said a few things that jarred him.

Her current position was different from before.

He had hit the future wife of Ulric.

Russell, however, remained oblivious to the fact that Mabel’s mindset had already shifted.

He glared at her coldly and said, “Since you’ve cursed the family’s business to falter, why shouldn’t I discipline you? If you don’t bring Ulric to the dinner tonight, I’ll punish you again when you get home.”

“You…” Mabel began to protest.

“What?” Russell snapped, his anger evident. “You used to be so obedient and compliant. Now you dare to defy me? Are you planning to run away like that wretched Melody?” Mabel wanted to retaliate, but she was no match for Russell’s strength. Furthermore, she couldn’t completely distance herself from the Fox family at this moment. Instead, she clenched her hands and apologized, enduring the humiliation. “I’m sorry, Dad. It was my mistake.”

Russell’s expression softened slightly. He smirked and said, “If you had been more obedient earlier, would I have had to hit you? From now on, don’t speak such ominous words. I’m doing this for a reason. The Fox family will be fine, and you’ll have more leverage when you marry into the Swanson family. Otherwise, Mrs. Swanson won’t take you seriously, and sooner or later, you’ll be replaced.”

“I understand, Dad…” Mabel lowered her gaze.

Russell’s words echoed her deepest fears. She worried that Astrid looked down on her and their relationship deteriorated, so she was concerned about the rise and fall of the Justalion Group.

But at this moment, Russell was not open to any of her objections. She could only hope that everything would go as he wished and that the Justalion Group would use this opportunity to make a comeback.

“Alright, you’re off to find Ulric, right? Hurry up. Remember that you must bring him to the Blue Moon Lounge for dinner at six o’clock tonight,” he said.

“Yes…” Mabel agreed with her words, but in her heart, she had no intention of bringing Ulric over.

For one, she didn’t want Russell to loan out so much money. For another, she didn’t want Ulric to look down on her.

Mabel adjusted her clothes and took a car to the Swanson villa.

Since Astrid was not home today, Mabel had no trouble meeting Ulric.

Before entering the room, she pinched her thigh hard enough to make her eyes turn red, resembling a pitiable little rabbit.

She knew very well that her greatest weapon was her beauty, which could evoke a man’s protective instincts.

She knocked on the door, and Ulric’s voice called from inside. “Come in.”

As Mabel stepped in, she saw a stunning woman helping Ulric put on his shirt. Instantly, she felt a sense of intimacy in the air, and her blood seemed to freeze as she stared in disbelief. “Mr. Swanson, you…”

Seeing her, Ulric signaled the woman to let him handle the buttons himself and said, “You can leave now. We’ll discuss what you mentioned earlier later.”

“Okay.” The woman nodded and glanced at Mabel before leaving.

Mabel then had a clear view of the woman’s face. She was a well-preserved middle-aged woman, with excellent looks and demeanor, her charm still intact. Her figure was curvaceous, the kind that made men overlook her true age. ‘So, Ulric didn’t refuse my advances before because of respect but because he was involved with this middle-aged woman as well?’ Mabel’s expression stiffened further.

After a quick glance at the woman, Mabel treated her as if she were invisible, brushing past her as she left the room. Her gaze followed the woman, but Ulric’s voice pulled her attention back. “She’s my doctor.”

Mabel was taken aback and quickly refocused her attention on Ulric, who was now standing right in front of her.

She momentarily forgot the shock from seeing the woman and exclaimed in surprise, “You can stand up?”

“Yes.” Ulric nodded. “Thanks to that doctor, I have feeling in my leg and can manage a few steps. But it will be some time before I’m fully recovered.”

“Is she just a doctor?” Mabel asked uncertainly.

“What else could she be?” Ulric concealed his irritation well, smiling as he replied, “Have you misunderstood something?” Before Mabel could respond, Ulric continued, “Don’t worry. I’m a man of integrity. With you around, I won’t be interested in anyone else.”

Mabel’s heart, which had been in suspense, finally settled. She knew Ulric wouldn’t choose that older woman over her. No matter how old a man was, he preferred young girls.

“I knew you wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” Mabel said, flashing a radiant smile as she reached out to wrap her arms around Ulric’s waist.

The strong, muscular frame of his waist made Mabel’s heart race.

She had always thought that his legs, having been disabled for years, would have left him physically weak. However, she was surprised to see that his physique was still in such excellent shape.

‘How disciplined must he be to maintain his body in such good condition despite his leg disability? How painful and challenging must the process have been?’ she wondered. Mabel felt even more assured that she hadn’t made the wrong choice, but she forgot that someone who could be so harsh on himself would be even harsher on others.

Mabel’s weight pressed down on Ulric’s still-recovering legs, making them strain under the pressure.

Yet, a man like him would never show any sign of weakness in front of others. Casually, he pulled away Mabel’s arms from his waist and took the opportunity to sit back in his wheelchair.

Once seated comfortably, Ulric gently asked, “By the way, why did you come by today? I have a lot to do and might not have time to spend with you.”

Mabel then remembered her purpose and put on a delicate, sorrowful expression, her eyes reddening as she said, “It’s not that, Ulric. I didn’t come here just for fun. I heard that Cadence has died… I’m feeling a bit scared. I couldn’t sleep at all last night, and I kept having nightmares.”

As she spoke, she knelt on the floor and rested her hands on Ulric’s legs, resembling a vulnerable little kitten.

A breeze from the window lifted her hair, revealing her slender, delicate neck, making it impossible not to want to hold and cherish her.

Ulric, being a man, couldn’t help but feel his throat tighten in response to such beauty.

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Chapter 596

Charlotte’s words nearly confirmed that Rowan had accepted a bribe.

Rowan instinctively glanced at Orion, who narrowed his eyes coldly, his gaze filled with scrutiny and intimidation. Rowan’s legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the floor, his face pale as he weakly tried to defend himself. “It’s not like that, Mr. Riley. Don’t listen to her nonsense…”

“Nonsense? I don’t think so,” Orion said, lifting his hand and tossing the 4-million-dollar check Charlotte had given him onto Rowan’s face.

Rowan flinched violently, his reputation no longer a concern as he grabbed Orion’s trouser leg, pleading. “Mr. Riley, please, just this once, let me go. I’ll return the money and swear it will never happen again.”

Seeing this, Charlotte realized, even with her limited understanding, that Orion was not the person she had thought him to be.

She had inadvertently set Rowan up.

Feeling frustrated, Charlotte quickly sought a way to remedy the situation. “Mr. Riley, Mr. Turner didn’t receive a bribe. He was actually a friend of my grandfather’s. That money was a gift from me as his junior, not a bribe.”

“Really?” Rowan quickly nodded. “We know each other. Her grandfather was my medical professor. Before I joined the Medicines Control Agency, I worked under her grandfather at First Hospital.”

“A gift?” Orion laughed, pointing at the check lying on the floor. “So, is this also a gift?”

Both Charlotte and Rowan fell into a rigid silence.

Rowan cursed Charlotte and her entire family inwardly. ‘If it weren’t for that fool Charlotte, I wouldn’t be in this mess.’

Seeing that he couldn’t clear the accusation about accepting money, Rowan tried to find another way to muddle the issue. His mind raced as he sought a solution.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

He decided to take a desperate approach and told Orion. Mr. Riley, I admit I was indeed confused today and made a mistake by accepting the money. But I swear this is truly the first time I’ve accepted a bribe. I’m returning the money to her right now.”

As he spoke, Rowan used his phone to transfer the exact amount Charlotte had given him back to her.

After doing this, he added, “But… Mr. Riley, Herbathrive did violate regulations, and that has nothing to do with whether or not I took the money. Although I accepted her money, the matter was handled impartially. Please believe me.” Rowan’s two aides quickly stepped in to support his claims. Of course, many others chose to remain silent. They had been oppressed by Rowan for so long that they were eager to see this parasite exposed.

Seeing this, Charlotte chimed in, “Mr. Riley, Mr. Turner really isn’t lying. If you don’t believe it, you can go check the storage room yourself. There are many things inside that are not in compliance, and there are some weeds I’ve never seen before. I suspect Herbathrive has been engaging in illegal activities, selling these weeds as valuable herbs.” Orion frowned in displeasure. “Herbathrive has a long-standing reputation. They wouldn’t do something like that.” Charlotte and Elton exchanged a glance. It seemed Orion might be leaning toward defending Herbathrive.

