Elara studied the test results, her expression growing colder with every line.
She examined the woman again from head to toe.
The lymph nodes along the side of her neck were clearly swollen, but their borders were distinct, they remained mobile, and there were no obvious signs of malignant invasion.
She asked how long the swelling had been present, how severe the pain was, and whether any new symptoms had appeared.
At last, Elara set the report down.
She was certain now.
“It’s simple lymph-node swelling, not a malignant tumor.”
The middle-aged woman went still.
“Really?”
“Mm.”
Elara nodded.
“You do not need a one-million-dollar surgery.”
Tears immediately filled the woman’s eyes.
“So…
I’m not dying?”
“You never had cancer,” Elara said evenly.
“Take the medication, monitor the swelling, and follow up if anything changes.”
“But the doctors at Vanguard Medical Center said…”
“There’s a problem with their report.”
Elara picked up the test sheet and tapped one of the figures with her finger.
“This value doesn’t match your symptoms.
If this were malignant lymphoma, the rest of your clinical picture would look very different.”
The woman stared at her, stunned, as relief slowly replaced the fear on her face.
Mrs.
Tedford, on the other hand, did not look surprised in the slightest.
She only let out a tired sigh.
“I’ve seen this kind of thing way too many times.”
Elara looked stunned.
“This happens a lot?”
“Often enough,” Mrs.
Tedford said grimly, lowering her voice.
“Vanguard Medical Center has been pulling this kind of stunt for years.”
“They exaggerate minor conditions, call ordinary inflammation a tumor, and target people who are least able to protect themselves.”
“Most patients don’t know enough medicine to challenge a report.
Frighten them with a diagnosis and tell them surgery is urgent, and they’ll borrow from anyone or sell whatever they have just to survive.”
Elara’s fingers slowly curled tight.
“Who’s behind it?”
Mrs.
Tedford looked at her, her eyes heavy.
“You should already know.”
Elara went quiet for two seconds.
“The Crane family?”
Mrs.
Tedford nodded.
“Vanguard Medical Center is backed by the Crane family.”
For a moment, Elara said nothing.
Elara said nothing.
Memories surfaced one after another.
Premium medicinal stock from Grandwell Apothecary.
Connections at major hospitals.
Direct access to leading specialists.
Even certain rare drugs ordinary people could never get their hands on.
Over the years, she really had handed the Crane family quite a lot.
The Crane family had made it this far partly because of her.
Back then, she had believed that a family of doctors devoted to healing people was worth helping, so she gave them rare medicinal herbs, supplied medical resources, personally arranged access to top specialists, and never held back special treatment methods or research data.
Bit by bit, the Crane family had risen from an established medical household to the most influential medical family in the capital.
To outsiders, it all looked like the Cranes were just that capable.
But no one knew how much of their rise over the years had been built on resources that came from her.
And now…
They were using the very things she had handed them to cheat patients.
Worse, they were driving ordinary people straight into financial ruin.
Elara’s gaze went completely cold.
“So that’s how it is.”
A short, humorless laugh escaped her.
“I helped them for years, and wow, they really got comfortable using what was mine.”
Mrs.
Tedford looked at her, worry written all over her face.
“Child, don’t do anything rash.
The Crane family isn’t some ordinary household.”
Mrs.
Tedford’s voice was tight with worry, her brows pulled together hard.
“They’ve been entrenched in the capital’s medical world for years.
If you cross them…”
“Mrs.
Tedford.”
Elara cut her off gently, but there was no room in her tone for argument.
“I’m not being impulsive.”
She lowered her eyes and smoothed the cuff of her sleeve, calm and unhurried, as if she were only tidying a wrinkle.
But the chill in her gaze was real.
“I gave them too much.
If they’re going to abuse what I gave them, I’ll take it back.”
…
That night, a long-dormant top-tier account logged onto the dark web under a simple name: The Healer.
No one knew The Healer’s real identity.
But the name carried enormous weight in the international medical community.
Complicated illnesses.
Terminal diseases.
Rare disorders.
Even cases that left world-class experts completely stumped—people had once offered huge bounties on the dark web, begging for help.
When The Healer accepted a case, failure was rare.
More importantly, behind The Healer stood an equally mysterious medical resource network: Grandwell.
No one knew who truly controlled Grandwell.
People only knew that this force controlled a massive stockpile of scarce medicinal materials, top doctors, special drugs, and medical channels others couldn’t even dream of touching.
On any normal day, even the world’s top hospitals wouldn’t dare offend these two forces at the same time.
But that night, The Healer posted a public notice.
“[Effective immediately, the Crane family is blacklisted by Grandwell Apothecary.]”
“[All Grandwell medical resources will cease supplying the Crane family.]”
“[All partnerships, medicinal materials, expert channels, and special drugs are terminated in full.]”
And there was one last line underneath.
“[Any party that continues cooperating with the Crane family will be treated as acting against both Grandwell and The Healer.]”
The notice sent shockwaves through the medical circles that followed the dark web.
“Why is The Healer going after the Cranes?”
“Why are they suddenly coming for the Crane family?”
“They’re the most powerful medical family in the capital!”
“What the hell happened?”
“Wasn’t Grandwell always on good terms with the Crane family?”
