FULL NOVELXO Chapter 1-10
Chapter 1
As the nanny served the last dish, Attlee placed a slice of steak onto Arabella’s plate.
“This might be the last time we have dinner together… Can’t believe your biological parents are taking you back so soon…”
His voice was full of regret. He thought of his illness three months ago. He needed a blood transfusion urgently, and Arabella discovered, while giving him blood, that they weren’t related by blood.
The news shocked the entire family.
After recovering, Attlee managed to find his actual daughter-Yolanda Murphy, after much effort.
And Arabella… This child with no blood relation to him….
The Murphys posted information online about Arabella’s search for her birth parents. Yesterday, someone called saying they were Arabella’s real mother, and they were going to take her away today.
“The nanny made all your favorite dishes today…” Attlee said, feeling a knot in his stomach. “Eat up, you’re going to your biological parents’ place today, who knows what the situation will be like…”
From yesterday’s call, Attlee found out that Arabella’s real parents were currently unemployed, and they lived in Willow Creek.
That place was one of the most backward and poorest areas in the country! If she went there, she would never have the chance to enjoy the delicacies the Murphys cooked again!
Arabella, sitting at the table, her eyes clear as if seeing his worries, calmly put down her fork and knife, and simply said, “I’m
full.”
She rose and left, her figure firm and nonchalant, as if she had no attachment to this home.
Attlee’s wife, Olga, was immediately upset upon hearing this, complaining, “Stop spoiling that child! She doesn’t appreciate all this food. Once she lives with her real parents, she’ll know how hard life can be and how good she had it here!”
“Mum, don’t get upset. I’m sure my sister doesn’t want to go back either. She must be feeling awful right now…”
The one speaking was Yolanda, who had returned to the Murphy family a month ago. Yesterday she overheard her parents’ conversation and found out that Arabella’s biological parents were extremely poor. They had no jobs, five unmarried sons at home, and even an old lady who was ill and needed care.
The burden they were under was unimaginable!
Feeling extremely lucky, Yolanda got up and said, “I’ll go check on her.”
At the dining table, Attlee shot Olga a reproachful look. “Why so much resentment? Bella is our child too!”
Olga scoffed, “Whenever I think about how we’ve been treating this child like a treasure all these years, while Yoli suffered outside, I feel heartbroken…”
Arabella walked into the living room, picked up her backpack from the couch, ready to leave this home.
Yolanda quickly followed, “Arabella, my wedding with Zachary is on the first of October, you’ll come, right?”
Her eyes were full of anticipation, but there was a hint of pride and bragging in her voice. Everyone knew that the children of the Murphys and the Panters were getting married. If Yolanda hadn’t been found by Attlee, Arabella would’ve been the one getting engaged to Zachary.
“Zachary is really a great guy, he’s been so good to me. If my parents hadn’t found me, you would have been the one getting engaged to him, sis! You’re not going to hold a grudge about this, are you?”
Arabella laughed lightly. “Thanks to you, that worthless man found where he belongs.”
Excuse me? What??
“I was planning to throw him out like trash, but I didn’t expect someone to have picked up that ‘garbage’ so soon.”
“You, you…” Yolanda was about to lose her temper, but when she saw a certain figure, she immediately turned into an injured bunny, her eyes red.
Olga walked into the living room and saw this scene, fuming, “Arabella! How could you talk to your sister like that? Are you out of your mind?”
“Out of my mind?” Arabella laughed. “I think the one who’s out of their mind is you. And not only that, you’re blind too. Maybe you should get your eyes checked?”
Arabella thought to herself, Olga had been living with this pretentious woman for a month and still hadn’t seen her true colors. What terrible judgment!
“You…” Olga was shaking with anger.
“Bella, I want to give you my favorite necklace that my parents gave me. After all, we’re sisters, and now that we’re parting, who knows when we’ll see each other again…” Yolanda decided to forget past grudges. She ran forwards to grab Arabella, but just as her hand touched Arabella’s backpack…
In the next second, something unexpected happened.
A ruby necklace actually fell out of Arabella’s backpack!
When everyone saw this, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
Yolanda covered her mouth, “How is this possible…”
How could the ruby necklace she wanted to give her sister fall out of her sister’s backpack??
Arabella smiled lightly, seeing right away that she was trying to frame her for theft.
“How did Yoli’s necklace end up in your bag?” Olga couldn’t believe her eyes, she urgently called, “Attlee, come see this! Arabella is about to leave, but she seems to have stolen Yoli’s necklace! I can’t believe the daughter we raised for so many years is a thief!”
Attlee rushed over, looking dumbfounded, and asked, “What’s going on?”
“It’s cool…” Yolanda hurriedly smoothed things over and said understandingly, “I was going to give this necklace to my sister anyway. Whether I personally give it to her or she grabs it from me, it’s all the same!”
“How is that the same? She took your necklace without your permission – that’s stealing!” Olga was livid. “Arabella, how could you do something like this?!”
The surrounding nannies couldn’t help but chime in,
“Miss, you’re too kindhearted! This necklace is worth ten grand!”
“This was designed specifically for you by your parents’ personal designer! It’s one of its kind in the whole world!”
“And it even has your name engraved on it!”
“This is your favorite piece of jewelry, and she nearly nicked it, yet you’re not even blaming her…”
Yolanda, hearing the praise around her, feigned a knowing look and explained, “She needs this necklace more than I do!” Those around her couldn’t help but sing her praises, and comparisons were made between her and Arabella. They all felt even more that Yolanda outshone Arabella in every aspect!
Apart from Arabella being a tad prettier, she really couldn’t hold a candle to Yolanda in other areas!
Olga took the necklace from Yolanda’s hand, her heart aching, and said, “You naive child, once she goes back to her family, they’ll be like a bottomless pit, sucking up all her wealth. Even if you gave her ten ruby necklaces, they still wouldn’t be satisfied!”
Chapter 2
Speaking of this, Olga gave Arabella a disdainful look. “We’ve done our best to raise you all these years! This necklace is a gift for Yoli, don’t even think you can snatch it! You better scram before I call the cops!”
“Mom!” Yolanda chimed in nervously, “Arabella’s biological parents are jobless. She’s got five brothers who need to get hitched, and a sick grandmother to take care of… Selling this necklace could bring in some bucks. She needs it more than I do…”
The maids were all moved by Yolanda’s kindness, thinking what a considerate and kind-hearted girl she was.
“Mom, since you’ve given me this necklace, then I have the right to do whatever with it!” Yolanda firmly took back the necklace from Olga’s hand, presenting it to Arabella as if it were a treasure, “Bella, take it, I won’t blame you for stealing. It was meant to be yours anyway…”
Arabella lifted her gaze, her deep brown eyes under her long, dark lashes curiously studying Yolanda. She thought to herself, Was it necessary to emphasize that she “stole” the necklace? This kind of framing was quite low-level. Was there no smarter way to go about it?
“Sis, I’ll hold off mom… you better get moving!”
Arabella smiled, her captivating eyes seemingly penetrating everything. Yolanda was a bit scared of this side of her, that nonchalant attitude, as if she was in control of everything, like a high queen, making people uneasy and a bit guilty.
Arabella took the necklace and smiled slightly. Such a cheap ruby, she really couldn’t care less… Whether it was the color of the necklace, the clarity, or the craftsmanship….
What kind of small workshop could produce such a thing?
Ten thousand dollars? In her eyes, this necklace was worthless.
Just when everyone thought Arabella would take the necklace… the next second, Arabella threw the necklace straight into the trash bin. Her actions were decisive and swift, not a second wasted.