Elton stepped forward with a cold sneer. “Mr. Riley, what do you mean by that? Are you concluding Herbathrive’s innocence without even inspecting the evidence? Isn’t that a bit biased? As the head of the Medicines Control Agency, is this how you conduct your investigations?”

Charlotte smirked. “With your approach, if you still think Mr. Turner is at fault… I’d say the real problem is with you.” “What do you mean by that?” Orion shot back. “Are you suggesting I’m deliberately covering up for Herbathrive?” Charlotte shrugged. “We don’t know that for sure. What we do know is that the evidence of Herbathrive’s violations is right here in the storage room, yet you’re turning a blind eye.” Orion’s expression darkened quickly.

He was about to counter Charlotte’s claims and clear Herbathrive when Melody’s voice suddenly interrupted. “Mr. Riley, this storage room belongs to Mr. Herbert personally and has nothing to do with Herbathrive. You can check Herbathrive’s accounts or ask Mr. Herbert himself. Even if it’s a private storage room, it can withstand scrutiny. If you feel uncomfortable, you’re welcome to take a look yourself.” Orion hesitated for a moment, then called over a trusted subordinate. “Go check Herbathrive’s accounts to see if the contents of this storage room belong to them or to Mr. Herbert personally. Also, find out if anyone knows who the storage room belongs to.”

“Understood,” the subordinate nodded and asked, “Where is the accounting office?”

Since Nana, who managed the accounts, was not present, there was only one accountant left. David volunteered. “I’ll take you there.”

The two quickly left the backyard.

Melody then realized she hadn’t seen Nana around and asked Felix, who had come in with her, “Where’s Nana?”

“Humph.” Felix’s white beard quivered with anger. “She ran off with her mother. You picked two ungrateful people.”

Melody frowned slightly, finding it hard to believe she had misjudged Nana.

But this was not the time to worry about Nana. Melody took the lead and approached the storage room door, making a gesture for Orion to enter.

Orion nodded slightly and stepped inside.

Charlotte and the others quickly followed.

As Charlotte passed Melody, her face was full of defiance, as if to say, “You’re in big trouble.”

Melody, with a half-smile, was the last to enter the room.

As soon as she stepped in, she saw the glass shards that Charlotte had kicked against the wall and the withered herb.

When she noticed that the flowers on the herb had completely turned from white to a dead yellow, her face immediately hardened with a frosty expression. She demanded in a stern voice, “Who broke this?”

Charlotte, hearing this, was dismissive. She didn’t think much of the withered herb and scoffed. “It’s just a weed. It got broken, so what? I’ll pay you for it.”

“Pay?” Melody asked sharply. “Do you think you can afford it?”

Charlotte, as if hearing a huge joke, casually responded, Do you think I can’t pay for a mere flower? I could give you a thousand of these flowers if you want.”

“A thousand flowers?” Melody met Charlotte’s gaze, and her initial anger suddenly dissipated. She smiled meaningfully and asked, “Are you sure you can provide a thousand of these flowers?”

“Of course. It’s just a flower. How much could it possibly be worth?” Charlotte replied confidently.

“Very well.” Melody nodded deeply, picking up the withered herb from the floor.

She raised her voice and said, “In that case, let everyone here be a witness that Ms. Wallrich has voluntarily offered to compensate me with a thousand flowers. I hope you all can help if she tries to go back on her word.”

Chapter 597

Elton sensed something was off and quietly advised Charlotte, “Maybe you should check the price of that flower first. What if it’s really expensive?”

Charlotte’s expression darkened. “What’s wrong? Even you’re looking down on me now? No matter how expensive it is, I can afford it.”

She then turned provocatively toward Melody and added, ” Don’t worry. I would never try to weasel out of this. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You’re just clinging to that wildflower to buy time.”

Melody shrugged, adopting a nonchalant attitude about Charlotte’s words.

Charlotte found this ugly woman’s nonchalance rather irksome, but she turned and urged Orion. “Mr. Riley, stop just standing there and get on with it. There are a lot of herbs here that are stored improperly.”

Orion was displeased with Charlotte’s attitude and didn’t respond. His gaze slowly swept over the herbs on the shelves.

Many of these herbs were unfamiliar to him, stored in unusual and bizarre ways.

For example, a plant with petals that resembled a human face was kept in a container of quicklime.

Noticing Orion’s pause at the face-like plant, Rowan immediately stepped forward and pointed at it, “Mr. Riley, do you see? Who would store herbs in quicklime?”

Orion hesitated, finding it odd.

However, after several encounters with Melody, he developed a strong sense of trust in her, so his first instinct was to look to Melody for an explanation.

Sensing Orion’s gaze, Melody stepped forward and explained, “Mr. Riley, you may not know this, but this herb is called the Face Flower. It is highly effective in treating gout and is also reputed to have longevity benefits. Its growing conditions are unique, and the best way to preserve it is indeed in quicklime. However, the Face Flower is extremely rare, nearly extinct, and therefore very expensive. Just this single plant is worth millions of dollars. Colin happened to find it at a market in Althan and decided to bring it back for his collection.”

Rowan immediately took out his phone to look up the Face Flower.

The online records confirmed Melody’s description exactly, noting that it was indeed a rare and treasured item among collectors.

Anyone who obtained a single plant would make headlines, and just as Rowan was searching, he stumbled upon a news article that prominently mentioned Colin’s acquisition of one.

Seeing this news, a chill ran down Rowan’s back.

The price of such an inconspicuous flower was actually over millions of dollars.

‘How much are those weeds I impulsively pulled out worth?’ he thought anxiously.

At this moment, Melody noticed that several carefully cultivated Velvet Grass had been violently uprooted.

She immediately furrowed her brow and asked, “Who pulled these out?”

Rowan’s eyes darted away, and he suddenly regretted coming to Herbathrive.

Not only had he potentially lost the money Charlotte had given him, but he might also face additional financial liability.

Orion glanced at the damaged grass under the lights and suspected that these seemingly insignificant plants might also be valuable. He coldly asked Rowan, “Did you pull these out during your inspection?”

“No, no… I didn’t know about this,” Rowan said, avoiding eye contact with Orion, clearly uncomfortable.

His reaction caught Melody’s attention.

She narrowed her eyes and said with a faint smile, “It’s fine if no one admits to it. Almost all the herbs in the storage room are quite valuable, so there are cameras everywhere. Every corner is under surveillance. I’ll check the footage shortly.”

Rowan broke into a cold sweat and stammered, “Um… are these grasses as expensive as the Face Flower?”

“Not as expensive as the Face Flower,” Melody replied.

Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to admit his mistake, Melody continued, “These are Velvet Grass, a new variety jointly developed by the Halcyon Medical Institute and the Agricultural Institute. They have properties similar to ginseng but are extremely difficult to cultivate.

“Mr. Herbert is known for his exceptional cultivation skills, so the Agricultural Institute entrusted him with this task. They are about to invite both parties to inspect the plants as they are nearly ready for harvest. Now that half of them have been violently pulled out. I imagine Mr. Herbert will be even angrier. After all, this involves a lot of people’s hard work and multiple technological developments. The Agricultural and Medical Institutes might even pursue legal action.”

At this point, Rowan could no longer hold himself together. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor, his face turning ashen.

Melody, inwardly sneering, maintained a facade of concern and confusion as she asked, “Mr. Turner, what’s the matter? Why did you suddenly collapse? Should I check your pulse to see if you’re suffering from heatstroke?”

“No, no…” Rowan tried to speak, but his voice trembled uncontrollably.

At this moment, he was no longer thinking about the closure of Herbathrive; his only concern was finding a way to address the issue with the Agricultural Institute.

Others quickly rushed over to help Rowan up, but he seemed almost lifeless and could barely stand without support.

Charlotte, observing Rowan’s condition, immediately understood what was happening.

She sneered disdainfully, thinking to herself how pathetic Rowan was.

‘He is so terrible. So what if it’s the Agricultural Institute and the Medical Institute? My grandfather knows them. Although he’s stubborn, he won’t ignore me,’ she thought. With this in mind, Charlotte stepped forward, showing a sense of righteousness. “I was the one who pulled the grass. I will take the initiative to contact them for compensation.”

Rowan’s eyes immediately brightened at her words, and he regained enough composure to stand firmly.

