Chapter 4

Claire turned deathly pale. She could even faintly feel her blood running cold in her veins.

Elizabeth was smiling at her while beckoning her over, “Claire, you're here! Bonnie is helping me with some exercises! Come on in!”

Claire forced an awkward smile while greeting Bonnie. “Hey, Bonnie. What brings you here?”

Bonnie wore an inscrutable smile as always. “I heard your sister was in this hospital, so I figured I’d stop by since I was in the neighborhood.

“I saw she was working on some tutorial and thought I’d help her with it. You don't mind, do you?”

Elizabeth was eighteen years old. If not for leukemia, she would be in the final year of high school.

Her greatest wish was to take the final exam like any other high schooler would. Even while hospitalized, she would make time to study and do worksheets whenever she had the chance.

Regardless, Bonnie had nothing to do with this.

Just as Claire was about to say something, Elizabeth managed to get a word in first, “Of course it’s not a problem! You’re a friend of Claire’s boyfriend, which also makes you my sister’s friend! Claire is wonderful to her friends.”

Then, she stuck her tongue out playfully at Claire. “You never told me you had such a beautiful friend!”

Bonnie playfully pinched her cheek as well and said, “Cut it out, you sweet talker! Now I know why Claire likes you so much, even getting you a premium ward that costs a thousand dollars a day!”

Suddenly, the atmosphere inside the ward took on a dramatic shift.

Elizabeth turned to Claire with an astonished look. “Claire, that’s how much the ward costs?”

Claire immediately grabbed Bonnie to try to take her out of the ward, but Bonnie simply shrugged her off.

Bonnie turned to Elizabeth with the same unfazed smile before continuing, “Oh, didn't you know? Other than the ward, your treatment, medication, and nurse assignment come to a couple of thousand dollars a day, which is up to fifty thousand dollars a month. Do you know where that money is coming from?”

“That's enough!” Claire cut her off. “What exactly are you trying to do here?”

Elizabeth held her back, then turned to Bonnie with the color drained out of her face. “What are you trying to say?”

Bonnie sneered.

“What I mean to say is that Claire has been working as a gold digger on the side, getting money from men to pay your medical bills. You should feel ashamed of using that kind of money!

“Do you know how much she humiliates herself to serve those men? Do you even have a clue how much money she’s squeezed out of Ady? Did you truly think he’s your sister’s boyfriend? He only treats your sister like a plaything, is all.”

Claire turned deathly pale as she shoved Bonnie aside.

“Enough! Shut your mouth!”

She tried to cover Elizabeth’s ears, but it was too late. Elizabeth had turned white with horror.

Bonnie went on relentlessly. “Am I wrong? The room, imported medication, and even a medical team on-call at all times! Which part of this isn’t financed by Ady? You tell me!

“If I were Elizabeth, I’d rather off myself than have my sister debasing herself in front of other men to make tainted money. It’s disgusting!”

Elizabeth’s eyes turned red when she howled at Bonnie, “Don't you dare badmouth my sister!”

As soon as she cried out, her expression became contorted. After pressing a hand over her chest, she suddenly slumped over in bed and lost consciousness.

The heart monitor at her bedside started to beep violently. She was flatlining!

Claire felt like she was on the verge of breaking down herself too. Her hands were trembling violently when she reached for the emergency button.

“Elizabeth, Elizabeth! Please, quit scaring me!

“Where are the doctors? Doctor!”

Soon, the medical team rushed to the scene.

When Claire left the room, she turned around just in time to see Bonnie walking away.

Her eyes were burning red with rage when she grabbed Bonnie by the hair.

“If anything happens to my sister, I’ll take you down with me!”

Bonnie was startled and shoved her away.

Then, she threw herself into Adonis’s arms.

“Ady, I only came to visit her sister because I thought I’d do something nice for her, but she insisted that I was responsible for what happened! She’s threatening to take me down with her. I’m scared…”

When Adonis observed the way Bonnie was crying, his expression darkened.

“Claire, I thought you would have learned your lesson by now.

“I can’t believe you would go as far as to attack Bonnie in a hospital.

“Cancel the request for a medical team!”

Claire cried out in horror, “No!”

She started begging right away, clutching at the hem of Adonis’s trousers.

“My sister is in critical condition, please, you can’t do this! I’ll have her discharged after this and won’t spend another cent of yours anymore. Please, just don’t call off the medical team.”

Claire’s voice was shaking and filled with desperation.

She had abandoned her pride entirely. Nothing else mattered to her other than her sister.

Adonis’s other assistant, Mark Howser, could not bear the sight anymore and blurted, “Mr. Kent, seeing as Ms. Monroe has been with you for so long and that this is someone’s life at stake, perhaps you don’t have to—”

Before he could finish, Adonis shot him a murderous look which effectively shut him up.

He looked at Bonnie’s scalp that had become reddened from having her hair yanked by Claire before stating icily, “Since you like messing with her hair that much, let’s have your hair cut off.

“Have her head shaved right now!”

The onlookers gasped upon hearing this.

Since they were inside a hospital, the commotion drew a curious crowd who gathered around them. They were all fixing their gaze on Claire.

Claire did not resist when the bodyguards held her down and ran the sharp razor across her scalp.

Her hair ran down to her waist, having spent years growing it out.

She did not need a mirror to realize how hideous she must look now.

It was the least of her concern as all she cared about was Elizabeth.

When her head was completely shaved, everyone regarded her with a look of pity.

Then, someone in the crowd announced, “The patient is alive!”