Chapter 166

Chapter 166

"Mr. White, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's just that Finnegan's condition is extremely critical, and the surgery is incredibly difficult. Even if I perform the operation myself, his chances of survival are only one percent."

"But don't lose hope just yet. A top medical expert once faced a similar situation before. He stayed calm under pressure and saved the patient's life. You might want to reach out to him."

"But..." Clifton hesitated.

Ethan immediately asked, "But what?"

"But that expert never takes calls from strangers. I've heard he knows Mr. Benjamin White personally, so you might want to ask Mr. Benjamin White to contact him."

"You mean Benjamin?" A flash of disappointment crossed Ethan's eyes, and his hand tightened at his side.

Whether it was skill or connections, he could never measure up to Benjamin.

But this was a matter of life and death. As much as Ethan hated it, he had no choice but to call Benjamin.

Ethan dialed Benjamin's number.

"It's late. What do you want?"

"Benjamin. Finnegan was in a car accident. He's barely holding on. Clifton says you know a medical expert who has performed a similar surgery before. I'm hoping you can help get in touch with him."

There was a long silence on the other end before Benjamin slowly said, "Send me the address."

"Benjamin." Ethan's tone turned serious. "Finnegan means a lot to Sophia. I hope whatever is going on between you two won't stop you from helping. Benjamin, I'm begging you."

"Before you say that, have you thought about where you stand?" Benjamin's voice was ice cold. "In other words, what gives you the right to say that to me?"

With that, Benjamin hung up. Ethan stood frozen for just a moment, then immediately sent over the hospital address.

Twenty minutes later, Benjamin arrived at the hospital, with a man in casual home clothes following close behind.

Ethan had just told Sophia about asking Benjamin to find the medical expert, so when she saw Benjamin walk in, she rushed over to meet him.

"Did you bring someone?"

Benjamin gestured to the man beside him. "This is Dr. Stefan Hensley. He has performed this type of surgery before. Let him go in and take a look first."

Sophia nodded quickly. "Yes, please, thank you so much."

Stefan gave a slight nod, then headed into the operating room with his assistant. The lights above the operating room lit up again, and everyone's hearts were in their throats, unable to settle.

Benjamin quietly sat down beside Sophia. He let out a heavy sigh, then spoke.

"Why did you suddenly take an interest in that chain-reaction car accident?"

Sophia's brow furrowed, caught off guard. "How do you know about that?"

Not only had she and Benjamin had no contact recently, but even when they did talk, it was only about the divorce. The accident had never come up.

How did Benjamin find out? And why was he bringing it up right now?

"Do you know something?" Sophia pressed, her voice urgent. "Are you also looking into that accident? Do you also think my father's death wasn't an accident?"

"Calm down." Benjamin's voice was quiet, and for the first time, he looked directly into Sophia's eyes with complete seriousness. "Stay out of this. If you keep digging, you won't just put yourself in danger — you'll bring down the entire Brown family."

At those words, Sophia's hands clenched tighter in her lap, and her voice came out strained. "What do you know? You must know something, or you wouldn't be saying this."

"Grandpa's accident today happened because someone wanted to stop me from looking into what happened back then. They went after him to send me a warning."

Benjamin said nothing more, but his silence was enough to confirm what Sophia already suspected.

Who could possibly have this kind of reach — enough to make even Benjamin go quiet?

Just as Sophia was about to press him further, Benjamin's phone rang. He glanced at Sophia, then stepped away to take the call in the corner.

Watching him sneak off like that, Sophia felt a cold laugh rise inside her.

It had to be Alice calling. Other than anything involving Alice, nothing else would make Benjamin act so secretive.

Soon Benjamin hung up and walked back over. He stopped a short distance from Sophia and stayed standing instead of sitting back down.

Sophia felt a shadow fall over her and instinctively looked up, meeting Benjamin's narrow, deep-set eyes.

For some reason, those eyes were filled with something complicated right now — emotions she couldn't quite read, yet they still made her heart clench.

"Something came up. I have to go."

"Then go. You don't need to tell me." Sophia's voice was flat. She had long since gotten used to Benjamin not being there at the moments that mattered.

Benjamin pressed his lips together, clearly wanting to say something more, but his phone buzzed again in his pocket like an alarm that wouldn't quit.

This time he didn't answer it. Instead, he held Sophia's gaze for a long moment, then turned and walked away.

Not long after Benjamin left, the surgery finally ended.

Finnegan was moved to the ICU. Perhaps from the toll of such a major operation, his face was ghostly pale, his whole body looking somehow smaller and hollowed out.

If not for the machines connected to him still beeping steadily, Sophia might have thought the person lying there had already gone still forever.

Sophia sat down outside the ICU. Ethan came over and handed her a bottle of warm water he had bought earlier.

"Have some water. Your grandpa is out of danger now. You can breathe."

Sophia took it and had a small sip. "Thank you."

"I didn't want to say anything while Saskia was here — didn't want to upset her. My people have tracked down some information on the vehicle involved, but it's not good news."

Ethan's tone was heavy, but Sophia looked as if she had already seen it coming. "If I'm right, the car was never registered. There's no way to trace the driver through the vehicle."

"How did you know?" Ethan looked surprised.

Sophia glanced at him, then let out a quiet sigh. "Ethan, I think of you as a friend."

Those simple words landed without warning, hitting Ethan hard.

His expression shifted in a way that was rare for him — almost flustered — and even his words came out a little stumbling. "Why are you — why are you saying that all of a sudden."

"I genuinely think of you as a friend. So please listen to me — don't have your people dig into this anymore. Stay out of it." Sophia's voice was earnest. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me."