Melody let out a soft laugh and turned to Charlotte with a leisurely gaze. “Ms. Wallrich, are you certain you pulled the grass?”

“Of course I’m certain. What’s there to be uncertain about?” Charlotte replied, curling her lip in annoyance. “You’re so nitpicky. Let’s deal with these things after the inspection. Mr. Riley, Mr. Turner, please focus on the main issues and continue your investigation.”

Her impatience was palpable.

With Charlotte willingly taking on the responsibility, Rowan quickly regained his composure and led Orion to the areas he had previously thought might be problematic.

However, each time they inspected an area, Melody was able to use her expertise to explain why their storage methods were perfectly acceptable.

Rowan wanted to accuse Melody of being evasive, but upon checking the records, he found that her explanations were accurate.

Soon, every corner of the storage room had been thoroughly inspected, and no issues could be found.

“This is impossible…” Charlotte murmured, unwilling to accept the outcome as she raised her voice. “There must be something that’s been overlooked. Mr. Turner, are you sure you’ve checked everything thoroughly?”

Rowan glanced at Orion’s face and, with a stiff expression, replied, “We’ve checked everything… and indeed, there are no issues.”

Even the storage of the ginseng, which they had initially considered the most problematic, was found to be properly explained.

Everything was found to be in compliance with regulations.

Chapter 598

“This is impossible. It’s absolutely impossible,” Charlotte exclaimed, her eyes blazing with frustration. “There were clearly problems just a moment ago. Why are there no issues now?”

“Enough,” Orion said coldly, cutting her off. “This department is not here to settle your personal grudges. We’ve already wasted too much time on this because of you. Are you going to keep wasting our time? If you persist, Herbathrive has grounds to sue you.”

“No…” Charlotte felt an intense sense of injustice, her eyes turning red with anger as she glared at Melody.

‘Bitch, she cursed inwardly.

She had hoped to see this hideous woman panic and beg for mercy, but now she was powerless to affect her, which drove her to the brink of madness.

She wanted revenge for what happened to the drainage ditch.

Elton’s expression was equally dark.

But his concern wasn’t about revenge.

The minor issue of failing to find evidence against Herbathrive was nothing compared to the major problem of being unable to secure an internship there.

Given the commotion they had caused today, no other hospital would accept them.

Moreover, Herbathrive was the only hospital recognized by the school, leaving them without their last opportunity for an internship.

At this point, he could only hope that the Wallrich family’s two stubborn old-timers wouldn’t be so ruthless as to deny Charlotte her graduation if she couldn’t complete the internship.

Just then, the staff Orion had sent to check the accounts returned.

He didn’t notice the tense expressions on Charlotte and the others’ faces and reported straightforwardly, “Mr. Riley, there are no records of herbs for this storage room in the accounts. All the herbs sold at Herbathrive are kept in their main hall’s herb storage and counters.

“Additionally, I inquired around the area, and some residents are familiar with this storage room. They say it contains many valuable herbs from Mr. Herbert’s personal collection. Therefore, based on the evidence, it appears that the herbs in this storage room indeed belong to Mr. Herbert personally.”

The fact that no problems were found with the storage room made whether it was private or not irrelevant.

However, this investigation result was a major blow to Rowan.

Orion’s face grew even darker as he realized how blind he had been to Rowan’s true nature.

He gritted his teeth, staring at Rowan with frustration and disappointment. “What do you have to say for me now?” Rowan’s lips trembled. “Mr. Riley, please let me explain. I genuinely didn’t know it was a private storage room. I really thought it was Herbathrive’s herb storage.”

Orion sneered. “So, in your ignorance, you barged into someone’s private storage and forcibly detained their staff?”

“I…” Rowan’s throat tightened, and he was at a loss for words.

Melody turned to glance at the bruises on David’s face and spoke calmly, “Mr. Riley, I assume you wouldn’t mind if I called the police to report this break-in and the disturbance caused?”

Orion, though aware that such actions might tarnish the Medicines Control Agency’s public image, was known for his integrity and did not hesitate. “I wouldn’t mind. Feel free to call the police.”

“No…” Rowan’s knees buckled, and he fell to the floor, grabbing Orion’s pant leg. “Mr. Riley, you can’t let her call the police. If the police get involved, I’m finished. The reputation of the Medicines Control Agency will be ruined.

Even if you don’t care about me, you should think about the agency’s reputation.”

Rowan’s two loyal subordinates immediately began pleading. “Mr. Riley, please spare us. We’ll never do this again.”

Orion remained expressionless. “If I continue to cover for you, it will be a real disgrace to the Medicines Control Agency.”

Melody looked at the other anxious staff members of the Medicines Control Agency and said loudly, “I understand many of you were pressured into this, and those who didn’t cause damage to the storage room’s herbs can be forgiven by Herbathrive. You just need to compensate for the loss of customer flow today.”

At these words, everyone visibly relaxed.

Rowan’s two die-hard subordinates, after a moment of hesitation, quickly began distancing themselves from him. “Mr. Riley, we were also forced into this. Please show mercy and let us go.”

“Yeah, Rowan has always threatened us into doing things. If we refused, he’d make our lives miserable, constantly berating and mistreating us.”

The two subordinates continued to shift the blame, eventually spilling all the dirty deeds Rowan had forced them to do.

When they revealed the amount of dirty money Rowan had accepted, many people gasped in shock.

They had always known he took bribes, but they never imagined it was this much.

“Not only that, we know he doesn’t keep the money for himself. He stashes it all at his mistress’s place,” someone added.

“Shut up!” Rowan, panicking, lunged to strangle the man who had spoken, but Melody swiftly kicked him, sending him flying.

“This is what you call acting in self-defense, not an attack on you,” Melody said with a smirk.

“You…” Rowan, wincing in pain, struggled to his feet, about to curse Melody when Orion’s voice suddenly boomed, filled with anger. “Enough!”

Rowan trembled, terror filling his eyes as he looked at Orion. “N-no, Mr. Riley, please, let me explain…”

“Explain? More like making excuses,” Orion responded coldly. “I will immediately file a report on your actions to our superiors. As for your two subordinates, the higher-ups will decide how to deal with you.”

“The superiors…”

That meant all the money he had painstakingly amassed over the years would be confiscated.

God knows, without Orion’s discovery, he hadn’t even spent much of it; he’d always dressed modestly and lived frugally. ‘I’ve never even gotten to enjoy it, and now it’s all going to be taken away?’ he wondered.

Suddenly, Rowan’s gaze snapped to Charlotte, his eyes bloodshot with murderous intent.

Charlotte flinched, instinctively hiding behind Elton. “Mr. Turner, you can’t blame me! You agreed to take my money. Besides, this is the first time I’ve asked you to do anything; everything before this has nothing to do with me…”

But her words only poured fuel on the fire in Rowan’s chest.

He lost all reason, charging at Charlotte like a madman.” Bitch, die!”

If he was going down, he was going to take someone with him.

His career was in ruins, his money would be seized, and his wife would divorce him once she learned the truth.

Everything in his life had been destroyed because of Charlotte.

Rowan moved so quickly that even Elton, standing in front of Charlotte, didn’t react in time.

Of course, that level of speed was nothing to Melody, but she remained rooted to the spot, showing no intention of intervening.

She had no obligation to help them. She had only stopped Rowan earlier because she needed those two subordinates to testify against him.

But as for Charlotte, there was no reason to stop her.

What Charlotte was about to face was a consequence of her own actions.

Chapter 599

Without Melody to stop him, the others had no time to react in that fleeting moment.

In the blink of an eye, Rowan had already grabbed Charlotte by the collar, one hand gripping her throat while the other ruthlessly slapped her face over and over.

Within mere seconds, Charlotte’s face was swollen beyond recognition, deep gashes marking her cheeks, clearly destined to leave scars.

“Ahhh… help me!” she screamed, trying desperately to escape, but she was no match for Rowan.

By the time Elton snapped out of it and rushed forward to pull Rowan away, Charlotte’s face had been utterly disfigured, a bloody, mangled mess, with even the skin on her right cheek peeling back visibly.

This meant that no matter how skilled the cosmetic surgeon, her face would never return to its original state.

“My face… my face…” Charlotte curled up on the floor, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

Elton quickly cradled her, soothing, “Don’t worry. It’s okay… I’m here.”

“My face is ruined, completely ruined!” she roared.

