Chapter 221

No.1

The heavy oak door clicked shut behind her, its hinges making absolutely no sound as she was enveloped by the quiet, sterile environment of the VIP suite at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The room smelled faintly of clinical antiseptic and expensive room freshener.

She looked toward the center of the room. Her grandfather, Phineas, was fast asleep. A thin, clear oxygen tube was wrapped around his pale face. The heart monitor next to the bed emitted a steady,rhythmic beep. It was the sound of his fragile life continuing, paid for entirely by the Chambers family trust.

Elisa walked over and sat down on the edge of the stiff visitor's chair. She reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around the old man's wrinkled,paper-thin hand. She took a deep breath, preparing the words in her head. She was going to wait for him to wake up and tell him that her seven-year marriage to August Chambers was legally ending tomorrow.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing shriek shattered the absolute silence of the hospital wing.

Elisa's dark eyebrows slammed together. The noise was coming from the hallway, completely violating the strict quiet hours of the VIP floor.

To keep the noise from waking Phineas, Elisa gently placed his hand back onto the white blanket. She stood up, her jaw tightening, and walked quickly back to the heavy oak door.

She pushed it open and stepped out into the brightly lit corridor.

No.2

Fifty feet away, a chaotic scene was unfolding in front of the central nurse's station.

Rosalind Sinclair sat in a hospital wheelchair. Her right ankle was wrapped in a massive, exaggerated white bandage. She was waving her arms wildly,screaming at the top of her lungs at Dolores, the head nurse.

Arthur Sinclair stood right next to the wheelchair.He wore a sharp, expensive Wall Street suit. His face was twisted into a mask of pure, entitled arrogance as he glared down at the nursing staff.

"I have a fractured ankle!" Rosalind shrieked,her voice echoing off the polished tile floors. "I demand to be moved into the presidential suite next door immediately! Do you know who my family is?"

Dolores kept her hands politely folded in front of her scrubs. "Ma'am, I have explained this three times.That specific suite is permanently reserved for sudden cardiac emergencies involving state politicians. We cannot put a sprained ankle in a cardiac trauma room."

Rosalind's eyes darted around the hallway,looking for someone else to yell at. Her peripheral vision caught movement. She turned her head and saw Elisa standing outside Phineas's door.

The fake pain on Rosalind's face vanished instantly.It was replaced by a look of pure, toxic malice.

No.3

"You!" Rosalind pointed a manicured finger directly at Elisa. She turned back to Dolores, her voice getting even louder. "You won't give me a room, but you let this unfilial bitch hog the resources on this floor? She is a disgrace!"

Elisa's blood turned to ice. Her face became a mask

of absolute, terrifying calm. She took long,purposeful strides down the hallway, her heels clicking sharply against the tiles.②

She walked directly up to the nurse's station and physically stepped in front of Dolores, shielding the nurse with her own body.①

Elisa looked down at Rosalind in the wheelchair."Your acting is pathetic, Rosalind," Elisa said. Her voice was a flat, freezing monotone. "Elisa knew Rosalind's playbook. A self-inflicted twist in the parking lot was all she needed to stage a full-blown medical drama. You don't have a fractured ankle.You're just trying to leech off the Chambers family account to get a luxury hotel experience."

Arthur Sinclair's face turned a violent shade of red.He stepped forward, trying to use his massive physical presence to intimidate her.

"Watch your mouth," Arthur threatened, his voice a low, arrogant rumble. He looked at Dolores. "If you do not move my wife into that suite in exactly ten minutes, I will call the hospital board and have every single person on this floor fired."

No.4

Elisa did not take a single step back. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"I am calling the armed hospital security right now,"Elisa stated, her thumb hovering over the screen."You can explain your fake injury to the police when they drag you out for trespassing."

Rosalind let out a loud, mocking laugh. She leaned forward in the wheelchair, her eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction. "Call them! Let's see who they listen to. You are about to be thrown out of the Chambers family like the trash you are!"

Ding.

The crisp, electronic chime of the private VIP elevator echoed through the tense hallway.

The heavy steel doors slid open.

August Chambers stepped out. He wore a perfectly tailored, pitch-black bespoke suit. The sheer,crushing weight of his billionaire aura instantly suffocated the air in the corridor. Simon, his Chief of Staff, and two massive, heavily armed bodyguards walked directly behind him.

No.5

August's dark, predatory eyes swept over the chaotic nurse's station. His gaze completely bypassed Arthur and Rosalind. His eyes locked onto the rigid, tense line of Elisa's back.

The second Rosalind saw August, her entire demeanor flipped. The malicious venom vanished.She slumped back into the wheelchair, her face twisting into a mask of pathetic, helpless suffering.

"August!" Rosalind cried out, forcing a fake sob into her throat. "Thank god you are here. I was just trying to visit a sick relative, and Elisa is viciously attacking me! She is trying to have me thrown out into the street with a broken bone!"

Arthur Sinclair immediately chimed in, carefully avoiding using Allena's name in front of the nursing staff. "We are family, August. We are just trying to support our relatives, and your wife is causing a massive, unnecessary scene."

Elisa slowly turned around. She looked directly at August. Her dark eyes were burning with absolute,uncompromising fury.

"Get this garbage out of my grandfather's hallway,"

Elisa,demanded. Her voice was a sharp, cracking whip.

No.6

August stopped walking. He stood ten feet away from her. His deep black eyes stared into hers.

But he did not give the order.

He slowly raised his large hand and adjusted his expensive silver cufflink. His brain was running a rapid, cold calculation. If he ordered his security to physically drag Allena's parents out of a hospital in front of the nursing staff, it would create a massive,messy PR incident. It would humiliate the woman he was currently sleeping with.

He chose to remain completely silent.

That silence was a physical blow. It was a loud,undeniable validation of Rosalind's behavior.

Rosalind saw his hesitation. A smug, victorious smirk spread across her face. She looked at Elisa, her eyes screaming: See? He will always choose us over you.

Elisa stood in the center of the hallway. She looked at August's handsome, cold, calculating face. Her stomach violently twisted into a tight, sickening knot.

No.7

The absolute disgust she felt for this man burned through her veins like acid.①

She knew right then that words were useless. She had to use extreme force.