Beatrice might have been slightly intimidated by Karla, but she wasn't scared of a young girl.
"Hey, watch your mouth, you little brat! Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Calling us beggars? We are Zoe's parents! Her money is our money, so how could we possibly be broke?"
"You're the ones stuffing your faces using my daughter's hard-earned cash while starving her only brother. I'll take you all to court!"
The woman's screeching echoed down the corridor, rattling the hospital doors.
A nurse marched out immediately. "Keep your voices down! This is a hospital, not a fish market! Take it outside!"
The nurse didn't care who they were; anyone causing a scene would be shut down.
True to form, Beatrice was a coward who only picked on those she thought were weak. She instantly shrank back before the stern nurse.
"We're not arguing, we're just having a discussion."
She plastered on a fake, apologetic smile for the nurse before whipping her head around to glare at Claire.
"Mark my words, my son is eating that food today."
Claire scoffed. "Keep dreaming. If you want food, go buy it. If you're broke, head down to the nearest homeless shelter. Someone there might take pity on you."
"Then again, hovering around the hospital like vultures... you wouldn't happen to be waiting for your daughter to die so you can inherit her money, would you?"
Claire wasn't just throwing out baseless insults; she genuinely suspected it.
After all, the Darwin family made zero effort to hide their repulsive greed.
Where they came from, worshiping sons and treating daughters like disposable ATMs was probably considered normal.
Whatever the daughter earned rightfully belonged to the son.
With Claire running interference, Karla and Trixie finally had a moment to eat.
Trixie hesitantly offered to give her portion to Hunter, saying she could wait.
But Karla strictly forbade it.
"Eat your food. Don't humor these people!"
Karla had never backed down from a threat.
"O-okay," Trixie murmured, taking Karla's cue and digging in.
Hunter watched them eat, his stomach twisting into knots at the tantalizing smell.
And yet, his mother was still wasting time bickering with that girl.
"Mom, just stop! I'm not eating someone else's leftovers anyway. Tell her to go buy fresh ones!"
"Tell her to get three portions so we can all eat."
The audacity of Hunter trying to treat Claire like his personal delivery driver was astounding.
This time, it wasn't just Karla who bristled; Dane's eyes turned lethal.
"She isn't going anywhere. This food is from The Ailey Grand Hotel. If you want it, go buy it yourselves."
"Assuming you can even afford it," Dane said, his voice dropping to a dangerously cold register.
The Ailey Grand Hotel? The trio had never even heard of it.
"We're not going anywhere. Zoe is loaded. Just use my sister's money to buy it for us!" Hunter demanded, completely devoid of shame.
Claire looked him up and down.
Under her intense scrutiny, Hunter shifted uncomfortably. "What are you staring at?"
"I'm just trying to figure out what kind of shameless parasite
demands his sister's money we!!
she's fighting for her life in the ICU."
Hunter scoffed dismissively. "Her money is supposed to be spent on me anyway. What's the big deal?"
"You're all looking down on us now,
but just wait. When I'm rich, I'm
going to buy out this Ailey Hotel of yours and ban you from evening there again!"
Pfft-
Claire couldn't hold it in; she burst out laughing.
How could someone possibly be this painfully stupid?
"Sure thing. Go buy it right now." Claire looked at him like he was the village idiot.
The others simply shook their heads in exasperated disbelief.
Realizing Karla was a lost cause,
Beatrice pivoted back to the director. "Your production team nearly killed my daughter! Dont you owe us anything?"
"My son needs to eat. Go buy him dinner!"