Nobody knew the reason, but everybody understood one thing loud and clear.
This wasn’t a warning.
It was a declaration of war.
In just a few short hours, several international deals the Crane family had already lined up were abruptly frozen.
A number of major medicinal suppliers sent notices at the same time, refusing to provide any more stock.
Even several top-tier medical institutions that had been preparing to work with the Crane family started hitting the brakes and rethinking everything.
For the first time, cracks began to show in the medical empire the Crane family had spent years building.
The Crane family’s old estate.
Bang!
A teacup shattered against the floor, shards skittering across the room.
Rowena Crane looked livid.
“Who did this?”
No one in the room dared speak.
“Investigate it!
I want the whole thing dug up!”
Her eyes locked onto the computer screen like she wanted to burn a hole through it.
“Who the hell has the guts to come after the Crane family?”
The assistant’s voice shook.
“Madam, we still haven’t identified the person behind it.”
Rowena clenched her teeth.
Then one name came to mind.
Mrs.
Tedford.
It had to be Mrs.
Tedford.
She had never gotten along with the Crane family.
And today, of all days, she suddenly stepped in to treat that patient.
“Go find her.”
Rowena’s voice was icy, each word sharp as a blade.
“Shut down her clinic.”
She gave a humorless laugh, her anger plain.
“Let’s see how long a woman running a street-side clinic lasts once she crosses the Crane family.”
…
Meanwhile, Elara had no idea Rowena Crane had already started hitting back.
Early the next morning, the school posted the final exam results.
The notice board was packed tight with students.
“It’s up!”
“The scores are out!”
“Quick, go check!”
The crowd instantly got noisy, voices piling over each other.
Then someone suddenly cried out, “Rosalind is here!”
At that, a bunch of heads turned at once.
A black luxury car was slowly pulling up by the school gate.
The door opened, and Rosalind stepped out first.
She was wearing a carefully styled white dress today, clean and classy, her soft hair falling neatly over her shoulders.
There was a gentle smile on her face, the kind that looked harmless at first glance.
The man beside her drew a wave of envious looks from the students nearby.
Sebastian.
The heir to the Merritt family in the capital.
And also Elara’s former fiancé.
The two had been tied together by an engagement since they were kids.
Back then, Sebastian really had chased after Elara.
Back then, he had been attentive to the point of indulgence, eager to give her anything she wanted.
Too bad, things didn’t stay that way.
After Rosalind returned to the Weston family, Sebastian’s attitude started shifting bit by bit.
At first, he still coaxed Elara and tried to smooth things over.
But later, without anyone even needing to say it out loud, he kept leaning more and more toward Rosalind.
The reason was pretty obvious.
Back when Rosalind was only the Weston family’s adopted daughter, she had no right to inherit anything.
Even if Sebastian married her, there really wasn’t much in it for him.
But now?
Everything had changed.
Rosalind had become the real heiress of the Weston family.
That meant she was now qualified to inherit the Weston family’s assets and business.
So Sebastian’s loyalties shifted with barely a pause.
What was even more shameless was that he had never once taken the initiative to bring up ending the engagement.
Why?
As long as the Weston family had not formally ended the engagement, he could keep his options open.
And now that Elara had been thrown out of the Weston family, in his eyes, that engagement should naturally be over for good.
Rosalind curled her hand around Sebastian’s arm, leaning close with a sweet smile.
“Sebastian, let’s go check the scores.”
Sebastian smiled back and nodded like nothing was wrong.
“Okay.”
The people around them immediately started whispering.
“The two of them are seriously getting closer and closer.”
“I heard Sebastian used to be Elara’s fiancé.”
“Isn’t he basically Rosalind’s now?”
“Elara already got kicked out of the Weston family.
What’s the point of that engagement anymore?”
Amid the noisy crowd, Elara slowly walked over.
She had just come from the other side, a cup of coffee still in her hand.
Hearing all those comments, her steps didn’t pause for even a second.
But Sebastian spotted her right away.
His expression changed ever so slightly.
Rosalind followed his gaze, and a flicker of smug satisfaction crossed her face.
The next second, she deliberately raised her voice.
“Elara, you’re here to check the scores too?”
Elara lifted her eyes.
“Yeah.”
Rosalind smiled, all soft and sweet on the surface.
“Perfect, then.
Let’s look together.”
But Sebastian cut in from the side, his tone carrying a clear edge of mockery.
“She probably doesn’t even dare look, does she?”
“After all, some people kept acting like they were amazing before the exam.”
“If the results come out ugly, that’ll be seriously embarrassing.”
Elara looked at him, then suddenly laughed.
“Sebastian, did you forget something?”
The man froze for a second.
Elara’s voice wasn’t loud, but every single word landed cleanly in everyone’s ears.
“I’m still your fiancée.”
“You’re out here defending another woman like this, so shouldn’t you deal with our engagement first?”
Sebastian’s expression hardened.
Rosalind hadn’t expected her to bring up the engagement at a time like this either.
The whispers around them grew louder, but Elara simply stood there and watched.
She really wanted to see this through, to see how far the man who once swore up and down that he liked her would go now for the so-called “real heiress.”
The mood around the bulletin board shifted immediately.