Lately, lody Sumrs had been quietly observing the Desert Vine shoots sprouting from the ground. So far, only a few scattered vines had appeared in the residential complex. Since everyone left early and returned late to avoid the sun, no one had really noticed them.
Today, Sophie Thorne was visiting lody Sumrs’s ho. As the two were chatting, lody noticed Sophie frowning and staring at her own right hand from ti to ti.
lody followed her gaze and saw that Sophie’s right hand was slightly swollen and had a faint purplish hue.
Drawing on the experience from her past life, lody thought Sophie’s hand looked like it had been pricked by a Desert Vine. She asked anxiously, "Sophie, what happened to your right hand? Did you touch so unfamiliar plant before you ca in?"
Sophie’s right hand was burning, a mixture of pain and numbness that made it difficult to bend her fingers.
She frowned in thought before answering, "Before I left, I was tidying up the succulents in my room. I think there was a vine I didn’t recognize growing in one of the pots. I figured a weed seed had fallen in, so I just pulled it out."
Sophie hadn’t felt anything at the ti, but her hand started to go numb a little while ago. She thought it was just her imagination, but now it was getting more swollen, and the numb, painful sensation was intensifying.
Hearing Sophie’s explanation, lody cursed inwardly. She stood up and said, "That vine is poisonous. It’s covered in tiny thorns. You must have been pricked. We need to go to the hospital right now."
Then lody paused, adding with so difficulty, "But the public hospitals are probably all full..."
After months of extre heat, dical equipnt and dicine were in short supply, and hospitals were overwheld. Many had been pushed to a standstill, completely unable to admit new patients.
"It’s fine. We can go to a private hospital I know," Sophie said, pulling up the directions on her phone.
Sophie felt bad about troubling lody and was going to have her bodyguards take her, but lody was worried about her. Plus, she wanted to confirm if the hospital had the antidote yet.
lody followed the navigation and drove to a private hospital.
The entrance was staffed by a large group of security guards who rigorously checked the information of everyone entering and exiting to prevent unauthorized entry.
A doctor hurried over and knew the cause as soon as he saw Sophie’s hand. "You must have touched that new vine that’s been growing recently, right? It’s covered in thorns, and the mont you touch it, they embed themselves in your skin. The thorns stay in there and cause localized paralysis and swelling. You’ll need an injection of a newly developed antidote called a ’Thorn-Dissolving Shot.’"
Recently, these vines had taken root in every corner of the globe. Many people, curious how such a plant could grow in this heat, had touched them without noticing the nearly transparent thorns and gotten pricked.
Once these small thorns entered the body, they couldn’t be removed. They remained in the skin like fiberglass, requiring a special injection to dissolve them.
While the doctor treated Sophie’s wound, lody took the prescription slip to go pick up the dicine for her.
Just as she reached the pharmacy, soone behind her suddenly called out.
"lody?"
lody turned around and saw Elaine Hughes and Sylvia Lancaster.
Elaine looked sowhat surprised to see her and asked, "lody, what are you doing here? Did you hear the news and co to visit your father?"
Robert Lancaster had been worrying day and night over matters concerning the Lancaster Group. It was already October, but there was still no sign of the temperature dropping.
In a mont of anxiety, Robert had collapsed. He was brought to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cerebral thrombosis.
lody said expressionlessly, "I don’t have a father. My mother raised on her own. Please have so self-respect, Mrs. Lancaster."
Elaine’s face went pale. She stared at lody, her eyes wide with disbelief. "W-what did you call ? I’m your biological mother!"
But Sylvia’s eyes darted around, and she spoke softly, feigning sadness. "lody, you don’t know, but Father has been sick these past few days, bedridden. You’re his daughter, after all. You must be very sad to hear he’s ill. You haven’t been by his side to show your filial piety all these years, so why don’t you co ho and take care of him for a few days?"
The Lancaster Family was short on funds recently, so Robert had gritted his teeth and laid off most of the villa’s staff, keeping only a single maid for cooking and cleaning, a driver, and a few bodyguards.
