Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Indistinct and Ambiguous
However, before the wine bottle could touch Ann Vaughn, a hand intercepted it from mid-air, and with a slight force, pushed both the wine bottle and the woman in the red dress aside.
The woman in the red dress barely managed to steady herself, avoiding a fall, and her anger peaked instantly. She raised her head and cursed, "Who’s so blind-eyed..."
The curse stopped abruptly when she saw the man standing next to Ann Vaughn.
The socialites standing beside the woman in the red dress shyly stepped back and greeted the man in delicate voices, "Eli, Eldest Young Master Sheridan..."
The speed of this change in expression was truly comparable to a drama.
Ann Vaughn silently mocked, looking at the man beside her, who rarely wore a bluish-gray suit and was fingering Buddha beads.
He clearly looked gentle and elegant like flawless jade, yet he always gave off a cold aura that seemed impenetrable.
"Back in the country finally?"
"If I didn’t come back, wouldn’t I let a bunch of blind fools bully my person?" Eli Sheridan smiled softly, using his free hand to pat Ann Vaughn’s head, "You’ve lost weight."
Hearing this, Ann Vaughn felt pleased, "That means my weight loss wasn’t in vain, it’s paying off."
Weight... loss?
Eli Sheridan raised an eyebrow, glanced at the nearby table, now a mess, paused for a moment, then cleared his throat, "No need to lose weight, a bit more plumpness is auspicious."
The socialites’ eyes brightened immediately upon hearing this; so the Eldest Young Master Sheridan likes women who are a bit plump?
Very well, I’ll start gaining weight when I get home today!
But watching Ann Vaughn and Eli Sheridan’s "intimacy" as if no one else was around, the woman in the red dress couldn’t hold back any longer on the brink of an outburst, "Eli!"
Eli Sheridan furrowed his brow slightly, looking over indifferently, his gaze warm and distant, "Miss Chester, our relationship doesn’t seem to be close enough for you to call me by my name."
The woman in the red dress shivered, unsure if it was out of anger or despair at his words.
The man she had adored for so many years didn’t have even a sliver of a place for her in his heart, and he was even stingy enough to clearly divide even in terms of address!
"We’ve been childhood friends for years, and now you’re drawing a line between us because of a woman!" The woman in the red dress said with a face full of grief and resentment, "How am I any less than her?!"
Ann Vaughn: "..."
Was she some sort of scapegoat that anyone could take a shot at?
On Eli Sheridan’s calm face, there was still no special reaction, "You’re great, but you’re not her."
Ann Vaughn: "???"
What the heck, did Eli Sheridan attend some academy of sharp tongues while abroad? Even though that sentence wasn’t directed at her, the impact was enough to make even her gasp.
Not to mention the woman in the red dress who was directly hurt by his words.
Being rejected so directly by her beloved, the woman’s spirit was completely drained, and covering her face in shame, she left feeling humiliated...
Even if the socialites were foolish, they realized Eli Sheridan was standing up for Ann Vaughn, otherwise, given the friendship between the Sheridan and Quincy families, Eli Sheridan wouldn’t embarrass Carol Chester in public even if he disliked her.
But now, for this woman, he disregarded the Quincy family’s friendship completely, and if they continued to cling, they would only embarrass themselves.
After understanding this, the socialites reluctantly bid farewell, following the woman in the red dress.
Iris Chambers, however, didn’t leave with them. Hesitating, she still braved Eli Sheridan’s seemingly gentle yet invisibly lethal gaze to approach Ann Vaughn.
"Is there anything?" Ann Vaughn asked gently as she looked at Iris Chambers’s anxious expression.
This seemed to be the girl who was just being ridiculed by those socialites, and when they were causing trouble a moment ago, this girl tried to stop them, showing she had a different disposition.
The key point is... Ann Vaughn liked her type’s looks!
"I..." Iris Chambers felt she was being presumptuous but thinking of her father on the hospital bed, she gathered her courage, "Are you the owner of the Vaughn Medical Hall in the Imperial Capital?"
Ann Vaughn nodded, "That’s right, it’s me."
"Dr. Vaughn, please save my father!" Iris Chambers looked overjoyed, bowing in plea to Ann Vaughn, "I heard you’re hailed as the Divine Doctor internationally, having solved numerous incurable diseases. There’s no illness that can stump you..."
"My father contracted an epidemic overseas, and doctors say he doesn’t have much time left. We’ve sought renowned doctors everywhere without success, so we pinned our hopes on you, but the appointment queue at Vaughn Clinic is too long, we could never get to it, so..."
"So you want to jump the queue, right?" Ann Vaughn asked.
Iris Chambers nodded awkwardly, worried Ann Vaughn might get angry, "I’m really sorry..."
"There’s nothing to apologize for; you’re just being filial." Ann Vaughn smiled lightly and then transitioned, "However, Vaughn Clinic has its own rules, and there’s never been a precedent for jumping the queue; it wouldn’t be fair to the patients ahead."
These words were undoubtedly a refusal, and Iris Chambers’ face turned white instantly.
Standing beside Ann Vaughn, Eli Sheridan toyed with the Buddha beads in his hand, smiling silently.
Ann Vaughn didn’t pause for long and continued, "But now that I’m in Marinia and have paused consultations at the Imperial Capital, you’re not technically jumping the queue."
Iris Chambers, who thought this matter was beyond discussion, was now delighted, her eyes welling up with tears, "Thank you, Dr. Vaughn, thank you!"
After exchanging phone numbers with Iris Chambers and agreeing on a time for a visit, the matter was settled.
"You, you’ve become quite the sly one." Eli Sheridan sat opposite Ann Vaughn, smiling warmly.
"How could it be slyness? This is called wisdom!" Ann Vaughn wrinkled her little nose a bit, "A precedent mustn’t be set lightly; once it is, the opening would widen."
What if the Chambers Family wanted her for medical care in the future, directly bypassing the queue rules?
After all, once there is a first, what’s the harm in a second or third time?
The human mind changes easily, and it’s always better to be safe.
Meanwhile.
Outside the restaurant, in the corridor.
"We’ll discuss this later." After speaking, Cyrus Hawthorne ended the call, put away his phone, and gazed into the distance, his narrow eyes becoming increasingly cold and deep.
Seeing this, Mark Joyce worriedly asked, "President Hawthorne, did something happen with the sudden request from The Shadow Guard to return to the country?"
"No problem," Cyrus Hawthorne replied indifferently, recalling something that caused a subtle fluctuation in his eyes, "How is the matter progressing?"
"As you instructed, everything is in place; just waiting for the opportune moment."
...
Inside the restaurant.
Because Cyrus Hawthorne was still taking a call and hadn’t returned, Ann Vaughn seized the opportunity to sneak a few sips of wine, keeping an eye out in case he suddenly came back and caught her.
"I have to tell you, you need to clarify those baseless rumors quickly; otherwise, if it spirals out of control, what if Cyrus Hawthorne thinks there’s something indecent between us?"
Ann Vaughn’s eyes were slightly hazy, resting her chin on her palm and sighed as she spoke.
Just as she finished saying this, a deep voice came from behind, "Thinks there’s something indecent between you and who?"