Chapter 293: Evelyn, As Long as You Obediently Listen...

Chapter 293: Evelyn, As Long as You Obediently Listen...

Evelyn's heart leapt into her throat. She gripped her phone and shouted, "Lavern! Lavern!"

But Lavern had already hung up.

She tried calling back immediately. The phone was already off.

The more Evelyn thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

She wanted to leave—to find Lavern first and see what the hell had happened to him—but the Thomas family and the York family had all arrived.

"I have something urgent I need to handle. You all wait here for me."

Evelyn tried to leave, but Elysia blocked her path. "Evelyn, we showed up on time, and now you're insisting on leaving? Are you deliberately refusing to save me? Do you just want to stand by and watch me die?"

"That's not—I just have something urgent to deal with. I—" Evelyn tried to explain, but Elysia deliberately refused to step aside.

"If you're really in such a hurry, then agree to save me right now. Otherwise, I'll assume you're just playing games with us."

"You—"

Evelyn's anxiety spiked, but looking at the Thomas family and the York family standing there, she knew she had no way to simply walk away.

She forced herself to suppress her frantic emotions, telling herself:

Lavern will be fine.

Lavern is capable. Even if something really happened, they wouldn't kill him right away.

The Thomas family had brought some fruit, which they placed in front of Eldon's headstone. Together, they bowed three times.

"Eldon," Caspian sighed, "it's been so many years since you left us. I really miss you. Thank you for all those years you worked for the Thomas family. I'm getting old myself. Who knows—maybe I'll come find you soon. When I do, we'll still be friends."

After those words, Caspian turned to Evelyn. "Evelyn, we're family, after all. Let's let the past be the past. From now on, we'll get along well. All right?"

Evelyn let out a cold laugh.

"Eldon's been dead for years, and you never once treated me decently. Now, all of a sudden, you want to 'get along.' If you were me, would you agree?"

Caspian's face darkened. "Evelyn, I'm your grandfather. I'm your elder!"

"Mr. Thomas, didn't you already cut ties with me?" Evelyn shot back. "And besides, if I weren't the famous Dr. S—if I weren't the only one who could save Elysia's life—would you be talking about 'getting along'? No. You'd all just be figuring out how to crush me."

Hayden frowned. "Evelyn, why are you being like this? No matter what, you're still your mother's biological daughter. You're a Thomas. You're one of us. Elysia is your real sister. How can you stand by and watch your own sister die?"

"It was my 'real sister' who refused my treatment first," Evelyn said flatly.

Elysia's expression soured. "Evelyn, don't push it. Grandpa and Dad are both trying to reason with you, and you're still being difficult. What exactly do you want? Are you really going to cut all ties with your family before you're satisfied?"

Evelyn gave a cold smile. "I thought I already cut ties with the Thomas family. Now, we're just mortal enemies."

Seraphina stepped forward. "Elysia, if you behave yourself, we can still get along. But if you're going to be this stubborn and insist on making enemies of the Thomas family and the York family, then we'll have no choice but to treat you as one."

"You've always been my enemies," Evelyn said calmly, stating the facts. "You just used to undermine me in secret. Now you're forced to do it out in the open."

A mocking smile tugged at Elysia's lips. "Evelyn, right now we're trying to negotiate with you nicely. If you keep this up, we'll use other methods. Believe me—no matter how unwilling you are, you will perform that surgery on me."

"How else are you going to force me? Are you going to tie me to the operating table? Sure, you could do that. But can you force me to pick up a scalpel? All I have to do is stand there and do nothing, and Elysia will die."

Evelyn had been confident at first, but then she thought of Lavern—whose phone had suddenly gone dead—and Michael, who still hadn't shown up. Her expression changed.

"Michael?"

Elysia smiled. "That's right. If you don't agree, Michael will take care of everything for me."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a Rolls-Royce pulled up nearby.

Michael stepped out.

Elysia ran over happily and looped her arm through his. "Michael, you're finally here."

Michael and Elysia walked together to stand before Evelyn. Michael looked at her calmly. "Evelyn, perform the surgery on Elysia. Otherwise… you'll never see Lavern again."

Elysia leaned against Michael's shoulder, smiling. "Evelyn, Lavern's phone isn't going through, is it? Didn't it suddenly hang up while you were talking? And when you called back, wasn't it already off?"

Evelyn's face turned ashen.

She ignored Elysia and faced Michael directly.

"What the hell did you do to Lavern? What are you trying to pull? I'm telling you, Michael—Lavern isn't some nobody. He's not someone you can just mess with. And even if he were an ordinary person, we live in a society with laws. What you're doing is illegal detention. You'll go to prison!"

"Evelyn, who in Harmony City could ever send Michael to prison?" Elysia said smugly. "Evelyn, you know what Michael is capable of, don't you? If you really want Lavern to stay alive, then do what Michael says and perform the surgery on me. Otherwise… don't blame Michael if he's not so nice to Lavern."

Evelyn fixed Michael with a cold stare. "You're really going to do this?"

"Evelyn," Michael said calmly, "I just want you to perform the surgery on Elysia. As long as you behave, I won't do anything to Lavern."

"What Michael means is, if something goes wrong with me on the operating table, it'll be all your fault. And at that point, any harm that comes to Lavern will be on you, Evelyn."

Elysia said it cheerfully.

Being forced to kneel and beg Evelyn to perform the surgery had been unbearable. She'd been so angry her heart had ached for days.

Now, using Lavern to force Evelyn's hand? It felt amazing.

Caspian's face was resolute. "Evelyn, we didn't want things to get this ugly between us. But we tried reasoning with you before, and you wouldn't listen. So we had no choice. You forced us to use these methods."

Scarlett frowned with displeasure. "Evelyn, just perform the surgery on Elysia already. Once it's done, this will all be over. Of course, the condition is that you must guarantee Elysia comes off that operating table safe and sound."