Chapter 217 I Don’t Lack Warmth, No Need to Send Any

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: I Don’t Lack Warmth, No Need to Send Any

That crisp slap left Sophie Winslow’s palm numb and trembling.

Consumed by blinding fury, she no longer cared about the consequences. This was a human life! Stella Sutton’s method was completely wrong for the condition, yet she refused to let Sophie administer emergency treatment. How was that any different from murder?

Everyone present today was from the medical field, but they belonged to various departments. Most were surgeons or university professors focused on academic research, making practitioners of traditional medicine exceedingly rare.

In other words, few could properly treat this specific condition on the spot. Only she could use traditional diagnostic methods to administer the most critical emergency treatment without relying on medical equipment.

The golden hour was absolutely crucial. Anyone who studied medicine knew this.

Stella froze, raising a hand to touch her painfully numb cheek. The people around them all turned to look, their expressions unreadable.

Had she actually just been slapped by Sophie in public? In front of nearly a hundred people? She was utterly stunned. How dare Sophie lay a hand on her?

"Let her try."

Julian Sterling was also present. He quietly observed Sophie’s visibly enraged expression. She was usually sharp-tongued, but she rarely ever displayed genuine anger.

Stella felt the gazes boring into her from all directions. The humiliation made her cheeks burn even hotter. A thick rage built up in her chest. Glaring at Sophie with deep resentment, she mocked her silently and stepped aside.

She wanted to see just how Sophie was going to put on a show!

When she first heard that Winnie Hayes had fainted, she had been shocked. But instinctively recalling her recent negative press and her need to establish a strong relationship with the York family, she had rushed over without hesitation. Finn Lockwood was currently being punished by his grandfather, and there was no telling when the old man would find out she hadn’t actually been the one to save him. She had to secure the York family as her trump card, which meant using Winnie to boost her own future prospects.

She never expected Sophie to be so greedy as to openly steal her spotlight!

Sophie had no time to care about Stella’s thoughts. Back when she practiced medicine incognito under Hector Caldwell, she had encountered this exact condition and had the experience to handle it. With just one glance, she identified the crux of Chairman Hayes’s problem.

Severe physical exhaustion, combined with staying up all night, had triggered a critical stroke within her internal organs.

Moving swiftly but without panic, she pulled out the acupuncture needles she always carried in her bag, along with the bottle of pills she had grabbed before leaving home.

Evan York’s face was deathly pale. He stared intently at Sophie and asked, "Are you sure you can do this?"

Without even looking up, Sophie precisely inserted a needle. "If anything goes wrong, I’m at your disposal."

She was incredibly decisive and straightforward. Her crisp, cool voice was enough to shake anyone to their core. Evan froze, staring fixedly at her serious, beautiful face.

Meanwhile, the scene was in total chaos. Many people were frantically urging the fully-equipped ambulance to hurry.

Julian half-crouched beside them. He took a deep look at Sophie’s sweat-drenched face before saying to Evan, "We’re over three kilometers away from the affiliated hospital, and it’ll take the campus medical staff at least ten minutes to get here. Let her try first."

Evan said nothing, watching with his heart in his throat.

The university officials present knew of Sophie’s true identity and capabilities as Hector Caldwell’s Closed-door Disciple, which was why they hadn’t stopped her from the beginning. When they saw Stella interfering earlier, they had almost shouted out in reprimand. But Sophie had been faster, sharper, and more ruthless. A single slap had silenced the world.

Sophie tuned out the noisy chaos around her. The moment she finished the acupuncture, she immediately poured out two pills. Supporting Chairman Hayes’s head, she placed them into her mouth, instructing her to let them dissolve.

Evan watched her actions in sheer astonishment, noting how she showed absolutely no disgust at the white foam spilling from his grandmother’s lips. In that moment, Sophie’s face seemed to be bathed in a radiant glow.

Suddenly, Winnie took a huge gasp of air. Her consciousness temporarily returned, pulling her back from the brink of danger.

The golden hour for emergency rescue had been successfully seized.

Many of the officials watching Sophie were deeply shaken by the miracle.

"The ambulance is here!" someone shouted.

Evan immediately scooped Winnie up in his arms and sprinted straight for the ambulance waiting outside. Given Winnie’s special status, this sudden medical emergency had caught everyone off guard, and none of the university leaders or important figures dared to be negligent.

Before leaving, the university principal frowned and cast a sharp look at Stella before hurriedly chasing after the others.

The venue descended into chaos once more. Everyone knew just how important Winnie was to the medical community.

Meanwhile, those who stayed behind began to study Sophie in astonishment. Many still didn’t know her true identity, but her techniques just now had been enough to astound them—especially that bottle of unknown pills, which had proven to be incredibly potent and effective.

Stella caught sight of all those gazes. They were filled with admiration and envy for Sophie.

But that glory should have belonged to her! Sophie had gone out of her way to slap her just to show off in front of the university leaders and medical heavyweights. If that wasn’t deliberately using a public platform to settle a private grudge, what was? And now, Sophie had stolen her chance to claim a massive achievement.

Stella’s lips turned pale as she stared fiercely at Sophie, who was still kneeling on the floor.

Sophie’s legs had indeed gone numb. On top of that, her knees had been scraped during her scuffle with Stella. Now that the adrenaline was fading, they burned with a stinging pain.

"Can you get up?" a voice asked from above.

She looked up. Julian was standing beside her. He lowered his eyes to look at her, his handsome, stoic face revealing no emotion as he extended a long-fingered hand toward her.

With mockery in her eyes, Stella stared coldly at Sophie.

Sophie didn’t take his hand. Instead, she leaned on a nearby chair and pulled herself up. Only then did she realize that her dress was torn. A slit had ripped open at her side, exposing her fair, toned waist.

Seeing her deliberately avoid him, Julian calmly withdrew his hand, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of her exposed skin.

"Julian, why don’t you lend her your jacket? It’s really unseemly for her clothes to be so disheveled," Stella said, stepping up from behind and naturally linking her arm through his.

Her tone sounded magnanimous, but it carried an underlying chill.

Sophie almost burst out laughing. That magnanimous tone, that condescending attitude, and her use of the word "lend"—it was all meant to declare that Julian belonged exclusively to her. Stella was using her position of authority to coax Julian into throwing Sophie a scrap of decent charity. It wasn’t a gesture of help out of any marital bond between Julian and Sophie, but rather an act carried out strictly under Stella’s "permission" as his girlfriend.

Julian didn’t reply. He simply unbuttoned his suit jacket. Taking it off, he walked over and lowered his eyes, draping the jacket over Sophie’s shoulders to cover her exposed waist.

The fabric carried his body heat and the familiar scent of his cologne, faintly interwoven with the lingering trace of a woman’s perfume.

Sophie met his gaze. Without a second’s hesitation, she yanked the jacket off. Frowning as though she had touched something filthy, she tossed it straight onto the adjacent chair. "I’m not desperate for warmth. Don’t go handing it out so casually."

The jacket was discarded like a piece of trash. Julian’s gaze followed it before ultimately settling back onto her face with a cold, indifferent look.

Stella, however, sneered coldly. "Since you’re so high and mighty, why don’t we settle our score? For that slap, Sophie, I could easily call the police and report you for intentional assault."