Under the Heiress' Facade

After seeing Hera, Nicholas thought the answer was pretty obvious.

He said lazily, "I'm assuming you don't know that Mr. Killian is engaged to Ms. Chime. Even if you got together with him, you'd be his side chick at best.

"If you were with me, you could at least be the mistress of the Sanderson household. We might not be as rich as the Killians, but you could do worse-" Geoffrey got out of bed and made to kick Nicholas, cutting him off.

"Shut up, you buffoon!"

Nicholas dodged the kick.

"It's true. Everyone knows the Killians and the Chimes are allied through an engagement. Besides, Bernard isn't exactly a saint. He stormed a bar in the middle of the night to steal someone else's girlfriend. A friend of mine sent me the video!"

As he said this, he pulled up the video on his phone and showed it to Hera. The moment he hit "play", an angry woman slurred, "Let go of me, you prick! Where are you taking me? I have a boyfriend—" Hera clicked out of the video before it was done playing, cringing.

Nicholas did not notice Hera's grimace and said, "Trust me. You're better off hooking up with me than with him-hey! Where are you going?"

Hera ignored him and turned to leave after getting Geoffrey's number.

Nicholas caught up to her and growled, "Where are you rushing off to?" "My grandmother told me stupidity is catching," Hera replied curtly. He gaped at her speechlessly.

Upon returning to the clinic, Hera saw that everything had been put back in its place. Catherine was consulting patients as usual, and Everly was in the north wing preparing medicine. "Hera, you're finally back. Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" Wayne asked anxiously when he spotted Hera.

"I'm all right. I sorted it out," Hera answered.

When he gave her a skeptical look, she added, "Remember to add the mahogany chairs to the bill when the Sandersons make their payment."

Only then did Wayne believe she was okay.

He looked at her admiringly and said, "Got it."

He had panicked when Hera was taken from the clinic. He blamed himself for being too weak to defend her or do anything to help her. He'd considered calling Bernard but didn't have the man's number. In the end, he resorted to asking Catherine for help.

"Grandma, are you feeling better?" Hera asked as she entered the consultation room.

Catherine had just wrapped up the consultation and asked the nurse to see the patient out. She took Hera by the arm and assessed the latter from head to toe. When she was sure Hera was unhurt, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm all right. I was down with a cold, but a few pricks here and there, and I'm right as rain again," Catherine said.

"As for you, how could you do something so reckless? Call the cops the next time something like this happens!"

"I doubt the cops could do anything about it," Hera countered.

Catherine was about to dive into a lecture when Hera cut her off.

"Okay. I promise I'll be more careful next time."

"You'd better..."

Catherine was exasperated.

"Have you eaten? I made you lamb stew. Eat up."

"Okay."

Hera brought her lunch box to the west wing. After her meal, she logged onto Shadow's account and clicked on her conversation with the Grandmaster of Astral Nova.

She was about to text him when Isla Carter, the nurse, popped in and said, "Hera, there's a man outside who wants to see you."