Elaine had to personally care for Robert, and accustod as she was to a life of luxury, she found it exhausting. So, she had called Sylvia back ho.
Sylvia hadn’t really wanted to co back. Although her situation at Ethan Sutton’s house was a little awkward, he had never mistreated her, and she had maids to tend to her every need.
Now that she was back at the Lancaster estate and had to personally care for Robert, Sylvia found it tiring too. If lody ca back, she could find an excuse to leave.
Hearing this, Elaine also frowned and said, "lody, if you take good care of your father during this ti, I’ll consider forgiving you for the absurd things you did the other day."
lody almost laughed at their shalessness. She clearly rembered how, just a few months ago, after she refused to attend Sylvia’s wedding or return to the Lancaster family, Elaine had accused her of being inconsiderate and told her to never co back for the rest of her life.
lody promptly pulled out her phone, found the ssage Elaine had sent her, and read it aloud: "lody Sumrs, I never expected you to be such an inconsiderate child. Your adoptive mother has completely corrupted you. You’re nothing like Sylvia. In that case, you are never to return to the Lancaster Family. I’ll just pretend I never gave birth to a daughter like you..."
A panicked look crossed Elaine’s face. She recognized it as the ssage she had sent lody when she was angry.
But now that lody was reading it out in public, she was suddenly overco with embarrassnt, anger, and frustration. In a fit of desperation, she reached out to snatch lody’s phone.
lody dodged while continuing to read: "You had a chance to co back to the Lancaster Family and be the young miss, but now you can forget about ever returning. And don’t you dare expect us to acknowledge you as our daughter..."
Elaine’s face was flushed red, whether from anger or sha, it was hard to tell. She imdiately turned and yelled for her bodyguards to co restrain lody.
Seeing this, lody was about to pull out her stun gun, but several hospital security guards suddenly rushed forward. They ford a line, blocking the two bodyguards Elaine had brought.
A male voice ca from behind them. "Ladies, please refrain from causing a scene in the hospital."
lody turned to see a young-looking doctor in a white coat. She felt he looked familiar but couldn’t quite place him.
When Elaine saw him, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I’m sorry, Dr. Walsh. This is a family matter. My daughter here is being inconsiderate, completely ignoring her father, so I was just teaching her a lesson."
"Who’s your daughter? If you ask , Mrs. Lancaster ought to head upstairs to the psychiatric departnt," lody retorted, waving her phone.
At her words, Elaine was so angry she clutched her chest, speechless.
Sylvia, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "lody, how can you talk to Mother like that? Aren’t you afraid of breaking her heart?"
lody gave her a cold look and said coolly, "Sylvia Lancaster, you’re not trying to dump the trouble of caring for Robert Lancaster onto , are you?"
Her true intentions exposed, Sylvia’s face flushed then paled. With tears welling in her eyes, she retorted, "lody, how could you think that of ? I’m Father and Mother’s daughter. How could I possibly find it troubleso to fulfill my duty to Father?"
Elaine also frowned deeply, saying with displeasure, "Do you think Sylvia is an unfilial child like you? Sylvia is the most considerate one. She’s been by my side helping care for your father these past few days. lody, just look at yourself. How did you turn out like this?"
lody rolled her eyes at her. "I’ve always been like this. I haven’t changed a bit. Mrs. Lancaster, can you please stop acting like we’re close? Aren’t you embarrassed, trying to force a connection with in public?"
Elaine was about to scold lody when Sylvia whispered sothing in her ear.
After listening to Sylvia, Elaine glanced at the surrounding security guards. Though her face was full of reluctance, she turned and left with Sylvia and the bodyguards.
"Thank you all," lody said to the doctor and guards who had co over.
Yuri Walsh, who had been watching the drama unfold from the side, shook his head and said with a smile, "Long ti no see. Has Miss Sumrs forgotten ?"
lody thought hard for a mont, then suddenly rembered. This was one of the two n who had shielded her from Silas Lancaster at Zane Simmons’s party. Zane had even introduced them, but she had forgotten his na.
lody felt a flash of embarrassnt.
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