Olivia didn’t want to waste another second on Natalie and Fiona. Just as she was about to make her move, she felt someone tug at her sleeve. She turned around and saw that Juliet had woken up.

    Juliet was staring at Olivia, her eyes barely moving, and a few weak, broken sounds escaped her

    throat.

    Olivia immediately squatted down, took her hand, and leaned in close. She said softly, “Juliet, don’t worry. I’ll save you.”

    Seeing this, Fiona and Natalie exchanged a panicked look. They thought, ‘If Juliet makes bit /bout alive, that money would be gone for good.

    Juliet spotted Fiona and Natalie lurking behind Olivia, and instantly knew what they were after. She thought, ‘So it’s all about money, huh? No way I’m letting them get what they want.

    Her breath came in gasps as she used every ounce of strength she had left. She muttered, “When I die, all the rights to my work go to Olivia.” With those words, she fell unconscious.

    The heart monitor in the ICU started beeping wildly, the rm echoing through the room.

    Olivia immediately climbed onto the bed, tore open Juliet’s hospital gown, and started performing CPR, her hands moving with practiced precision.

    Several nurses rushed in. Seeing Olivia already in action, they immediately assisted with the rest of the emergency procedures.

    Olivia said, “The patient is in cardiac arrest. She’s unconscious, and her pupils are dted to 5 millimetersb. /bTransport her to the OR immediately. Prepare 1 milliliter of epinephrine for subcutaneous injection. Also, get lidocaine and atropine ready.

    “Tell Lucas to use the OR we bookedst night immediately.”

    The nurses, beven /bthough they had no idea who Olivia was, just went along with her orders without. question, pushing the bed straight to the operating room.

    Natalie, who was a med student herself, was floored by Olivia’s actions.

    Olivia was so calm and collected; her skills bwere /bon another level. Even with five or six years of medical training under her belt, Natalie doubted she could ever pull something like this off.

    Natalie thought, ‘How the hell is she pulling this off?‘

    08:31 Tueb, /b9 Sept

    Fiona shoved Natalie and said, “Natalie, hurry up. She’s already followed them in–why are you still spacing out?”

    By the time Natalie snapped out of it, Olivia and others had already disappeared down the hall.

    Fiona leaned in close to Natalie’s ear and whisperedb, /b“If we can’t get Juliet’s money, then don’t let her

    walk out of here alive.”

    Natalie nodded and said, “You can count on me. I’ll do it.”

    Raised in the Evans family, Natalie had grown up surrounded by this kind of thing. Making sure someone died in a hospital bed was almost second nature to her.

    Without wasting another second, Fiona grabbed Natalie and hurried toward the operating room.

    The OR was locked down tight. Without the proper clearance, there was no way in. They’d gotten there toote–Olivia and the others were already inside.

    Natalie and Fiona stood at the door for what felt like forever, trying to figure out how to get in.

    Just then, a bright, cocky voice called out from behind them, “Why didn’t you tell me she was here? You got a death wish or something?”

    Natalie turned to see a tall, handsome young man in a blue sports jacket hurrying toward the operating room. She recognized him bas /bLucas, who owned the hospital and was the heir to the Grant

    family.

    She thought, ‘If anyone can help, it’s him.‘ So she blocked his way and greeted, “Mr. Grant.”

    Lucas stared at Natalie with annoyance. He asked, “Who are youb?/bb” /b

    Lucas was already on edge because Olivia had arrived, and he hadn’t even had a chance to greet her. Now, with everything going sideways, Natalie had to jump out and get in his way.

    Natalie tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a sweet, flirtatious look. She said,

    “Mr. Grant, I’m Natalie Evans from the Evans family. We’ve met before.

    “I’m a med student, and the patient who was just rushed in is my aunt’s daughter. bI /bneed to go in and

    check on her.”

    Before she could finishb, /bLucas ?ut her off. He said, “No way. You’re not even part of our hospital staff; you can’t just walk into the operating room.” With that, he brushed her off and hurried inside.

    He’d reserved the best operating room days in advance, all for Olivia. He was dead set on making sure

    08:31 Tueb, /b9 Sept

    she had the mostfortable setup possible.

    8K 65b%/b8

    He knew better than anyone how picky Olivia could be–if she was in a bad mood, no surgery; if the weather sucked, no surgery; if she didn’t sleep well, still no surgery.

    He had put so much effort into just getting Olivia the perfect OR. His grandfather had nearly nagged

    him to death over it.

    Natalie said, “Mr. Grant, please. Just let me in. Phantom Healer is my master. If you let me in, you

    won’t regret it.”

    That made Lucas pause. He turned to Natalie, his face full of confusion. He thought, ‘Since when did Olivia ever take on a student?‘ He asked, “Did you just say you’re Phantom Healer’s apprentice?”

    Natalie’s eyes lit up–finally, a chance. She nodded eagerly and said, “That’s right, I’m Phantom Healer’s apprentice.”

    Lucas said, “Let me ask you just one thing–is Phantom Healer a man or a woman?”

    “A man,” Natalie replied instantly, not even hesitating.

    Lucas turned away and gave a cold snort. He thought, ‘Knew it. She’s totally bluffing.’ He then walked off, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.

    Seeing he was about to leave, Natalie rushed up and grabbed onto his sleeve. She said, “Mr. Grant, let me in with you.”

    Lucas jerked his arm free, ring at her in frustration. He said, “Are you done yet? Listen up-

    Phantom Healer is already inside. If you were his apprentice, do you think he’d leave you standing out here?”

    He grumbled inwardly, ‘Even the top oncologist at the hospital could only y second fiddle to Olivia. And now this nobody has the nerve to im she’s Olivia’s apprentice? If I let her in, Olivia would probably kill me on the spot.

    When Natalie heard Phantom Healer was inside, her eyes went wide. She didn’t care if her lie got exposed–her only thought was to get inside and get herself noticed by Phantom Healer.

    Phantom Healer’s skills were legendary. Every med student dreamed of being even a third as good as Phantom Healer. If they could reach that level, they’d die happy.

    Even scrubbing in on one surgery with Phantom Healer was enough to brag about for the rest of someone’s life.

    Natalie thought to herself, “If I could just get in front of Phantom Healer, I might be able to convince. him to take me on as an apprentice–and then my bluff would pay off.”

    With that thought in mind, she pleaded with Lucas even more desperately. She said, “Mr. Grant, please, just let me in. I’m a huge fan of Phantom Healer. Let me see him just this once, okay?”

    AD