Everyone was dumbstruck, even Olga was shocked for a good while, exclaiming, “Arabella, what the hell are you doing!!! This is your sister’s most treasured necklace, she gave it to you, and you just threw it away like that!!!”
“What? Yolanda gave me the necklace, so I can do whatever I want with it, isn’t that what your darling daughter just said?” Arabella mocked with a cold laugh. “All these years, I didn’t take away anything you guys gave me.”
How could she have cared about a measly necklace?
“All the clothes I’m wearing and the stuff in my backpack, I bought them myself.”
Arabella’s words made one of the maids scoff. “You say you bought these yourself? That’s hilarious. Your money… isn’t it your parents who gave it to you?!”
“Do I need to report where my money comes from to a maid?”
“You…”
“You’re just a maid that we hired. Focus on your own job.”
The maid was angry but couldn’t do anything about it.
“Alright-” Attlee sighed, hoping to calm the situation, “Bella, it’s about time, let me walk you out.”
“No need, Mr. Murphy.”
She used the address “Mr. Murphy,” obviously putting distance between herself and the Murphy family.
“Sir, don’t we need to check her bag? She’s carrying a lot of stuff…” The nosy maid was still trying to remind Attlee.
“It’s fine-” Attlee was, after all, the richest man in Tranquil City. Even if this kid really took something valuable from his house, he wouldn’t make it public. Besides, checking bags was something he felt was unethical, and he would never do it!
Arabella walked out the front door with her backpack and saw a black sedan parked there.
What was different was that this sedan obviously had signs of having been in a collision, not only was the boot bumped up, but the body was also dented. Even the windshield was somewhat shattered.
The driver got out of the car a bit awkwardly, his glasses crooked, obviously broken. But when he saw Arabella, he froze for
1/2
16:18
a moment.
The girl in front of him had neat eyebrows and bright eyes, a tall nose; she was a walking beauty, just like madam when she was younger!
But, this girl seemed more confident and attractive than madam when she was young.
“Miss, I’m sorry.” The driver quickly approached Arabella and apologized sincerely, “My car was rear-ended by a truck earlier, I couldn’t dodge in time and hit the guardrail, I was afraid of delaying and keeping you waiting, so I didn’t go home to change cars… But I’ve checked, the car is fine, it just doesn’t look particularly good…”
The driver’s words revealed a lot of information. Could it be that her home wasn’t as poor as the rumors said, could they even afford a car? If she wasn’t mistaken, this car was a custom-made Rolls-Royce, one of a kind in the world, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Arabella smiled and asked, “You call me ‘Miss’?”
“Yes, you are the sixth child in the family, you have five older brothers!” When the driver said this, he quickly added, “I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m your family’s driver, you can call me Aiden.”
So she had a dedicated driver? It seemed her biological family wasn’t as bad as the Murphy family made it out to be.
“Miss, where’s your luggage?” Aiden saw that she only had a backpack and couldn’t help but ask, “Is it inside? I can go in and help you get it.”
“No need, my luggage is right here.” Arabella didn’t plan to bring a lot of stuff, so she lazily responded.
The driver nodded, “Then you wait for me in the car, I’ll go in and give the gift that the old lady asked me to give to your foster parents, to express our gratitude, and we’ll leave right away.”
Aiden pulled open the back door of the car, hoping to invite Arabella to get in. But unexpectedly, the next second, the car door wobbled and fell off!
This was all because that truck hit it so hard, it busted the car door.
The Murphy family, who just stepped out, saw this whole scene.
Yolanda was totally gobsmacked! She thought to herself, “What piece of junk is this? Are the doors made out of paper or something? How could the driver have the nerve to roll in this junk and make a fool out of himself? Just how broke is this family?”
Olga couldn’t believe that Arabella’s biological family could be this disastrous. How could her folks let their driver show up in this clunker to pick her up? Did they have zero dignity?
Wait a sec, her home was in a remote mountain area, they probably didn’t even own a car! Maybe this man borrowed this ride from a friend, just not to look bad?
But maybe his lousy driving skills got the better of him and he wrecked the car? If that was the case, things just got interesting, because they were gonna have to cough up cash when they returned this mess!
Attlee looked at the man in front of him, all dirty and grimy. There were obvious oil stains on his suit, was he a mechanic? Judging by his looks, he didn’t seem like Arabella’s brother, could he be Arabella’s father?
Maybe he just rushed here from the auto repair shop, showing off by driving someone else’s car?
If that was true, this guy was just too vain. He really didn’t need to put on this show in front of the wealthiest man in Tranquil City.
Even though there was a Rolls-Royce logo on the hood, there was no way Attlee, a man of stature, couldn’t tell that this car didn’t look like any model sold by Rolls-Royce. In all his years, he had never seen a Rolls-Royce like this.
That logo must have been fake!
Chapter 3
The driver accidentally got his suit dirty while checking the car. When he saw the folks from the Murphy family coming out of the mansion, he hurriedly pulled out a few gift boxes from the trunk.
These were specifically instructed by the mister to be handed to the Murphys. Unfortunately, a previous tailgating incident resulted in a few of the gift boxes getting squashed, making them look rather unappealing.-
“I reckon you’re Mr. Murphy?” The driver approached Attlee and offered the boxes politely, “These are a token from the young lady’s parents. They insist you accept them.”
“You’re too kind…” Attlee hastily declined. “Bella has been great with us over the years, these gifts…”
“We don’t need your gifts! Just take her home, her family is waiting for her!” Olga interrupted them and without giving Aiden a second glance, she walked back into the house.
She thought to herself, “With such shabby gift boxes, there can’t be anything good inside. She certainly doesn’t want other people’s trash.”
Yolanda suppressed a sarcastic smile, following Olga. Her face was filled with an air of superiority as if she had just won a war. She never realized that Arabella’s biological family was in such a poor state, but she was secretly pleased.
The Murphys’ maids looked at them with scorn, contempt, or pity, and they all went back inside. Only Attlee remained standing there, somewhat embarrassed, “Well, have a safe journey… I won’t accept these gifts. Let’s just say I’ve sent them back to your masters. Consider it a small token from me…”
“But…” The driver was at a loss. The mister had specifically told him to make sure the Murphys accepted the gifts. But what Attlee meant was that Arabella was no longer part of the Murphy family. If she went to her biological parents’ house, she would have nothing to do with the Murphys.
“Mr. Murphy, please accept these gifts. Mr. Murphy?”
The driver initially wanted to say that the boxes contained deeds to several villas, keys to several shops, a bank card loaded with a billion dollars, and rare medicinal herbs that you couldn’t buy anywhere. But as he watched Attlee walk into the house, the driver paused, puzzled. It seemed like none of them actually liked Ms. Bennett. Was it all in his head?
Arabella casually fixed the car door back in place, “Let’s go.”
Watching her get into the car, Aiden was taken aback. Did Ms. Bennett just fix that door by herself? How did she do that?
On the road, Arabella casually looked out the window, her pretty face giving off a pleasing aura.
The driver occasionally glanced at her through the rear-view mirror, the more he looked, the more she reminded him of madam when she was young. Every move she made radiated beauty.
“Aren’t we going to Willow Creek?” Arabella suddenly asked, her gaze falling on the driver.
“Willow Creek?” The driver snapped back to reality, “Oh… that’s the mister’s hometown. Your home is in Summerfield.”
Summerfield, the most economically developed city in the country.
The city was divided into four districts: East, West, South, and North, with the North being the least developed.
There were four counties in the North: Misty Hollow, Lavender Hill, Golden Fields, and Seraphim Haven, with Seraphim being the least developed.
