Capítulo 328: Chapter 321

“Dad?”

Adam Willow’s soft call was like a bolt of lightning in the corridor. The originally tense and confrontational few instantly fell silent, and the air seemed to solidify.

Maria Carter slowly raised her head, her gaze wandering back and forth between Adam Willow and Evan Palmer.

The delicate face that bore some resemblance to Carlos was now colorless: “You are… Amelia Willow’s brother? What did you just call my dad?”

Evan Palmer’s expression instantly became stiff, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He gave Adam Willow a stern look, signaling for the latter to shut up.

But Adam merely adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, a sardonic curve forming at the corner of his mouth: “I called him dad, you didn’t hear wrong.”

Fragments of memory surged in Maria Carter’s mind.

On a rainy day back in middle school, she had once seen a slender boy standing at a bus station through the Rolls-Royce window, staring gloomily in her direction.

That look, she still couldn’t forget.

“Dad…what is he saying?” Maria Carter’s voice began to tremble, her slender fingers clutching tightly onto Evelyn Hanson’s sleeve, as if holding onto her last lifeline.

Evan Palmer adjusted his tie, disheveled by Evelyn Hanson’s tug, suddenly feeling there was no need to pretend anymore.

Carlos was dead, Mrs. Carter was in a coma, and most of the Carter Clan was under his control.

This daughter was ultimately water that had to be poured out.

“Maria,” he avoided his daughter’s gaze, his tone was frighteningly calm, “Adam Willow is your half-brother.”

The hallway’s lights became glaringly bright at this moment.

Maria Carter staggered two steps back, those deliberately ignored clues suddenly connected — her father’s favoritism, her seriously ill mother, the Willow siblings’ faint hostility…

“Evan Palmer!” she suddenly screamed, her voice heart-wrenching, “How could you do this to my mom!”

Maria Carter lunged forward like a wounded little beast, but was grabbed by the wrist by Adam Willow.

A flicker of satisfaction glinted behind the man’s cold lenses: “This is a hospital, if you want to go crazy, do it outside.”

His peripheral vision unconsciously glanced toward the operating room.

Emily Parker was still in there. This realization made Adam Willow’s chest tight — he both hoped for her safety and secretly wished that child… would not come into this world.

“Let go! Two grown men bullying a young girl?”

Evelyn Hanson suddenly pushed Adam Willow aside, shielding Maria Carter in her embrace.

Her sharp gaze swept between the father and son, her red lips curving into a mocking arc,

“You two, one schemes for wealth, the other harms lives — your cooperation is indeed flawless!”

Adam Willow’s face changed abruptly: “Evelyn Hanson!”

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

Evelyn Hanson refused to back down, her finger almost poking Adam Willow’s nose,

“Aren’t you an illegitimate child? Isn’t your scum father trying to seize the Carter Clan for himself?”

Evan Palmer adjusted his suit, his voice cold,

“Watch your language, I can sue you for defamation.”

“Go ahead!”

Evelyn Hanson suddenly raised her voice, drawing glances from medical staff at the corridor’s end,

“Do you want me to call a reporter now, so everyone can see how Chairman Shane treats his newly widowed daughter-in-law and soon-to-be-born grandson?”

This sentence was like a blunt weapon, hitting Evan Palmer till his face turned ashen.

His sinister gaze swept over the operating room’s red light, then fell on his daughter’s tear-streaked face, finally letting out a cold snort.

A choice at the brink of life and death

“Evelyn, let’s transfer my sister-in-law to another hospital immediately!” Maria Carter’s voice carried an undeniable determination, her slender fingers clutching tightly onto Evelyn Hanson’s sleeve, her knuckles turning white. The corridor’s stark white light fell on her tear-streaked face, highlighting those eyes identical to Carlos’s exceptionally bright.

Evan Palmer suddenly stepped sideways, his tall figure blocking the corridor: “I said, she’s not going anywhere!” His suited figure cast a heavy shadow under the emergency light, perfectly enveloping his kneeling daughter.

“Dad!” Maria Carter suddenly knelt with a thud, her expensive stockings instantly tearing on the rough ground, “Your actions will kill my sister-in-law!” She lifted her head, tears dripping down onto Evan Palmer’s shiny leather shoes, “For my brother’s sake… I’m begging you…”

Seeing this, Evelyn Hanson immediately bent down to help, yet was stubbornly pushed away by Maria Carter. This pampered young lady, her knees against the cold marble floor, held her back straight: “My brother is gone already… this is his only bloodline…”

“Maria,” Evan Palmer softened his tone, reaching out to help his daughter up, “Love & Kindness Hospital’s medical standards are high, she will be fine.”

“Liar!” Maria Carter suddenly screamed, swatting his hand away, her voice echoing in the empty hallway.