Chapter 283

Chapter 283

Derek's cold stare bore into Karen. "You better be telling the truth."

Karen nodded frantically. "Derek, we've been together all these years—you have to trust me. Right now, we only have each other to depend on. I heard our daughter is a successful model. I'm going to find her now. I'm sure she won't abandon us."

Karen's body trembled slightly from fear.

Her tears fell one by one, hitting the floor with soft thuds.

But Derek showed no intention of showing mercy. He pushed her straight out the door.

"Then come back with a paternity test report." Derek said coldly.

He slammed the door shut.

Karen stood barefoot in the cold night, desperately pounding on the front door.

But it didn't awaken Derek's conscience.

"I'm going to find our Sloane right now, Derek. Just wait for me." Karen struggled to get up from the ground and walked step by step toward the exit of the residential complex.

Outside the brightly lit modeling agency, barefoot and disheveled Karen looked completely out of place.

The receptionist frowned at the grimy Karen with obvious disgust.

"If you're here to beg, go somewhere else." the receptionist said coldly.

"I'm looking for Sloane. Sloane is a model here, right?" Karen asked the receptionist.

Seeing that she was here for Sloane, the receptionist was slightly taken aback. "What's your relationship to Ms. Jenkins?"

"The closest person to her." Karen tried to tidy her messy hair and straightened her back a bit.

"Closest person?" The receptionist frowned slightly. "Are you claiming to be her mother?"

Karen's eyes brightened. "How did you know?"

"What a nutcase!" the receptionist snorted coldly. "You really have some nerve, coming to our company to cause a scene."

"So now can you tell me where Sloane is?" Karen said, reaching forward to grab the receptionist's arm.

The receptionist dodged with disgust. "Stay away from me—don't dirty my clothes. And for your information, Ms. Sloane Jenkins' mother is the famous designer Ms. Remy Jenkins. As if someone like you could impersonate her."

Her tone was dripping with mockery.

"Sloane!"

"Sloane!"

Seeing that the receptionist had no intention of taking her to see Sloane, Karen simply started shouting in the lobby.

The receptionist, unable to stand the noise, said helplessly, "Alright, stop yelling. Ms. Jenkins hasn't been here in a long time. I heard she's sick and is currently at Evergreen Wellness Clinic."

She rattled it off in one breath, clearly eager to get rid of this crazy woman.

"She's sick?" Karen's body froze for a moment, then she turned and hurried outside.

Watching Karen leave in a rush, the receptionist muttered, "What a complete lunatic."

At Evergreen Wellness Clinic, Karen walked barefoot to the information desk.

"Hello, could you please..." Karen's voice trembled.

Looking at Karen, the nurse at the desk was visibly shocked. "Hello, do you need help?"

Karen nodded. "I want to find my daughter, but I don't know which room she's in. Could you help me look it up?"

The nurse entered Sloane's name into the computer. The emergency contact listed was Remy.

She frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, ma'am, we can't randomly disclose patient privacy. How about you call the patient first?"

In the end, Karen still couldn't get Sloane's room number from the nurse.

Karen walked barefoot, step by step, toward the inpatient ward.

She searched room by room. People coming and going in the hallway shot Karen strange looks.

After wandering for what felt like forever, the disheveled Karen finally ran into Remy face-to-face.

Karen's eyes lit up. "Ms. Jenkins."

Knowing about Chloe's situation, Remy's impression of Karen had taken a nosedive.

Her expression, naturally, wasn't pleasant either.

However, despite her poor opinion of Karen, Remy was genuinely startled by Karen's extremely disheveled appearance. "What on earth happened to you?"

"I heard Sloane was sick, so I came to see her." Karen seemed oblivious to her current state and stepped forward as if she and Remy were old friends.

"I'm sorry, but it's not convenient." Remy politely declined.

The Karen in front of her looked completely unhinged. Even knowing that Sloane wasn't her biological daughter, Remy couldn't possibly let Karen anywhere near Sloane.

"Is Sloane sleeping? Could I just peek in from the doorway?" Karen's face was full of desperation.

Her attitude left Remy completely baffled. Why was Karen suddenly so concerned about Sloane?

After a moment, she asked, "Do you even know Sloane? Because I'm pretty sure Sloane has never met you."

Seeing Remy question her, Karen seemed to finally snap back to reality.

She shook her head. "I don't know her. I just heard Sloane was sick, so I wanted to check on her."

"How thoughtful of you, caring so much about a complete stranger." Remy figured Karen was trying to butter her up because of Avery's situation, so she said bluntly, "Karen, here's the thing—no matter what you do, it won't erase the damage you caused Chloe. So if you want forgiveness, you need to ask Chloe, not try to win me over with these little stunts."

"I don't have any ulterior motives. I just wanted to see Sloane." Karen's voice grew smaller.

"You should head home." Remy turned and walked away.

But Karen stubbornly trailed behind her.

In the VIP room on the top floor.

Sloane lay pale in bed, showing no signs of waking up.

From a distance, Karen stared at the room Remy had entered, not daring to get closer for the longest time.

Only after watching Remy exit the room and disappear down the hallway did Karen quietly slip into Sloane's room.

Looking at Sloane's delicate but ghostly pale face, Karen froze. "Sloane, my precious baby girl."

The next second, tears spilled from Karen's eyes, hitting the floor with soft splashes. "How did you get sick when you were perfectly fine?"

Karen settled into the chair beside Sloane's bed. This was the first time in over twenty years that she had touched her biological daughter's hand. Her heart was a mess of emotions.

"Sloane, I'm your mother. Wake up." Karen whispered.

She didn't notice Sloane's eyelashes flutter almost imperceptibly.

After a long while, hearing footsteps echoing from the hallway, Karen hurriedly pulled out her phone, snapped a photo of Sloane, and reluctantly stood to leave. "Sloane, I promise I'll come see you again."

Karen gently closed Sloane's door, pulled up her hood, and headed toward the emergency exit.

In the hallway, Karen couldn't wait to text Derek the photo: "Look, doesn't our daughter look exactly like you did when you were young?"

Karen stared at Sloane's photo on her phone screen, her face glowing with joy.