Chapter 358:
Dr. Jennifer stepped forward, puffing up her chest. “I monitored the situation. It was a standard seizure.”
Cecelia turned her head. Her voice was weak but venomous. “You did nothing, Jennifer. You stood there like a statue while I choked.”
She reached out a trembling hand. Not to the medic. To Aurora.
Aurora took it. Her grip was firm. She helped Cecelia sit up.
Cecelia struggled to her feet. Her legs shook, but she refused the wheelchair the medic offered.
“Wait,” Cecelia commanded.
She turned to face Aurora. The entire garden watched.
Cecelia gripped her cane, steadied herself. She did not bow. She did not curtsy—such things were for royalty. Instead, she removed her white glove, exposing her aged, ring-adorned hand, and extended it fully.
“You have the hands of a healer,” Cecelia said, her voice carrying clearly in the night air. “And the spirit of a true Sterling. I was mistaken.”
It was an admission of defeat more powerful than any apology.
She straightened up, her eyes locking onto Tiffany in the shadows.
“I was a fool to listen to snakes,” Cecelia declared.
Tiffany shrank back, hiding behind a waiter. She knew the “snake” comment was a death sentence in this circle.
“Health is more important than pride, Lady Cecelia,” Aurora said softly, shaking the offered hand.
Cecelia pulled a ring from her finger—a massive emerald. She tried to press it into Aurora’s palm.
𝖀𝖕𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 g⍺𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝗲𝗅𝘀․𝗰𝗈𝗺
Aurora gently pushed it back. “No payment needed. Just… check your sources next time.”
The crowd applauded. This time, it wasn’t polite. It was genuine.
Cecelia allowed the paramedics to help her onto the stretcher. As she was wheeled away, she pointed a bony finger at the bushes where Tiffany was hiding.
“Get that liar out of my sight,” she rasped to the security team.
Tiffany froze as two guards began to move toward her.
Aurora watched calmly, her hands clasped in front of her. She had turned a dragon into a shield.
The party resumed, but the atmosphere had shifted. The guests looked at Aurora not with suspicion, but with a kind of terrified awe. She was the woman who broke arms, opened impossible boxes, and stopped seizures with needles.
Aurora stood near the buffet, sipping water.
Dr. Jennifer Evans cornered her. The doctor’s face was flushed with professional jealousy.
“You got lucky,” Jennifer hissed, leaning in close. “That was reckless. You could have hit a nerve.”
Aurora didn’t blink. “I stabilized her. You froze. The difference between a doctor and a spectator is action.”
“I am a board-certified neurologist!” Jennifer snapped. “I went to Harvard!”
“Then act like it,” Aurora retorted, her voice dropping to a chill. “Next time, worry less about my needles and more about the patient’s dignity.”
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