Chapter 207 Stella Sutton Messes with the Wrong Person

Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Stella Sutton Messes with the Wrong Person

Perhaps due to the attention garnered by the recent talk of her "staying the night," almost everyone at the table focused on Julian Sterling when he answered his phone.

As a result, Clara Quinn’s voice was clearly audible.

Stella Sutton was sitting the closest. The sweet smile lingering on her lips vanished in an instant. She stood up in disbelief. "There must be some mistake, right?"

After all, this was a "medical malpractice" incident, and her smart medical system had just launched. If something went wrong during this critical period, wouldn’t it ruin her completely?!

Madam Sterling, sitting on the other side of Julian, turned cold almost instantly. "What does she mean? Ask her to clarify."

She gave the order, demanding Julian lay everything out so she knew exactly what was going on.

Unsure of the situation, Sophie Winslow glanced over in confusion.

Knowing how domineering Madam Sterling was, Julian simply turned on the speakerphone. His tone remained steady. "Give me the details."

Clara reported with utmost seriousness, "A little past five this afternoon, Mercywell finished a gallbladder removal surgery, but half an hour post-op, the patient died from a perforated bowel... Mercywell tried to suppress the news, but since you asked me to keep a close eye on Miss Sutton’s project and be prepared, I monitored them closely and caught wind of it."

Stella’s face turned pale. Her machine had been in the operating room. How could it have caused a fatal accident?

"Isn’t that the doctor’s fault?" she asked, trying desperately to steady herself.

"Mercywell is claiming that Miss Sutton’s surgical assistant robot was inaccurate and caused an operational error, which led to the patient’s perforated bowel..." Clara replied.

Stella’s breathing hitched, her expression stunned.

Even Sophie couldn’t help but frown. This was a matter of life and death. How could such a massive accident occur during what was essentially a minimally invasive surgery? How innocent were the patient and their family? Moreover, the hospital where the accident took place was Mercywell—the very hospital Stella had snatched away from her company, Helios.

"You’ve truly opened my eyes," Madam Sterling said, slamming her hand on the table. Her previously somewhat warm expression had lost all its temperature.

The Sterling Family had given Stella face today, yet they never expected this was how she would repay them. She had only just started, and she was already on the verge of becoming an absolute pariah in the industry, ruining her reputation completely!

Seeing Madam Sterling’s anger, Stella bit her lip and said, "I’m sorry. Perhaps there’s a misunderstanding. I will get to the bottom of this and handle it."

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Julian lowered his eyes to look at his phone screen, his voice as steady as ever. "Keep a close eye on Mercywell’s movements."

"Understood, Mr. Sterling."

Sophie knew that Julian would inevitably help Stella deal with this mess. But a human life was involved. This was no easy matter.

In a split second, the dynamic in the massive dining room drastically shifted.

Barbara Coleman, who was already in a foul mood, seized the opportunity and mercilessly scolded, "You useless thing! If you had put all that effort you spend seducing men into your career, you’d be better off than you are now. Let’s see how you clean up this mess!"

The collateral relatives of the Sterling Family at the two adjacent tables also began to whisper among themselves, making Stella’s face turn incredibly ugly.

Amidst her shock, Sophie quickly realized one thing. Now that something had gone wrong on Stella’s end, would Madam Sterling try to find a way to keep her trapped in the Sterling Family again? Would her divorce certificate be delayed once more?

Sophie quietly slipped out of the chaotic dining room.

Without looking back, she sprinted toward Madam Sterling’s courtyard. Taking advantage of the uproar in the front, she used the window of time when Julian was busy dealing with Stella’s mess and no one was paying attention to her to sprint all the way to the older woman’s quarters. If they wouldn’t give it to her, if worst came to worst, she would just find it herself.

But Sophie hadn’t expected to run into the old butler who served Madam Sterling right as she pushed open the courtyard door, panting from her jog.

The old butler looked kind and genial, but his eyes glinted sharply. "Young Madam? What brings you here?"

In that moment, a wave of helplessness washed over Sophie. She knew her plan had failed. The old butler would never allow her inside to search.

"It’s nothing. Something happened up front, so I’m just taking a stroll by myself."

The old butler nodded and made a gesture of invitation. "Then I’ll have someone escort you back to your and Young Master Julian’s courtyard in a moment."

"There’s no need to go through the trouble," Sophie said. Pressing her lips together, she had no choice but to walk away, step by step.

The Sterling Family was a cannibalistic den; it really wasn’t going to be that easy to deal with. Perhaps there had been too much going on today, and all of it was aggravating. Sophie felt a bit frustrated, but it was clear that the Sterling Family wouldn’t be having a good time tonight either. They had finally given Stella a bit of face, and the other party had failed to live up to expectations.

Sophie didn’t return to the dining room. Everything was going to be thrown into chaos tonight, and she didn’t need to join in the commotion. Without even saying goodbye to Julian, she quietly drove away.

Sophie no longer cared whether Stella stayed the night, nor did she care if Stella went back to sleep in her and Julian’s courtyard. She was much more interested in the details of the medical malpractice incident. However, Mercywell’s methods were heavy-handed, and their background was powerful. Surprisingly, the matter hadn’t blown up, and everything seemed calm on the surface.

The next day.

Sophie arrived at Helios and bumped right into Peter Preston. He grabbed her hand and headed straight for the office. "Stella’s project just blew up, did you—"

"I know."

Peter was surprised. "You found out that fast?"

Because of Mercywell’s powerful backing, the incident had initially been completely suppressed. But for some unknown reason, it had suddenly exploded on a massive scale just ten minutes ago. It could no longer be covered up. Even he had only just heard about it from the upper management at Calyx.

Sophie didn’t mention everything that had happened at the Sterling Family home last night. She only asked, "What exactly is the situation?"

Only then did Peter explain, "The doctor who performed the surgery yesterday is quite young, just in his early thirties. But his father and his background..." He lowered his voice and mentioned a name.

Sophie was astonished. "He has that kind of backing?"

No wonder they had been able to keep it so tightly under wraps. That was the nature of power.

Peter shrugged. "And it was only after this incident that I heard from Calyx’s upper management that this doctor just came down here to pad his resume. What’s more, three months ago, he was actually involved in another medical malpractice incident. You could already call him a repeat offender. Not a single word leaked about that one. If Calyx wasn’t an industry leader, they really wouldn’t have known a thing."

Yet this time, even with that person’s background, they actually failed to suppress it.

"Exactly because they couldn’t suppress it, the cause of the accident was naturally pinned on Stella’s surgical assistant robot, and the consequences will naturally be borne by her as well."

Sophie understood. It wasn’t necessarily that there was a major problem with the machine, but rather that the lead surgeon had that kind of background. So, even if Stella was wrongfully accused, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Then Stella has really hit a brick wall this time," Sophie said, her brows furrowing slightly. "If this matter isn’t resolved, Stella’s project will lose everything. No one in the industry will ever use it again. She’ll also have a life on her personal record. Her path forward won’t be an easy one."

This was far worse than the previous patent-poaching incident.

At the same time, a sudden thought struck Sophie. Finn Lockwood had seemingly invested quite a lot in it, hadn’t he?