Eve Vaughn’s breath caught. Then, she spoke. "I believe I already answered this question for you last time. Julian Lawson, you ask me to come back to you time and time again. Is that fair to your fiancée?"

Julian Lawson fell silent for a moment before speaking as if resigned to his fate. "I don’t love her, but she saved my life, and my mother adores her. The title of Mrs. Lawson is all I can give her. As for you... no matter what you did to wrong me in the past, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones, as long as you come back to me."

Eve Vaughn found it laughable. ’A man with zero trust in me, a total mama’s boy, is actually trying to play the part of a deeply devoted lover.’

’No matter how she looked at it, Julian Lawson was utterly disgusting!’

"I’m sorry, Mr. Lawson, but I have no interest in interfering in someone else’s marriage," Eve Vaughn said, her tone firm and decisive. "If you’re looking for a mistress, you’ve come to the wrong person."

Julian Lawson narrowed his eyes, his voice dripping with contempt and scorn. "How much is he paying you? I’ll double it. You’re willing to be someone else’s mistress, so why not mine? Eve Vaughn, just come back to me. The only thing I can’t give you is a title, but I’ll find a way to plead with my mother on your behalf. Otherwise, given your mother’s condition—a vegetative state with heart and kidney failure—she’s on a dead-end road!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Eve Vaughn snatched the cup of coffee in front of her and threw it in his face.

Julian Lawson was furious. He gritted his teeth. "How dare you throw that on me? I’m telling you, as long as my mother and my uncle forbid it, not a single person in all of Rivaster will dare treat your mother! Don’t think you have someone powerful backing you. Go on, give it a try. See if *he* can actually help you!"

Staring at the unrecognizable man before her, Eve Vaughn asked herself for the umpteenth time, ’Why did I ever love him so much? So much that I was once willing to die for him.’

Cornered by Julian Lawson, Eve Vaughn enunciated every word. "Listen carefully. Even if I have to leave Rivaster and beg for food with my mother, I will never, ever go back to you. Julian Lawson, you are not worthy of me!"

With that, she turned and left, unwilling to waste another word on him.

After leaving the coffee shop, Eve Vaughn rushed to the hospital where her mother was staying.

However, the scene that greeted her at the entrance left her dumbfounded.

Her mother was lying on a stretcher, which had been placed on the ground right outside the main hospital entrance, amidst the constant flow of people.

At that moment, Eve Vaughn ran forward, her voice cracking with despair as she cried out, "Mom!"

She scrambled to move the stretcher, but she didn’t have the strength to drag it away on her own.

People passed by, but not a single person offered to help.

Tears of desperation streamed down Eve Vaughn’s face as she ran to hail a taxi.

’At the very least, I have to get Mom to a safe place.’

She tried for a long time, and a few taxis did stop for her.

But the moment the drivers saw they would have to transport an unconscious patient, they refused and drove off.

In that moment, Eve Vaughn felt utterly helpless, as if her pleas to heaven and earth were falling on deaf ears.

Not far away, Mrs. Lawson and Charlotte Vaughn sat in their car, coldly observing as Eve Vaughn wept helplessly beside the stretcher.

Charlotte Vaughn, in particular, was ecstatic. ’Since Eve Vaughn dared to kick my parents out of their home, her own mother being tossed onto the street is nothing but karma!’

"Mrs. Lawson, it won’t be long before Eve Vaughn is on her knees, begging you for mercy!" Charlotte Vaughn said with relish. "Even Jonah Spencer can’t control the medical establishment in Rivaster! So what if he dotes on her? It’s not like he can build a whole hospital just for her, right?"

Autumn Woods sneered. "I told her long ago that an egg can’t smash a stone. But did she listen? Of course not."

Meanwhile, Eve Vaughn was desperately calling 911 for an ambulance.

But she had no idea that even the emergency dispatch center had received orders from Autumn Woods. Her number was blacklisted, and no ambulance would be sent out for her.

Just as Eve Vaughn was succumbing to despair, a silver Maybach pulled up in front of her.

Hamilton Hale stepped out of the car, surprised to see it was really Eve Vaughn.

"What’s going on?" he asked, walking over and staring in shock at the person on the stretcher. "What happened here?"

When Eve Vaughn turned and saw Hamilton Hale, it was like seeing a savior.

Although she didn’t know Hamilton Hale well, they had met and spoken a few times back when she was helping prepare for Mason Lawson’s birthday.

"Doctor Hale."

Eve Vaughn wiped away her tears. "This is my mother. No hospital will admit her, and I... I don’t know what to do."

As a doctor whose life was dedicated to saving people, Hamilton Hale was absolutely furious when he saw this.

Even if it hadn’t been Eve Vaughn, he knew he couldn’t have just stood by and done nothing.

"A hospital this large... to just dump a patient on the street? That’s monstrous!"

As he spoke, he helped Eve Vaughn move her mother into his car, taking pictures with his phone to document the evidence.

Meanwhile, Autumn Woods and Charlotte Vaughn watched all of this unfold from their car.

"Hamilton Hale?" Autumn Woods’s expression suddenly changed. She muttered, "What’s he doing here? He knows Eve Vaughn?"

Seeing this, Charlotte Vaughn quickly asked, "Mrs. Lawson, who was that man? Why did he help Eve Vaughn? Do you know him?"

Autumn Woods snorted. "Of course I know him. That brat is always opposing me in our department. He’s the eldest son of the Hale family. You didn’t know?"

Before she became Julian Lawson’s fiancée, Charlotte Vaughn had never had access to Rivaster’s elite circles.

She exclaimed, "You mean he’s from the Hale Family? One of Rivaster’s four great families? But... how could Eve Vaughn possibly know him?"

Autumn Woods was also baffled. "That girl has some real nerve," she said resentfully, "getting involved with the Spencer Family and the Hale Family at the same time."

Charlotte Vaughn quickly added, "My god, doesn’t that just make her a social climber? Eve Vaughn must be a plaything for all the rich young masters in high society by now!"

Autumn Woods took a deep breath, swallowing her anger, and dialed the number for Hamilton Hale’s father, Gordon Hale.

...

In the car, Hamilton Hale glanced at the helpless young woman in the rearview mirror and tried to console her. "Try not to worry. I’m contacting a hospital for your mother right now. As for the hospital that threw her out... I’m going to call the Bureau of Health and report them immediately!"

Eve Vaughn shook her head. "It’s no use. The Bureau of Health is the one that told them to do it." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"What did you say?"

Hamilton Hale stared at her, trying to determine if she was joking.

Eve Vaughn explained the whole story—how she had offended Autumn Woods, and how Autumn Woods and her brother had retaliated against her.

Hamilton Hale tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Hah," he said bitterly. "The Woods Family really acts like Rivaster’s entire medical field is their personal kingdom! It’s about time someone taught them a lesson!"