Below Seraphim Haven were four towns: Sapphire City, Emerald City, Golden City, and Tranquil City.
Attlee was the richest man in Tranquil City. After accumulating his wealth over a long time, Attlee finally moved from a third-tier city to Summerfield this year. He became the richest man in Tranquil City, the least developed place in Summerfield.
Compared to wealthier areas, his wealth might have seemed insignificant, but compared to other poorer areas, he was pretty wealthy.
His personal wealth had exceeded ten million dollars, which was why his wife Olga was so arrogant and looked down on others.
After Yolanda walked into the room, she unintentionally glanced out the window. What she saw left her in complete shock. “Mom, their car…”
Chapter 3
“What about it?” Olga followed her gaze, then nonchalantly said, “Yoli, I’m telling you, from now on, you and Arabella have nothing to do with each other! You can’t treat her like your sister anymore, you need to delete and block all her contact info. Even if she tries to borrow money from you through other means, you can’t lend her any, got it?”
“No… Mom. What I meant was, the license plate of that car, seems like it’s from our city. It looks like the plate number starts with S-A… followed by five 1’s?”
In Summerfield, such a plate number was quite noticeable!
Since the car was parked in front of their mansion, Olga only saw the side of the car and not the license plate. But hearing Yolanda’s description, she just laughed, thinking her daughter was too naive.
“Yoli, you gotta know, in our town, anyone with a license plate that has five of the same numbers is a big shot! Arabella’s family lives in Willow Creek, you must’ve got it twisted!”
Olga thought to herself, “Even their car plates are nothing special… How could Arabella’s family possibly get such a good number?”
“Unless they live in Reflections Villa!” Olga scoffed.
Reflections Villa was the most famous, most expensive, prime residential area in Summerfield, located right in the center of the city, where the land price was sky-high!
In the Rolls Royce, the driver spoke respectfully, “Ms. Bennett, we’re still 20 kilometers away from your home-Reflections Villa. If you’re tired, feel free to take a break.”
Arabella was surprised to hear this, thinking, “My home is in Reflections Villa? In the priciest villa area in Summerfield?”
“Can we swing by Hope Hospital?”
Hope Hospital was the city hospital, boasting the best medical resources, and not far from Reflections Villa.
“Ms. Bennett, are you feeling unwell?” The driver asked anxiously, “I’ll speed up…”
“I want to visit the Murphy family’s grandma.”
In the Murphy family, only Grace Murphy had been genuinely kind to Arabella. Since learning that Arabella wasn’t her biological grandchild, Grace fell ill and was hospitalized.
Aiden didn’t expect her to be such a dutiful child, so he agreed to her request, and his impression of her improved considerably.
Ten minutes later.
Aiden parked the car at the entrance of Hope Hospital. Arabella whispered to him, “Please wait for me nearby.”
“Sure,” Aiden replied.
In room 301 of Hope Hospital’s inpatient department, a frail old lady with white hair was lying there. Because of her long-term illness, her face looked gaunt, and her figure was skinny.
When Arabella walked in, the old lady was still in a deep sleep, her eyes tightly closed, her face expressionless. The wrinkles on her brow made her look even more weather-beaten.
Arabella walked softly to the bedside, a bitter feeling slowly spreading in her heart. When did the once energetic old lady become like this?
“Bella.” The young doctor checking in on the patients looked up at her, then busied himself with some notes, “You’re right on time, we wanted to talk to you.”
He put down his pen, lifted his handsome face, and his attractive eyes stared straight at her.
“As you know, none of the current heart disease treatments are working for the old lady, we used to increase the dosage to prolong the effects, but now even that doesn’t work anymore.”
“You know better than anyone when a person’s heart fails at the end stage of an illness, it’s like the heart’s function has degraded to the point of no return. It’s actually a miracle she’s made it this far…”
Chapter 4
Before the doc could finish his sentence, Arabella chucked a small bottle at him, her gaze never leaving the old woman.
“CircuStrength?” Caden managed to make out what he was holding, asking in shock, “Bella, where did you get this stuff?”-
Isn’t this the mysterious drug that’s been causing a stir on the black market recently? Rumor has it that it worked wonders on heart diseases, and just one pill could cost a whopping hundred grand…
But the hefty price tag wasn’t even the main concern. The main thing was, that this stuff was super rare. Only one pill was auctioned off every month!
How did Bella get her hands on such a rare item?
“The Murphy family has treated you so crappy, I think you’ve done more than enough for them. There’s really no need…”
Caden was cut off by Arabella’s warning look before he could finish his sentence.
“Am I wrong? Their own flesh and blood haven’t taken care of this old woman as much as you have…”
Half a year ago, Caden graduated from a top domestic medical university and came to Hope Hospital for his internship. Being born into a medical family, he was initially arrogant and cocky. But then he met Arabella and realized that there was always someone better…
Once, he was studying a complex case, staying up late for a few nights in a row and unable to sleep. Arabella took one look at the case and gave him a great solution in just a few sentences. Another time, Arabella casually glanced at a patient’s chest X-ray and CT scan and figured out that the patient had lung cancer, while his diagnosis was severe pneumonia. There were plenty more instances like these…
What he admired most was that Grace, a woman on the brink of death, had been brought back by Arabella time and time again, even when he had determined that she couldn’t be saved through treatment!
Arabella, this astonishing high school student, always brought an endless shock to him, shattering his arrogance and forcing him to live humbly!
During his six-month internship, Caden also witnessed her being neglected by the Murphy family, and later the two became acquainted and soon became friends. He knew that the best solution for Grace’s condition was a heart transplant. But because of her old age and conditions like high blood pressure and heart failure, she simply couldn’t undergo surgery. Arabella was now giving her CircuStrength in hopes that her physical condition could improve a bit, so she wouldn’t be so frail that she could die at any time.
But the Murphy family didn’t know any of this, they thought that as long as they paid the money and put Grace in the most expensive ward, it would be enough to take care of her…
“If the Murphy family were to take care of this old lady, they definitely wouldn’t spend a hundred grand to buy this stuff to save her.”
“Alright, keep a good eye on her for me.” Arabella looked at Grace, and said reluctantly, “I have to go.”
She couldn’t stay here too long. If the old woman woke up and saw her, she would get even more upset. If her condition worsened then, it would be even more difficult to handle.
Caden glanced at her, saying softly, “I’ve got this, don’t worry.”
“Mm.”
Arabella’s gaze fell on Grannie Grace. Although she had a lot to say, she ended up not saying a word and left room 301.
On the other side.
Some doctors were rushing around, looking very anxious.
“What’s going on? How did Phillip’s condition suddenly become so serious?”
“I heard he’s been refusing to take his meds to force his son to show up…”
“This is ridiculous!”
Not long after Arabella left room 301, her shoulder was suddenly bumped by one of the doctors. Seeing them rushing towards room 306, Arabella happened to see the old man lying on the bed looking unbelievably bad as she walked by.
“He actually stopped his medication willingly, isn’t he playing with his life?”
“What do we do now, should we notify his family?”
“His family is on their way here; we can only wait for them to arrive and decide whether to operate…”
Arabella stood at the door of room 306, reminding them quietly, “By the time his family gets here, he might already be beyond saving.”
The doctors, who were at their wits’ end, all looked toward the source of the voice. There stood a young girl at the door, who seemed to be only in her teens, but looked incredibly calm. Her eyes were bright and clear, her gaze firm.
“Little girl, what do you know?” The male doctor next to her saw that she was just a child and didn’t bother to argue with her, “This old man’s condition is very serious, if we were sure, we would have saved him right away.”
