bChapter /bb43 /b

Ste thought, “Not this again. I am sick of hearing the same old excuses

She said femly, “My stance remains unchanged return my money if you don’t want to be sued. I’ll even walys the interest. We can pretend this never happened.”

Fiona stared at her in disbelief. She asked, “You want interest? What are you, a bloodsucking vampire”

Ste shot her a frosty re and snapped, “I’m the vampire? No, you’re the real bloodsuckers here. You never showed me a shred of cam, but y quick to use my money and made a fortune offi

“I’ve already done byou /bba /bfavor by not demanding my share, so what’s wrong with asking for interest now?

Fiona was so fivid that she was speechless.

Ste turned her face away and warned, “if you don’t leave right now, I’ll have security

curity throw you out.”

Fiona snapped, “How could I have braised /bsuch an ungrateful wretch like byou/b?” with that, she spun around and stormed out, mming the hospital room

door behind her.

Ste didn’t even flinch,pletely unfazed.

In the following days, no one came to visit except Eleanor, not even Lionel. Ste found the quiet rather pleasant.

bHowever/b, Henry would show up and insist on staying to take care of Ste every night.

To Ste, Henry’s presence was nothing but a bnuisance/b. She’d hinted and outright told him countless times to leave, but he simply wouldn’t budge

Waking up, Sto opened her eyes to find Henry’s face just inches from hers. She immediately recoiled, aying him warily from a safe distance. She demanded, “What are you doing?”

Henry stood up bwith /bba /byful grin, “I want to kiss you,” he said, his tone teasing and unashamed.

“No way,” Ste snapped, not even pausing to think,

Henry bsaid/b, “Rx. Til handle your discharge today. Your back’s pretty much healed. In a few days, we’ll get bour /bmarriage license. I intend to take full responsibility for you.”

“I can’t ept that,” Ste stated tly

Henry didn’t seem bothered. He bsaid/b, “Wright, you’lle around when you’re ready.” Then he went to handle the discharge.

Ste by /bin bed, utterly lost.

Just then, the entire Hayes family arrived.

Ste stared at them with wary bconfusion/b,

Fiona walked up to Ste as if nothing had ever happened, her smile a blittle /btoo bright to be genuine. She said, “bStell /bhere to take you home.”

Ste thought, “They’re protesting too much” instead of responding, she watched them warily

bour /bdischarge day We’re all

Andrew chimed in, “Yeah, let’s just put the past behind us. Let’s not bring up those things anymore. Your grandma’s right, bfamily /bharmony bring prosperity.

“it’s only natural for you to be a little upset atering home, and we were in the wrong before. Ste, don’t stop to our level, okay?”

Just then, Lionel anved. He had taken some time off work and dropped by

Upon seeing Lionel, Anna immediately ran to this side and called, “Lionel

A smile spread across Lionel’s bface /bas he stroked her hair, his eyes filled with tenderness. “How have you been these past few days y disconforti” ka asked gently

Anna replied. “Much better. Lionel, have you been fired from worktely?”

“Not bat /bball/bb,/b” Lionel replied. As he spoke, he stole nces at Ste, who refused to meet his gaze. A pang of difort settled in his heart.

He thought, ‘in the past, no matter where we were, Ste would always run up to me with that bright, bHappy /bsmile, just like Anna does nove. How long has it been since Ist saw her like that, or even saw her smile?”

Lionel felt Ste bwas /bcold and distant blike /ba statue, which twisted his heart.

Anna sawit all. She romamed silent, but her eyes zed with fury.

Henry returned just then and, seeing the scene, shed ba /bconfident grin as he extended his hand to Lionel. He said, “Dr. Quinn, looks like we’ll be brothers–inw bsoon/b. Let’s look out for each other

Lionel’s gaze remained fixed on Steb, /b

Steb, /bhowever, acted as if they weren’t even there.

Lionel finally tore his gaze from Ste and politely shook Henry’s hand.

As Sta started to get off the bed, Henry immediately strode over. He said, “So, you’ve only just recovered. Don’t walk yet. Il carry you.”

