“Right! We offended Dr. Shadow because of you back then. There’s no taking back your word!”
“Tell us, when are you going to pay us? If you don’t, we’ll tear this clinic down!”
“Y-You!” Everly almost fainted due to anger.
A supplier with credibility shouldn’t act this way. They were acting no less different from loan sharks!
At first, they caused a racket to demand their stock back. Now that they couldn’t sell them off, they returned to her to demand payment!
Despite the fury, she did her best to talk some sense into them. “Listen, I’ve paid the deposit, and you don’t have to return the money. Think of it as borrowing the herbs with interest. You can take the herbs back, and I don’t have to make the final payment.”
The suppliers began discussing among themselves. As businessmen, they figured that it wasn’t that bad to earn the deposit without supplying anything. If they could retrieve the herbs, they could sell them to Dr. Shadow too!
Perfect!
Just when Everly thought that she managed to convince the suppliers, a nurse hurriedly ran out of the clinic. “Ms. Chime, this is bad! The storage is leaking, and the herbs are wet due to the rainstorm!”
Everly was crestfallen. “What?”
“The water in the storage wasn’t disposed of in time, so many of the herbs have rotten. We’re counting the stocks right now to see how many are intact,” the nurse continued.
Everly flopped onto the ground, her eyes losing their focus and her head buzzing.
“Ms. Chime, are you alright?” The nurse quickly held her and noticed something was off about her face. “What happened to your face, Ms. Chime?” The suppliers, who were about to agree to the final offer, instantly changed their minds. “We’re not taking the herbs back. They’re yours, and you must pay us accordingly.”
“We’ll give you another week. If you don’t pay us by then, we’ll see you in court!”
Then, the suppliers left.
Everly stayed on the ground as she had yet to register the situation. Passersby gave her strange looks. Some even took and uploaded photos of her online.
Forever Clinic had yet to open officially, but it was in a crisis of shutting down.
At that moment, the nurse received a call. After the call, she told Everly, “Ms. Chime, Mr. Chime asked you to return home immediately.”
A sparkle of hope brightened her eyes.
She could seek help from Philip! Now that she was part of the Chime family, they wouldn’t abandon her!
She quickly got up and returned to the Chime residence.
The moment she entered the house,
she saw Philip sitting on the couch with a solemn expression. He was holding a tablet, which was playing a video of the suppliers demanding their money from her.
People online were talking about how the Chimes dug their own
graves After disrupting the how
market, their company was on the brink of going bankrupt!
Philip requested Everly’s audience because he wanted to stop the company’s stock price from falling. It hadn’t been long since their stock price started performing welDagain, yet Everly ruined everything.
“Did I accept you as one of the family to cause more trouble for us?” He slammed the tablet onto the table.
Frightened, she hung her head low. She felt wronged. If they hadn’t agreed to her plan, she wouldn’t have bought off the herbs so boldly.
Still, she didn’t say her thoughts aloud. Instead, she begged for mercy, “Dad, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Could you—”
“Don’t call me Dad!” he interrupted before she could finish. “Don’t think of stepping into this house until you settle this matter!”
He headed to the study and slammed the door shut angrily.
Obviously, he wouldn’t help her.
And that wasn’t it. He was even going to kick her out of the Chime family if she couldn’t resolve this!
She sat on the floor in despair, tears of regret trickling down her cheeks.
Right then, her phone rang. It was an unknown number. She answered the call.
“Everly? I heard that you’re in trouble. Do you need money?” It was a man.