Chapter 99: Chapter 99

Chloe White was frightened; after all, she was a young girl in her early twenties. She was instantly terrified and started crying, rubbing her hands and pleading, "We will pay back the money, we definitely will." Original content can be found at novel~fire~net

"Pay it back? If you can pay it today, I’ll let you off the hook."

Chloe looked at her mother, "Mom, don’t you still have savings? Take it out and pay them back."

Mrs. White knew that if they didn’t pay back the money, there would be a beating. There was no third option. She closed her eyes, "The bank card is in the bag, go withdraw the money and pay them back."

Chloe hurried to do so.

"You had money and still went to borrow from James—how admirable."

Mrs. White shamelessly replied, "Someone had to be willing to lend it."

Lucy Eaton felt even more that if she didn’t give these two a good beating, she wouldn’t be able to swallow her anger.

She held back and waited for Chloe to come back with the money and for James Foster to receive it before lashing out.

The ward filled with wails and cries, and Nathaniel Green and James Foster tacitly chose to step out.

"We’ve given you back all the money! Why are you still hitting us?!" Chloe’s face was beaten into a swollen mess as she cried and questioned.

"First, paying back the money is only right, but you harmed James, which is a separate issue. Second, your mom desperately deserves a beating; I can’t feel at ease without doing it," Lucy said, and then she slapped Mrs. White hard on her injured spot, making her scream in agony once again.

Lucy left the ward and immediately informed the nurse to change Mrs. White’s room, purposely instructing them to treat her like an ordinary patient without any extra care.

Despite handing out this punishment to the mother and daughter early in the morning, Lucy was still in a bad mood.

Coincidentally, she ran into Sarah Reed in the office.

"Dr. Eaton, do you know you’re late for work?"

"Who says? I arrived at the hospital an hour ago, but I went to the inpatient department." She placed her bag on the desk and glanced coldly at Sarah. "Interesting, saying I’m late, yet you’re in mine and Dr. Paxton’s office instead of at your workstation; doesn’t that make you late?"

"I just have to say, you’re really backed by someone powerful. I didn’t expect you to be the Prime Minister’s daughter, Lucy Eaton. No wonder you speak with such confidence, turns out you have a strong father."

"Too bad you don’t." Lucy said while putting on her white coat, "That’s why you have to play sour grapes."

"Who’s... playing sour grapes?"

"I advise Dr. Reed not to ask for trouble, otherwise, I really..." her gaze was fixed on Sarah, "have a hundred ways to deal with you."

"You! Don’t be too arrogant!"

"If I were truly arrogant, would you still be working at this hospital, Sarah Reed?" Lucy snorted, "Dr. Reed, I dislike bullying people with power, but don’t push me, or I won’t be polite."

Sarah had originally wanted to mock her a bit, but seeing Lucy didn’t care about her words, she became truly afraid of losing her job, so she said nothing more and wiggled back to her own office.

"Wonderful." Michael Paxton smiled slightly, "I’ve never thought two women bickering could be so interesting."

Lucy didn’t look up at him, "Dr. Paxton’s taste has declined."

Just as the patient was brought in, a call from Charles Sharp came in.

He said it had been a while since they last met and wanted to have a meal together.

Lucy agreed, and they arranged to have lunch together at noon.

In the morning, she performed a surgery and attended to a dozen patients, so by the time she got off work it was already close to noon.

When she rushed to the restaurant near the hospital, Charles had already been waiting for her for twenty minutes.

"Sorry, I was supposed to get off at half-past eleven, but a patient’s condition was urgent, so I had to perform an emergency procedure, and I came late."

Charles smiled, "It’s okay, I haven’t been here long either."

He handed the menu to Lucy, she ordered two dishes, and Charles ordered three more.

After ordering, he asked with a smile, "I really didn’t expect you to be the Prime Minister’s daughter."

"I didn’t expect it either," she confessed, "I only recently met my biological parents."

"No wonder you asked me not to cooperate with the Qins within five years, it was because of Autumn Fletcher." Charles took a sip from his teacup and said, "However, she and her ex-husband got their comeuppance this time. Kidnapping babies for personal gain can be punished by over ten years or life imprisonment. If they behave well in prison, sentences may be reduced. Plus, with Benjamin Quinn having quite a bit of savings, and if connections are made, Autumn Fletcher might be out in a few years."

"You’re talking about severe cases, but there’s another level of sentencing known as particularly severe." Lucy’s eyes were piercing, "Punishable by death and confiscation of all assets."

Charles immediately understood what she meant, "Good."

The two exchanged a knowing smile, and Lucy remembered his ex-girlfriend and asked, "Has Ivy Fern looked for you again?"

"Four times," Charles frankly replied, "But we never met; I feel like that kind of person who doesn’t break up easily. Once I say it’s over, it means there’s no room for turning back, and after breaking up, we should just forget each other and not step back into each other’s lives."

"You can treat your feelings so rationally because you’re no longer in love. If you still were, no matter how hard you try, it would be tough," Lucy responded.

"You have a point. I used to think love fades gradually, but later realized it’s not." Charles said, "It can be worn away in a short time."

"Many people feel that way."

"Have you ever felt that?"

"I haven’t felt that way, but I have a different interpretation of love."

After some contemplation, Lucy said, "Most women in relationships or marriages are more forgiving of issues with their men. For example, the majority of husbands’ infidelity is forgiven by wives, while women who cheat are often condemned. This stems from thousands of years of patriarchal thinking. Consequently, in the actual dynamics of relationships, men are still taking the active role, while many women remain passive. Nowadays, society is freer, and women have more choices, yet too many would rather endure silently than choose divorce."

"If it were you, under what circumstances would you choose to divorce?"

"Me?" Lucy replied, "In the past, even if my partner didn’t love me, I would try hard and not give up easily. But now, as long as my partner doesn’t love me, or I don’t love them anymore, I would get a divorce, using that as the sole premise."

"You married too early." Charles’s eyes narrowed slightly, "Perhaps you will encounter someone better."