“It doesn’t matter, Charlotte,” he reassured her, “Even if your face is beyond recognition, I’ll never leave you.”

Only then did Charlotte calm down slightly, though she still trembled all over.

Despite being dragged away, Rowan wasn’t ready to let it go. Not even Orion’s furious scolding could faze him.

Having lost everything, Rowan couldn’t care less about Orion’s authority.

His eyes darted around until they landed on a stone lying a short distance away, the very stone Charlotte had used earlier to break open the storage room’s lock.

Rowan quickly snatched up the stone, ready to charge at Charlotte again.

It was only then that Melody issued a command to David. ” Hold him down. We can’t have anyone dying in the hospital.” “Yes,” Although David and the others took a certain satisfaction in Charlotte’s misfortune, they couldn’t afford to be implicated in a death at Herbathrive. So, without hesitation, David and his men stepped in to restrain Rowan.

Rowan struggled like a man possessed, determined to finish Charlotte off, and it took the combined efforts of Orion’s men to finally subdue him.

Just then, the police officers Melody had called arrived on the scene.

Along with the police officers came officials from the prosecutor’s office, summoned by Orion.

Rowan and his two subordinates were quickly detained, leaving Charlotte alone, wailing over her disfigured face. One of the police officers, maintaining a professional tone, approached Charlotte. “Miss, you’ll need to come with us to the hospital for an injury assessment, and to get treated as well.”

Since Herbathrive couldn’t provide an official medical report, she had to go to a modern hospital.

The assessment was necessary to document her injuries fully, which could support her claim for compensation from Rowan.

However, Charlotte wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. As she struggled to stand, she lashed out at the innocent officer. “An injury assessment? For what? Can’t you see my face is already ruined? Can he ever repay me for what he did? I want him dead. Execute him immediately!”

The officer, looking exasperated, patiently explained, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have the authority for that. Please accompany the medical examiner to the hospital and follow the necessary procedures. We can also treat your injuries there.”

“Get lost! Get out of my sight! Are you all in cahoots with Rowan and that ugly freak? I told you to execute them, are you deaf?”

Melody couldn’t help but shrug at Charlotte’s outburst.

‘Rowan is the one who attacked me. How did I get dragged into this?’ She thought to herself that Charlotte must have completely lost her mind.

The last time she had encountered someone this unhinged was Cadence, who by now might have grass growing over her grave.

‘Why do I keep running into such weirdos?’ she wondered.

“Officers, it might be best to remove this young lady forcibly. Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble she’ll stir up next.” Melody suggested in a calm tone, which only fueled Charlotte’s fury.

“Bitch! You’re happy about my disfigurement because you’re ugly yourself, aren’t you? Honestly, whether you’re disfigured or not doesn’t matter to me,” Charlotte replied, unfazed.

“Don’t lie! You’re so ugly, your heart must be just as dark. But don’t get too comfortable. I’m the granddaughter of Oliver from First Hospital. He owns many companies, and I promise you, Herbathrive won’t be operating for much longer. Just wait and see,” she added.

Elton, sensing the tension among the police officers, tried to calm Charlotte down. “Charlotte, you need to cool down. This isn’t the time for threats…”

“Shut up! Who asked for your opinion? Let me tell you, even disfigured. You’re not good enough for me. If you won’t defend me, at least don’t try to stop me. Or do you want me to dump you right now?” she wondered.

Elton awkwardly cleared his throat, his embarrassed expression revealing the turmoil he felt inside.

“Melody, I’m warning you. You’ve messed with someone you shouldn’t have. You’re dealing with the future heir of the Wallrich family,” Charlotte continued her tirade.

But just as the last word left her mouth, an elderly but strong voice cut through the air. “Nonsense. Charlotte, is this what I’ve taught you?”

Charlotte instantly stiffened, her back going rigid as she turned in disbelief toward the voice.

In the next moment, her eyes widened in shock. Grandfather… Why are you here?”

Melody and the others also looked in the direction Charlotte was staring, equally surprised.

At the entrance to the backyard stood an elderly man with a thick white beard, even more impressive than Felix’s.

This was undoubtedly Oliver Wallrich, the head of First Hospital.

However, David’s attention wasn’t on Oliver at first. What caught his eye was the sight of Talia and Nana standing just behind him.

His eyes lit up with excitement when he saw them, particularly Nana.

‘So, she didn’t run away after all’, he thought, feeling a surge of relief and excitement that he couldn’t quite explain.

Almost instinctively, he grabbed Felix, who had been criticizing Nana earlier, and said, “Mr. Hamilton, see? Nana didn’t run away. She brought Oliver here.”

Felix, noticing David’s joy, smiled sheepishly and stroked his beard. “Alright, I see that. I’ll apologize to her later, okay?”

David finally felt completely at ease. He quickly walked over to Nana.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone else’s attention was on Oliver, a low voice, he asked, “Why didn’t you answer my calls earlier? Everyone thought you’d run off.”

“I’m no coward,” Nana replied, nodding in Oliver’s direction. I didn’t pick up because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get him to come. But luckily, Oliver turned out to be reasonable. As soon as he heard that Charlotte was causing trouble at Herbathrive, he insisted on coming here with us before we even had a chance to ask.”

David nodded vigorously and stood beside Nana, feeling a deep sense of camaraderie.

Talia, who had been somewhat overlooked in the excitement, didn’t mind at all. She smiled warmly at the sight of David and Nana standing together.

Meanwhile, Oliver had already approached Charlotte.

Chapter 600

Charlotte never expected to see Oliver here, but the moment she noticed Nana’s expression, she instantly understood why.

‘Damn it, the people at Herbathrive are more cunning than I thought. They deliberately brought Grandpa over while I was saying those things. This is bad, really bad,’ she wondered.

Charlotte’s heart was racing, but deep down, she still believed that Oliver would stand by her side.

‘After all, I am his only granddaughter and the most legitimate heir, raised to be the successor from a young age. No matter how outrageous I might have been, he wouldn’t side with outsiders in front of so many people.’ With that thought, Charlotte’s anxiety eased a little.

She fought back the pain on her face and tried to look as pitiful as possible. “Grandpa, you have to help me! These people are all bullying me, and they’ve even ruined my face…” Elton did not expect Oliver to come to Herbathrive.

After panicking for a moment, his thoughts were obviously the same as Jia Ziyu’s. No matter how old-fashioned and upright he was, he would not side with an outsider at this time. ‘After all, I’m his biological granddaughter, she thought.

With that in mind, Elton stepped in to assist. “Mr. Wallrich, Charlotte, and I…”

“Shut up,” Oliver coldly interrupted, his voice icy. “This has nothing to do with you. Get out.”

Elton’s face darkened, but he had no choice but to swallow his words and step back. After all, Charlotte wasn’t the head of the Wallrich family yet.

Besides, Oliver had never liked him, and Elton had grown accustomed to this attitude long ago.

As long as Charlotte inherited the family, all these slights would be worth it.

As Elton stepped aside, Charlotte’s unease grew. ‘Could Grandpa really be so heartless?’ she wondered, tears welling up as she tried to look even more aggrieved.” Grandpa…”

In the next moment, Oliver raised his hand and slapped Charlotte across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the room, and the pain, combined with the injuries Rowan had already inflicted, made Charlotte scream in agony. “Ah…”

Elton was shocked and quickly moved to protect Charlotte, trying to defend her. “Mr. Wallrich, how could you hit Charlotte? This isn’t entirely her fault. It’s all because…”

“Shut up,” Oliver snapped. “Don’t think you can deceive me just because you’re older. I learned everything on my way here.

“You and Charlotte threatened and intimidated the people at Herbathrive just to get an internship certification. And that’s not all. I’ve seen the footage from the backyard. When intimidation didn’t work, you even brought Rowan in to meddle.

“I’ve seen everything you did today clearly on my phone. Don’t even think about denying it.”

Nana stood triumphantly behind Oliver, waving her phone at Elton.

The screen displayed footage from the backyard, making it clear that Oliver had witnessed everything they did on his way over.

Elton’s legs gave out, and he almost collapsed.

Beside him, Charlotte’s face turned ashen, her voice trembling as she tried to defend herself. “Grandpa, I…”

“There’s no need to say anything,” Oliver cut her off sharply.” You’re no longer my granddaughter. It’s bad enough that you did wrong without any remorse, but to lie and claim others were bullying you? Where did you learn to twist the truth like this? Certainly not from your grandmother or me. From this day forward, you are no longer my granddaughter. Go live with your parents, and don’t come looking for us again. We’re ashamed of you.”

