Ready to Rule: The Real Heiress Strikes Back novel Chapter 97

“What?” Mr. Jefferson stared, his eyes wide with surprise.

He never expected Lucinda to be the one behind Mr. Norwood's close call. Connor glanced over at Lucinda, his thoughts drifting. She’d been blowing up his phone all day, saying she’d made a special tonic for him. He hadn’t bothered to reply. Last time she’d even shown up at the hospital with the same story about her homemade brew. He hadn’t touched a drop, and now he felt strangely lucky about that.

Clearly, Chief Lydia was the only one he could trust.

“Lucinda, do you actually know anything about medicine?” Mr. Jefferson asked, raising an eyebrow. From what he remembered, Lucinda didn’t know the first thing about treating people.

Lucinda’s hands balled up tighter. She bit her lip and shook her head, looking small and miserable. “No, I don’t. I just heard that ginseng and maca are really good for you, so I thought it would help Grandpa feel better. I didn’t think…” Her voice trailed off as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

She couldn’t let anyone find out that the tonic was never meant for her family. It was Connor she’d wanted to give it to, but since he’d ignored her, she’d handed it off to her parents and grandpa instead. She hated the thought of wasting such expensive herbs.

Cameron hurried to smooth things over. “Lucinda was just trying to help out of kindness. She didn’t mean any harm.”

Mr. Norwood watched Lucinda, her face streaked with tears, and he felt his heart twist. His voice was weak but gentle. “Don’t… don’t blame Lucinda. It’s my own body… that let me down. Cameron and Kylie… drank it too… and they’re both fine.”

All three of them had the tonic, but only he had ended up in such bad shape. It had to be his fault, not Lucinda’s. What he didn’t know was that Lydia had quietly given Cameron and Kylie medicine to counteract the tonic. Without her, they probably would have been in just as much trouble.

Watching Mr. Norwood struggle to defend Lucinda, Mr. Jefferson didn’t know what else to say. He just couldn’t understand how someone with zero medical knowledge would risk giving an old man with health problems all those weird supplements. Didn’t she know too much of a good thing could backfire?

Chris blurted out, “She’s the one who did Grandpa Wayne’s surgery?”

Mikey’s eyes widened. All day long he’d been hearing about Lydia, but he hadn’t realized she was this impressive.

But the most shocked of all was Mr. Norwood himself. He’d never truly accepted Lydia, his own granddaughter, but now she had pulled him back from the edge when no one else could.

He sat there, lost for words, his mind spinning.

“It’s true,” Kylie said, her voice full of pride. “Things were really bad. The doctors had already said there was no hope, and Cameron and I were desperate. We called Lydia, and somehow she knew exactly what to do. She even told the operating room to wait for her. Dr. Simpson himself said her skills were incredible.” Kylie’s eyes sparkled. She still couldn’t believe her own daughter was so talented, not just helping her parents but also bringing honor to the whole family. It almost felt unreal, like she’d been blessed with a daughter out of a dream.