Chapter 625

"It's her!" Bianca Semona pointed at Vivian Laurent on stage, her shrill voice cutting through the air. "She operated on my father last week, and now he's dead. And my mother too—all because of her!"

The auditorium erupted in murmurs.

"She even hired internet trolls to smear me online," Bianca raged hysterically. "She's made my life hell. Now I'm all alone. Do you all think I'm an easy target?"

Medical staff exchanged uneasy glances. Whispers spread through the crowd.

"There was an official statement," a bespectacled female doctor spoke up. "Both the hospital and police confirmed it was an accident. Dr. Laurent isn't responsible."

A male doctor frowned. "If every grieving relative behaved like this, how could any hospital function? Disrupting an academic lecture is beyond unreasonable."

"Exactly!" another voice chimed in. "Do you have any idea how many lives Dr. Laurent has saved? By causing this scene, you're preventing her from treating other patients. Who's responsible for that?"

Bianca's face turned ashen. She'd expected sympathy as an "orphan," but everyone sided with Vivian.

Her nails dug crescent moons into her palms.

"You're all bullying me!" she shrieked suddenly, clawing at her own hair. "The whole world is against me!"

Vivian descended the podium with calm steps.

"No one's bullying you," she said softly, yet her voice silenced the room. "You chose to make this scene."

Tears streaked Bianca's makeup.

"After your mother's suicide," Vivian met her gaze unflurriedly, "did you even visit the morgue? All this time you've spent harassing me, you couldn't be bothered to see your own mother one last time."

The words struck like daggers.

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"Call security."

"How disturbing."

"She should be—"

Bianca shoved through the crowd. "Get away from me! I'm leaving!"

She stumbled into the hallway and collapsed against the wall.

The leaden sky seemed to press down on her.

She bit her lip until copper filled her mouth. Once the pampered Semona heiress, now she was nothing but a stray.

Hatred churned in her chest like a living thing.