Charlotte’s face drained of all color as she stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “Grandpa, what do you mean by that?”

“Isn’t it clear enough? From now on, we sever all ties as grandfather and granddaughter. You are no longer a member of the Wallrich family,” he said.

“No, Grandpa, you must be joking, right?” Charlotte forced a smile, reaching out to grab Oliver’s sleeve, but he brusquely shook her off.

“You know very well I’m not joking. You’re just as rotten as your parents. I once thought you were different, that you could be taught, but I was wrong. My lifetime of honor has been destroyed by two generations of our family. From now on, you can’t use my name for anything. I’ll be making a public statement to announce our severed ties, just as I did with your parents.”

Charlotte’s vision darkened as she lost her balance, collapsing to the ground.

She knew that Oliver would never joke about something like this.

Once he made a decision, it was final, with no chance of reversal.

Her life as a pampered heiress was over.

If she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have stubbornly fought Herbathrive over a mere internship certification.

As he looked down at Charlotte, now crumpled on the ground in despair, Oliver showed no sign of compassion.

He was a man of unwavering resolve; call him old-fashioned or stubborn, but at his age, he wasn’t going to change.

And he never regretted any decision he made.

This time, Oliver was truly disappointed in Charlotte.

If he didn’t sever ties with her today, the entire Wallrich family would eventually be destroyed by her hands.

He looked away, his voice cold and unyielding. “When Nana came to me, I thought you were just causing some minor trouble, like always. I figured, with your grandmother about to undergo surgery, I’d give you a stern talking-to, then take you to see her.

“You could keep her company and maybe lift her spirits. But well… this is far from minor. You nearly drove a perfectly fine hospital to the brink of collapse.

“In the past, I could turn a blind eye to your tantrums, but this time, you’ve crossed a line I can’t ignore. I don’t want to give you any more chances. From now on, you’re on your own.”

Oliver had finally seen Charlotte’s true nature, and this time, there was no going back.

He turned to leave, his decision firm.

Desperate, Elton rushed forward to block his path. “Mr. Wallrich, you can’t really cut ties with Charlotte like this! She’s always been so devoted to you. You know that better than anyone!”

Oliver’s patience had worn thin. “How many times have I told you to shut up? Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours. If you don’t want to make this situation even more embarrassing, step aside.”

“But you…” Elton stammered, but Oliver didn’t bother listening to another word. He simply pushed Elton aside and strode out, his steps resolute.

As he neared the exit of the backyard, Oliver suddenly turned back. “Who is in charge of Herbathrive?”

“I am.” Melody stepped forward, her gaze meeting Oliver’s with a hint of amusement. “I’m the person in charge here. Mr. Wallrich, it’s an honor to finally meet you.”

“I’m ashamed,” Oliver replied with a shake of his head. “I deeply apologize for today. If there’s anything First Hospital can do to assist you in the future, just send Nana to me.”

Melody opened her mouth, ready to bring up the issue of the impostor, but she hesitated and held back. Now wasn’t the right time.

Now was not the best time…

“Alright,” she said instead, watching Oliver leave before turning her attention to Charlotte, who was still stricken with despair. “Ms. Wallrich, I know you’re not in the best of spirits right now, but we still have two accounts to settle.”

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Chapter 591

David knew he couldn’t hide the truth any longer and gritted his teeth. “It’s true that Miss Fox is one of the people in charge, but I am also responsible. She has something urgent to deal with right now. If you have something to say, you can talk to me.”

Charlotte, however, found this quite amusing. “She has something to do? More likely, she’s taken off because she knew things were going south.”

“Don’t you dare insult Miss Fox,” someone interjected.

Charlotte looked at them in disbelief. “Even at a time like this, you’re still defending her? She’s smart enough to run off and leave you all holding the bag. And what about you? A bunch of fools left to take the blame.”

“You…”

“Your name is David, right?” Charlotte met David’s gaze and continued, “Melody has already fled. Aren’t you worried that we might shut down your hospital? With my influence, I could make it so that after you leave here, you’ll never find another hospital to work at. I’m giving you one last chance. If you let us two interns at your hospital now, I will overlook everything as if nothing happened. But if you insist on fighting us to the end, so be it.”

Her goal wasn’t to destroy Herbathrive but to secure a position there, so she was willing to give them one final opportunity.

However, instead of softening them, Charlotte’s offer only fueled the anger of those at Herbathrive.

Since Michael had left Herbathrive with a large group of people, those who remained were all deeply loyal to the hospital.

Loyalty could withstand trials.

Felix, the oldest among them, took the lead in resisting. What you’re doing is no different from being a thief. Even if we stop being doctors, we will never give in to your demands.”

David also stood his ground. “Miss Fox didn’t run away. She’s busy treating patients. As for you two, it’s your own fault for failing the assessment. You have no one to blame but yourselves.”

“That’s right. People who cheat and still want to join Herbathrive? What do you think this place is? What do you think other candidates for Herbathrive are like?”

“No matter the cost, we will uphold the fairness and integrity of Herbathrive.”

“Right. Fairness and integrity.”

This phrase, once spoken by Melody, now echoed with the same forceful conviction as a rallying cry from the members of Herbathrive.

They were proud guys who would never submit to tyranny.

Even if Herbathrive were to be shut down, they would follow Colin and Melody’s example, uniting their efforts to reopen a new hospital.

It was just a change of location. As long as they still lived, Herbathrive would never fall.

Charlotte was taken aback by the fact that Herbathrive’s people were still standing firm at this point. Her frustration boiled over, and she turned to Rowan. “Mr. Turner, please conduct a thorough investigation of Herbathrive immediately.”

In her mind, she resolved. ‘Even if I don’t get an internship certificate or graduate, I’ll make these people pay.’

Rowan nodded and signaled. “Investigate them thoroughly. Don’t miss any details. Report back immediately if anything is found lacking.

“Wait a minute.” David stepped forward and said loudly, “If you’re going to conduct a thorough inspection of the hospital, do you have the proper legal documentation? We won’t accept any unnecessary and unjustified inspections.”

Charlotte scoffed and replied, “What documents are needed for an investigation? Mr. Turner, don’t worry about their concerns.”

In contrast to Charlotte’s arrogance, Rowan remained composed.

He gave Charlotte a reassuring look and then addressed David calmly. “Sir, I am Rowan Turner, Deputy Director of the Medicines Control Agency. My job is to conduct periodic checks on food and drug safety, which includes pharmaceuticals. Therefore, I do not require any special documentation to inspect Herbathrive. Moreover, since have received a complaint, it is my duty to personally review the situation. If I don’t, it would be a dereliction of duty and a disservice to both patients and the complainants. I urge you to cooperate with our investigation, or we will have to consider you obstructing official duties.”

The lofty and righteous reasoning left the people of Herbathrive speechless.

Charlotte was immensely pleased and gave Rowan a thumbs up. ‘Mr. Turner certainly knows his stuff. A few words and he’s silenced all their objections.’

She looked at David with a mocking smile. ‘A small traditional hospital daring to oppose the Medicines Control Agency is sheer madness!’

David, feeling the sting of Charlotte’s gaze, was utterly frustrated but powerless to act. He could only watch as Rowan’s team began their search for Herbathrive.

The inspection started in the lobby.

A patient was waiting at the counter for medication when one of Rowan’s agents brusquely pushed him aside. “What’s the meaning of this?” the patient exclaimed angrily. Charlotte, seeing the commotion, approached with a feigned look of concern. “Sir, I advise you to go to another traditional hospital for your medication. This hospital is about to be shut down.”

The man, who had just arrived and was clearly unaware of the situation, looked puzzled and asked, “What are you talking about? I’ve been getting my medication here for ten years. Why would it be shut down?”

“Ten years?” Charlotte laughed. “If after ten years they still haven’t cured your illness, it’s clear this hospital is ineffective. You’ve been deceived for a decade. Their closure should be something to celebrate.

Just as Charlotte expected the man to cause trouble for Herbathrive, he instead looked at her as if she were crazy and said, “You’re an idiot.”

Charlotte’s face darkened, and she snapped, “Who are you calling an idiot? I’m trying to help you by suggesting you seek compensation, and you insult me? Are you out of your mind?”

