Chapter 729
When Derek heard that, he gripped his phone hard. “Evan, if my sister can’t save Avery, you guys are just gonna pin it all on her. I’m guessing that so-called Mr. White already said Avery got worse because of her medicine, didn’t he?”
On the other end, Evan’s hand shook as he held the phone. Ronin’s excuses kept ringing in his ears. Aria had warned him, but he chose to believe Baron instead.
Now he was overwhelmed with guilt and terrified that he had let his own daughter die. Thankfully, his assistant was with him and started the car right away. “Mr. Fletcher, should I take you to Mayen Garden?”
“No. Take me to Mandino University.” Evan hung up, immediately informed the family, and then called Baron. “Dad, Avery stopped breathing. This is all because of that doctor you brought in.”
He didn’t wait for a response and just hung up. At his dorm at Mandino University, Derek grabbed his jacket and bolted out the door. He stood by the road trying to catch a ride, but couldn’t bring himself to call Aria.
They’d made their choice two days ago. If Avery died, it was on her irresponsible parents and that meddling grandfather. But she was just a kid. Just nine. Derek shut his eyes.
*****
In the hospital hallway, Susan grabbed Derek by the collar and screamed, “You’re the one who brought Aria. She killed Avery. I swear I’ll kill her!”
Derek yanked her hands off him, his expression cold. “On the way here, I kept wondering if I’d regret not asking my sister to save Avery.”
He looked around at everyone. “Now that I’ve seen how you’re all acting, I’m glad I didn’t. My sister had already agreed to help. You guys brought in Mr. White and kicked her out. Now that things went wrong, you’re blaming her?”
He stared straight at Susan, smirking. “Susan, are you seriously this dumb?”
“Derek!” Arnav shouted, angry.
Lexie’s eyes were puffy, and her voice trembled. “Evan told me everything on the way here.” She pointed at Susan with a shaking finger. “If anything happens to Avery, this is on you!”
Then she turned to Lennox. “And you. If you hadn’t gone behind everyone’s back and called your grandpa, Mr. White wouldn’t have shown up. None of this would’ve happened.”
No one else knew Lennox was the one who lost Avery in the first place. He kept his head down and stayed quiet. Right then, Baron came rushing in.
Ronin walked up to him immediately. “Mr. Joplin, your granddaughter took that girl’s medicine. I tried everything to suppress the effects, but it didn’t work.”
“Bullshit!” Derek snapped. “My sister told you the treatment needed both the medicine and acupuncture. You’re the one who claimed you could handle it alone. You throw her under the bus one more time, and I swear I’ll make you regret it.”
Derek was always hotheaded, but no one had ever seen him this furious. Gloria looked at her son with a complicated expression.
Right as Ronin was about to speak up, the emergency room doors swung open. A doctor stormed out and shouted, “What were you thinking? Who told you it was okay to stick needles in a kid?”
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Chapter 729
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Lexie rushed over. “Doctor, how is she?”
The doctor looked tense. “We got her back for now, but her energy pathways are all messed up. If you want to save her, you need Mr. Todd himself.”
Derek immediately jumped in. “So she stopped breathing because of the bad acupuncture? Not the herbal medicine?”
The doctor nodded. “If she hadn’t taken that medicine earlier, that terrible acupuncture job would’ve killed her on the spot. Only Mr. Todd’s level of skill can help her now.”
Terry added, “We brought in Mr. Todd’s apprentice two days ago. But Evan and Susan sent her away. Nikolas said after that, their family wouldn’t deal with us again.”
Susan fell to the ground, then suddenly got up and lunged at Ronin, screaming, “You fraud, you almost killed my baby. I’ll kill you myself!”
Adamson said coldly, “Call the cops.”
Ronin ducked behind Baron and shouted, “Nobody can guarantee 100% in medicine. You can’t just have me arrested because things didn’t work out.”
Susan spun around and slapped Lennox across the face. “This is all your fault. Aria was doing just fine. Why did you have to call your grandpa? If you hadn’t lost Avery to begin with, none of this would’ve happened.”
Susan had never said a harsh word to Lennox before. But this time, she slapped him without hesitation. Lennox stood frozen, holding his cheek, totally stunned.
Baron stepped back, leaning on his cane, looking completely shaken. “No way… That can’t be true.”
He turned to the doctor. “Are you sure it wasn’t that herbal medicine that hurt my granddaughter?”
The doctor’s expression turned cold. “If you don’t believe me, go ahead and move her to another hospital. But I’ll tell you this. If you don’t get Mr. Todd here in the next two hours, she’s not gonna make it.”
Lexie shouted, “Then go get Mr. Todd! I don’t care what it takes. Just bring him here.”
Adamson looked torn. “Mom, I already tried. Mr. Todd’s too old now. He can’t handle long treatments like he used to. He told us to find his apprentice, Aria.”
Susan suddenly remembered what Nikolas had said. She ran straight over and bowed to Derek. “Derek, I messed up. Please, I’m begging you, talk to Aria for me. She’s Mr. Todd’s student. She can save Avery.”
Baron and his wife always favored their sons. Susan had everything she needed to grow up, but she was never close to her parents. Lennox looked like Evan. Avery looked like her.
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