First, Benjamin Rosedale played a trick of concept substitution.
He publicly declared "the surgery fee is waived," giving the illusion that Lily Valois's cosmetic surgery would be free.
However, when Lily arrived at the True Elegance Medical Aesthetics Center, while she did not have to pay for the surgery fees, she had to cover costs for medications, consultations, care, bed, nourishment, meals... The various expenses added up to the depletion of over 200,000 of David Engweil and Lily Valois's savings within six months.
Spending money was just one thing.
The key issue was the effectiveness!
Benjamin Rosedale had no skill to treat Lily Valois!
He approached Lily simply to use her case as a gimmick for boosting his notoriety.
As a result of his treatment, not only did Lily's face fail to miraculously recover, it worsened substantially!
The wounds got infected, festering, and too horrific to look at!
Naturally, David Engweil would not agree, and he went to Benjamin Rosedale to demand an explanation.
But by that time, Benjamin Rosedale had already gained both fame and profit, and he completely dropped his pretense of hypocrisy.
He started with evasions, then played the rogue, and eventually, blatantly acted like a scoundrel.
He outright drove Lily Valois out of the hospital.
David Engweil had thought of leveraging public opinion to fight for his rights.
Unfortunately, Lily's case was already half a year old and had long lost its newsworthiness.
Moreover, Benjamin Rosedale was a major advertiser for the media outlets and had deep connections.
So the reporters who had once flocked to cover Lily's story were now all pretending to be deaf and blind.
Only Yasmine Vance continued to genuinely help this unfortunate couple.
...
In the car, hearing Yasmine Vance recount the story, even the taxi driver couldn't help but curse Benjamin Rosedale, saying he's not human.
Sarah Sullivan remained silent for a while, then spoke to David Engweil: "I've changed my mind."
David Engweil was startled: "Miss Sullivan, what happened? Is it about the money? Rest assured, as long as my wife can recover, I'll spare no expense, selling everything we own if I must!"
Looking at the man whose face was flushed with determination, a rare smile appeared on Sarah Sullivan's aloof face: "You really are a good man."
Then, glancing at the little girl asleep from exhaustion in her mother's arms: "Don't worry, I won't charge a penny. It's truly free."
David Engweil was dumbfounded, and hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no! Miss Sullivan, we can't take advantage of you, we'll pay!"
Sarah Sullivan didn't respond directly to David Engweil but asked Lily Valois: "Lily, do you regret what you did for saving your daughter?"
Lily Valois looked lovingly at her daughter in her arms, her voice gentle yet firm: "Regret? How could I? For Annabelle, I would give up my life, let alone a face?"
Sarah Sullivan's smile turned somewhat bitter: "You truly are a rare good mother."
Lily Valois shook her head: "I'm not rare. From the beginning, I resisted those reporters who labeled me a hero mother. I think any mother in the world, in my situation, would make the same choice. We're not heroes, we're just ordinary people."
Sarah Sullivan's face showed a hint of sarcasm: "Perhaps most mothers would indeed do so, but I know of at least one person who wouldn't."
With that, Sarah Sullivan looked at David Engweil: "I promised you before to restore your wife's face to its former appearance, but now I've changed my mind. I'm going to make her face a hundred times more beautiful. Such a good mother deserves a more beautiful future."
...
Lily Valois was wheeled into the operating room at three in the afternoon.
Sarah Sullivan was the chief surgeon, with Yasmine Vance as her "first assistant".
David Engweil and his daughter waited anxiously on the benches outside.
The wait lasted over four hours.
When the lights of the operating room finally went out and Lily, still under anesthesia and with her face covered in a white cloth, was wheeled out, it was close to 8 PM.
"How did it go?"
David Engweil rushed forward, asking nervously.
Sarah Sullivan removed her sky-blue surgical cap and mask with a swift motion.
The four-hour high-intensity surgery had left her slightly fatigued, her complexion somewhat pale.
"Stitches can be removed in a week." With that, Sarah Sullivan said no more and left.
David Engweil still wanted to speak, but Yasmine Vance came out as well.
She smiled at David Engweil: "David, you've got to cherish life from now on, or I fear there may be a crisis in your marriage."
David Engweil's heart sank, did the surgery fail?
"Mr. Vance... Mr. Vance, you know I would never dislike Lily..."
"What are you thinking about? I'm worried that you'll be the one treated coldly. Haha, afraid you won't be good enough for Lily."
Yasmine Vance laughed and withheld the punchline.
"Mr. Vance, who is that doctor anyway?"
"Yeah, she's amazing!"
"Her technique was dazzling!"
"Not even in movies is it this exaggerated."
"This isn't something humans can do!"
The nurses from the operating room surrounded Yasmine Vance, all speaking at once, inquiring about Sarah Sullivan's background.
Previously when they saw Mr. Vance, the hospital's acknowledged "top surgeon", assisting a young female doctor, they were all astonished.
But as the surgery progressed, these nurses were all convinced.
Sarah Sullivan wasn't merely performing surgery.
It was obviously a display of skill!
"Who is she…this is confidential, no one is allowed to speak of this, understood?"
Yasmine Vance stopped short, changing her mind mid-sentence.
Yasmine Vance was socially savvy, well-aware that fame is not always beneficial.
Before obtaining Sarah Sullivan's consent, she wouldn't disclose any information about her to avoid unnecessary trouble.
...
Varley Clan's old estate.
The elderly couple was urgently pacing around.
"Is the young master still refusing to eat?" Mrs. Varley asked anxiously.
The maid in charge of Dominic Varley's daily needs answered meekly: "No, he's just staying in his room, not eating at all."
"It's so late now. What if he starves from not eating?" Mrs. Varley sighed.
"What happened with the young master today? Why isn't he eating?" Varley asked with a stern face.
"Nothing much happened... just reading and drawing..."
The maid pondered for a while, then recalled something: "Oh, this morning, when the young lady went out, she told the young master to wait to have dinner with her tonight and said it was an order that he must obey."
"Outrageous! An order? Who does she think she is!" Varley was infuriated.
Ms. Varley was equally angry: "How can that girl be so capricious? Even if she wanted Dominic to dine with her, she should have returned early! It's this late, and she's still out gallivanting! Call her again and urge her to come back."
In fact, Florence Varley had already called four or five times, but there was no answer.
"Stop calling, she's definitely run off! Wife, it's not that I criticize you, but knowing that girl is insatiably greedy, why give her a black card? Now she's taken it and surely fled! She'd never come back in her right mind!"
Varley's tone was filled with disdain.
Mrs. Varley clearly agreed with this view as she said, "Do you think I don't know? I just gave her the black card to test her! Now she's shown her true colors! Hmph, it's just a black card. We, the Varley Clan, don't care about a hundred or eighty of those, it's just laughable how shallow that girl is, fleeing at the first sign of such a meager benefit."