Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 277

Emma sat outside the operating room when Director Courtney arrived personally to check on the situation.

"Rest assured, Ms. Lockwood, our surgeons are highly skilled. The patient will be fine."

Emma nodded.

"You still haven't reached her mother?" Carter asked, sitting beside Emma to keep her company.

Emma shook her head. "No. Her mother said she was moving and didn't have time to come."

"I'll have Jeff arrange for around-the-clock nurses. You need to come back and rest."

Carter smoothly took her hand, but Emma didn't budge.

"She got hurt because of me. I need to stay until the surgery is over."

Even though she knew the attacker wouldn't have actually managed to hurt her, Phoebe's selfless, desperate leap had struck a chord. It felt as though the girl who had always stood by her side during their teenage years had briefly returned.

"Are you thinking about forgiving her?" Carter asked softly.

Emma looked at him, a trace of bewilderment in her eyes. "I don't know."

The first seventeen years of her life had been picture-perfect, and the following six, though grueling, had eventually rewarded her with success.

Yet neither of those vastly different lives had taught her how to process complex emotional trauma normally.

Emma truly didn't know what to do.

"Then think about the time you cared for her the most, and the time you resented her the most."

Carter guided her patiently, and Emma fell into deep thought.

The emotions of their youth were pure and fiercely burning—simple, yet unshakable.

Suddenly, clarity hit Emma. The answer was already in her heart.

But she still looked at Carter, asking, "If it were you, would you forgive her?"

"I'd keep her as a casual friend," Carter said after a moment. "But if it were Hayden, no matter what he did, I'd assume he had a good reason."

Emma let out a soft laugh. That was exactly what she had just realized.

If a bond was truly unbreakable, how could a simple misunderstanding turn them into bitter enemies the moment they reunited?

It simply meant her friendship with Phoebe was never as rock-solid as she thought.

"So, just like you said—a casual friend."

With that, Emma turned toward Carter, reaching out to gently rub his cheek. "Thank you."

Phoebe stared blankly, not grasping what she meant.

Emma clarified, "Our friendship ended six years ago. It won't go any further than that."

Her bond with Phoebe couldn't hold a candle to the trust between Carter and his childhood friend Hayden. After she returned to the country, Phoebe had never tried to clear the air about the past. Instead, she had unilaterally resented her, hated her, and even tried to ruin her.

But now that Emma had processed it all, none of that mattered anymore.

As Carter said, being casual friends was perfectly fine.

"Emma..."

Tears welled in Phoebe's eyes. Thinking back on everything she had done recently, an immense wave of regret washed over her.

Emma had suffered so much because of her. A few simple apologies could never make up for it.

Meanwhile, Miriam Sterling, who had used moving as an excuse to avoid the hospital, was currently on the phone with Gillian.

"Are you certain that if I do this, Phoebe will get into that design firm?"

Gillian's lips curled. Beneath her gentle tone was a gaze brimming with vicious calculation.

"Don't worry, Miriam. It's a guarantee."