?Chapter 268:


    Now, frozen in ce, Hailee stared at her phone as Dunn’s name shed insistently. The sound of it made her heart pound with dread. She didn’t know if she could bear to answer, or if picking up would only pull her deeper into the nightmare.


    Whenever Dunn’s name lit up Hailee’s screen, it meant only one thing: another demand to shell out money fast, always framed with Boris supposedly teetering on the edge of death.


    For months on end, Hailee had endured Dunn’s relentless tirades, each call heavier than thest.


    Yet, somewhere deep within, she had held a strange sense of gratitude toward Dunn. She had convinced herself that Dunn’s harshness was rooted in concern for Boris, not some simmering resentment aimed at her. While she ran herself ragged trying to scrape together funds, she tookfort in the idea that Dunn was taking care of Boris.


    But everything had changed the moment Elliana dropped the truth bomb—a revtion that shattered the illusion. Seeing Dunn’s name pop up on her phone now felt like being kicked while already down. The cruelty of it all hit her like a p.


    As the phone buzzed endlessly in Hailee’s hand, Elliana’s voice cut through the tension. “You need to answer that.”


    A tremble in her voice, Hailee nced up. “Didn’t you just say Dunn’s part of Boris’s con? What’s the point in talking to him now?”


    “I want to know why Dunn’s reaching out right this second,” Elliana replied, her tone calm butced with curiosity. Given that Dunn was the brother of Hester—Boris’s bride-to-be—and that the engagement party was tonight, he should’ve been neck-deep in chaos. So why call Hailee now?


    “Just pick up, Hailee. Let’s see what game he’s ying,” Elliana said, her voice unwavering.


    Running on empty and emotionally frayed, Hailee gave in. Her fingers moved on autopilot as she swiped to ept the call.


    The phone had been buzzing for ages by that point. No sooner had the line connected than Dunn’s irritated voice burst through. “What the hell, Hailee? Took you long enough!”


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    Tears welled up in Hailee’s eyes as she bit hard on her lip, too choked up to speak.


    Dunn didn’t let up for a second. His voice hit like a hammer. “You got the cash yet? Boris was screaming in pain—they rushed him to the ER again. The transnt can’t be pushed back any longer. If it is, he’s done!”


    Holding back the flood, Hailee blinked rapidly and kept her silence. “You there, Hailee? Don’t act deaf!” The harshness in Dunn’s tone only deepened. “Don’t tell me you still haven’t scraped together the cash. What, you don’t care about saving Boris? Are you really that cold? Boris got sick saving you. You owe him everything, and you better start acting like it!”


    Every syble poured out of Dunn’s mouth like venom, and Elliana heard all of it loud and clear. But something else caught her attention—the background noise on Dunn’s end. A moment’s focus, and she nailed it. Laughter, clinking sses, flirtatious banter—Dunn was at a high-end nightclub.


    Anger surged through Elliana’s veins. This jerk was out partying at a club and still had the nerve to call Hailee to y his sick games. Without hesitation, she fired off a message to Matthew. “Track down Dunn Sampson—the Skyflower Hospital chairman’s brat. I need his exact location, now.”


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