The only reason they were waiting for the family was because they were out of options.
Arabella raised an eyebrow, asking casually, “Rheumatic heart disease, is it that serious?”
“You can tell what disease he has?” The doctor was somewhat surprised.
Another older female doctor was also taken aback, “Does this child know medicine?”
“Since you know this is rheumatic heart disease, then you must also know that for this kind of disease, valve replacement surgery is needed, and for this old man, it would not be the first time he would undergo valve replacement surgery!” The male doctor explained.
Arabella lifted her head, seemingly indifferent to his words. “Needing to undergo valve replacement surgery again just means you guys didn’t use enough antibiotics to treat him, that’s why there’s infection and perivalvular leakage.”
Hearing her words, all the doctors in the ward were stunned.
“Does this little girl really know medicine?”
“She even knows about ‘perivalvular leakage…”
The old man stopped his medication treatment on his own accord. That’s why there weren’t enough antibiotics used, leading to the infection and perivalvular leakage.
“Why are you arguing with a little girl? How long till the patient’s family gets here?” The old man who spoke was Greg, the hospital’s most senior heart specialist, already in his fifties. He spoke with authority.
“Dr. Greg.” The moment he started speaking, everyone in the room straightened up. One person replied, “Going by how fast the family was moving before, the quickest they’ll be here is in twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes was way too long.
Dr. Greg did some mental math. Phillip clearly couldn’t hold on for twenty more minutes. Previously, he had undergone a mitral valve replacement surgery overseas. However, soon after, he had a valve leak and had to go back overseas for another heart valve replacement.
Yet, shortly after the surgery, he developed an infection, and the valve started leaking again. There was no time to travel abroad for another procedure, so he had to get emergency treatment right here at home.
Hope Hospital’s cardiac surgery department was top-notch nationwide, and Dr. Greg’s surgical skills were nothing short of stellar. That night, Dr. Greg managed to pull off a medical miracle, performing a complex surgery under immense pressure.
However, shortly after the operation, Phillip developed another infection and had to have another surgery.
Now, his condition had worsened. An upper respiratory infection had turned into pneumonia. Although the pneumonia symptoms were under control after rigorous treatment, he was now showing signs of heart failure.
During a recent examination, Dr. Greg discovered that Phillip had developed infective endocarditis and another valve leakage. His condition was critical.
The chances of a successful surgery under these conditions were less than 10%. The only thing they could do now was to wait for his family to arrive.
Chapter 5
As long as the family signed off on the surgery consent form, the doctors could go all out to save the patient. Even if they couldn’t pull the patient through, they wouldn’t be held responsible because they had given their best shot.
However, judging from Phillip’s current condition, there was no way he could wait for his family to arrive. If no action was taken, he could stop breathing in ten minutes.
“Dr. Greg, should we wait for his family to show up?” Susana, a young associate chief physician, tentatively proposed. “If we proceed with the surgery without authorization…”
If anything went wrong. Mr. McMillian would surely give them hell!
In this situation, it was not just about their wish to save him. Phillip’s life could just end here today.
“I suggest that we give him a shot to calm his nerves and another to soothe his heart. We can make the decision when his family arrives!” Susana proposed again.
The other doctors didn’t have any better ideas, they all silently watched Dr. Greg, waiting for his decision.
Seeing that Dr. Greg didn’t respond, Susana instructed the nurse standing by, “Go and get the meds.”
The nurse was about to fetch the medicines.
At that moment, Arabella, standing at the door, spoke up again, “If you inject him with these now, he’ll surely die.”
As soon as the meds were administered, even the best doctors wouldn’t be able to save him. Because Phillip’s current physical condition was so frail, it couldn’t handle the effects of the drugs. Once these two injections were administered, shortly after a brief period of lucidity, he would stop breathing within half an hour.
“Who are you, get out of here. We’re busy, and we don’t have time for chitchat.”
Susana had been annoyed with this girl since the beginning, feeling like she was causing trouble here.
“Incompetent doctors.” Arabella didn’t waste time with them and was about to leave.
Unexpectedly, Susana couldn’t help but speak out, “Who are you calling ‘incompetent doctors’? Stop right there!”
“Susana, don’t pick a fight with a little girl, Phillip’s condition is more important right now.” Another doctor advised.
“She called me incompetent!!” Susana was furious, her eyes full of discontent when she looked at Arabella. She was the most talented, youngest associate chief physician among this group of doctors, had won numerous awards, received lots of praise, and this girl was questioning her medical skills?!
“She doesn’t understand the situation, why bother with her?” The chief doctor said anxiously. He was only concerned about how to deal with the old man’s problem.
Anyway, the patient couldn’t die in the hospital, because everyone present would be implicated. Now they couldn’t operate, nor could they let him die, and their only option was to administer the sedatives and heart-soothing injections.
“Who did you just call an incompetent doctor?” Susana walked up to Arabella and asked defiantly, “Go on, I’m listening.”
“Who else but you?” Arabella looked at Susana, clearly not taking her seriously.
“You-” Susana was so angry she was hopping mad!
Arabella crossed her arms over her chest and casually said, “At this point, surgery is the only option for him.”
“Surgery? You make it sound so simple, kid.” Susana laughed in anger, “This old man has already undergone five heart surgeries. There isn’t a shred of intact heart muscle left. No hospital in the country, no doctor would dare to operate on him for the sixth time!”
“Forget it, Susana.” The male doctor wanted to calm things down, but Susana’s temper was obviously out of control.
“This old man’s condition, no similar cases have been documented in medical literature, both domestic and international! You could say that since the inception of medicine, he’s the only one!” Susana said each word firmly, “Do you know how difficult the surgery is? We’ve consulted with many renowned heart surgeons both at home and abroad, but no one could propose a better treatment!”
Arabella raised her brows and said, “That’s because you’re incompetent.”
“So, you think you can save him? Confident little girl?” Susana sneered, “Then you give it a try!”
Arabella glanced at the old man on the bed, exuding unbridled confidence, and casually said, “You can’t afford me to perform the surgery.”
“Huh.” Susana found it ridiculously funny, “This old man is no ordinary person. No amount of money is an issue for him. If you can save his life, money is not a problem, even I am willing to kneel down and call you God!”
Arabella raised her eyebrows, “Alright, you said it.”
“Hey, you’re really confident, aren’t you!” Susana didn’t take her seriously. “Did you graduate from high school? Do you know where the heart is? Surgery is not about making a few random cuts with a knife. Do you think this is like cutting a steak in a restaurant, and you can just do whatever you want? I don’t care where you’re from, apologize and leave, then I’ll pretend this never happened!”
Arabella glanced at the work badge on Susana’s chest and dismissively said, “You’re an associate chief physician in cardiology and you don’t even know how to perform artificial valve replacement surgery, and you want me to apologize?”
“You-”
“Calling you a quack doctor is an understatement.”
“Did you guys hear what this brat just said?” Susana was gritting her teeth in anger.
The female chief physician murmured to herself, “She actually knows about artificial valve replacement surgery…”
Such a professional term, coming out of a little girl’s mouth, could she really know medicine?
The male doctor also realized this. He looked at Arabella with surprise and shock, and he whispered to Susana, “Why not, let her try, maybe she really has a way?”
“You’ve lost your mind! You actually believe what a little girl says!”
Before Susana could finish, she heard another doctor whisper, “If anything goes wrong, we can blame her…”
“She’s not a doctor at our hospital!” Susana turned around and lowered her voice, “Do you know who this old man is? If anything happens, all of us here will be responsible! Do you think you can just find a little girl to be the scapegoat?”
