Chapter 27

Sean stood in front of Stella, issuing a stern warning,"The Murray name may be struggling, but I'm with the Fist Guild. Pull anything in front of mny mother and l won't be gentle."

Startled by his hard edge, the assistant asked, "Why would you think that?"

"How else am I supposed to take it? She already had Miguel coughing blood, yet you show up handing out gifts like that's kindness. You think we're fools?" Sean retorted.

Seeing he would get nowhere with him, the assistant turned to Eliana. "What is going on, Ms. Murray? Have you explained this to your family?"

Eliana replied,"He wouldn't believe me when l explained. He doesn't believe I'm a doctor. Hope you can clear it up for me."

He remembered Leyla and her firm claimn that Eliana was a fraud. Families should trust their own the most,yet he sensed they kept Eliana at arm's length. Still,the doubt made sense because she had only just come back and remained a little distant. Feeling for Eliana, the assistant laid everything out,saying, "Please listen. Let me explain what happened.Not long ago,Mr.Miguel Clarke declined so badly that his doctor told us to go home and prepare for the worst. In that panic, we asked Ms. Murray for help. She treated him today. What she did was remarkable.Because of her, Mr. Clarke has stabilized, and he can even get out of bed and walk on his own now. She had to leave quickly, and the Clarkes forgot to hand over their gifts of thanks, so they sent me to bring them. They meant to come themselves, but the house is packed with guests, so they couldn't step out. They asked me to arrive ahead of them. Once the old man is a bit stronger, he will come in person to say thank you."

Each detail pushed Sean's eyes wider until they looked ready to pop.

"No... This can't be real... Leyla told me Eliana nearly killed Miguel..." he stammered,shaken.

The assistant met Sean's stare and said, "While she was treating him, the heart monitor did flatline..."

Without wasting a beat, Sean shot a look at Stella to tell her his words had been right.

Right then, the assistant continued, "Later on, we learned it was nothing but a mix-up. Turns out the sensor on Mr. Clarke's finger had slipped, so the machine caught no heartbeat."

Disbelief stiffened his features, and he struggled to trust what he was hearing. "Wait... did she actually heal him? Or is this only a brief improvement?"

With a deep frown, the assistant said, "Please mind your words. Mr. Clarke is doing very well now. Before today, he slept for at least twenty hours a day and could barely finish a sentence. Now he can walk on his own. The hospital doctors examined him and confirmed that his vital signs are fully stable. We owe this to Ms. Murray!"

With a cold edge, Stella warned Sean, "Mind what you say. Apologize now."

Sean could only mutter a soft apology under his breath.

Lucky for him, the assistant let it slide. "There's no need for that. Ms. Murray has helped the entire Clarke family, and we won't fuss over something this small."

Those remarks left him with nothing to say.

In the end, she truly had healed Miguel.

By then, the question of whether she was an imposter no longer mattered. The result was what counted.

He finally understood why they arrived with so many gifts, and each looked worth a good sum.

Heat rose across his cheeks, and he could not tell if it came from Stella's earlier slaps or from the assistant's words.

Then, all at once, another thought struck him."What about the people who came to take our estate? Since Eliana healed Miguel, why send people to threaten us?"

Confusion flickered across the assistant's face. "Take your estate? I think there's a misunderstanding. We are the only ones the Clarke family sent. Nobody else came."

With a dry scoff, Carl said, "Are you still not seeing it,Sean? Those men didn't work for the Clarke family.Every Clarke is grateful to Lia, so why would they send anyone to take our house?"

Leaning in, the assistant asked, "Has anyone stirred up trouble under the Clarke family's name? Please tell me.We will not let anyone smear our name or damage our ties with Ms. Murray!"

Sean looked embarrassed. "No... nobody. I just got it wrong."

"That settles it," the assistant said, and he bowed deeply to Eliana. "Ms. Murray, we thank you again for saving Mr. Clarke. Please accept these gifts as a sign of our gratitude." Eliana's eyes moved over the expensive gifts, and she read the message the Clarke family meant to send. If she took them, the Clarkes would stop standing against the Murray family. And she would still have to see Mliguel again next year for another round of treatment.

Usually she refused work like this, since life and death sat outside any doctor's promise.

However, the Murray famnily needed allies more than rivals in times like these. For that reason, she nodded and took the gifts.

Relief eased over the assistant because he could go back without worry.

"I will not keep you any longer. Goodbye," he said,keeping his tone polite.

With a brief nod, Stella told Carl to escort the assistant out, then she fixed a cold stare on Sean.

Awkwardness weighed on him, and he kept his eyes down and stayed quiet.

With no warmth at all, Stella said, "Kneel!"

He never went against Stella's orders despite his many faults. Right away he dropped to his knees in front of her. "Do you understand why I told you to kneel?" Stella asked in a cold tone.

Sean used what little wit he had left to think. "Because I rushed to judge and said Eliana killed Miguel..."

"Not even close!" Her voice turned colder. "I told you to kneel because you cared only about feeding your pride and ignored what was best for this famnily. To chase your own answer, you kept badgering the assistant until you heard the words you wanted."

Sean fell silent.

"Do you realize that if Eliana had not healed Miguel,what you said could have turned the Clarke family against us?" Stella continued.

Right then a cold ripple finally ran dowvn Sean's spine.He understood then that he had acted rashly and thought only of himself.