Chapter 4 Teach Her the Rules

Michael Johnson walked straight up to Eleanor, his face full of gratitude.

"Ms. Mitchell, thank goodness you were here. I came as fast as I could when I got the news, but I still wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry about that."

Eleanor waved it off.

"It's nothing. She's my grandmother. Of course I was going to help her."

Linda jumped in quickly.

"Director! You don't know the whole story. This girl is way out of line! She operated on a patient without permission! That's a complete disregard for human life! We have to..."

Before she could finish, Michael shot her a cold look.

"Who's disregarding human life? Do you even know who Ms. Mitchell is?"

Linda frowned.

"She's just the patient's family, isn't she?"

Michael let out a short, angry laugh.

"You really are an idiot! Ms. Mitchell has saved patients from the brink of death more times than I can count. Her skills are far beyond anyone else in this room. And you — you've been handling this patient for three months and didn't even know she was allergic to furosemide? You tell me — who's the one disregarding human life?"

"I..."

Linda's expression tightened.

She wanted to explain herself, but Michael didn't give her the chance.

"I'm announcing this right now — you're suspended, effective immediately!"

Linda's mind went completely blank.

Michael turned to his assistant.

"What are you standing there for? Get her out of here!"

Linda was dragged out on the spot.

Then Michael turned back to Eleanor with a smile.

"Ms. Mitchell, that pericardiocentesis you performed was absolutely flawless! I've always wanted to ask — who taught you? Would you mind telling me your teacher's name?"

He'd asked this question many times before.

Eleanor had turned him down every time, but he never gave up.

Leo quietly perked up, listening closely.

Eleanor shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, my teacher specifically told me not to reveal his name. But his skills are truly world-class — you don't need to doubt that."

Seeing that Eleanor wasn't going to budge, Michael didn't push further.

"Of course, of course. Ms. Mitchell, the patient is no longer in danger, so I won't take up any more of your time. Please contact me right away if anything comes up."

"Thank you."

After Michael left, Eleanor sat by the bed and held Nova's frail hand. She couldn't stop her eyes from welling up.

As far as the Brown family was concerned, dropping Nova off at a nursing home was enough to count as doing their duty.

What they didn't understand was that stroke patients need careful, attentive care — and someone to be there with them.

That was why Eleanor came every month.

After a little while, Nova slowly opened her eyes. The moment she saw Eleanor, a smile spread across her face.

"Eleanor, you're here."

Eleanor asked softly, "Grandma, how are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"

Nova shook her head gently.

"I'm fine. I just feel bad that you have to come all the way here every month because of me."

"Grandma, please don't say that. You raised me. It's my turn to take care of you now."

Nova's eyes drifted over to Leo.

A flicker of wariness crossed her face.

"And this is...?"

Eleanor was about to explain when Leo stepped forward.

"Hello. I'm Leo, Eleanor's uncle. I came to take her home today."

"Home? Which home?"

Eleanor told her everything — how she'd been kicked out of the Brown family.

Nova was furious. She slapped the bed with her hand.

"That's outrageous! Blood or no blood, you're family! Just you wait — I'll go back there myself and demand an explanation for you!"

She tried to get out of bed, but her body wouldn't cooperate.

Eleanor quickly stopped her. "Grandma, all these years, you've been the only warmth I ever felt in the Brown family. You're my real family. Even though I'm not with them anymore, I'll still come visit you all the time!"

Her voice was firm.

Leo stood nearby, thinking for a moment, then looked at Nova.

"If you don't mind, why don't you come with us? We have a care facility at home, and it's much nicer than this place. And being closer would make it a lot easier for Eleanor to look after you."

Eleanor spun around to look at Leo, her eyes glistening.

"Uncle Leo, are you sure? Is that really okay?"

Leo puffed up his chest.

"Of course it is. It's no big deal!"

Nova started to object, but Leo didn't give her the chance. He headed straight for the door to handle the paperwork.

"I'll be back in three minutes!"

Eleanor gently reassured her. "Grandma, just come with us. Uncle Leo is a kind man. He won't give us any trouble."

Just then, the door was pushed open.

A tall man walked in, pushing a wheelchair.

His name was Ethan Martinez.

He and Eleanor had grown up together and were once engaged.

But now, he was about to get engaged to Sophia.

Sophia sat weakly in the wheelchair, looking like she might pass out at any moment.

She had just received an antihistamine shot and her symptoms had barely stabilized. When she heard that Eleanor was also at the nursing home, she begged Ethan to bring her over.

As for the false police report — Jack had paid a large sum of money to reach the chief of police, who promised the case would be dropped by that evening.

Sophia was now the Brown family's heiress. A minor case like that meant nothing to her.

She had nothing to worry about.

But she had no intention of letting Eleanor off the hook.

When Eleanor saw them walk in, her expression turned ice cold. "What are you two doing here? Get out."

Sophia gave a faint smile, her voice weak. "Eleanor, you came to see Grandma? How thoughtful of you."

"But you're not part of the Brown family anymore. You really shouldn't keep coming here. People might think you're using Grandma to stay connected to the family."

Before Eleanor could respond, Nova's anger flared.

"What do you mean by that? Eleanor is my granddaughter. That's none of your business!"

Sophia shrank back against Ethan, putting on a wounded look. "Grandma, I was just trying to remind Eleanor. Why are you being so harsh with me..."

Ethan's heart ached for her. He immediately stepped in front of Sophia and fixed Eleanor with a cold stare. "Sophia just got out of the emergency room. She came here out of kindness to see Nova. Don't be so ungrateful."

Eleanor let out a cold laugh. "Kindness? She drugged herself, then filed a false police report against me. You call that kindness? She's nothing but stupid and cruel."

Sophia trembled slightly, her eyes going red. "Eleanor, you couldn't hurt me, so now you're making things up..."

Before she could finish, she broke into a fit of violent coughing.

Ethan patted her back and turned a sharp gaze on Eleanor. "She's in this state and you're still going after her? Eleanor, when did you become so vicious?"

Nova slapped the bed in fury. "Get out, both of you!"

"Grandma, please don't get upset. Mom and Dad spent so much money to put you here. If you get sick from all this stress, they'll just have to spend more..."

Sophia's voice was weak, but every word was a dig — sharp and ugly.

Eleanor had heard enough.

Smack!

She stepped forward and slapped Sophia hard across the face.

The sharp crack of the slap rang through the room.

Sophia was already weak. The blow nearly knocked her to the ground.

She pressed a hand to her cheek, tears streaming down her face, staring at Eleanor in disbelief.

"Eleanor, you... you hit me? I came here to see Grandma and you hit me? Why?"

Ethan immediately pulled Sophia behind him, his face dark with rage. "Eleanor! Apologize to Sophia right now!"

Eleanor's voice was ice cold. "Apologize? She doesn't deserve one."

Sophia buried herself against Ethan's chest, sobbing. "Ethan, I really just came to see Grandma... Why does Eleanor hate me so much? What did I ever do wrong?"

Her crying tore at him. His eyes went cold, and he raised his hand.

Suddenly, Nova pushed herself upright in bed.

She pointed at Ethan and Sophia, coughing hard.

"As long as I'm still breathing... no one is going to lay a hand on Eleanor!"

The next moment, her face changed.

A mouthful of blood came pouring out.

"Grandma!"