She glanced back at Arabella, her eyes full of disdain, “If she really knew her stuff, she’d be famous by now, and she’d be the one running this place! Would we even be needed here?”
The male doctor shrugged helplessly, “But right now, we don’t have any better options…”
“Or maybe…” the female director carefully suggested, “We could ask Dr. Caden for his opinion?”
Dr. Caden was widely recognized as a brilliant doctor in the hospital, but….
“Dr. Caden is really full of himself. If it’s not his patient, he won’t lift a finger to help us.”
Susana knew this all too well, which was why she never bothered him with any issues. He had a bad temper and was likely to kick people out, not caring about embarrassing others at all.
“So what should we do now?”
Not sure if their voices were too loud, but outside the ward, there were some people huddled together, whispering about something.
Chapter 6
Dr. Greg was afraid things would get complicated, so he gently advised, “Miss, this operation is seriously complicated. Even an expert professor with decades of experience like me can’t guarantee success. Considering Phillip’s current condition, aside from the late medical genius Dr. Bell, there’s no one else in the world who can guarantee he’ll make it out of the operating room alive. It’s not that we don’t want to operate. It’s just that our skills are limited, and we can’t provide help.
“Administering sedatives and comforting the patient is all we can do at the moment until the family arrives to sign off, and we can focus on treating him.”
They were always scared of Mr. McMillian’s influence, and they didn’t dare do everything they could for Phillip…
“Did you mention there would be a reward after a successful surgery?” Arabella suddenly asked.
“Uh…” Dr. Greg was a little surprised, but quickly answered, “Of course.”
It didn’t matter what kind of person Phillip was, as long as he could be saved, the cost was not an issue.
Arabella had made a lot of money for the Murphy family before, but all that money ended up in their pockets. Plus, with Grace’s medical expenses, she had nearly exhausted all her savings. If she could make some money from a minor surgery, that would be great.
Dr. Greg saw confidence in Arabella’s beautiful eyes, and her aura was strong. He couldn’t help but ask, “Miss, do you really know medicine?”
Arabella smiled and said, “Handling a scalpel is not a problem.”
“And how do you plan to save him?”
“Of course, by performing a heart valve replacement procedure, but I need Caden as my assistant.”
“Heh…” Susana was shocked to hear that, “Who do you think you are? Do you know who Caden is? I can call him over, but would he be your assistant? If so, I’d chop off my head and let you use it as a football.”
After saying this, she turned to Dr. Greg and said, “Dr. Greg, stop wasting time on her. We’re in a hurry. Let’s administer the sedatives and comfort the patient now!”
She ordered a nurse, “Go get the medicine, and tell the security room there’s a madwoman here.”
The nurse bumped into Caden on her way out and quickly explained the situation.
Soon, a familiar voice echoed in the ward.
“Who’s looking for me?”
Everyone looked up and saw Caden, their faces showing surprise.
How did the nurse manage to bring Caden in? How could a minor nurse have persuaded such an important person to come?
“Dr. Caden, you’re just in time.” Susana seized the opportunity to embarrass Arabella, “This girl has a lot of guts. She wants you to be her assistant.”
Caden glanced at Arabella, who stood there as if none of the attacks around her could hurt her.
He frowned at Susana, clearly unhappy with her behavior, then asked the others, “What’s going on?”
Susana quickly explained the situation, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear to reveal her pretty profile, hoping to make a good impression on Caden. “I’ve never seen a case like this, neither here nor abroad.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Caden, for Arabella’s sake, took on this tough task and said emotionlessly, “Get ready for the operation.”
“Dr. Caden, how can you be as reckless as her?” Susana was taken aback by his decision, “Operating now, means the success rate is less than 10%… This old man is very influential, if something goes wrong, we won’t be able to handle the responsibility!”
Caden’s eyes were emotionless, “If something goes wrong, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Dr. Caden…”
“I will take responsibility.”
All the doctors were stunned. Was he planning to take this risk with Arabella, the young girl?
Without saying much to them, Caden glanced at Arabella. “Come with me,”
He was taking her to the operating room.
As Arabella passed Susana, she smiled and said, “Didn’t you say you would chop off your head and let me use it as a football?”
“You…” Susana was speechless. She had indeed said that, but she never thought Caden would agree to be Arabella’s assistant.
Caden was usually so arrogant, why the sudden change of attitude today? Was he smitten by Arabella’s beauty?
Arabella smiled and replied, “Don’t forget what you said.”
“Me? What did I say?” Susana suddenly remembered, “Oh, I did say that if you could save Phillip, I would kneel down and call you my God, but I doubt you have that ability! Don’t hold us accountable if you end up killing the patient!”
Arabella laughed, her beautiful eyes sparkling with confidence, “You want to call me God, but I don’t want to accept a believer like you!”
“You-
“Don’t forget to kneel.” Arabella said and left with Caden.
Susana watched her back, feeling like she couldn’t swallow, and said loudly, “If you can save Phillip, I’m willing to resign as deputy director!”
She patted her badge, “Let’s see if you have the ability to win it!”
Caden heard their “bet,” and casually asked, “Why did you start arguing with her?”
“She’s too arrogant.”
Exactly right, she had to know there were always people better than her.
Phillip was pushed into the operating room by two nurses, leaving only a few doctors in the ward.
“They’re all crazy!”
“This old man’s condition is so severe, he can’t be operated on. I think Dr. Caden is too young and doesn’t realize the grave consequences of failure! It’s not just a matter of reputation and career!”
If something went wrong, all their lives could be in danger!
“Dr. Greg, are we seriously not gonna stop this? This is a life we’re talking about.”
“How can we let them take such a risk with Phillip’s high status? Dr. Greg, you gotta say something!”
“Yeah, we should stop them right now. We still got time.”
The female director seemed more optimistic, “Dr. Caden comes from a lineage of medical geniuses. Even though he might not be on par with top-tier experts, his profound medical skills might just pull off a miracle.”
The male director also harbored a glimmer of hope, “Dr. Caden is a widely acknowledged genius doctor. With him around, a miracle might just happen.”
“You guys are all mixing it up. He’s just the assistant to that girl. She’s the one doing the surgery! She’s just a kid, how could she possibly know anything about medicine?” Dr. Lauren was all antsy, “Dr. Greg, say something!”
“Dr. Lauren, what are you so worried about? Dr. Caden said if anything goes wrong, he’ll take full responsibility.”
“But the patient is Romeo McMillian’s dear old grandpa. If the surgery fails, Romeo might blame us for not stopping it.”
“Then we’ll just say that it was Dr. Caden who insisted on doing the surgery, and we couldn’t stop him.” Susana decided, after all, it was Dr. Caden who willingly chose to take the risk with the young girl.
The young girl had no clue about Phillip’s real identity. If she knew, she would’ve probably freaked out and bolted. How would she dare to take on this difficult case?
Chapter 7
Dr. Greg finally broke the silence and said, “Let’s just see how she handles this patient.”
After Dr. Greg left, several other doctors trailed behind him. “Dr. Greg, you can’t just watch. We need to do something before Mr. McMillian arrives…”
Susana turned to a nurse and said, “Turn on all the cameras in the operating room. I want to record everything. Plus, it’ll be fun to watch her make a fool of herself!”
Word spread around the hospital about a complex surgery being performed by a high school girl, and doctors flocked to watch. mA young girl could cure a disease that even Dr. Greg can’t handle. Was this some kind of joke?
