Chapter 307 The Hand Pulling the Strings

• Charlotte was a seasoned doctor, fiercely confident in her skills. Since she was sure her own pharmacy wasn’t the issue, the problem had to be somewhere else. Too bad the hospital system had strict privacy protections. Unless she broke through the hospital’s firewall, she couldn’t see the exact meds listed on the diagnosis. Forcing her way in would leave traces. Given how sensitive her status was right now, that would be a bad move. It was fine, though. Charlotte already had a guess about what really happened. She replayed the whole thing in her head, piecing it together end to end, then lifted her hand and dialed the precinct. “Hello? Hi, this is Charlotte—the doctor who got mobbed these past two days.” The folks at the precinct knew her name. A big shot up top had personally told them to get her the truth. So the moment Charlotte said her name, they knew exactly who she was. “Ms. Sherrod, did you call because you found new leads you want to share with us?” No surprise there—the cops could smell intent the second she rang. Charlotte said, “Yeah. I suspect…” She laid out her full deduction about the patient’s real cause of death, step by step. Not long after she hung up, her kid called. The caller ID showed Tony. The second the line connected, Olivia’s excited voice burst through. “Mommy! Danny dug up a ton of fun info!” Charlotte blinked for a moment, then a soft smile curled her lips. “Oh? Tony, go on.” Tony gossiped like a nosy onlooker. “Mommy! The deceased posted on Twitter the day he died, ranting about his meds!” “He said he saw a traditional medicine doctor in the morning and got a whole sack of herbs. In the afternoon, he thought traditional medicine worked too slow, so he got modern medicine—just two boxes. He griped it wasn’t enough!” Tony jumped in to back Olivia up. “He even shared photos of the meds on Twitter. You couldn’t tell exactly what they were, but it was obvious morning and afternoon were two different types.” The kids’ digging basically proved Charlotte’s hunch by proxy. With her mind made up, Charlotte called the precinct again and submitted that crucial lead. After she hung up, the whole medical-mobbing mess was pretty much wrapped. Even so, Charlotte didn’t breathe easy. She sat in her office, thoughts still racing. The Quille residence carried serious weight—even the precinct treated them with extra respect. Yet those agitators who showed up that day hadn’t even run an autopsy on their son before storming into the Quille hospital to shake them down for cash. Did they have no clue what it cost to try to extort the Quille hospital? Someone had to be backing them up. Charlotte strongly suspected the Sherrod residence. After all, the patient zeroed in on her the second he walked in and never once sought out the other doctor, Zhang Zhengping. If that wasn’t targeted, what was? Charlotte wasn’t some turtle who hid in her shell and ate dirt. If Belinda and her people dared to set her up, she’d make sure they learned what paying the price meant. Planning fast, Charlotte started plotting how to give Belinda a taste of real consequences. Belinda was Mrs. Quille. Making her swallow her pride wouldn’t be easy. Charlotte needed a way that would force Belinda to take the hit and choke it down without a peep. Charlotte was still turning it over when someone knocked on her office door. A nurse rushed in, face tight with panic. “Dr. Sherrod, your adoptive father and mother are here making trouble again today!” “If the bodyguards hadn’t hauled them off, they would’ve barged in and started a huge fight!” Hearing that, Charlotte’s thoughts snapped into place like lightning hitting a live wire. Those adoptive parents weren’t just tied to Charlotte by an adopted daughter relationship—they were Belinda’s biological parents too. From the hard memories of scraping by under their roof, Charlotte knew they favored boys over girls and worshiped money like a god. They wouldn’t just randomly show up in Quocester. Belinda was Quintus and Yolanda’s darling. Years ago, Quintus and Yolanda had personally driven Belinda’s biological parents out of Quocester. If they were back now, Quintus and Yolanda had to be allowing it behind the scenes. As Charlotte stood and headed out, she glanced back at the nurse trailing her, looking like she was marching into a warzone. Charlotte tossed out a line, short and sharp. “That ridiculous pair aren’t just my adoptive parents—they’re also Mrs. Quille Belinda’s biological parents.” The little nurse looked so stunned she almost blanked. Charlotte stepped out, satisfied. She knew those two oddballs wouldn’t let go of easy money. They’d definitely try other ways to get close to her—or to her three kids.