Chapter 194 She Is Afraid
Amelia asked Frank to step aside for a private conversation.
After they'd walked a few yards away, Amelia spoke up.
"His motive involves his son. His son works under Marlon."
"He listened to Marlon and interfered with Adrian’s surgery to help his son get promoted."
"If the surgery failed, you would surely resent me."
Cold sweat covered Frank’s forehead, and his heart raced with fear.
If Amelia hadn't been alert, that syringe—filled with who-knows-what—would have been injected into Adrian’s body.
"Ms. Richardson, thank goodness for you."
Amelia explained, "At first, I didn't think much of it. I assumed he resented me for being young yet becoming the lead surgeon, which is why he kept making things difficult. I didn't take it to heart. But when I visited a hospitalized friend, something she said made me wary of Kurt."
This friend was Maeve.
Her comment—"What if he deliberately sabotages the surgery because he resents you?"—prompted Amelia to take Kurt seriously and ask Byron to investigate his background.
That's when they discovered Kurt's son worked for Marlon.
This discovery set off alarm bells. She immediately asked Rodolfo for help, assigning someone to enter the operating room with her to watch Kurt's every move.
"Kurt wanted to please both Marlon's side and yours. Initially, he didn't plan to harm Adrian—he only wanted to push me out, perform the surgery himself, and make you owe him a favor. For Marlon's side, he could claim I didn't perform the surgery, so you’d get no credit. Only after failing to push me out did he take more drastic measures."
"That bastard!"
Frank cursed loudly, then thanked Amelia once more.
Amelia didn't take all the credit herself.
"Rodolfo and my friend both helped me tremendously with this."
"I'll go thank them."
Amelia nodded and asked Frank, "What are you going to do about Kurt?"
A sharp glint lit up Frank’s eyes.
"As a doctor, yet willing to harm a patient—this kind of person must pay the price! As for his son, he can forget any hope of a political career for the rest of his life."
Amelia nodded.
With Frank taking care of Kurt, she didn't need to ask many questions.
She only said, "This might not be just Marlon behind this. There could be someone backing him as well."
Frank clenched his fists. "It has to be The Hays family! I've been cracking down on the prison, making Leo's life miserable, and now they’re retaliating."
But Amelia shook her head slightly.
"This time, I think the target might be me."
"At you?"
"Just a guess."
Killing Adrian wouldn’t bring much benefit to the Hays family.
For her, however, it would be a huge setback.
Or perhaps it wasn't The Hays family at all—maybe Marlon was targeting her.
It was difficult to tell.
Going forward, she would need to be more cautious.
She was under surveillance.
Amelia said no more. After handing Kurt over to Frank, she went to check on Adrian.
Adrian hadn't yet woken from anesthesia.
Anna was holding Adrian's hand. When she saw Amelia enter, she quickly stood up to thank her.
"Thank you, Amelia. I owe you again."
"Please don't say that. The surgery wasn't complicated—any other lead surgeon could have done it just as well."
"No, that's not true. Adrian only trusts you. I wanted him to have the surgery earlier, but he refused. It was only when I said you would perform it that he agreed."
For young children, their willingness to cooperate during surgery is also important.
Adrian might not have cooperated with other doctors.
Amelia smiled.
"Then it seems Adrian really likes me."
Soon Frank returned.
He didn't mention what happened in the operating room, so as not to worry Anna.
Soon Adrian woke up.
He couldn't speak yet, but his eyes shone with clarity and alertness.
Only then did Amelia feel at ease enough to leave.
But she ran into Samuel at the hospital entrance.
"I heard from Frank that the surgery almost went wrong."
Amelia nodded. "Everything's fine now."
"Were you scared?" Samuel asked her.
Amelia answered honestly.
"Yes, but I was only scared after the fact. Adrian is innocent. If anything had really happened to him, I’d feel guilty forever—forget about our relationship with The Hagen family falling apart."
Samuel gripped her hand tightly.
"I'll help you find out who's really behind this."
This matter required Samuel's help. Since the Shadow Operations Division shouldn't get involved at this point, Amelia didn't refuse.
The two had dinner together.
Midway through dinner, Samuel received a phone call.
His brow furrowed as he said, "Got it," and hung up.
Amelia was about to ask when her own phone rang.
After hearing the caller, Amelia's expression softened.
"What good news happened?" Samuel asked her.
Amelia asked, "What happened on your end? Your brow looks so furrowed."
But Samuel didn't answer her question, only asking, "What good news was it really?"
