Chapter 84
If Sharon hadn’t come prepared, she never would have dared to face him alone, let alone try to strike a deal.
Sharon stopped walking. Her face was unreadable as she looked at Carter’s tall, imposing figure ahead. Her voice, when she spoke, was cool and detached.
“If you’re willing to release Wendy, I’ll give you the medicine your mother needs.”
Carter halted in his tracks.
He turned sharply. His eyes, sharp and glacial, cut through the air like frost.
“So you really do have the medicine.”
Sharon didn’t flinch at his tone. “You’ve always been a filial son. I can’t imagine you’d just stand by and watch your mother
suffer.”
“You’ve really learned how to negotiate.”
Sharon offered a faint smile. “When it’s about feelings, there are rules for that. When it’s about bargaining, well-those have their own rules. Didn’t you make the same choice, Mr. Biggs? You didn’t spare Wendy just because she’s my friend, did you? I’m only returning the favor now-learning from your example. What’s so wrong about that?”
Human nature is inherently hypocritical.
If the punch doesn’t land on your own body, you’ll never feel the pain.
When he threw her into one humiliation after another for Kelly’s sake, did it ever occur to him what she was feeling?
And now, when the tables are turned, he’s the one who can’t take it?
Wasn’t Kelly the one who liked making him choose between two people?
Fine. Let him choose now.
Let’s see what matters more to him-his mother’s wellbeing or defending his precious Kelly.
Carter stared at her for a long time.
Sharon looked back at him with calm, steady eyes. There wasn’t even a flicker of hesitation in her gaze.
At last, he looked away. Disappointment flickered across his face like a shadow he didn’t bother hiding.
But Sharon had long since stopped expecting anything from him. Whatever he thought of her, he could think it. She had no
interest in explaining herself any further.
“Fine,” Carter said quietly. “Bring me the medicine. I’ll let Wendy go.
Sharon gave a small nod. “Alright.”
The next morning, Sharon arrived early at a small alternative medicine shop.
The shop was tucked deep inside a narrow alley, hard to find and easy to miss. Even the signboard had faded to a dull gray, the whole place old and worn.
As soon as she stepped inside, the rich, earthy smell of herbs enveloped her.
An elderly man with silver hair was hunched over a counter, wearing reading glasses. He sniffed at a bundle of dried herbs in his
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hand, then bowed his head and jotted something down in a worn notebook.
Sharon stepped closer and spoke softly. “Mr. Malcolm.”
Uriah Malcolm didn’t even look up. “Back for more medicine? Didn’t I tell you last time-that was the last time I’d give you anything?”
“I was hoping to ask for a favor…” she began.
He cut her off without hesitation.
“No. I’m not helping. Get going, get going.”
Uriah was seventy this year, a notoriously temperamental doctor of alternative medicine.
But he was also brilliant. When Sharon found out that Madeline had long suffered from chronic headaches, she had gone to great lengths to track Uriah down. She’d hoped earning Madeline’s favor might win her a sliver of acceptance.
But on her very first visit, before she’d even explained why she’d come, Uriah had thrown her out.
His reason?
He didn’t like her face.
Sharon had dealt with all kinds of strange people-but never a doctor like him.
She thought maybe he’d just been in a bad mood that day. So she went again the next day.
And again, he threw her out.
She kept going for an entire week before he finally gave her more than a glance.
“I only sell medicine to the poor,” he said. “You look like a well-off young lady. With your background, you could get the best doctors money can buy. Why bother with an old man like me?”
Sharon replied, “They say you can cure even the toughest cases. Your skill isn’t something ordinary doctors can match.”
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