chapter 6

Staring at the person in front of her, Aurora coldly asked, "Did you hide Ivy's medical history?"

Isabelle's eyes flickered, and she immediately raised her voice to argue loudly, "What do you mean by hiding her medical history? I'm Ivy's mother. How could I possibly harm her?"

Thinking back to the incident a few days ago when Ivy had been pushed by Isabelle and was bleeding non-stop, Aurora's suspicions toward Isabelle only grew stronger.

There was no point in saying more—the test results would make everything clear.

Aurora directly turned to the nurse and said, "Take her blood."

Isabelle gritted her teeth and snapped, "No, you can't take blood! I'm the child's guardian. I said no blood tests!"

Aurora firmly held her back, and the nurse quickly completed the blood draw and hurried out with the sample.

As soon as the nurse left, Aurora loosened her grip on Isabelle, ready to let her go. But before she could, Isabelle suddenly staggered back and fell to the floor.

The next moment, Aurora was shoved forcefully aside.

"Isabelle!"

Zane rushed over and helped Isabelle up. "Are you okay?"

When he turned back to Aurora, his eyes burned with fury. "Aurora, this is a hospital. You are a doctor. How could you treat a patient's family like this? Have you completely abandoned your professional ethics?"

Before Aurora could say a word, Isabelle clung to Zane's sleeve anxiously, her voice trembling with sobs. "Zane, please save Ivy! She ... She's already past the observation period, but she still hasn't woken up. This has to be a surgical mistake! What if she never wakes up?

"Dr. Larson just ordered a blood test to find out what went wrong. She said she won't take the blame. But does that mean my Ivy is just going to stay like this forever?"

Aurora was so infuriated by these accusations that she almost laughed. She tried to explain, "Once the test results come back, we'll be able to—"

"That's enough!" Zane cut her off sharply, his voice laced with disappointment. He looked at her as if seeing someone he no longer recognized. "Aurora, I never thought you'd do this on purpose. When did you become so cruel?

"You actually went after a child, and you still want to be a surgeon? Keeping you in this hospital would only put more lives in danger. You can forget about keeping your job as a doctor!"

Aurora stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

But Zane only tightened his arms around Isabelle and called out toward the door, "Craig!"

His assistant, Craig Steres, quickly entered. Without hesitation, Zane gave his orders. "Take her to Jade Spring Manor and make sure she reflects on what she's done. I'm marrying her soon anyway. Put in a leave request for her at the hospital and handle all the necessary arrangements."

Reflect? What's there to reflect on?

Why does he always believe Isabelle? She's the one in the wrong!

As Craig moved to pull her, Aurora could no longer hold back and shouted angrily, "Don't touch me, I'm not leaving!

"I'm staying here to wait for the test results. If I did anything to harm Ivy, I won't deny it—"

Before she could finish, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck, and everything went black.

...

Aurora ended up being locked in the Jade Spring Manor by Zane.

The place was far from the city, surrounded by layers of bodyguards and equipped with signal jammers, making it impossible for Aurora to ask for help.

She had been under forced seclusion for a week.

One night, the power suddenly went out.

Before Aurora could react, her phone rang in the darkness.

She answered it immediately, and the voice on the other end was filled with urgency. "Ms. Larson, you finally answered the call! You need to come to the nursing home right away. Your grandmother's condition has worsened!

"If you come now, you might still be able to see her one last time."

A piercing buzzing filled her ears, her heart pounding as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer. Her hands trembled so badly that she almost dropped her phone.

She ended the call, threw on her coat, and bolted for the door.

She had to see her grandmother one last time!

But the moment she reached the front door, the bodyguards stopped her.

"Ms. Larson, Mr. Jansen has given strict orders—you are not to leave!"

Aurora's heart clenched in desperation. She shoved at the guards in front of her and cried out, "My grandma is dying! Let me out, now!"

The bodyguards hesitated and exchanged glances, but in the end, they stood their ground. "Ms. Larson, please don't put us in a difficult position. Mr. Jansen's orders are final—you can't leave.

"Why don't you call Mr. Jansen? If he says you can go, we won't stop you."

Aurora's eyes were red as she quickly pulled out her phone, her hands shaking so much she nearly dialed the wrong number.

The first call—no answer.

The second call—no answer.

The third time, her screen flashed: "Line busy."

Clearly, he had seen her calls—he just chose to ignore them.