Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Are You Also a Friend of Hannah Abbott’s?

"Yvonne Sutton... you’re a Sutton, too," Mr. Sutton murmured softly.

"Yes, I am. Is something wrong?" Yvonne asked, confused.

"You look a lot like a friend of mine." Mr. Sutton continued to study Yvonne, an unreadable, complex emotion in his eyes. "Your mother..."

Before he could finish, Sandra Sutton emerged from the OB/GYN clinic. Spotting Yvonne, she quickly ran over.

"Miss Sutton, I was starting to think you weren’t coming today."

Sandra Sutton was delighted to see Yvonne. Noticing her father was there as well, she made the introductions.

"Dad, this is the incredible doctor I was telling you about. She used to be at Seacliff Hospital, just like you," Sandra said, introducing them warmly.

Mr. Sutton turned back to Yvonne. "You’re a doctor, too?"

Yvonne nodded. "I am. You’re from Seacliff Hospital as well?"

"That was over twenty years ago."

Mr. Sutton shook his head with a small smile, then picked up the book he had dropped. "I’ll let you two talk. I won’t get in your way."

Yvonne watched Mr. Sutton’s back as he walked away, getting the distinct feeling he had left something unsaid.

"Miss Sutton, I’d like to talk to you about Miss Churchill’s condition."

"I was hoping we could."

Yvonne followed Sandra Sutton to her office. Sandra pulled out a thick file of test results and handed them to her. As Yvonne read through them, her brow slowly furrowed.

"Miss Churchill has pulmonary hypertension. A patient with this condition should be strictly using contraception and avoiding pregnancy at all costs. But not only is she pregnant, she’s also paralyzed from the waist down due to spinal cord damage. The combination of the two is extremely dangerous for both her and the fetus," Sandra said with a sigh.

Yvonne reviewed the reports to assess Zoe Churchill’s condition. It was just as Sandra had described—the situation was incredibly dangerous for both mother and child, but it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

"We’re just a small town hospital. We have neither the equipment nor the advanced techniques." Sandra looked a little embarrassed as she said this. "So, I recommend that Miss Churchill be transferred to a major hospital in Aethelgard to manage the pregnancy."

Yvonne nodded. "I’ll discuss it with her."

After she finished, she thanked Sandra.

"Don’t mention it. It’s my duty as a doctor."

Yvonne’s gaze fell on an oil painting hanging on Sandra’s office wall. It depicted a long street in a small town. Two children, one older and one younger, ran ahead while a couple followed behind, holding hands. The lingering glow of the sunset bathed the scene, making everything feel peaceful and beautiful.

The title of the painting was: *City of Ideals*.

"This painting must be the work of a master, isn’t it?" Yvonne asked.

Although she knew nothing about art, the painting made her feel warm and comforted. It had to be a superior work.

"My mother painted it," Sandra said.

Yvonne let out a "Wow." "Your mother is incredible."

"She used to attend the art academy in Aethelgard, but she had to drop out when she became pregnant with me and never ended up graduating. Oh, by the way, she has a studio in town with a lot of her work. You should go pick one you like. It’ll be my treat."

Sandra Sutton had a lively, cheerful personality. She was warm and direct, like a ray of sunshine. ’A disposition like hers must have been nurtured in a very warm and loving family,’ Yvonne thought.

"Okay, I’ll definitely stop by when I have time."

As Yvonne left Sandra’s office, she saw Wyatt Shaw coming down the stairs, his hands tucked in his pockets.

"They aren’t upstairs. David Sutton probably took her out to the garden behind the hospital for some fresh air."

"Let’s go find them, then."

Wyatt Shaw reached the bottom of the stairs and naturally took Yvonne’s hand. His eyes drifted over, and he noticed a male doctor standing in a doorway, watching them with a peculiar expression.

"Do you know him?" Wyatt asked.

Yvonne turned to look but only caught a glimpse of Mr. Sutton’s silhouette as he disappeared back into his office.

Yvonne shook her head. "No, but I agree, he seemed a little strange."

"Hope he’s not some kind of creep."

"I doubt it."

"Just stay away from him, anyway."

The two of them headed outside as they talked. When they reached the garden out back, they found the other two, just as expected. Zoe Churchill sat in her wheelchair with her back to them, while David Sutton hung his head, looking like a child who had been caught misbehaving.

Hearing their approach, David Sutton looked up. When he saw them, he began frantically gesturing with his eyes, pointing at Zoe Churchill before making a motion as if slapping his own face. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Yvonne was speechless for a moment. "I think he let something slip," she whispered.

Wyatt Shaw’s brow furrowed as he walked toward Zoe Churchill.

"Wyatt, I didn’t know Miss Churchill knew Hannah Abbott, and also..." David glanced at Zoe Churchill’s legs, unable to finish his sentence.

Just then, Zoe Churchill spun her wheelchair around to face Wyatt Shaw.

"No wonder you’ve been taking such good care of me, helping me. I actually thought I was lucky, meeting a good person like you. Heh. So it was you. I’ve never met you, but I’ve heard Hannah Abbott mention you countless times. The star student who could apparently do anything. You were her favorite thing to brag about. Every time she brought you up, she’d get this smug sense of superiority just from being your girlfriend, and she’d use that to bully me. I don’t like her, and I don’t like you. By then, I had already found another place to live and was planning to move. But the day before I left, I suffered in her place. Why? By what right did heaven do this to me? By what right did *she* get to walk away? For so long, I’ve never been able to figure it out."

At this, Zoe Churchill gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"My brain’s not working so well these days. So please, Mr. Shaw, help me understand. By what right?"

Wyatt Shaw took a deep breath, walked over to Zoe Churchill, and knelt on one knee before her. "I’m sorry. I was the one who brought her abroad, which is how she ended up living with you. I failed to keep her in check, and because of that, you got dragged into her mess. After your accident, I should have done everything in my power to make it up to you, but... I... I lost my memories afterward."

"Sorry?" Zoe Churchill sneered. "Are you saying those words on her behalf? Then where is she? If she felt even a shred of guilt, why hasn’t she come and apologized to my face?"

Wyatt Shaw froze for a second, then glanced at David Sutton.

David Sutton pressed his lips together and shook his head, waving his hands dismissively. Realizing he’d already said too much, he’d wisened up and was now determined to keep his mouth shut. He wouldn’t say another word.

Wyatt Shaw paused for a moment. "She died in a car accident."

Zoe Churchill stared, stunned. "You... you’re saying she’s dead?"

"Yes. Three years ago."

Zoe Churchill shook her head and laughed, a hollow sound. "So she’s actually dead."

This was the deepest wound in her heart, the one that had tormented her for so long. She had been waiting for Hannah to come and apologize. And if she never came, Zoe could still go find her, force her to make things right.

But she was dead. Without a single word of apology, without ever facing her, she had died. She was free.

"I’m sorry..."

"I don’t want to hear those words from you! This is her debt to me, and you can’t repay it for her!" Zoe Churchill shouted in a rage.

She wheeled herself away. Yvonne told David Sutton to stay with Wyatt, then hurried after Zoe Churchill.

After getting her back to her hospital room, Yvonne poured her a glass of water.

"Are you one of Hannah Abbott’s friends, too?" Zoe Churchill asked, her voice laced with hostility.