Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 293

"Then you should probably work on your stamina," Juniper teased, her clear eyes fixed thoughtfully on him.

"Don't worry," Shanley leaned in, his thumb gently brushing her cheek, his voice laced with amusement. "I'll work hard. I won't let you down."

“And I certainly won't give any other pretty boys a chance”, he thought. “It's a shame the legal age for marriage in this country is twenty. Otherwise, I'd marry her right now and put an end to all this worrying.”

...

The next morning, Shanley woke a groggy Juniper. After she got ready and had breakfast, he drove her to the Eclara High School exam center himself. They arrived with less than half an hour before the exam started.

Just as she was about to get out of the car, Juniper's phone rang. It was the hospital.

"Which hospital?" she asked into the phone. After hanging up, her face drained of all color. She turned to Shanley, her body trembling slightly. "Saskia collapsed."

Janet had already gone into the classroom and turned off her phone. The hospital couldn't reach her, so they had called the secondary emergency contact.

"The doctor said... it's a cerebral hemorrhage. It's critical."

"Stay calm," Shanley said, taking her hand. He had rarely seen her look so frightened. He comforted her softly, then told the driver, "Felton, go to the city hospital. Now."

He knew that between her family and an exam, she would always choose family.

Juniper took a deep breath and glanced at him, her eyes wavering slightly. He understood her.

Felton drove like a man possessed, turning a thirty-minute trip into fifteen. Before the car even came to a complete stop, Juniper pushed the door open and sprinted towards the emergency room.

"Saskia Payne has significant bleeding in her brain. At this point, there's not much more we can do," the doctor said, holding out a critical condition notice and looking at Juniper with pity. "It's likely..."

"I want to see her," Juniper said to Shanley, ignoring the notice and forcing herself to stay calm, though her face was pale.

"I'll handle it," Shanley said, patting her head and signaling for Felton to take over.

A minute later, the doctor's expression changed, his eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at the man beside him. Shanley Schwartz? The top mogul of the financial elite was at their hospital? He was not someone to be crossed.

"Ms. Payne, this way, please," the doctor said, quickly handing Juniper a set of scrubs and a mask to enter the operating room. But what's a young girl like her going to do in there? It's not like she could magically come up with a solution.