The man rolled his eyes and retorted, “I’m calling you an idiot. I’m picking up medication for my mother, who has high blood pressure. Do you even understand what that is? It can’t be cured, only managed. For ten years, my mother’s high blood pressure has been stable thanks to Herbathrive’s medication. What’s there to celebrate? Are you the idiot here?”

The pharmacist, pleased to see Charlotte getting verbally attacked, handed over the medication with a polite nod and whispered, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” the man replied, encouragingly. “Don’t worry. A hospital as dedicated as Herbathrive will never close down.”

Charlotte was on the verge of exploding.

Elton quickly stepped in to calm her, which somewhat eased her fury.

With red-hot eyes and a fierce expression, she said, “I’m going to make sure they shut down for good.”

“Of course,” Elton said with a mix of emotions. “With Mr. Turner involved, there’s no way they can stay open. But… well, we’ll have to find another place for internships.” The man, having collected his medication, soon left.

However, the other patients and their families were inevitably affected.

For a time, the lobby was left with only a few regulars picking up their medication and those waiting at the pharmacy for their prescriptions.

Everyone was secretly anxious for Herbathrive.

The hospital had maintained an excellent reputation over the years, and its potential closure was a source of regret.

At that moment, the inspection of the lobby was completed.

Chapter 592

Charlotte eagerly inquired about the inspections, as people came through one by one. “Did you find any issues?”

One of the inspectors shook his head in resignation. “The place where they store the herbs is completely up to standard. The herbs are all high-quality, usable, and within their expiration dates.”

Another person reported, “I checked the decoction room. The hygiene there is impeccable. It’s the cleanest decoction room I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Someone else came over from the emergency area to report, “The emergency area is also up to standard.”

“The storage area for Western medicines showed no issues either.”

“They had no problems in the operating rooms… Everything was spotless, and the equipment was complete, with no damage or flaws.”

“Mr. Turner, the ward area is also up to standard. Everything has met the inspection criteria.”

With each report, Rowan and Charlotte’s expressions grew darker.

Given their extremely stringent inspection, it was impossible not to find any flaws.

Yet, the reality was exactly that Herbathrive adhered to such high standards and stringent requirements that it was practically a model in the industry.

The staff at Herbathrive, who had been anxiously waiting, heard Rowan’s subordinate’s reports and instantly felt relieved.

Felix was grinning so widely that his white beard quivered with delight.

David lifted his head proudly. ‘No matter how nitpicky these people are, Herbathrive has achieved perfection and offers no chance for Rowan and his team to find faults.’

He reminded everyone, “Before Miss Fox arrived, our hospital was doing well in many areas, but there were still some aspects that we overlooked or were too lazy to address. It was only after Miss Fox took over the management from the boss that those previously neglected areas were finally addressed.”

“Indeed,” the others felt a mix of admiration for Melody’s foresight and a tinge of shame.

When Melody assigned them those seemingly trivial tasks, they thought it was a hassle and were initially reluctant to cooperate.

Now, they saw Melody as almost divine. Everything she had them do turned out to be essential.

At that moment, the last Medicines Control Agency staff member who had inspected the first floor came to report. Even Rowan could barely maintain his composure and, eager to hear the outcome before Charlotte could, asked, Was there a problem?”

He refused to believe that a hospital could truly be flawless. In the next moment, the inspector shook his head and said, ” No issues were found.”

“How is that possible?” Rowan and Elton asked almost in unison.

Charlotte’s frustration boiled over, and she shouted, “This can’t be! You must have missed something.”

The inspectors looked genuinely innocent.

They had meticulously examined every nook and cranny of the hospital, using the strictest standards, almost as if they had used magnifying glasses.

The fact was, no issues had been found. Herbathrive truly was a hospital that upheld high standards.

Seeing the looks on their faces, Charlotte was nearly on the brink of collapsing from rage. Especially when she met David’s smug gaze, it felt as though she was being consumed by flames, and she was on the verge of a breakdown.

“I’ll check it myself,” Rowan declared, unconvinced, and headed toward the area where the herbs were stored.

At that moment, he noticed a narrow passage leading to an unknown location.

“What’s down that passage?” Rowan stopped and asked David.

David stepped forward and replied, “That’s the hospital’s backyard, where the owner and his wife rest.”

Rowan paused for a moment and asked, “Is there any medicinal material stored in the backyard?”

“The backyard…” David hesitated, unsure whether to reveal that Colin had a private storage area.

Because of his hesitation, Rowan immediately suspected there was an issue in the backyard. “Let’s go. We need to check the backyard.”

Without waiting for David’s response, Rowan waved his hand, leading his team toward the backyard.

David hurried after them, calling out, “Mr. Turner, wait. The backyard does contain some herbs, but those are privately purchased by the owner for personal collection. They are not used for sale.”

Rowan sneered and said, “Personal collection? Since when do people collect herbs like antiques? There’s no collectible value in them. There must be something wrong here.”

“No…” David tried to stop Rowan, but Elton stepped in to block him first.

“Didn’t you hear Mr. Turner? If you obstruct the investigation, it’s considered interfering with official duties, and we have the right to arrest you,” someone pursued herself.

Caught in a bind, David stamped his feet in frustration. The herbs in Colin’s private collection were all extremely valuable, usually bought only by collectors or high-ranking officials. This was why they rarely went in, let alone cleaned or organized it.

Seeing David’s panic, Elton was even more convinced that there must be something amiss in the backyard.

Since Herbathrive’s staff still refused to let them intern at the hospital, believing that even the Medicines Control Agency couldn’t find anything wrong. it was clear that they were hiding something.

If they found an issue, the staff at Herbathrive would likely yield, which would mean there was still hope for Charlotte to inherit the Wallrich family’s assets.

Elton blocked David with even more determination, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Meanwhile, Rowan and his team had arrived in the backyard. The courtyard house was a hidden gem, exquisitely decorated and vastly different from the rest of the hospital.

The backyard was completely different. It was exquisitely decorated into a small courtyard house.

The other rooms were all unlocked, but one room was securely locked.

As they approached, they could hear barking coming from inside the locked room.

However, the lock was so sturdy that they couldn’t open it.

Rowan hesitated for a moment and pointed to the locked door. “A locked door in broad daylight must indicate something’s wrong. Get that guy who was talking earlier and have him unlock it.”

“Yes, sir,” one of his subordinates responded and went to fetch David.

When David arrived, he immediately positioned himself in front of the door. “This area is private property, not part of the hospital. You have no right to inspect it.” Rowan smirked. “You can refuse to open the door, but I’ll consider your resistance as obstruction of our investigation.”

David’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat, but he stubbornly said, “This is private property. You’re essentially breaking into someone’s home.”

Rowan narrowed his eyes coldly. “It seems you’re deliberately creating trouble. You two, arrest him.”

“Understood.” As soon as the order was given, Rowan’s men swiftly subdued David, pinning him to the ground.

David, unable to match their training, quickly lost his strength and was pressed face-down, his dignity alongside him. “Let go of me. I’m calling the police!”

Rowan, however, ignored David’s pleas and ordered. “Break the door down.”

Chapter 593

Seeing the situation, Rowan’s men glanced at each other, none daring to step forward.

The reason was simple. This backyard was clearly part of a private residence. If they forced the door open, it would amount to breaking and entering.

No one was willing to risk their career just to please Rowan. Besides, Rowan was a man who only valued money. No matter how much they did for him, it would never be as important as bribery in his eyes. He was a major parasite within their Medicines Control Agency, so no one genuinely followed him.

As Rowan saw that no one dared to knock down the door, his anger flared. “Are you all deaf? Can’t you hear me?”

The group immediately lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with Rowan. “You all…”

“Mr. Turner,” Charlotte spoke up. “Your people are useless. Let me handle this.”

She then fixed her gaze on the rockery in the backyard, quickly grabbing a large stone from it. She threw the stone at the lock on the door.

With a dull thud, the lock fell to the ground.

“There we go.” Charlotte clapped her hands, giving Rowan’s men a scornful glance before pushing the door open and walking in.

However, as soon as the door was pushed open, the frame’s vibrations caused a nearby shelf to sway.

With a loud crash, a cylindrical glass container toppled over and shattered on the floor.

Charlotte glanced down to see that the container was a glass cover, and inside it was a plant she had never seen before.

Without the protection of the glass cover, the plant quickly turned yellow and withered in just a few seconds.

