hapter 200 

Irene never got the truth from seph, but someone else filled in the blanks the very next day. 

Morning light flooded Irene’s office. She’d barely settled into her chair when the door flew open with a bang. 

Katherine burst in like a hurricane, face flushed and eyes blazing. She tossed her bag onto the nearest chair and slapped both palms on Irene’s desk: 

“You won’t believe the shit show that went down yesterday,” she announced, not bothering with a hello. 

Irene glanced up from her patient files. “What happened?” 

“Your mom Sterling’s precious Rose–hit the deck right after you left.” Katherine’s lips curled with undisguised satisfaction. “Collapsed like a house of cards. They rushed her to emergency. Heart problems, apparently.” 

Irene’s hands froze mid–motion. Everything clicked–her grandfather’s strange behavior last night, the hospital announcement she’d heard during their call, his exhaustion when he’d finally come home 

“And get this,” Katherine continued, pacing like a caged tiger, “they’re pinning it on you! I swear, that family has Olympic–level skills in blame–shifting.” 

She dropped into a chair. “They’re saying you stressed her into a heart attack. I mean, who does that? Talk about next–level taxic.” 

Katherine leaned forward. “Honestly? Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. What goes around finally came around.” 

Irene stayed quiet, thoughts spinning. Her grandfather hadn’t breathed a word–not about Rose’s collapse, not about the Sterling drama erupting at the hospital. He’d shouldered it alone instead of dumping it on her after her hellish day. 

A wave of affection washed over her. Even in his seventies, Joseph was still her shield. 

Katherine’s expression softened. “Hey.” She tapped Irene’s hand. “You with me?” 

Irene nodded. “Yeah. Just… processing.” 

“Don’t waste brain cells on those people.” Katherine squeezed her wrist. “They’re not worth the mental real estate.” 

While Katherine vented her frustrations in Irene’s office, a very different scene unfolded in another wing of the hospital. 

The cardiac monitor beeped in steady rhythm, a mechanical counterpoint to the emotional chaos. Rose reclined against pillows, her face pale beneath hastily applied blush. An IV snaked from her arm to a hanging bag of fluids. 

Brandon slouched in the corner chair, injured leg propped up. Nathan hovered by the window, periodically checking his watch. John paced near the door, phone in hand despite the family crisis unfolding. 

Anna perched at Rose’s bedside, nervously smoothing blankets, 

“This is all Irene’s fault, Rose hissed, voice weak but venom intact. m lying here because of that ungra dramatically at her chest. “If I’d known she’d cause this much trouble, I should’ve made her disappear yea. 

bitch. She clutched 

go.” 

Her fingers twisted in the bedsheets. “She’s killing me–her own mother! Why doesn’t God strike her down instead? Where’s the justice?” 

Brandon’s jaw flexed. “The doctors said your heart condition comes from underlying health issues.” He shifted in his seat, wincing as he adjusted his leg. “It has nothing to do with Irene.” 

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Chapter 200 

He leaned forward, frustration etched across his face. “Can you, for once, not make everything about her? Just once?” 

Rose’s face contorted with rage. “Even now–with me at death’s door you’re defending her?” Her voice rose shakily, “What kind of son are you?” 

She clawed at the IV in her arm. “I might as well end it all! My own son wants me dead!” 

Anna lunged forward, grabbing Rose’s hands. “Mom, stop! Please calm down.” 

She shot Brandon a venomous look. “For God’s sake, Brandon, enough! Can’t you see she’s falling apart?” 

John stepped between them, hand raised. “That’s enough This is your mother. If something happens to her now, it’s on you.” 

Brandon sank back, a muscle working in his jaw. The same old dance Rose lashed out, the family enabled her, and then everyone acted shocked when she became increasingly unstable. Round and round they went. 

The tense family standoff was interrupted as the door swung open. Matthew strode in, clipboard in hand. His eyes took in the scene with clinical detachment. 

Dr. Hayes,“Anna rushed forward, instantly switching to a honeyed tone. “How’s my mother doing? What did the tests show?” 

Matthew glanced at his clipboard. “Mrs. Sterling needs absolute calm Stress and anger are really bad for her heart right now.” 

He flipped a page, expression unreadable. “I won’t sugarcoat this. Her situation is critical. She needs a new heart.” 

Nathan stepped closer, voice dropping to business mode. “What’s the timeline? Her chances?” 

Matthew met his gaze directly. “Given how sick she is and her overall health, if we do the surgery, we’re looking at roughly thirty percent chance of success.” 

The words landed like stones in still water. No one spoke. 

Anna grabbed Matthew’s arm, desperation bleeding through her perfect façade. “There must be something you can do. Please, I’m begging you.” 

Behind her pleading eyes lurked naked self–interest–if Rose died, Anna’s cushy life would crumble. Back to the Claire household, back to the fast–food employee lifestyle she’d escaped. 

Nathan cleared his throat. “Money isn’t an issue, Dr. Hayes. Name your price. Your reputation precedes you–surely there are options 

we haven’t considered.” 

Matthew’s expression remained carved from stone. “That thirty percent assumes I perform the surgery personally. That’s best case 

with me at the helm.” 

Rose, who’d been soaking up every word, suddenly perked up. 

“What about Dr. Joy?” Her voice cracked with desperation. “She works here too, right? I heard she’s brilliant–she saved my son’s leg when everyone else said it was hopeless. Her eyes widened. Could she do my surgery instead?” 

Something flickered across Matthew’s face–a coldness that hadn’t been there before. 

“If Dr. Joy took your case,” he said carefully, we could potentially hit seventy percent success.” 

He paused, letting the number sink in. “But given who you are, I doubt she’d touch it with a ten–foot pole.” 

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14:13 Sun, May 

Chapter 200 

Rose’s brow furrowed. ‘What..what’s that supposed to mean?” 

Matthew’s gaze swept across the Sterling family. He’d heard their conversation through the boot–Rose’s torbe forade abrest her own daughter still ringing in his ear 

“Regarding Dr. Joy, I can’t say more, he replied, voice dropping. But here’s something I’ve wanted to say for a while: Karma isn’t missing, just patient. Sometimes the bill comes due when you least expect it.” 

Without another word, he turned and walked out, leaving stunned silence in his wake. 

The Sterling family exchanged bewildered glances. Why would Dr. Jo refuse to operate on Rose? What connection could possibly exist between the brilliant surgeon and their family? 

Only Brandon and Henry traded knowing looks across the room. The pieces were falling into place for them both. 

Henry felt a twisted knot of emotions–sympathy for Rose’s condition wrestling with savage satisfaction at the irony. Just as Matthew had said: karma wasn’t absent, just patient. After years of treating Irene like garbage, the Sterling family now desperately needed her help to save the very woman who had crushed her most brutally. 

The universe, it seemed, had one hell of a sense of humor. 

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