CHAPTER 982: CHAPTER 982 SHE KNOWS

The toxin Sophia used was tasteless, odorless, and nearly impossible to detect. And so the frail and trusting Cherry continued to grow weaker each day.

Sophia felt nothing but contempt as she watched her. To her, Cherry was pitiful: treating the very person who was slowly killing her as a savior. It was as if Sophia had already sold her, yet Cherry was still smiling, still helping her count the money from her own betrayal.

’They can only blame themselves for being blind and too trusting. Why is the world even so unfair, giving this stupid girl a better life than I have?!’ Sophia grumbled inside her heart while keeping her kind smile directed at Cherry.

"Don’t worry, Cherry. I just like him so much, so I’ll try my hardest to win him over," Sophia said with a sweet smile. But inside, she left out the part she dared not say aloud: ’Of course, I’m the only one fit to become the matriarch of the Hendrix family. I’ll bask in luxury and admiration while you, and that Hera, rot in the sewers.’ She almost snorted at the thought, already savoring her imagined victory.

But reality was never that easy. Hera’s eyes were already locked on her. ’Steal her man?’ Sophia could only dream. Hera would make sure it was Sophia who ended up in the gutters, crawling like a rat.

And so, Hera and the others returned to Leo’s room. Staying in the garden with Sophia there felt awkward and uncomfortable, so they left as quickly as they could. Meanwhile, Sophia kept Cherry in the garden far too long, until the poor girl was nearly hyperventilating.

Cherry’s face alternated between ashen pale and feverish red, her frail body far too weak to remain out of bed for long.

It was at this moment that the Sullivan brothers arrived, only to be greeted by the sight of Sophia crying over Cherry, who was on the verge of passing out, while Sophia and the nurse struggled to support her.

"Cherry, I’m so sorry. I should never have let you come out just because you felt stifled in that hospital room. I should have stopped you, no matter what. This is my fault. Please, Cherry, hold on... don’t leave me." Sophia’s voice broke as tears streamed down her face. "I’ve already treated you as my only family since I have none of my own. If I lose even you... What will I do?"

Sophia’s cries grew louder as she hovered anxiously around Cherry, her sobs so raw and choked that even the nurse’s eyes grew misty. She tried to guide Cherry’s breathing, gasping and shuddering as though she were suffering in Cherry’s place.

"What happened to Cherry?" one of the Sullivan brothers demanded as he crouched down and immediately scooped Cherry into his arms. His other brother followed close behind, his eyes narrowing at Sophia, silently questioning her through her sobs.

They knew all too well how fragile Cherry was right now. They hadn’t even wanted her to leave her room, terrified that even the smallest cold could tip her over the edge when she already seemed just one breath away from slipping into heaven.

If they could, they would have sealed her inside a glass garden to protect her from everything.

But reality was cruel. Though there were at least a few people lined up for bone marrow donation, Sophia was still their only viable option. And even then, Cherry’s body was failing so quickly that the doctors feared she might not survive the surgery.

Yet if they delayed too long, the cancer cells would only spread further, making her future recovery, and even her life less certain. Either choice carried the weight of tragedy, and time was running out.

"I’m so sorry, Cherry’s older brother," Sophia said, her voice trembling. "But I just couldn’t say no to her. She always makes it sound like it was her dying wish, and keeping her locked inside that hospital room all the time would only crush her spirit, and that would affect her health, too. I had no choice but to let her have some fresh air and sunlight."

She buried her face in her palms and sobbed pitifully. Even Cherry’s brothers, though worried sick, couldn’t find it in themselves to scold her. Instead, they felt a pang of sympathy for Sophia, who was apologizing on Cherry’s behalf as if she were the one at fault, when all she had been trying to do was give their sister a little relief.

"Don’t worry too much about it," Cherry’s brother said softly, trying to comfort Sophia.

