Eve Vaughn stared at the doctor in disbelief. After all, this hospital’s rehabilitation department was the best in the city, and her mother had been here for several years.

To be so suddenly told to leave the hospital was just too strange.

Eve Vaughn asked, "What about the other patients? Are they being discharged too? What kind of client can take up so many hospital rooms all by themselves?"

The doctor said with a blank expression, "Whether other patients are being discharged has nothing to do with you. Our VIP client has specified that they are unwilling to stay in the same department as your mother. There’s nothing we can do."

Eve Vaughn understood immediately. Autumn Woods was planning to use this method to threaten her into leaving Rivaster.

But she wouldn’t give in!

’I haven’t done anything wrong. Why should I have to yield to such a bully?’

Eve Vaughn nodded and said, "Alright. I’ll come by tomorrow to handle the discharge procedures for my mom."

She walked into the hospital room. Her mother was still in a deep sleep, so calm and peaceful, completely unaware of the impending crisis.

Eve Vaughn gently touched her mother’s cool hand. ’Mom, I’ll protect you.’

After leaving the hospital, Eve Vaughn immediately took her mother’s medical records to other hospitals in Rivaster. She hoped to book a bed in advance so she could transfer her mother directly the next day.

Unfortunately, every response was a rejection.

The larger hospitals would use the excuse of having no available beds. The smaller or private hospitals said directly that they weren’t qualified to admit patients in a vegetative state.

Eve Vaughn ran around until midnight, but not a single hospital was willing to admit her mother.

Finally, she returned home, exhausted. Mrs. Linton had made a late-night snack, but she had no appetite at all.

Eve Vaughn suddenly realized she had underestimated the power of influence.

She had never imagined that Autumn Woods had enough pull to make every hospital in Rivaster refuse her mother.

With no other choice, Eve Vaughn took out her phone and called Mason Lawson.

She realized she seemed to be relying on him more and more. Whenever she was in trouble, the first person she thought of was Mason Lawson.

She dialed his number, and the call connected quickly.

However, it wasn’t Mason Lawson’s voice on the other end, but a woman’s. "Hello?"

Eve Vaughn’s pupils constricted. She had recognized the voice instantly—it was Joanna Sullivan.

She reflexively hung up the phone, a wave of embarrassment and shock washing over her.

’Why would Mason Lawson lie about being on a business trip abroad when he’s clearly with Joanna Sullivan?’ Eve Vaughn felt a pang of annoyance, but then she thought, ’What right do I have to be angry?’

’After all, Mason Lawson has no obligation to me. Who he’s with and what he does is none of my business.’

A strange sense of suffocation and bitterness filled her heart, and Eve Vaughn gave up on the idea of asking Mason Lawson for help.

’He has a girlfriend. Whether he and Joanna Sullivan are together or broken up, it’s their own business.’

’And since my breakup with Julian Lawson, I’ve already caused Mason Lawson enough trouble. He was never obligated to help me in the first place.’

Eve Vaughn tried to console herself for a long time, but she couldn’t shake the inexplicable feeling of disappointment.

’Maybe I’m just anxious about Mom’s hospitalization,’ she thought.

... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Early the next morning, the hospital called to rush her, asking when she could come get her mother.

Eve Vaughn had no choice but to plead, "Can you give me a few more days? I haven’t found another hospital yet."

The hospital staff member on the other end replied coldly, "That has nothing to do with us. If you don’t complete the discharge procedures for your mother by the end of business hours today, we will have to forcibly discharge her!"

"You—!"

Before Eve Vaughn could finish, the hospital hung up.

That morning, Eve Vaughn took the day off from school and rushed between various hospitals, trying to find a place that would take her mother.

But it was no use. Every hospital gave her the same answer: a flat-out refusal.

Just then, her phone rang. It was an unknown number.

When Eve Vaughn answered, she was surprised to hear Julian Lawson’s voice.

She then remembered that she had blocked all of Julian Lawson’s contact information, so he had to use a different number to call her.

"Eve Vaughn, let’s meet," Julian Lawson said, getting straight to the point. "I went to your school to find you, but they said you didn’t go to class today. Where are you?"

Thinking of what Mrs. Lawson had done, Eve Vaughn’s anger flared. She said hatefully, "I don’t want to see you! From now on, you’d better not call me again. You disgust me!"

Julian Lawson’s voice held a note of strained patience. "If I’m not mistaken, you’re looking for a hospital for your mom right now. And no hospital dares to take her, is that right?"

Eve Vaughn had assumed this was Mrs. Lawson’s doing, but she was surprised that Julian Lawson knew about it too.

Unable to hold back her fury, she cursed, "You really are a bastard! Julian Lawson, I should have just let you die back then!"

Julian Lawson explained, "I only found out today myself. My mom had my uncle call every hospital in Rivaster and forbid them from admitting your mother. My uncle is with the Rivaster Health Bureau. No one dares to cross him."

Eve Vaughn’s heart sank to rock bottom. After all, no hospital would dare go against the Health Bureau.

’No wonder Autumn Woods was so arrogant when she threatened me that day!’

"If you want to find a hospital for your mother, then you’ll come over obediently and we can talk. I’m at the coffee shop across from your school. I’ll give you half an hour."

With that, Julian Lawson hung up.

Eve Vaughn gritted her teeth. For her mother’s sake, she hailed a cab and hurried over.

In the coffee shop, Julian Lawson had even ordered a half-sweet mocha, just the way she liked it.

There weren’t many people drinking coffee in the middle of the day, so as soon as Eve Vaughn entered the shop, she saw the man sitting by the window.

However, she took a precaution, turning on her phone’s recording function and placing it in her bag.

When Julian Lawson saw her, he gave a slight smile. It wasn’t a friendly smile; it was more like a sneer, as if to say: ’You really are a mess without me.’

Julian Lawson gestured to the seat across from him and said, "Sit."

Eve Vaughn clenched her fists tightly and forced herself to sit down.

She said coldly, "Get to the point!"

Julian Lawson said, "If I go talk to my mom, she might... give your mother a way out."

Eve Vaughn sneered. "Conditions!"

Julian Lawson was visibly surprised for a moment, then his lips curled into a sneer. "You’ve really changed since you got with Jonah Spencer. You even know how to negotiate now. That’s right. If I’m going to help your mother, of course I have my conditions."

Eve Vaughn didn’t speak, waiting for him to continue.

She heard Julian Lawson enunciate every word: "I want you to leave him... and come back to me."