CHAPTER 480: CHAPTER 480: PASSING AWAY

Ruby Sullivan was anxious all the way, and only when she saw Ethan Sterling waiting at the hospital entrance through the car window from afar did she breathe a sigh of relief. Once she got out of the car, she immediately asked, "Who’s hospitalized?"

"Your dad." Ethan Sterling grabbed her hand and walked her inside. "They just issued a critical condition notice; he’s currently undergoing emergency treatment."

Ruby Sullivan frowned and quickly kept pace with him.

On the way to the ICU

Ethan Sterling recounted last night’s events, including taking Ruby Sullivan’s phone.

Once they were in the elevator, Ruby Sullivan said thank you. She agreed with Ethan Sterling; if she had been forcibly brought here yesterday, she wouldn’t have been able to help with anything, and she’d be even more exhausted today.

When they arrived outside the ICU, a nurse was looking for family members, "Hey, you’re here. The patient’s consciousness is very blurry right now. One of the family members, please come with me to change into sanitized clothes and go inside."

Ruby Sullivan followed the nurse, who was slightly taken aback, "Isn’t the son going in?"

"I’m his abusive daughter," Ruby Sullivan explained briefly.

The nurse apparently still felt it was somewhat inappropriate but didn’t say much. Typically, more intimate family members go in, and although the son was here all night, having the daughter go in seems odd, but it’s not a problem.

Not long after Ruby Sullivan went inside, Ethan Sterling made a phone call to Rhonda Sullivan.

It took a long time for her to answer, "Oh, old flame, how do you have the time to call me?" Her voice sounded slurred, as if she got herself drunk early in the morning, or maybe yesterday’s alcohol hadn’t yet worn off.

Ethan Sterling didn’t want to entertain her inexplicable teasing, "Brandon Sullivan is undergoing emergency treatment."

"Ah... You went to the hospital yesterday, didn’t you?" Rhonda Sullivan yawned, "It’s not like he’s going to die. Aren’t the most annoying people the ones who live the longest?"

"We’re at the ICU ward at City General Hospital." Ethan Sterling said and then hung up.

Rhonda Sullivan was still dumbly smiling at her phone, and after waiting a while without hearing anything, she realized he had hung up. She lay on the bed pretending to be dead for five minutes and thought it was better to get up and have a look. But somehow she accidentally fell off the bed, ended up in pain and unable to move for a while. By the time she finished bathing, drank hangover medicine, put on makeup, and carefully selected an outfit before leaving the house, three hours had passed.

When she arrived at the hospital, Brandon Sullivan was covered with a white sheet. City General Hospital is a public hospital, so there’s a shortage of beds, and he was placed in the hallway. About five minutes ago, the doctor had announced the time of Brandon Sullivan’s death, and Rhonda Sullivan was likely wandering the corridor looking for the ICU, with a hungover face that casually broke into a silly smile as if she was sightseeing at the hospital.

Ruby Sullivan was sitting on a convenient chair not far from the gurney, while Ethan Sterling was on the phone arranging for a car to come.

When Rhonda Sullivan walked over, she still had a mocking smile, "Hey, where’s he undergoing surgery? Is it here?" She pointed with some disdain.

Ruby Sullivan smelled the strong stench of alcohol on her, looked at her in disbelief—not just anger and disdain, but more of perplexity. Brandon Sullivan for her, his eldest daughter, turned against her, his youngest daughter, and handed over all the family assets to her. Even if he hadn’t cared for her much before she was eight, hadn’t he done enough over the past twenty years?

Is she truly heartless?

With a cold face, Ruby Sullivan felt her body moving ahead of her brain’s command and walked a few steps forward, ruthlessly slapped her indifferent face.

Rhonda Sullivan frowned and immediately retaliated coldly, but Ruby Sullivan blocked her, and she received another slap on the other side of her face.

Rhonda Sullivan was slapped into bewilderment, momentarily stunned, as if defying her, she still tried to retaliate.

The result was another two loud slaps.

Ruby Sullivan had learned combat techniques before, but restrained herself due to her poor health. In a fierce slap, even the waist needs to exert force, so these four slaps made Rhonda Sullivan’s face turn red and begin to swell rapidly; meanwhile, Ruby Sullivan’s hand felt numb, and her waist felt slightly uncomfortable from pulling some muscle.

Rhonda Sullivan was slapped silly, holding her face, ready to cry, "You think you’re great just because you have a man?"

Sounded like drunken words.

Ruby Sullivan frowned, raised her hand to slap her again, which scared Rhonda Sullivan into lowering her head. Ethan Sterling came over to grab her wrist, stopping the slap from falling.

"Let’s take the body home first." Ethan Sterling hugged her and gently patted her back.

Rhonda Sullivan pouted, thinking the two were deliberately showing off their affection in front of her. She furrowed her brows and turned to look at the corpse covered in the white sheet, only feeling

that the scene in front of her seemed a bit unreal.

She slowly walked over, gently lifted the sheet, briefly hoped the person beneath wasn’t Brandon Sullivan—a stranger would be better—she’d be startled,

then cover it back.

Ruby Sullivan watched her back, coldly saying, "He nearly killed my two children for you, yet now that he’s in the hospital fighting for his life, you refuse to even show up. Rhonda Sullivan, you’re just an ungrateful wolf. You feed off your family and still resent them for owing you. You don’t deserve to be human."

Soon, Old Black brought people over to handle the aftermath, and several strong men lifted the body on a stretcher and took it away.

Ethan Sterling embraced Ruby Sullivan’s shoulder and walked out; neither wanted to look at Rhonda Sullivan.

Quite a while later, she seemed to realize and suddenly squatted on the ground, crying out loud.

Rhonda Sullivan didn’t return to The Sullivan Family. Ruby Sullivan and Ethan Sterling waited for her an hour, then contacted a funeral service, letting them handle the subsequent arrangements. By noon, Rhonda Sullivan had used Brandon Sullivan’s phone contacts to send a message to everyone, including herself, inviting them. The next morning, she and Ethan Sterling were present as filial children at the mourning hall, waiting for scattered visitors to come and pay their respects.

The first to arrive were Third Uncle and Vivian, followed by Sasha Shaw and Howard. Then came a dozen or twenty people, some still employed in the company, many unknown to Ruby Sullivan, and few cries were heard, making the hall seem very quiet.

The funeral company’s staff, seeing how composed Ruby Sullivan and Ethan Sterling were, approached them quietly asking, "Would you like to hire some mourners for five hundred yuan each, crying until eleven before cremation? It’s good for appearances when others arrive."

"Sounds reasonable." Ruby Sullivan sneered, "But it’s okay, our family doesn’t need to look good. Others can laugh if they want."

The person stiffened, seeing Ethan Sterling glare at him and quickly retreated.

Near eleven o’clock, Aidan Sinclair and Stella Jennings came over, presenting a pair of wreaths. Thus, the funeral concluded somberly.

After the cremation and burial in the afternoon, only Ruby Sullivan, Ethan Sterling, and the burial staff were present. Considering Brandon Sullivan was a prominent figure back then, his lonely funeral was lamentable.

Ruby Sullivan looked at the black-and-white photo of him smiling warmly on the tombstone, ultimately unable to shed a tear.

She was saddened but couldn’t cry.