The Price of Pride

I was about to argue back when Jaclyn suddenly grabbed me and pulled me aside. She lowered her voice so only I could hear, her tone cold and threatening.

"I'll deal with you later for falsely reporting Rupert to the police! But if you dare say another word of nonsense right now, your parents won't get any treatment at my hospital!"

I did not care about her threats. As long as she saw who was actually in the car, I was sure she would not ignore them.

Just then, another car suddenly pulled into the hospital.

Jaclyn answered a phone call, and her expression immediately changed. She rushed to the car and anxiously ordered the medical staff to lift Rupert onto a stretcher.

"Get Rupert to the ER right now! He was cut on the neck earlier! What if he gets tetanus?!"

Rupert shot me a smug look, then pretended to say weakly, "Ms. Prescott, I know you're worried about me, but I can't break the hospital's rules. I should just wait in line like everyone else."

Jaclyn froze for a moment. As if realizing something, she glanced at me before saying, "How can Ivan even compare to you?! He's my family, so I can't show favoritism. But he injured you earlier, and as his wife, I should make it up to you, so this is not cutting the line, this is completely justified!"

Everything happened so fast that before I could react, the stretcher had wheeled Rupert into the emergency room.

In the meantime, the police left.

Furious, I grabbed Jaclyn's arm. "Jaclyn! Do you have any conscience at all?! Those people in the car are your parents! You won't save your own parents, but you're saving the person who hurt them. Are you even human?!"

Yet, Jaclyn simply shoved me to the ground and spat, "Ivan, those are your parents, not mine. And they just have indigestion. What's there to save?! I told you when we got married not to think that marrying me meant you could use the Prescott family resources however you wanted.

"Luckily, Rupert's been keeping an eye on you all these years. Otherwise, you'd even try to pull strings for something as simple as waiting in line at a hospital. As expected, someone from the countryside has such limited awareness!"

With that, she ignored me lying on the ground and followed Rupert directly into the ER.

A chill spread through my entire body. With no other choice, I tried to call the police again, but after fumbling for my phone, I realized it was gone.

It suddenly hit me that Jaclyn must have taken it while she was talking to me earlier.

I was about to ask other patients waiting nearby if I could borrow their phones, but a circle of tall security guards surrounded me.

The lead guard said, "Ms. Prescott just instructed us not to let you cut the line, not to let you leave, and not to let you file another false police report. Just stay here and wait for your turn!"

With all hope slipping away, I leaned weakly against the hospital wall and could only accept reality.

However, Leona's breathing was getting weaker, and Richard was in no better condition.

After what felt like forever, it was finally my turn. I hurriedly asked the medical staff to move Richard and Leona onto stretchers, but at that moment, the doctor stopped me.

He explained, "Our hospital has a policy. The family must make a payment first before the patient can receive treatment, so Mr. Shaw, please go pay 2000 dollars first."

I froze, then said urgently, "Lives are at stake! Treat them first! I'll get the money together right away!"