As Arabella donned her surgical gown and prepared to enter the operating room, Susana approached her. “Just a heads-up, the old man’s pericardium was damaged in a previous surgery. His heart is practically glued to his sternum. If you’re not careful during the operation, you could rupture his heart and kill him. Then you’re done.”
“I’m not you,” Arabella replied coolly, her beautiful eyes sparkling. “I won’t make such a rookie mistake.”
Furious, Susana stomped and stormed off, muttering, “I can’t wait to see how you handle the first cut.”
The observation room was packed with doctors, all stunned to see a young girl at the helm of the surgery.
“Dr. Greg, where did this girl come from? Are you seriously letting her run wild?”
“She looks like she hasn’t even graduated from high school… The patient is Mr. McMillian’s grandpa…”
“If anything goes wrong, we’re all screwed.”
“She likes the spotlight, Dr. Caden is willing to take the fall for her. Why should you guys worry?” Susana stood with her arms crossed, watching the girl through the large glass wall with a sarcastic smile.
Arabella put on her surgical mask, her captivating eyes were bright and steady, and she exuded confidence.
“Adjust the body position.”
“Start the anesthesia.”
“Disinfect the skin.”
“Hand me the scalpel.”
Arabella issued orders to Caden in a methodical manner.
The doctors in the observation room were all taken aback.
“Does she really know what she’s doing?”
“She seems to be following the right steps…”
“Could she actually save Phillip?”
Susana sneered, “Maybe she learned it all from TV. Don’t get your hopes up.”
If this girl could actually save lives, she would eat a scalpel on live TV.
When the doctors saw Arabella holding the scalpel in her left hand, they all gasped.
“What’s going on? She’s left-handed?”
“Left-handed surgeons aren’t as steady as right-handed ones.”
“If she’s right-handed but deliberately using her left hand, she’s nuts!”
“She doesn’t seem to be taking this seriously.”
“Maybe she never intended to perform the surgery. Dr. Greg, how could you trust a little girl’s words? We’re screwed!”
Nobody would dare to use their left hand for such a major surgery!
Caden was surprised to see Arabella using her left hand. He remembered her being right-handed. Had she injured her right hand?
Due to multiple heart valve replacement surgeries, Phillip’s heart structure was far from normal. Arabella made the first
Incision without hesitation, shocking everyone.
“Even experienced surgeons wouldn’t dare to do this. How could a little girl be so calm and composed? I’m starting to question my own eyes!”
“Her first cut was spot on…”
“She’s fast, precise, and ruthless.”
Even Susana was stunned. “How is this possible…”
How did she do it? She didn’t seem like a novice at all.
Arabella found Phillip’s heart covered in scars, with blood vessels displaced. Without the protection of the pericardium, his heart was practically attached to his sternum.
Caden saw the severity of the situation. Initially, he was worried she wouldn’t know what to do, but she remained calm and handled every detail perfectly.
“Zoom in on the video.” Dr. Greg, despite his shock, was curious to see how she would handle the next steps.
Arabella was meticulously separating the adhered heart and sternum, the most challenging part of the surgery. Considering Phillip’s condition, even experienced surgeons would take hours to handle this. But for Arabella, half an hour was enough. She was focused, her bright eyes sparkling with confidence.
Everyone held their breath, as this was an extremely critical phase. Any mistake could be disastrous!
Suddenly, a group of people entered. The man leading the group seemed to be in his twenties, but he exuded a powerful aura. With sharp eyebrows, a high nose, and delicate features, he was imposing and stern. People stepped aside when they saw him, their voices filled with fear and respect. “Mr. McMillian, you’re here?”
Behind him were seven top cardiac specialists.
Only Mr. McMillian could assemble such an elite team in such a short time!
“Phillip’s condition has worsened. We have barely managed to control his pneumonia, and now he’s showing signs of heart failure.” Dr. Greg stepped aside respectfully. “Today’s examination revealed that Phillip has prosthetic valve infective endocarditis and perivalvular leakage…”
“Who’s she?” Romeo’s gaze fell on Arabella, his eyes cold and indifferent.
She was wearing a medical mask, with only her bright eyes peeking out. You could tell, that she was just a kid in her teens.
“She, she is…” Dr. Greg’s heart was racing just looking at her. If he let the cat out of the bag, would he even see tomorrow’s
sunrise?
Meanwhile, his assistant Carl couldn’t hold back his rage. “How the hell could the hospital hire a doctor this young? On the way here, I heard some high school kid wanted to operate on Phillip McMillian. Is this her? Has Hope Hospital gone completely bonkers? So as long as you’ve got the guts, you can just go ahead and operate on Phillip, regardless of whether you’re qualified or experienced enough? I think you’ve all lost your marbles!”
“Carl, it’s not like that.” Dr. Greg was so scared he was shaking in his boots, unable to utter a single word of explanation.
Every doctor in the observation room was freaked out, not knowing what to do.
nin
Chapter 8
Though scared out of her wits, Susana gathered her courage and said, “This is Dr. Caden’s decision. He said he’d take responsibility if anything goes wrong…”
“And how’s he going to take responsibility? By paying with all your lives?”
At Carl’s words, Susana turned white as a sheet, unable to utter a word.
“Mr. McMillian, let’s get our specialists in there to save Phillip immediately. I’ll handle the surgeon and his assistant inside. None of these people are going anywhere,” Carl said, his gaze sweeping coldly over everyone.
They need to make them understand the consequences! How dare they let a high schooler operate on the old man? Were they out of their minds?!
Just then, the specialists behind Romeo started exclaiming in surprise.
“She’s actually managed to separate all the adhesions.”
“She didn’t hit a single blood vessel, and the heart tissue is intact. And she’s using her left hand to operate!”
“How did she do that?”
“She dealt with such complex adhesions so quickly…”
The surgery was extremely difficult, but Arabella made it look like a walk in the park. With the adhesions handled, she lifted her beautiful eyes, her fresh and refined demeanor unforgettable at first glance.
“Dr. Greg, who is she?”
One of the foreign heart specialists brought by Romeo asked with a heavy accent, “Is she a new doctor at the hospital? Can
I have a chance to talk with her?”
“We arrived late and didn’t see how she opened the chest, but being able to separate the adhesions so well…her medical skills are definitely superior to mine.”
“I also have some questions I’d like to ask her…”
Not only was Carl taken aback, but everyone in the room was stunned. A teenage girl had managed to separate all the adhesions in the shortest amount of time!
“To achieve this is beyond expectation.”
“Even experienced specialists can’t guarantee to separate all the adhesions in such a short time.”
“Is she actually a seasoned doctor in her fifties disguised as a young girl?”
How else could she have achieved this?
Romeo’s face was stoic, his handsome brows showing a hint of detached scrutiny, revealing no emotion.
Unable to hold back, Susana spoke, “Even if she didn’t damage any blood vessels or heart tissue, Phillip has had multiple surgeries before. There’s not much left of the tissue used to suture the heart valve – the mitral annulus. It’s hard for an artificial heart valve to take hold.”
This was one of the reasons they hesitated to operate.
“Susana-” Dr. Greg rebuked her in a deep voice, somewhat unhappy.
Ignoring him, Susana continued, “I just want everyone to know, that Phillip has a severe intracardiac infection. The edema in the tissues is critical, and suturing the artificial valve is extremely difficult… If her suturing is flawed, it’s unlikely that Phillip’s heart function will recover, and he could develop severe complications.”
Knowing Susana’s argumentative nature, Dr. Greg hurriedly said to Romeo, “Sir, this young female doctor is very skilled. I believe she can handle this situation… Also, Dr. Caden is assisting her. Dr. Caden comes from a family of doctors and is highly intelligent. His grandfather is James Newton, a renowned doctor both domestically and internationally.”
