Arabella's face turned as white as a sheet as she remembered the horrific day and night she endured at the N&S Psychiatric Hospital. It was a nightmare that still haunted her.
In the dead of night, she would wake up countless times from the brutal torment she suffered there. For a long time after her rescue, she doubted if the man with glasses had really planted a bomb inside her.
More importantly, the aftermath of that ordeal was still plaguing her.
She unconsciously placed a hand on her belly.
Vivienne looked up slightly. Her cool gaze swept over Arabella, who had turned pale with fright, and landed on Felix, who was propped up by her and looked rather ragged. She didn't say a word.
Felix was also sizing up Vivienne. Despite her ghost mask, he could tell from her slender neck and delicate skin that she was quite young.
Ten years ago, a miracle healer known as Specter Healer emerged and shocked countless people with her ability to bring the dead back to life. Even Brody, who had been practicing medicine for three years longer than her, was defeated.
Many people wanted her help, but they couldn't even get a chance to see her.
There were many rumors about her on the Dark Web. Some said she was a frail old man, some said she was an ugly middle-aged man, and others said she was a disabled woman.
It turned out that she was a young lady.
"Specter Healer?" Felix asked with some doubt.
Vivienne nodded lightly, her manner cold.
Arabella paused.
During her time at the N&S Psychiatric Hospital, she hadn't heard how the man with glasses had referred to this woman.
All she knew was that this woman, who wore a ghost mask, was a brilliant doctor.
She was the Specter Healer that the Brooks family had been searching for. Ever since Percival injured Tristan with a basketball, he had been paralyzed, and no doctor could help him. Scott had been trying to contact Specter Healer to save him.
If she could get the elusive Specter Healer to come back with her, wouldn't the Brooks look at her with newfound respect?
Arabella remembered how Judith had looked at Vivienne with gratitude at the family reunion banquet, and she felt a surge of resentment.
What did it matter if Vivienne was a good doctor?
If she could build a relationship with Specter Healer, invite her to treat Tristan, and even become her apprentice, wouldn't she be able to outclass Vivienne in the future?
Many influential people longed to meet Specter Healer but couldn't. If she could leverage this, those people would become her allies and connections. What would Vivienne be then?
With Specter Healer backing her, she wouldn't even have to worry about the Four Prominent Families of Rivenwood.
Arabella felt a thrill of excitement at the thought and began to fidget.
She cast a glance at Felix. He might have lost to Vivienne, but he was still formidable. How else could he have met such a character? She wondered if she could make use of him.
Felix had no idea about Arabella's scheming. He took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his limbs, and asked, "Do you remember the favor you owe me?"
Back when Specter Healer posted a message on the Dark Web saying that anyone who could give her a Star Grass and Seven-Poison Flower would earn a favor from her, Felix happened to have a Star Grass.
Little did he know that the favor he earned back then would save his life now.
"I always keep my word." Vivienne replied, disguising her voice as she spoke coldly.
Back when Percival was poisoned, she needed a Star Grass and owed a favor to Omen, the leader of GTO. She wouldn't forget that.
At that time, she had even suspected that Omen was Felix. She had been wondering when he would come to claim his favor.
Arabella's hand froze mid-air, and her knees suddenly buckled, causing her to fall heavily to her knees.
The fall was so hard that she felt a searing pain in her knees, as if they were about to shatter.
Yet she didn’t move, maintaining her kneeling position. She looked at Vivienne with a surprised and angry expression. "What did you do to me?!"
"You are very noisy." Vivienne's tone was icy-cold.
It was so cold that Arabella’s heart couldn’t help but shudder. The eyes she saw behind the woman's mask were cold and merciless, sweeping over her as if she were already a corpse.
Her mouth trembled, and she didn't dare speak again.
In an instant, she realized how naive her previous thoughts had been.
If Specter Healer could easily be swayed by money, then why hadn't the Brooks family, despite their wealth, been able to secure an appointment?
This wasn't someone she could disrespect casually.
If she angered the woman, she might not face death but a fate worse than death, like Felix lying on the bed.
"Shut up if you don't want to die!" Felix also glared at Arabella, then asked Vivienne, "How bad is my wound? How long will it take to heal? What poison is in it?"
He trusted Specter Healer's medical skills completely; hence, his query was not whether he could be cured, but when.
Vivienne, her eyebrows slightly raised beneath her mask, let go of Felix's wrist, and while he was still speaking, she shoved a pill into his mouth.
Percival's intention was for Felix to languish and die slowly, so the poison he used wasn't fatal. That was easy enough to take care of.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Felix nearly choked on the pill, coughing for a while before swallowing. Wisely, he didn't question Vivienne about what she had given him.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)