But Hera, Zhane, Rafael, Leo, and Terry, along with the nurse pushing Terry’s wheelchair, hadn’t gone far. They overheard everything. Zhane’s brows furrowed almost immediately.

What Sophia was saying now didn’t quite match what they’d heard earlier. They all knew Cherry had come here first while waiting for Sophia, and Sophia hadn’t seemed nearly this worried at the time.

As sharp as they were, it didn’t take long for Hera, Rafael, Zhane, Leo, and even Terry to silently reach the same conclusion: something wasn’t adding up, and something was about to happen.

Zhane finally stepped forward, making his presence known. As a doctor, he couldn’t ignore the situation, especially since Cherry was under his family’s hospital care. If anything happened to her, the responsibility would fall on them, and it could even be branded as neglect.

"Mr. Sullivan, please take your sister back to her room. I’ll accompany you with a team of hospital staff to check on her condition." Zhane offered just after they noticed his presence.

He guided the brothers toward the elevator, giving Hera and the others a subtle nod. At the same time, he signaled to the nurse who had been helping Cherry earlier to switch and assist Hera instead.

Sensing something was about to unfold, Hera quickly played along. "Miss kind nurse, I’m worried about that cute girl. Could you take me along, too?" she asked with a touch of playful cuteness.

The nurse, unable to refuse when Hera acting cute, and fully aware of Hera’s importance in the Young Director’s eyes, she couldn’t help but agree without hesitation.

While Zhane, Sophia, and the Sullivans took one elevator with Cherry, Hera and the others waited for the next elevator to follow. Inside the lift, Zhane discreetly sent out an emergency message in the group chat, ordering his team to gather immediately at Cherry’s room.

So when Zhane, Cherry, Sophia and Cherry’s brothers reached Cherry’s room, a group of doctors and nurse area already waiting inside Cherry’s room, along the doctors that came was the still groggy Dr. Zigheart that wasn’t supposed to bet here, but he received Hera’s text message, so he has no choice but to go with the flow an dfollow the rest of the staff who was rushing towards Cherry’s room.

While riding the elevator, Hera was already rushing Sasha for updates. Since she had long suspected Sophia, she intended to nail down the truth and leave no stone unturned.

Especially now, Sophia’s mask was slipping right in front of the Sullivans. Perhaps Sophia thought her performance was convincing, never realizing that Hera and the others were already suspicious and carefully monitoring her every move.

Hera had tasked Sasha to dig deep: Sophia’s recent banking transactions, her call logs, social media activity, past whereabouts, and even the people she had been associating with. If Sophia had initiated any kind of online contact with the Sullivans, regardless of the topic, Hera wanted to know all of it.

Hera also ordered Sasha to investigate Cherry’s condition and to pull any footage of Sophia and Cherry’s conversation in the pavilion, satellite first, and if that failed, nearby CCTV. Hera wanted to know exactly what Sophia was planning.

When Sasha confirmed Cherry was indeed gravely ill, Hera wasted no time: she called Dr. Zigheart and asked him to join Zhane in examining the girl. Zhane and Dr. Zigheart were the two most renowned medical geniuses available; Hera hoped their combined expertise could save Cherry.

She felt a sudden, ugly anger at the thought of letting this girl die like expendable filler, like a nameless extra in a cruel story. The idea left a bitter taste in her mouth. Cherry wasn’t cannon fodder to Hera; she would fight to make sure no one treated her like one.

At first, Hera’s suspicion of Sophia was just that, suspicion. But now, she knew she was deliberately prying, and she didn’t mind. Better to be nosy if it meant uncovering the truth.

This way, not only Zhane but also Zigheart could step in, protecting both the reputation of Zhane’s family hospital and, more importantly, saving the life of an innocent young girl.

Hera had seen the look in Cherry’s brothers’ eyes, the way they wanted to cry when they watched their sister struggle, yet could do nothing. They looked like men drowning in the middle of a storm, helpless as the waves swallowed them whole.