James?
Romeo finally understood. The male assistant in front of him was James’ only grandson, Caden. James was also one of the famous doctors he’d invited, but he hadn’t been able to arrive yet due to traffic.
Seeing Romeo’s emotionless face, Dr. Greg grew anxious, not knowing what he was thinking.
Next, Arabella’s extraordinary suturing skills left all the doctors in the room feeling incompetent. After the surgery, everyone was utterly astounded.
Phillip had really survived. He was still alive!
“Bella, are you even real?”
Out of everyone observing the surgery, Caden was the most shocked. This girl was even more incredible than he’d imagined! He’d been ready to step in at any moment, but now it seemed completely unnecessary. Bella’s medical skills far surpassed his. He didn’t need to worry at all!
“Let’s move the patient out.”
After cleaning her hands, Arabella exited the operating room to applause and praise from many of the doctors waiting outside. Seeing this, Susana couldn’t help but clench her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She hadn’t expected the girl to be so talented.
When Phillip’s gurney was wheeled out of the operating room, many of the doctors rushed forward to confirm that he was still breathing and seemed stable.
“Everybody clear out… The patient needs to rest now.”
Knowing Bella must have been tired, Caden realized they had been operating for two hours. It was now two in the afternoon, and he wondered if Bella was hungry.
The curious doctors dispersed, leaving only Romeo and the heart specialists, as well as Dr. Greg and others.
“I’ll take Phillip back to his room now,” Caden said to Arabella. “I’ll be right back.”
Arabella nodded, took off her mask, and revealed a beautiful face that was mesmerizing.
“Who’s the family?” Arabella looked up. There were still things to discuss.
A man stepped forward, standing in front of her. He was six feet two and matched well with Arabella, who was five foot
seven.
Looking at the man, Arabella saw that his features seemed meticulously sculpted, each proportion perfect. His deep-set eyes were like glossy lacquer, bright and captivating.
“Sir, the thing is, Phillip was very ill. I once promised this young lady that if she could save Phillip, the reward would be no issue…” Dr. Greg hurried to help Bella request her reward.
Romeo looked at Bella in front of him, his eyes showing a hint of emotion, then glanced at Carl, who immediately took out a blank check and handed it over.
“Thank you for saving him! This is a token of our gratitude. You can fill in whatever amount you’d like.”
Arabella lifted her clear eyes, a bit surprised. Who the heck was this Mr. McMillian guy, being so generous?
People around her were looking at her with surprise and envy…
Getting a blank check not only meant that she was on her way to success, but more importantly, she had won Romeo’s approval. She had loads of opportunities ahead of her. You could say she hit the jackpot, and her future was as bright as it could get.
“Well, guess I’ll take it then,” Arabella said with a slight smile, tucking the check into the pocket of her white coat without a moment’s hesitation, showing her decisiveness.
“Mister will be off the ventilator by tomorrow.”
No sooner had Arabella’s words landed when a cold laugh echoed, coming from Susana in the corner.
Chapter 9
Susana’s chuckle didn’t go unnoticed by Arabella. With a casual raise of her brows, she said, “Miss Susana, isn’t it time to honor your promise?”
Susana was so busy being envious that she completely forgot about the agreement she had with Arabella! Romeo was right here, and there was no way Susana would make a fool of herself. Not a chance!
She decided to play dumb instead, spreading her hands wide, “What promise? Did I say something?”
“Dr. Susana, how could you.” A nurse couldn’t help but chime in, “You said it yourself, if this young lady saved Phillip, you’d kneel to her, even giving up your position as Deputy Director.”
“Really? Did I say that?” Susana adamantly denied, “Got any proof?”
Another doctor couldn’t help but speak up, “You did say that, everyone here heard you. If you don’t want to kneel, at least apologize.”
After all, the way she had spoken to the young lady before was really out of line.
“Why should I apologize?” Susana gave an innocent look, acting like she couldn’t care less.
Hopeless case.
Just as everyone was at their wits’ end, Arabella suddenly gave a kick, sending Susana to her knees with a thump. Nobody saw how she did it, only heard the sound of a knee hitting the floor. It must have hurt.
“You, you!” Susana was in so much pain her lips were trembling and she couldn’t even stand.
“As a doctor, it’s your duty to save lives.” Arabella’s eyes were cold, her voice chilling. “Your scalpel is meant to save lives, not to be used recklessly!”
“You, you.” Susana was trembling with rage, “Don’t spout nonsense in front of Romeo, I didn’t do anything!”
“Whether you did anything or not, and what you wanted to do, everyone knows well!” Arabella said.
Just then, the dean arrived upon hearing the news, “Mr. McMillian, is your father okay? I apologize, I just got back from an academic conference. Wait, what’s going on? Dr. Susana, why are you kneeling?”
Upon seeing the director, tears welled up in Susana’s eyes. She was in so much pain she couldn’t even stand. Dr. Pierce had always thought highly of her, even praising her in front of all the doctors, setting her as an example.
Just as she was about to tattle, she heard the dean’s surprised voice, “Arabella, you’re here too? And in a sterile suit? You’re not the high schooler who performed surgery on Phillip, are you? I heard about it on my way here. So, Phillip is okay?”
Everyone was shocked beyond belief upon hearing his words.
Not only did the dean know Arabella, but he also seemed to highly approve of her medical skills?
Dr. Pierce looked confused as no one answered his question, “What’s going on? Miss Arabella, could you explain?”
“Dr. Pierce.” Arabella greeted him, “Nothing much, just that I don’t wish to encounter Susana in this field ever again.” Dr. Pierce looked at Susana, then at Arabella, “Did she do something to upset you?”
“I’m not upset.” Arabella had a strong presence, “This is the first time I heard of using sedatives and heart-soothing meds when a heart failure patient has endocarditis and periannular leak.”
‘Doing so is equivalent to forcefully treating the patient, and he would die within half an hour!” Dr. Pierce turned to Susana Instantly.
Arabella nonchalantly said, “I can only say that the hiring standards of your hospital are not strict enough.”
“Susana, why didn’t you perform surgery on the patient?” Dr. Pierce immediately asked.
“Dr. Pierce, Phillip’s condition was extremely critical at the time. We were powerless.” Susana said.
“Powerless, yet you could administer sedatives and heart-soothing meds? You knew doing so, even the best doctor in the world couldn’t save him! You’re a doctor, but you sentenced him to death while there was still hope for his survivall How could you do this?” Dr. Pierce said.
Before she could answer, Dr. Pierce said disappointingly, “You may leave. Hope Hospital will no longer keep you and there
will be no place for you in this industry in the future”
A person who didn’t value patient’s lives and cared only for her career was not fit to be a doctor!
Dr. Pierce was the president of the National Medical Association, and with just one word from him, Susana would no longer be able to work in this field.
“Director, give me one more chance,” Susana said.
Though Susana knew Dr. Pierce asked her to leave to prevent Romeo’s anger from escalating and causing worse consequences, she really didn’t want to leave.
The pay was high here, colleagues were nice to her, and her future was bright.
Now it all ended because of Arabella!
“Take her away!” After Dr. Pierce said this, he turned to apologize to Romeo, “I’m truly sorry, I allowed such a thing to happen. right under my nose, I feel extremely ashamed. Fortunately, Miss Arabella stepped in in time, preventing a bigger mistake!”
“What’s your last name?” Romeo’s cold gaze fell on Arabella.
“Arabella Bennett.” She answered confidently.
“Give me your number.” Romeo handed her his phone to input her number.