Amelia shrugged. "You won't tell me, so I won't tell you either."
But Samuel stayed unusually quiet.
Amelia realized he didn't want to discuss it, so she didn't press. She said instead, "The Hays family has a son in Goldenvale's prison, and they’ve begun the process to get him released."
Samuel glanced at her.
"How is that good news?"
"Of course it is," Amelia said. "The person locked up is Leo, a total playboy. Releasing him will only cause trouble for The Hays family."
At the mention of that name, Samuel remembered.
"That guy really is a jerk. If he gets out, he'll make things more complicated."
Then he asked, "You've already figured out how to use this person?"
"Yes. But it's a secret for now."
"Then I look forward to your show."
After dinner, Samuel drove her back to The Richardson Manor.
As Amelia got out of the car, she noticed the brooch she'd given him pinned to Samuel's chest.
Somehow, her mood lifted even further.
Just after getting home, Maeve called.
She expected Maeve to ask about the doctor situation, but Maeve immediately said, "That task you asked me to do is done. Orval is in Aurevia Studio now."
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for your hard work."
"Between us, why talk about hard work? You saved my life."
"That's true."
"You really don't hold back at all."
"Between us, do we need to?"
Maeve was stumped. "Fine, I can't win against you verbally."
Amelia smiled and took the initiative to tell her about Kurt.
Maeve's voice grew cold.
"Using a child's life to advance his own son's career? Can he even be called a doctor?"
"He should already be fired by now. Not a doctor anymore."
"Good. Otherwise who would dare take their child to see him in the future?"
Just then, there was a knock on Amelia's bedroom door.
She said goodbye to Maeve, hung up, and called out toward the door, "Come in."
The door opened quickly, and Liam stepped inside.
He no longer needed walking aids, though his gait still showed some difficulty.
"Liam, what brings you here? Please sit."
"No need." Liam, knowing she was busy, got straight to the point. "There's a hacking competition I want to enter, but I don't know if it's convenient."
"Of course it's convenient," Amelia said. "However, you'd better enter under a different identity, not your real name."
Liam nodded.
"That's easy. Hacking competitions allow code names anyway."
Amelia was pleased.
Previously, even touching a computer had seemed an insurmountable challenge for Liam, but now he was actively proposing to enter a competition.
During this time, Liam hadn’t just improved physically—his mental strength had grown as well.
She asked Liam, "How prestigious is this hacking competition?"
"Very high," Liam said. "If you win, you can enter Phoenicia's talent pool and become a government computer technician."
"That's great," Amelia said, then added, "You haven't worked with computer technology in a while. If you don't win, treat it as experience and enter again the next time a competition like this arises."
Liam understood her underlying meaning, smiled, and said, "Amelia, don't worry. Even if I really lose, I won't be defeated. Nothing can defeat me now."
Amelia nodded firmly.
She was completely at ease now.
Liam, this eagle, had fully matured.
After Liam left, Amelia summoned Uma to discuss Julie's situation.
Uma said with confusion, "She hasn't contacted me at all lately. Has she noticed something?"
Amelia shook her head with certainty.
"Impossible."
Two of Julie's trusted aides had been "dealt with" by Samuel for harassing Maeve.
Additionally, York, the informant, had been constantly monitoring Julie.
There was no way Julie could have discovered that Uma had switched sides.
"Then why hasn't she contacted me?"
"Probably she's scared."
"Scared of what?"
Scared of Samuel, of course.
She'd already heard from Jeremy that Samuel had warned Julie about her subordinates harassing Maeve.
So she didn't dare make any moves for now.
However, this situation was far from reassuring for Amelia.
A viper is only truly safe once you lure it out and kill it; only then are those in the open truly safe.
If you let it stay hidden in its hole, you have to worry about it suddenly leaping out to strike.
But she didn't need to explain all this to Uma.
"Just wait. She'll contact you soon."
"Okay."
Soon the room was quiet again.
Amelia sat in her room thinking for a while.
Julie was only temporarily scared, not completely giving up.
If she had truly given up, she wouldn't still be in Goldenvale.
She would not have even hinted at Orval switching to Aurevia Studio.
Orval was one of Aurora Media's trump cards. For him to move to Aurevia Studio so easily, Julie must have been behind it.
Julie was just still hesitating about whether to take the risk.
But Amelia quickly thought of a good idea.
She called Max and had him arrange a celebration party—any excuse would suffice.
But both Orval and Lucas had to attend, along with some of Goldenvale's wealthy young heirs.