“What are you doing?” For some reason, Sean grew nervous when he saw Christopher walking toward him. He then stammered, “I’m warning you—I’m a doctor here so don’t even think about making a scene.” Truth was, Sean had developed a fear toward Christopher, and he remembered with painstaking detail how the truth had tumbled out of his mouth the other day when it became physically impossible for him to lie. “Don’t be nervous,” Christopher said steadily. Then, he beckoned the prick over with a wave of his hand. “Come here.” Sean stayed in place and refused to step forward. “Come over here now!” Christopher ordered in a colder voice, and when he saw that Sean was stubbornly glued to the floor, he proceeded to march toward him. Although Sean knew that he was older and more experienced than Christopher—and therefore he should not be intimidated by the latter—he couldn’t but feel the superiority drain out of him at the sight of the younger man. When he saw that Christoper was nearing him, he panicked and threatened weakly, “Stop! D-Don’t come any closer or I’ll call security!”He was starting to regret his decision to come and mock them in the first place. The faculty in his brain in charge of making sane, rational choices must have short-circuited. Now look at what you’ve gotten yourself into! Meanwhile, Christopher was unfazed by the other man’s threats as he quietly and stonily approached him. Before long, Sean found himself cornered. He was terrified but he forced out a calm front as he demanded, “What do you think you’re doing? I’m warning you—don’t even think about picking a fight here!” Pick a fight? Christopher broke into a chilling smile and without wasting another breath, he lifted his hand and slapped Sean harshly across the face. The sound of the crack that followed was crisp and clear, and Sean’s cheek was immediately decorated with a fierce and red handprint. He was in a daze and for a moment, he didn't even know where he was. It took a while before he was pulled back to reality. There was a searing, stinging pain on his cheek. He adjusted his spectacles, which were knocked askew following the hard slap, and he was about to say something when Christopher cut him off brusquely with an icy look in his eyes, “You’d better keep your mouth shut if you don’t want the hospital director to find out about how you bought your medical license. I don’t want to hear even a whisper from you, do you understand?” Christopher couldn’t care less about Sean. In reality, the former had been different ever since he acquired the Thumbs-Up System. He would never have done something like this in the past, much less blackmail another man. Upon hearing this, Sean faltered and all the color drained from his face. He could still feel the searing pain on his cheek. Indignant, he wanted to lunge forward and fight back against Christopher, but he restrained himself when he thought about what the latter had said. He bristled but knowing that he could do nothing about it only made him feel worse. Knowing that he had voluntarily looked for trouble in the first place, he bore the brunt wordlessly despite his resentment. He dared not speak out against Christopher, and instead stood frozen in place with a blank look on his face. “Get out of my sight!” Christopher barked contemptuously, waving the man away. Sean grunted when he heard this and proceeded to flee, fearing that he would get slapped once more if he didn’t. Having dismissed the irritating man, Christopher walked back to where Samantha was still standing in the background. Just then, they both heard a beeping sound, and they turned to see that the red light of the indicator above the operation theater had dimmed, which meant that the surgery was over. Shortly after, a doctor in a medical mask stepped out of the theater and as the doors closed behind him, he asked them aloud, “Which of you is the patient’s family?” “I am!” Samantha rose from her seat, no longer looking tired or blank as she rushed over to the doctor, saying anxiously, “I’m the patient’s daughter.” “The surgery went well and the patient’s condition is stabilized for now,” the doctor explained with a nod of his head. “But I’m afraid that’s only temporary. The patient’s condition was weak even before surgery and given that she was bedridden most of the time, a surgery like this will take a huge toll on her body. We don’t know if she can hold on for much longer. Maybe... ” He broke off with a heavy sigh, then continued grimly, “We’ve done our best and we can only leave the rest up to fate. At the end of the day, you have to mentally prepare yourself for the worst.” With that, he spun on his heels and walked away.The doctor might have left, but Samantha stood rooted to the spot, her face pale with shock and disbelief. I have to mentally prepare myself for the worst, but what is the worst that could happen? She knew what the doctor had meant despite his careful choice of words, but the only scenario she could come up with made no sense—or rather, she didn’t want to make sense of it. How could this happen? How? She had tried so hard to be strong but what the doctor said had hit her hard, and she could no longer keep herself together. Her legs caved under her weight and her vision went dark as she crumpled onto the ground. “Samantha—” Christopher hurried over when he saw that she had collapsed. … Samantha was stirred awake by the steady beeping that came from the monitors. Her eyes fluttered open and she dimly registered the concerned look on Christopher’s face as he gazed at her. “Chris,” she said feebly and tried to sit up on the bed.“You’re awake,” he said with relief. “Don’t move. The doctor said that you fainted because you were overwhelmed with sadness. Some rest would do you good.” “Where’s my mom?” she asked anxiously. He pointed at the bed next to hers. She turned to look in the direction at which he was gesturing and saw that her mother lay motionlessly on the bed, unconscious and hooked up to various vital signs monitors. She saw the agony on her mother’s face, and wondered if she could still feel the pain from the surgery even in her comatose state. Samantha could feel her own heart twisting sharply in her chest and for a moment, she thought she couldn’t breathe. “What am I supposed to do?” Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to look at Christopher. “What am I supposed to do, Chris? My mom is all I have left in this world. If anything happens to her, I—” Christopher’s heart clenched when he saw how anguished she was and he quickly consoled her, “Don’t think that way. You still have me and I’m always going to be there for you.” Samantha was delicate and sensitive by nature, and it was hard for her to soldier through the heartbreaking prospect of losing her mother. After all, this was the woman who had raised her all these years. Quarry Hill Hospital was one of the top five medical institutions in Brentwood City, and if the team here could do nothing about Maryse’s condition, then no other hospital in the city could. Death was inevitable and such was mortal life, but could anyone really brave through the loss of a loved one? He continued to offer her solace as she dwelled in panic and despair, and it wasn’t until midnight when she finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep. He gazed at her as she slept and after kissing her gently on the forehead, he left the hospital with a heavy heart. The clouds that gathered over the night sky were dark and heavy, much like how he was feeling at the moment. Truth was, he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do to make things better for Samantha. When he arrived home that night, he crawled into bed. He tried to get some sleep but it just would not come, not while all he could think about was Maryse’s condition. Frustrated, he reached for his phone and clicked into the Thumbs-Up System.