How could he even describe that look?
It was indifferent. Alien.
She was looking at him as if he were an utterly insignificant stranger.
A sharp pang seized Silas's heart, followed by an uncharacteristic wave of panic.
He took a deep breath, finally forcing out a hoarse rasp. "Serena, I'm Silas....."
Before he could finish,
the girl turned her head, accepting a bite of food from Nicholas. She didn't spare him another glance.
The rest of Silas's words choked in his throat.
When he first heard the hospital was letting a twenty-year-old girl operate on his father, his fury was fueled by the fact that he didn't know she was his niece.
He hadn't known who was holding the scalpel.
He had judged her entirely by her age, assuming it was a sick joke.
But regardless of his reasons, the fact remained that he had doubted her, and now he was eating his words.
If his niece was treating him like garbage, he entirely deserved it.
Silas wasn't a man who made excuses. He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Serena. "Serena, thank you for saving my father. I sincerely apologize for doubting you."
His apology was crisp, decisive, and entirely devoid of ego.
That actually caught Serena's attention. She looked up, her bright eyes appraising him.
This Silas...
He didn't seem too bad.
Just as she was about to speak,
"Grandpa!"
A hysterical shriek shattered the moment.
As Dr. Smith and the team wheeled Holden Vinton's bed out of the OR, Anna lunged toward it, crying with absolute, theatrical despair.
Serena's eyes narrowed dangerously. Just before Anna could throw herself onto the old man,
Serena flicked her wrist.
The fork in her hand shot forward like a bullet, smacking squarely against Anna's cheek.
"Ah!" The sharp edge of the fork sliced a bloody gash across Anna's face.
Anna gasped in pain, immediately clutching her bleeding cheek.
Professor Vance, Mr. Langford, and the others instantly stepped in, physically blocking Anna from the bed. "Back off! The patient just got out of Surgery He needs absolute peace. Na family members are
allowed near him!"
Looking down at the blood on her fingers, Anna felt her face throbbing with pain. Her
features twisted in pure rage.
She glared venomously at Serena, breathing heavily.
Knowing the surgery was a success had sent Anna into a quiet panic.
Since she couldn't run, her only move was a preemptive strike. "Serena, you're a country bumpkin How could you possibly know anything about medicine? Stop putting on this act! You think! don't know
Grandpa were these legends my dad invited! This success has absolutely nothing to do with you!"
the truth? The ones ved
"Don't think stealing their credit erases the fact that you triggered his collapse! He's
an old man, and the only reason he had to endure this torture today is because of
you!"
If she could just muddy the waters—if she could make everyone believe Serena was
the threat-no one would ever trace the collapse back to her.
She was completely prepared to die on this hill.
As long as Serena took the fall, she was untouchable!
Fueled by that desperate logic, she threw herself toward Silas, playing the sobbing victim "Dad! She caused his collapse, and now she's standing here playing the hero! She's nothing but a bit-"
Smack!
Before the insult could fully leave her mouth, Silas backhanded her so viciously she shrieked in agony.
The sheer force of the blow split her lip, blood immediately welling at the corner of her mouth.
Clutching her rapidly swelling cheek, she stared up at Silas in absolute disbelief. "Dad..."