?Chapter 269:


    After hitting send, Elliana gave Hailee a subtle nod, telling her to stayposed and y along.


    Taking the cue, Hailee steadied herself and spoke into the phone. “I’m doing everything I can.”


    “Then move your ass!” Dunn shouted. “If you can’t scrape it up yourself, beg your dad to sell that rundown diner. Boris doesn’t have time!”


    “Alright,” Hailee said quietly, her voice drained of all emotion.


    That seemed to satisfy him, at least for now. “Once you’ve got the cash, head to the hospital immediately. Talk to the doctors about the transnt,” he added before abruptly ending the call.


    As the line went dead, Hailee couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her tears spilled over, falling fast and hard.


    She could barely wrap her mind around the depth of their cruelty. These entitled rich kids weren’t just bleeding her dry—they were scheming to steal her kidney and now had their sights set on her father’s humble diner, his only lifeline. What kind of monsters operated without a shred of empathy?


    Once, Hailee had believed in kindness—that the world rewarded honesty, that neighbors looked out for one another. But thanks to Elliana’s revtion, that illusion had shattered. The truth hit like a punch to the chest: the world could be vicious.


    Suddenly, Hailee flung her phone across the room and copsed, burying her face in her hands. Her voice broke as she trembled on the floor. “No, Elliana. I refuse to…”


    “I can’t believe this is real. This can’t be my life. I’m not part of something this disgusting—I’m not!”


    Just as Elliana moved to reach out and steady Hailee, her phone buzzed with a message.


    It was Matthew texting back. “Dunn’s holed up in a private VIP suite at the Royal Club. Boris Craig is right there with him.”


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    Attached was an image that confirmed everything—Boris and Dunn in full celebration mode, surrounded by their obnoxious crew, drinks flying, and arrogance practically dripping from the frame.


    Elliana’s jaw tightened as fury surged through her veins. There was no doubt in her mind—Dunn’s call had been nothing but a twisted group joke, with Boris ying puppet master for their cruel entertainment. Inside, she cursed them all.


    At that moment, Hailee sprang to her feet, her expression transformed by fierce determination. “I’m going straight to the hospital. Boris owes me an exnation, and I’m going to get it!”


    “He’s not at the hospital,” Elliana said, her voice firm and unwavering, halting her in her tracks.


    Elliana’s words made Hailee freeze in ce, her bitterugh tumbling out with a harsh edge.


    All these years, Hailee’s memory of Boris had been shackled to the scent of antiseptic and the chill of hospital sheets—so ingrained that any thought of him conjured up sickness and suffering without fail.


    Yet now, Elliana was ripping that illusion apart, iming Boris had never been truly ill at all. He wasn’t some helpless orphan but the pampered heir of the Craig family in Ublento. How could it be possible, then, that she could see him at the hospital whenever she went? “He’s over at the Royal Club, having a good time,” Elliana dered tly.


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