Chapter 532 Tumor Recurrence
As the needle pierced Emma's arm, she finally let out a painful moan. Scarlett watched the doctor place a stethoscope on Emma's abdomen and suddenly realized something.
"What's wrong with her?" Scarlett's voice trembled.
Phoenix flashed a cruel smile. "Nothing much, just that her tumor seems to be recurring. George doesn't know yet, does he?" He leaned in close to Scarlett's ear and whispered, "Imagine if his beloved Emma dies in front of his mother, who happens to hate Emma the most. What do you think he'll do?"
Scarlett felt like she'd been struck by lightning, her vision darkening.
What would he think?
Not just George, everyone would think she killed Emma!
But she hadn't done anything!
Scarlett's ears buzzed, as if the whole world was collapsing. She stared at the unconscious Emma, whose pale face was covered in cold sweat, her brows furrowed in obvious pain.
Wait...
"What did you just say?" Her voice trembled uncontrollably. "Her tumor..."
Phoenix sneered, looking down at her. "What? Mrs. Russell, have you forgotten what you did so quickly?" She circled Scarlett slowly, her tone full of mockery. "Three years ago, when you forced her to drink that bowl of chili soup, she was in so much pain she vomited blood."
Scarlett's mind flashed back to that scene. At the dinner table, Emma's face was ashen, she was coughing violently, blood seeping through her fingers. And Scarlett? She had just watched coldly, even thinking Emma was pretending to be pitiful to embarrass her.
"She was already sick then?" Scarlett's voice was barely audible.
"Yes." Phoenix's smile grew more malicious. "The tumor in her body was pressing against her stomach, making it impossible for her to eat spicy food. But you forced her to drink that bowl of chili soup with triple the peppers." She leaned in, enunciating each word, "Aunt Scarlett, you are truly cruel."
Scarlett's hands trembled uncontrollably. She looked at Emma's pained expression, her heart feeling like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.
She had always thought Emma faked her death and left because she wasn't strong enough. But it turned out she had been tormented by illness, barely hanging on, while the entire Russell family, including herself, had been hurting her even more.
"I didn't know..." She murmured, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
"Now you know?" Phoenix scoffed. "Too late." She shook the syringe in her hand. "One shot of this, and her tumor will rapidly worsen, just like three years ago."
Scarlett's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with unprecedented anger. "Stop!"
"What? Feeling sorry now?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "You are so hypocritical."
Scarlett's mind kept flashing back to three years ago.
Emma was kneeling on the ground, clutching her abdomen, trembling in pain, while Scarlett coldly ordered someone to hold her down and force her to drink the chili soup.
"Not drinking? Who do you think you are? Since you married into the Russell family, you have to follow the Russell family rules!"
Emma took the bowl, trembling, swallowing it mouthful by mouthful, until she couldn't hold on any longer and spat out a mouthful of blood.
And Scarlett had just frowned in disgust. "Stop pretending. It's just a bowl of chili soup, is it that bad?"
Looking back now, she had almost killed Emma.
"No, no," Scarlett suddenly lunged at Phoenix, "You can't do this! You can't!"
Phoenix easily dodged, slapping her hard. "Save it, Aunt Scarlett. What are you pretending to be a good person now?"
Scarlett fell to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, but she ignored the pain, staring at Emma.
"Emma, Emma," she crawled over, gently holding Emma's hand, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Emma's brow furrowed slightly in her unconscious state, as if she heard Scarlett's voice, but her consciousness remained fuzzy, only able to let out weak moans.
Phoenix watched coldly, impatiently waving her hand. "Enough, stop the act." She turned to her subordinates. "Lock them up and wait for George to come and pay the ransom."
Scarlett's head snapped up. "You're using Emma to threaten George?"
"What else?" Phoenix's smile was icy. "You think we went through all this trouble for nothing?"
A flash of determination crossed Scarlett's eyes.
She suddenly lunged at Phoenix, grabbing her wrist tightly. "I won't let you succeed!"
"Let go!" Phoenix shouted angrily, shaking her off forcefully.
But Scarlett, like a madwoman, lunged again, even biting Phoenix's hand!
Phoenix cried out in pain, shoving her hard. "You crazy woman!"
Scarlett fell to the ground, but she ignored the pain, staring at Phoenix with hatred. "You won't hurt Emma, you won't!"
At that moment, the sound of screeching brakes came from outside the warehouse, followed by chaotic footsteps.
Phoenix's face changed. "What's going on?"
A subordinate rushed in, panicked. "Something's wrong! Come with me!"
Hope ignited in Scarlett's eyes. She struggled to crawl towards Emma, holding her tightly, while Phoenix and her men hurriedly left.
When everyone had gone, Scarlett trembled as she lifted Emma's head onto her lap. She gently stroked Emma's hair, tears soaking her clothes. "I'm sorry."
Emma curled up unconsciously, like a wounded animal. Scarlett took off her jacket to wrap her, starting to treat her wounds in the most primitive way, tearing clean strips from her shirt and using saliva to wipe away the blood.
"Hang in there," her voice was broken, "I promise I'll take you home."
The biting cold wind blew through the broken window, making Emma shiver in her unconscious state. Her forehead had a gruesome wound, the blood already dried on her pale cheek. Scarlett knelt beside her, her rough fingers hovering, wanting to touch but afraid to.
"Hey, wake up." Her voice was dry, like sandpaper scraping.
Emma remained with her eyes closed, only her faint breathing proving she was still alive. Scarlett looked around the dim warehouse, filled with rusty machine parts, broken chains, and wooden crates scattered in the corners. Her gaze locked onto a protruding steel rod, the only weapon she could find.
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