Chapter 105: We Believe in You

THUD—

Having taken only two steps, Shirley Vance was sent sprawling to the ground again.

This time, she went flying, only stopping when she hit the wall before crashing to the floor with a loud BANG. It looked much more painful than before.

The hallway fell silent for a moment. Everyone stared in terror at the man who had suddenly appeared.

Amanda Vance was also a bit surprised. She glanced sideways at him. "President Ford?"

Samuel Ford slowly retracted his leg. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine." Amanda paused for a second before shaking her head. "What are you doing here, President Ford?"

Glancing at her, Samuel Ford finally spoke, "Just passing by."

’Oh, he must be here to see Mr. Ford, so he was just passing through this area.’

Amanda didn’t give it much thought. She walked over to Shirley Vance and slowly crouched down, ignoring the venom in her sister’s eyes. A cold smile touched her lips. "Shirley, you really haven’t grown at all. After all these years, you still only know how to pull the same old tricks. Do you really think I’d be scared?"

Shirley was in too much pain to speak clearly, but she still gritted out, "I’m going to tell Dad about this. You’re dead."

"Is that so?" Amanda’s expression didn’t change as she replied nonchalantly, "I’ll be waiting."

With that, she lost all interest in wasting any more words on her and stood up to walk back to her office.

"Stop!" Sarah Sullivan finally snapped back to her senses. Her eyes flashed with anger as she looked at her daughter on the floor. She glanced at Samuel Ford standing beside Amanda, her gaze flickering. A sorrowful expression crossed her face as she said, "Megan, I know you don’t like us, but we’re still family no matter what. Shirley is your sister. How could you hit her?"

The onlookers began to whisper, shocked to hear they were family. Their gazes shifted between the women.

Amanda sneered. "Family? Could my mother have given birth to a sister who’s only one month younger than me?"

Only one month younger? Doesn’t that mean...

Instantly, the way the onlookers looked at Shirley Vance and Sarah Sullivan changed.

Paddy’s Mother scoffed. "Hah, and here I was wondering who she was. Turns out she’s just a homewrecker. No wonder she has no class, spewing crap the moment she opens her mouth, talking nothing but nonsense."

"You!" Sarah Sullivan’s expression paled. She’d never been so crudely cursed at to her face before. Resentment simmered within her. Just as she was about to retort, Samuel Ford took a step forward, shielding Amanda. Sarah’s gaze flickered; she ultimately didn’t have the courage to provoke Samuel Ford. All she could do was ask resentfully, "President Ford, what is the meaning of this? Are you trying to shield Amanda Vance?"

"Dr. Vance has done nothing wrong. Why would she need me to shield her?" Samuel Ford looked at her coolly and rolled up his sleeves. "I’m the one who hit her. If you have a problem, take it up with me."

Sarah Sullivan flinched. Seeing he was determined to protect Amanda, she gritted her teeth. Not daring to say another word, she helped her daughter up and left without a sound. She glanced back at them one last time, her eyes filled with venomous hatred.

’I’ll remember this!’

Once they were gone, the air in the hallway seemed to clear up considerably. Paddy’s Mother spat at the retreating figures of the mother and daughter, then turned to Amanda. "Dr. Vance, are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

"I’m fine." Amanda looked at her and smiled. "Thank you for what you did just now."

"What’s there to thank me for? You saved my Paddy; I’m the one who should be thanking you." Then, as if remembering something, she turned to the surrounding crowd and said, "Everything I just said is true! If anyone here doesn’t believe in Dr. Vance, feel free to ask around. When it comes to a doctor’s skills, the patients have the most say."

Hearing this, the people nearby nodded. "We believe Dr. Vance."

They had come precisely because they’d heard about that incident. And after listening to her diagnose the patients ahead of them, they could see she was indeed very capable.

Seeing their reaction, Amanda couldn’t help but smile too.

Paddy’s Mother glanced at Samuel Ford, then at Amanda, and finally asked the question she’d been curious about. "Dr. Vance, you and President Ford know each other?"

’They know each other too?’

Amanda was a little surprised and looked at Samuel Ford. He nodded and explained to her, "Her son and Colt are in the same class."

’So that’s how it is.’

Amanda had a moment of realization. "So all the children are classmates."

Paddy’s Mother’s face lit up. "Dr. Vance, your child is at Sunshine Kindergarten too?"

"Yes."

"What a wonderful coincidence!" Paddy’s Mother was overjoyed. "Are you free, Dr. Vance? We should have a meal together. You saved my son’s life, we absolutely must thank you properly."

"I still have to work," Amanda said with a smile. "There’s no need for a meal. It’s just part of my job."

Hearing this, Paddy’s Mother remembered it was still her work hours. She quickly handed over the things in her hands. "This is a specialty from our hometown. We made it ourselves. It’s not expensive, just a small token of our appreciation." She asked, a little anxiously, "Is it alright for you to accept this?"

Amanda saw it was some snacks and nodded. "Thank you."

"We should be the ones thanking you. Well, we’ll let you get back to work. We won’t disturb you any longer."

"Okay. When I have time, I’ll go see the kids. You can also come find me if you need anything."

"Yes, yes, of course." With that promise, Paddy’s Mother felt much more at ease.

After seeing her off, Amanda returned to her office and resumed seeing patients. Noticing that Samuel Ford still hadn’t left, she asked casually, "Aren’t you going to see Mr. Ford, President Ford?"

"Yes, I’m heading there now." He glanced at her, and seeing that she didn’t seem affected by what had just happened, he said his goodbyes and left.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard such things. Every time he ran into her sister, she was going on about it.

Expelled from Auden University, name struck from the records of No. 1 High School... anyone else would have been crushed by such blows, unable to recover. But she had endured it.

He didn’t know what she truly thought, but for the first time, he felt a surge of resentment toward the man who had made her suffer through all these vicious rumors. Top score on the college entrance exam, a student at a prestigious university—she should have had a boundless future, yet it was all destroyed in an instant.

He glanced back toward her office, faintly imagining her speaking gently with a patient at this very moment.

Samuel Ford lowered his gaze slightly, his thin lips pressed into a tight line. The hand at his side clenched into a fist. If he ever found that man, he would make him pay.

The earlier incident had caused a bit of a delay, and with a high number of registered patients today, Amanda was so busy she didn’t even have time for a sip of water, despite how quickly she could diagnose and write prescriptions. She only managed a hurried bite for lunch and had barely rested before it was time for her afternoon shift. She worked straight through until evening, only stretching her neck after seeing the final patient.

She checked her phone and saw that Hayden Grant had already picked up her son, so she breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the inpatient area at the back of the hospital.

"Megan’s here."

When she arrived, the old headmaster and his wife were also in Mr. Ford’s room. Mr. Ford’s bed was raised, and he was half-sitting up. It seemed the three of them had been chatting.

The headmaster’s wife walked up and took her by the arm, carefully studying her expression. She relaxed when she saw Amanda seemed alright, but her eyes still held an unconscious trace of pity.

Sensing her thoughts, Amanda guessed that she already knew what had happened. She gently patted the back of her hand and was about to speak when someone burst in, shouting as he walked, "See? I told you this Amanda Vance character is no good! Big Brother, look at what they’re saying online! Everyone’s coming out with dirt on her, she..."

As he spoke, he was about to show the phone to Samuel Ford, but he suddenly met a pair of ice-cold eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks, the words on the tip of his tongue swallowed back down.

He stiffly and stealthily glanced at his big brother’s expression. When he saw that the look Samuel was giving him was even colder than Amanda’s, his heart skipped a beat.

’I’m so screwed...’