The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 177

Terrence, his face twisted into a fierce scowl, vowed to uncover the truth.

It was glaringly obvious that he was completely in the dark regarding his family's ruthless maneuvers.

"If I find out you're just here to stir up trouble and disrespect Beatrice's memory..."

With a sudden, violent swing, the katana slashed through the air, slicing a massive floral tribute clean in half.

I nodded, keeping my tone perfectly sincere. "Investigate all you want, Mr. Thorne. But from what I've heard, the Thorne family is dispatching a top-tier legal team to Capital General this afternoon. You'll need to move fast."

Terrence shot me a dark look before abruptly turning his back. "Show them out."

Walking out of the estate, my stomach was still tied in knots. Leon, however, was in exceptionally high spirits. "I had no idea you were such a badass under pressure, Dr. Hayes. A true force of nature."

I stared at the thumbs-up he flashed me, my mind still heavily anchored to Beatrice's tragedy. "I just don't know what Terrence will choose to do."

"We laid the facts on the table. Now we see exactly how much Beatrice truly meant to him."

He was right. Love was a beautiful concept, but it rarely survived the brutal trials of reality.

I managed to rush back to the department with barely two minutes to spare.

Before I could even sit down at my desk, I noticed a group of colleagues huddled around the notice board, whispering furiously. I vaguely caught my own name in the crossfire.

Curious, I walked over. Glancing up, I saw the self-reflection essay I had handed to Dr. Logan last night pinned directly to the board.

"She just started her internship and she's already doing whatever she wants. No wonder Dr. Logan lost his temper."

So Vivian didn't just host Zoey at the house—she gave her a gift as well?

"You shouldn't say things like that. Maybe Mrs. Sterling just appreciated how genuinely worried I was about Ferris."

"Oh, please! You stood outside the Sterling corporate building in the freezing cold for hours just to get in touch with her!" Zelda gushed enthusiastically. "Any mother-in-law would be touched by that! Plus, you were willing to risk your own career for him. If I were Mrs. Sterling, I'd be forcing him to marry you tomorrow."

"Marry? Zelda, stop making things up!" Zoey replied, her voice laced with coy shyness. "You can't just spread rumors like that. Ferris would be upset if he heard."

"Come on, you two are practically together anyway," Zelda scoffed playfully. "Besides, if Dr. Sterling didn't secretly approve of you, why would his mother give you something so priceless the very first time you met?"

"Alright, alright, stop teasing me. Ferris is still dealing with this crisis, and I refuse to cause him any more trouble."