Chapter 540
Chapter 540:
The doctor looked at the two of them with genuine sympathy, then lowered his voice and chose his next words with care.
“I understand how desperate this is. But hospital protocols allow for no exceptions.” He paused. “Unless someone with connections to the board can intervene to release a bed. There are no other avenues p>
Isolde’s heart dropped.
Connections. Again.
From securing a specialist the night before to now finding a private ward — every single obstacle came down to the same thing.
S𝘁o𝗿𝗂𝘦ѕ 𝘆𝘰𝘂 𝘸оո’𝘁 р𝗎t 𝘥𝘰w𝘯 𝗈𝘯 𝘨a𝘭novе𝘭𝘀.с𝗈𝗺
She thought of Arland. Her finger hovered over his contact, then fell away. He had left for a business trip abroad three days ago — thousands of miles away, a massive time difference, and no realistic way to intervene in a crisis unfolding by the hour.
Ellyn watched her daughter’s stillness and gripped her hand.
“Call Grayson, Isolde.” Her voice held the last thin thread of hope. “He is a major donor to this hospital. He sits on the board. One word from him, and a VIP bed will be arranged without question p>
Isolde went cold from her fingertips inward.
Call Grayson. After everything that had happened at the Lancaster estate the day before. After the confrontation, the collapse, the doors she had pulled shut behind her.
“Mom, it isn’t just him — it’s Belle too. If I go to him for this, she will make it unbearable p>
Ellyn’s eyes flooded with tears. She turned toward the sealed ICU doors and cried out, her voice raw and stripped of everything but grief.
“Is your pride worth more than your uncle’s life? He is my only brother p>
The words hit Isolde like a hammer to the chest. She looked at her mother’s aged, tear-ravaged face, and the last of her resistance gave way entirely. In the face of a life, pride was worth nothing at all.
She closed her eyes. Took a long, unsteady breath. When she opened them again, her expression held a quiet, forced resignation that cost her something real. Her fingers trembled as she found his name in her contacts and pressed call.
The phone rang. And rang. And was not answered.
Grayson was caught in his own crisis. Beatrice’s condition had taken a sudden turn through the night, compounded by internal upheaval at the group. His phone had been in his assistant’s hands for hours, and he had not seen a single notification.
Isolde called three times without stopping. No answer on the first two. The third was cut off mid-ring — she had no way of knowing whether it was an accident or deliberate. In that moment, something inside her went completely cold. Whatever hope had driven her to dial his number dissolved entirely.
She put her phone away slowly, pressed her fists together, and let the vulnerability drain from her eyes, replaced by something harder and quieter.
“I won’t beg him. I’ll find another way p>