Arabella understood his meaning when she took the blank check. If anything happened to Phillip later, she would be responsible. Leaving her contact information was for future convenience.
She took his phone, her slender fingers lightly tapping the screen to enter a string of numbers. Then she looked up, her beautiful face glowing like a star, and handed the phone back to him..
“The old man’s had multiple chest surgeries. So early post-op, his breastbone might be a bit loose and healing could be tough. His left leg might also swell and hurt because of the extracorporeal circulation and repeated catheterization. All of this is par for the course.” Arabella said.
She didn’t want them to come blaming her skills later.
Romeo studied the girl’s face intently, his voice deep, “And how do we relieve the pain?”
Arabella glanced at the seven or eight cardiologists behind him, “These minor issues? They can handle them just fine., Dr. Pierce, If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”
“Mm, okay.” Dr. Pierce said.
After changing out of her scrubs in the locker room, Arabella put on a baseball cap, slung on her backpack and got ready to leave.
“Arabella!” Caden caught up with her in the long hospital corridor, “Is your right hand okay? I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier. What’s wrong with your.right hand? Why were you operating with your left hand today?”
Unless something was up, a righty wouldn’t operate with their left hand.
“I’m fine.” Arabella moved her slightly painful wrist nonchalantly, “Just punched someone a bit too hard last night.”
Caden looked at her with a complicated expression, “So, you’re also a fighter.”
What kind of person was she, really? Able to easily get rare drugs, perform surgeries, and even throw a punch.
Chapter 10
“Which hand do you usually use, left or right? And when you do surgeries, which hand do you operate with?” He was genuinely curious.
“I can use both.” Arabella said.
“Are you even real?” The guy was in shock.
Just then, an elderly man rushed in, shouting, “Move aside, move aside. Hey, Bella, what are you doing here?”
Arabella’s eyes were bright and clear, somewhat surprised at the sight of the man, “Grandpa James?”
“Arabella, were you also invited by Mr. McMillian to perform surgery on Phillip? Don’t know if I’ll get a chance to assist you?” James asked.
“I’ve already finished.” Arabella said.
“What? Already finished?” James asked. He had just encountered a traffic jam on the way and rushed here, panting. But the surgery was already done!
“You did it all by yourself?” James asked, still panting.
“And him.” Arabella said.
James followed her gaze to the man standing next to her, surprised, “You, why are you here?”
“Grandpa.” Caden replied helplessly, “This is where I work.”
Indeed, grandpa had forgotten. But the usually eccentric and arrogant grandpa was actually being polite and even flattering in front of a young woman!
Caden was shocked! Who was this Bella? Apart from her remarkable medical skills, what was her identity that made his grandpa respect her so much?
“Kid, being Bella’s assistant is your good fortune!” James said.
An assistant. His good fortune? Was his grandpa out of his mind?
Despite the girl’s impressive medical skills, it wasn’t that over the top.
“Did you check on Grannie Grace in room 301?” James asked casually.
“I visit her every day.” Caden had to say, “Grandpa, I’m busy.”
He couldn’t possibly spend 24 hours a day around Grannie Grace!
“You don’t care enough, you really don’t! Bella, wait a sec, I need to school him a bit!” James unceremoniously raised his hand to hit his shoulder, “You, do you think I’m not strict enough.”
“Grandpa, this is a hospital, noise is prohibited.” Caden said.
“You, stop running. You think I can’t catch you? I just ran two miles!” James said.
Ten minutes later.
A luxurious Rolls-Royce drove into the gate of Reflections Villa. With 33 luxurious private villas built by the lake, it was a
sight of extreme opulence. The car drove through a spacious green path and stopped in front of a villa.
A couple had been waiting at the gate, and seeing the car driven by Aiden, they stared at each other in surprise. “What’s going on?” Kenneth asked first.
Why was the car like this? Where was his precious daughter?? Was she okay?
The sight of the driver getting out of the car shocked Louisa, who looked at Aiden in disbelief, “Aiden, your glasses, your clothes. Did you have a car accident on the way? Where is Arabella? Is she okay?”
With that, the couple quickly looked towards the back seat.
“Ms. Bennett is fine, I was rear-ended by a truck on the way.” tTe driver hurriedly opened the door and said respectfully, “Miss, we’re home!”
1/2
Arabella lifted her eyes, colliding with the gazes outside the car. Louisa was beautiful when she was young, more so than any female star at the time. Now at fifty, her aura was even more gentle and dignified. When she saw Arabella, she couldn’t help but tear up. “You’re Bella? My beloved daughter.”
Arabella had just stepped out of the car when she was immediately embraced by Louisa, “I finally found you!”
The sudden embrace made Arabella a bit uncomfortable, but it also gave her a sense of warmth.
“Let me have a good look at you.” Louisa caressed Arabella’s face. The girl had very good features and a delicate skin. She asked lovingly, tears in her eyes, “How have you been in the Murphy family all these years?”
“I’ve been good.” Arabella said.
These simple words made two drops of tear fall from Louisa’s eyes. As long as she had been well and not bullied, that was enough.
“We should be happy that our daughter is home.” The speaker was Kenneth, his eyes also a bit red, “Let’s talk inside, don’t let our precious girl stand outside.”
“Yes, Bella, come in.” Louisa took the backpack from Arabella’s hand and handed it to Kenneth.
Kenneth took the bag, which had no brand logo, and looked at Arabella’s back. He couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart. How had their daughter been all these years? She was already a young lady, but why was she still carrying such a plain bag? Not even a single piece of designer clothes?
“Bella, from now on, this is your home.” Louisa led Arabella by the hand into the villa.
The garden was full of exotic flowers and plants, costly plants like the Sleeping Fire Lotus and Juliet Roses could be seen everywhere.
Thirty servants stood in the middle of the garden, there were housekeepers, drivers, guards, chefs, gardeners, maids, and bodyguards. They all bowed in unison, “Welcome home, Ms. Bennett!”
As they walked through the fairy-tale-like beautiful garden and into the main hall, valuable calligraphy and antiques were seen everywhere.
Wasn’t it said that her family was very poor?
Arabella’s gaze fell on a painting. Not long ago at an auction, this painting, “Return of the Kings,” had fetched a sky-high price of 30 million dollars! It was a masterpiece by a famous oil painter from five hundred years ago, and Arabella could tell it was the real deal.
Seeing where Arabella was looking, as if finding a topic, Louisa asked happily, “Bella, do you like that painting? Shall I have it hung in your room?”
“No need.” She was just surprised at the number of collections in the house. It was a pity that this painting of ‘Return of the Kings’ seemed out of place among that pile of modern art paintings.
“Bella, don’t you like it? Someone, take the painting down!” Kenneth immediately ordered after her.
The butler was somewhat reluctant. This painting called ‘Return of the Kings’ was originally hidden in the palace. It was a very rare and precious piece of art. However, the master was planning to take this painting down because of this ignorant Ms. Bennett!
Most importantly, this painting was Miss Serena’s favorite!
Arabella sensed hostility from the butler’s eyes, which was clearly aimed at her. But she didn’t care, and casually gave a suggestion to her parents, “We can hang it in the room inside.”
Her gaze fell on a lounge not far away, where there were several works by the same artist, perfectly integrated with the old-fashioned and elegant style of the lounge, fully displaying the artistic taste.
But the butler was heartbroken. Such a precious painting should be hung out for people to appreciate. It seemed this country girl had no idea of the value of this painting!
“I think it’s a great idea to hang this painting in that room!” Louisa was the first to express support, “My daughter really has taste!”