“What a lousy plant,” Charlotte muttered, worried about the glass shards cutting her. She kicked the broken pieces, along with the wilted plant, to the side.

Looking around, she noticed that the room was filled with shelves, each packed with various flowers and plants she had never seen before.

These must be medicinal herbs.

Since they were herbs, they fell under Rowan’s jurisdiction.

Charlotte’s eyes lit up, and she called out to Rowan. “Mr. Turner, come in quickly. It’s all medicinal herbs in here.”

Rowan immediately led his team inside.

Upon seeing the shelves filled with herbs, he smirked with satisfaction. “What private area? It’s all nonsense. This is their hospital’s warehouse.”

‘Why else would a private individual have so many herbs? They’re not valuable items, just some flowers and plants,’ he thought, casually sniffing a plant that looked like a weed. He quickly pulled it away. “It smells awful.”

Charlotte’s eyes brightened again. “Mr. Turner, since these herbs have gone bad and they still intended to sell them, shouldn’t this hospital be shut down?”

Rowan nodded. “We need to check for more spoiled items. One plant isn’t enough. We need a significant quantity to justify shutting them down.”

Charlotte nodded and quickly found a refrigerated cabinet. Inside the cabinet, there were dozens of ginseng roots wrapped in plastic wrap, along with some vegetables and fruits. “Mr. Turner, they’re storing herbs with vegetables. Isn’t that a violation?”

Rowan walked over, examined the contents, and said, “Of course it’s a violation. Medicines and food shouldn’t be stored together. It could spoil the herbs.”

“Does this make the quantity sufficient?” Charlotte asked eagerly.

Rowan counted the items, and after finishing, he smiled.” Yes, this is enough. The evidence is sufficient. No need to search further. Take photos for evidence and shut them down immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” The team responded, though one person quietly questioned, “But that’s ginseng, and it’s wrapped properly in plastic. The preservation method seems correct, so shouldn’t it be considered okay?”

But the voice was quickly drowned out by others. “What are you talking about? If Mr. Turner hears you, you’d better watch out. He might start giving you all the hardest tasks.” Hearing this, the dissenting voice fell silent.

After all, he was their leader. Under Rowan’s oppressive rule, they were too afraid to speak out and could only comply with Rowan’s demands to take photos and collect evidence. David, outside the door, was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan. But he was pinned to the ground, unable to move, and could only shout weakly, “Let me go… You have no right to inspect this place.”

Just then, a pair of high heels appeared in his field of vision. He looked up with effort and met Charlotte’s smug gaze.

“Let me go!” he shouted.

Charlotte sneered. “David, we’ve already found your loophole. This warehouse is filled with non-compliant herbs. I could have Mr. Turner shut you down right now.” David glared at Charlotte with resentment, grinding his back teeth. “Miss Fox will be done soon, and you corrupt officials will get what’s coming to you.”

“Melody? Huh? Even now, you haven’t forgotten that traitorous disgrace? What a complete fool,” Charlotte said, extending her right hand to lift David’s chin with her index finger. “But given your poor judgment, I’m giving you one last chance. You know what I mean. Do you want this chance, or not?”

The obvious threat made David’s anger boil over.

“Damn you.” He spat directly at Charlotte’s face. “People like you will never get into Herbathrive.”

“Ah!” Charlotte jumped up in disgust, quickly wiping her face with her sleeve. “You scum. Go to hell.”

“Serves you right.” Seeing Charlotte’s reaction, David felt a bit of satisfaction.

Elton, noticing this, quickly took out some wipes to help Charlotte clean the saliva off her face.

Charlotte felt her stomach churning. She took a few steps toward David and slapped him hard across the face.

The slap landed heavily on David’s cheek, but he seemed to feel no pain and continued to stare at Charlotte with a fierce look.

Charlotte, even more enraged, raised her hand to give David a second slap.

However, just as her hand was about to make contact with David’s face, a seemingly slender but incredibly strong hand appeared, swiftly and precisely gripping her wrist before pushing her backward.

Charlotte was caught off guard, stumbled, and fell backward.

Behind her was a drainage ditch, and with a muffled thud, she landed face-up in the muck. “Ah…”

She screamed in shock, instinctively trying to get up, but as she pushed with her hands, they sank into the sludge of the ditch.

Having grown up in luxury, she had never encountered anything like this.

She stared wide-eyed in despair, screaming repeatedly, completely humiliated.

Chapter 594

For someone as proud and delicate as Charlotte, falling into a drain was a complete disaster.

Elton was the first to react. Without a second thought about the mess, he hurried over and pulled Charlotte out of the drain.

Unfortunately, the stench and sludge had covered her from head to toe.

Charlotte, in a frenzy, screamed hysterically. She immediately took off her expensive Chanel coat and tossed it aside. That wasn’t enough. She fished a pack of wet wipes from her bag and frantically scrubbed her hands, which were now smeared with mud.

David watched this scene, feeling a large part of his previous humiliation dissipate.

He was genuinely relieved. He stopped focusing on Charlotte and instead lifted his gaze to the person who had blocked Charlotte’s second slap.

When he saw the face of that person, he was so overcome with emotion that he nearly cried. “Miss Fox. You finally came.”

As he spoke, his eyes welled up instantly, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.

Though men were often reluctant to show their tears, he felt particularly vulnerable in front of Melody.

Melody gave a slight nod and coldly addressed the staff member restraining David. “Let him go.”

The staff member, intimidated by Melody’s gaze and the immense pressure she exerted, instinctively released David. Melody quickly helped David to his feet.

When she saw the injuries on his face, her eyes, which resembled cold moons, became even more frigid.

David shivered from the intensity of her stare and instinctively said, “Miss Fox, I’m fine.”

“Get those wounds on your face treated,” Melody instructed David, but her eyes remained fixed on Charlotte and the others.

“I’m really okay.” David insisted, refusing to attend to his injuries.

It was just a slap from Charlotte and a few cuts from being pressed to the ground. He wasn’t that weak.

More importantly, he was concerned that Melody, a girl, might get hurt here.

Melody was formidable, but the opposing side had the numbers and a complete lack of scruples. With the rest of the Herbathrive team blocked off at the backyard entrance, he wasn’t confident leaving her alone.

Meanwhile, Elton, acting like a servant, did his best to calm and comfort Charlotte, finally pulling her back from the brink of a complete breakdown.

Charlotte soon noticed Melody.

Charlotte had assumed that Melody would have already sensed the impending trouble and made her escape. To her surprise, Melody had indeed arrived despite her busy schedule.

The shock quickly gave way to a surge of anger.

“Bitch! It was you who pushed me!” Charlotte glared furiously at Melody and made a move toward her. Rowan, quick on his feet, grabbed Charlotte’s arm. Charlotte, don’t be impulsive. Acting on impulse only makes things worse. I will help you get your revenge.” Charlotte barely managed to suppress the urge to strangle Melody, though her eyes still burned with intense fury as if she could kill Melody with her gaze alone.

However, Melody met her stare with unflinching resolve.

Melody’s gaze was colder and more penetrating than Charlotte’s, like an invisible dagger that sent a shiver down Charlotte’s spine.

“Mr. Turner…” Charlotte instinctively stepped behind Rowan. Rowan, who had seen his share of intimidating figures, was not deterred by Melody’s formidable presence. “So you must be the real person in charge at Herbathrive? I’m Rowan Turner, Deputy Director of the Medicines Control Agency. May I have your name?”

He locked eyes with Melody, a hint of condescension unmistakably appearing in his expression.

‘A young girl with a strong presence, but still just a girl. What can she really do against me? A strong aura doesn’t hurt people, he thought.

“Melody Fox,” she said, introducing herself with a blank expression and then questioning sharply, “Since when did the Medicines Control Agency have the right to arbitrarily detain and insult people?”

Rowan smirked. “He obstructed our work, so we had to use these measures to restrain him. This is both legal and appropriate. As for your claim of insult, that’s nonsense. When did I insult him?”

“Pressing someone’s face into the ground and rubbing it isn’t insulting? If you don’t think it’s insulting, should I repeat what you did to David on you?” she said.

Rowan’s face darkened. “Absurd.”

Melody gave a cold smile. “So you admit your actions were absurd? That’s something.”