Sto had barely left her bed these past few days. While her recovery had been progressing well, it had noticeably slowed recently.

Fortunately, Martin still came by for her acupuncture treatments, which kept her from experiencing muscle atrophy

Ste didn’t want Henry to carry her, but Henry was determined and wouldn’t take no for an answer. In the endb, /bHenry gently carried Ste in his arms

Henry eximed, “How can you be so light? Don’t worry, bSte/bb, /bonce you’re my wife, I’ll fatten you up and make sure you’re happy.”

Ste felt utterly repulsed

Henry leaned in and whispered, “Hold onto me tighter, unless you want me to identally drop you.”

As they reached the doorway, Ste instinctively recoiled from his touch, bher /bbrow tightly furrowed in difort. “I’d prefer to walk on my own,” said firmly.

“Not today. You can walk all you wantter,” Henry said firmly, leaving her no room for refusal

When they returned to the Hayes residence, Eleanor was already there.

Eleanor looked much better now. Her face it up with a warm smile bwhen /bshe saw Ste. She said, “There, there. bYou’re /bfinally out of the hospitalb” /bollima. Ste called bout/b. /li/ol

Eleanor gently held Ste’s hand and reassured her, “Don’t worry, dear. Your bparents /band Max have all promised me they’ll neversh out at you without cause again.”

Henry stepped forward to Eleanor and bsaid/b, “Eleanor, sorry to have made you worned these past few days.”

Eleanor said, “Well, how could I not be worried? But now that she’s back, let’s not dwell on it. Henry, thank you so much for staying there every night to take care of Ste.”

Henry replied, “It’s nothing. She’ll soon be my wife, and we should look out for each other

Everyone else had things to do, to they went about their business.

Once Eleanor and Stells were alone, Eleanor whispered tenderly, “Ste, remember what I told you? If you don’t want to marry Henry we can p

Ste replied, “Grandma, you’ve seen for yourself. Henry is good to me. Sure, he’s a bit older, but as long as he truly loves and cherishes enough for me.”

“Are you truly sure?” Eleanor asked bsoftly/b.

Ste gave ba /bsmall nod.

She pondered, “Although I have money now, I still can’t find a doctor for Eleanor. The previous doctor refused my offer to pay him to cut ties with the Hayes family

“Breaking free from the Hayes family isn’t impossible; it is just that Eleanor doesn’t want to. After all, no matter how awed Andrew is, he is still Eleanor’s

bson /b

bis /bbher /bwyer calling.

Just then, Ste’s phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was

Eleanor nced over, understanding Ste had something privedle. Since it was time for bher /bafternoon rest, she quietly retreated to her room

Ste headed toward her room, picking up the call as she walked. She asked, “What’s the matter? Any updates on my case?

The

ewyer replied. “Ms. Hayes, I’m truly sorry, but I don’t think I can take on y

your case anymore.”

Ste waspletely blindsided, her eyes widening in shock. bShe /beximed, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Didn’t we already agree on this?”

ΕΠ

Thewyer said, “Yes, we bhad /ban agreement, but my boss was bribed by byour /bbrother and now forbids me from taking your case go against him, be cklisted in this industry. My hands are tied. Please don’t hold it against me

Ste asked, “Can you at least rmend another bwyer /bfor me”

Thewyer sighed and said, “Ms. Hayes, I’d advise you to just let this gob. /bYou’re all family, why make things so difficult? Just consider the money as given to them for now.

“They genuinely can’t repay you at the moment, but I’m sure they’return it once they’re financially capable With that, he abruptly hung up without giving Ste a chance to say anything

When Ste tried calling back, she found herself already blocked. She clenched her phone so tightly it seemed she might crush it at any moment.

She thought, i‘/iHow could I have been so blind? Of course, Max would just bribe thew firm’s boss to kill my case. They bsteal /bwhat’s rightfully mine, iand /inow ithey /idare to act ilike /ithey’re the victims?”

E

bAD /b

iNo /iiAds /i

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