Rowan’s face reddened with anger, but he quickly regained his composure, demonstrating the poise expected from someone in his position. “You’re Melody, right? I won’t waste time with idle chatter. The Herbathrive herb storage is in serious violation. Many herbs have expired and deteriorated, and their storage method poses significant health risks to patients. As Deputy Director of the Medicines Control Agency, I am now ordering the immediate closure of your hospital. If you have any objections, you may file a complaint with the Medicines Control Agency after the closure.”

Though Rowan made it sound straightforward, it was clear that any appeal would be futile.

Charlotte, momentarily ignoring the stench clinging to her, lifted her chin triumphantly. “Did you hear that? Bitch, your hospital is done for. Even if you beg and kneel, I won’t spare you. You had the nerve to push me, you’re finished.”

Melody, however, ignored Charlotte and focused directly on Rowan. “Mr. Turner, you might be mistaken. This storage room is the owner’s private collection, containing extremely rare and valuable herbs. They are not for public sale, so how could they pose a risk to patient health?”

“That’s nonsense. Rare herbs? Besides a few ginseng plants, I haven’t seen anything rare in there. Don’t try to make excuses,” she said.

“Ginseng?” Melody smirked, “Mr. Turner, it seems your expertise may be lacking. The ginseng plants you mention are among the least expensive herbs in the storage. They’re used by the owner’s wife for health purposes.”

Rowan’s expression shifted. “Are you joking? How could ginseng be the cheapest herb?”

“If you don’t believe me, you can have a professional inspect the storage. If there is anything cheaper than ginseng, you can handle Herbathrive as you see fit.” Melody’s confident demeanor made Rowan furrow his brow, though he soon relaxed it again.

“What’s the point of arguing with you? The issue is that your storage room is in severe violation and poses a great danger to patients.”

“I’ve already said it’s a private storage room. You can have your people verify with our accountants. Nothing in there is part of Herbathrive’s inventory.” She paused, then added, You have no right to dictate how a private storage room is managed.

Rowan sneered, adopting a condescending tone. “I say it’s not a private storage room, so it’s not. I’ll seal it, and that’s final.”

Just as Rowan finished speaking, a deep voice resonated from the backyard entrance…

“Rowan Turner, you really are wielding your authority with such arrogance.”

Chapter 595

Rowan’s face darkened, his anger blazing within him.

‘At this moment, who could be so clueless as to dare call me by my name so casually?’ he wondered.

Rowan glared in the direction of the voice.

But as soon as he saw the face of the speaker, his anger evaporated, and his eyes widened in shock. His pupils shrank to mere pinpricks, and fear replaced the fury that had been there moments before.

‘It’s Orion,’ he thought in disbelief.

Orion was his superior, the director of the Medicines Control Agency.

Among everyone in the Medicines Control Agency, Orion was the only one who would address Rowan so directly.’ Why didn’t I think it would be Orion?’ Rowan cursed himself mentally.

The others, noticing Rowan’s reaction, instinctively followed his gaze.

In the next second, all the staff’s faces fell.

Charlotte, observing Orion’s stern approach from another door in the backyard, looked over at Rowan, who was frozen in shock. Her face showed a mix of confusion. ‘Why does Rowan look so stunned?’

The middle-aged man who had appeared out of nowhere had an unremarkable appearance and was dressed casually, not at all like a significant figure.

Charlotte, who usually judged people by their appearance, couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “Mr. Turner, who is this person? Why are you reacting like this?”

But Rowan couldn’t afford to pay attention to Charlotte’s question at that moment.

After a brief moment of panic, his mind started racing.

Orion had taken the day off, so he was dressed in everyday clothes.

Orion had taken the day off, so he was dressed in everyday clothes. ‘Could it be that he knows these people from Herbathrive and came specifically for them? That doesn’t seem right. Orion is notoriously stubborn, never gets along with any hospital or clinic, and doesn’t accept favors from anyone, Rowan thought.

Even though Orion was a level above him, his lifestyle was far from opulent compared to Rowan’s closest subordinates. Orion was always either doing charity work or on his way to do so, living in constant financial strain. He couldn’t possibly have been bought off by anyone from Herbathrive.

So, it was likely that Orion just happened to be passing by, heard something, and decided to check it out.

‘If that’s the case, it should be manageable. I can just cover up a bit. After all, Orion isn’t in work mode today and shouldn’t dig too deeply.’ Rowan reasoned.

With this in mind, Rowan quickly composed himself and put on a flattering smile as he approached.

“What brings you here? Aren’t you on leave today? Had I known you were coming, I would have gone to greet you at the door.”

Orion cast a cold glance at Rowan. “You’re putting on quite an air for someone who’s just greeting me.”

Rowan was momentarily taken aback, a wave of foreboding rising within him.

Although Orion was usually difficult to deal with, he wasn’t typically so pointed. ‘Could it be that he heard everything I just said?’ Rowan wondered.

Startled, Rowan quickly tried to smooth things over. “Did you misunderstand me? I only found out about the violations at Herbathrive and was trying to make sense of their excuses. I didn’t want to keep arguing with them or listen to their lies, so I might have sounded harsh. Please don’t be deceived by them. You’ve been working longer than I have, so you know these hospitals will say anything to avoid punishment.”

Orion, however, was not convinced and his expression grew even darker. “Do you take me for a fool? You think I can’t tell who’s telling the truth and who’s lying? Rowan, is this really how you conduct yourself?”

Rowan’s face turned pale. “That’s not true at all… You must have misunderstood. I’ve been working with you for years. Please believe me.”

“You’d better clear things up and tell me the truth,” Orion demanded firmly.

Rowan knew he couldn’t admit the truth if he wanted to save his career.

He gritted his teeth and reluctantly said, “This is really the truth…”

“Rowan, you’re truly obstinate.” Seeing the man berate Rowan, Charlotte walked over and shouted, “Who do you think you are to insult Mr. Turner?”

Melody, observing Charlotte’s reaction, couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

She had thought Mabel was foolish, but Charlotte surpassed her in every way.

No wonder Mabel had emerged as last year’s Best Celebrity. If her competitors were like Charlotte, it would be strange if Mabel didn’t take the top spot.

Rowan glared at Charlotte with frustration.

He was already feeling the heat and didn’t need Charlotte adding more fuel to the fire. “Charlotte, you mustn’t be so rude. This is Mr. Riley, my superior.”

Charlotte froze for a moment, confusion crossing her face. ‘ Superior… Mr. Riley…’

She then remembered that Rowan was merely the Deputy Director of the Medicines Control Agency. The real authority was the Director, who was the unassuming middle-aged man standing before her.

But she quickly recovered her composure. ‘So what? Everything can be resolved with money.’

To her, it was all just a matter of paying off the right people.

Realizing this, Charlotte smiled and said, “Oh, Mr. Riley, I didn’t realize your identity. I apologize for my rudeness. Please don’t take it personally. Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Charlotte Wallrich, and Mr. Turner is a friend of my grandfather. I look forward to working with you.”

As she spoke, she took out a check from her bag and, using the opportunity to shake Orion’s hand, discreetly slipped the check into his palm.

Rowan watched in shock, wanting to intervene, but Charlotte’s movements were too swift and smooth.

By the time he reacted, the check was already in Orion’s hand.

“Charlotte…” Rowan was almost beside himself, but with Orion standing right there, he couldn’t openly lash out. Instead, he kept signaling Charlotte with his eyes to tone it down.

Elton noticed something was amiss.

He was much more reserved than Charlotte and Elton quickly realized that Orion might not be someone who could be swayed by money. He tried to salvage the situation but was too late.

Orion, meanwhile, unfolded the check in his hand.

Initially, he didn’t understand what Charlotte had slipped to him. But as he saw the long string of numbers on the check, his expression changed immediately. “What’s this? What do you mean by this?”

Charlotte, still not getting the situation, thought Orion might find the amount insufficient. ‘4 million dollars isn’t enough for him?’

‘It’s 4 million dollars. You think this is too little?’ he wondered; This was all the money she had left for the year. If she needed more, she’d have to either concoct excuses to extort some from the two old guys or sell some luxury items.

While Charlotte internally cursed Orion for being greedy, she reluctantly prepared to issue another check.

“Charlotte…” Rowan snapped, losing his patience and ignoring Charlotte’s status. He yanked her bag away and said, “That’s enough.”

Charlotte, confused, asked, “What’s wrong, Mr. Turner? Don’t worry. Once this is over, I can give you an extra thank-you gift.”

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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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