The boy’s mother stormed out of the hospital room, cursing loudly. Spotting Jessica, she marched over, hurling insults as she reached out to grab her.

    As the hand came closer and closer, Jessica squeezed her eyes shut in terror.

    “Hey!” Vivian’s voice rang out as she intercepted the iing hand.

    Vivian, with short hair and chewing gum casually, coolly caught the woman’s wrist before it couldnd.

    Blowing a bubble with her gum and snapping it, she said mockingly, “Seriously? A grown woman bullying a little girl? How could you?”

    “None of your business! You’re so rude!” the boy’s mother snapped furiously, “This girl bullied my son. I’ll teach her a lesson!”

    Vivian nced back and forth between Jessica and the group of boys, then stepped closer to the woman. “Shall we check the surveince footage? I can help this youngdy press charges.”

    Vivian’s words made the boy’s mother freeze. She took in Vivian’s outfit and felt that she didn’t look like a patient at all.

    Just then, a nurse came out of one of the rooms and stopped short at the scene before her.

    Vivian released her grip, and the boy’s mother hastily snatched her hand back. Before she could say a word, a nurse walked up to them and whispered politely, “Attorney Bernard, the hospital director would like to see you.”

    The moment she heard the other person was awyer, the boy’s mother flinched. Nobody wanted to mess with awyer. Grabbing her son’s hand, she beat a hasty retreat.

    Vivian nodded and gave Jessica a gentle tap on the forehead. “I need to handle something inside. Wait here for me,” she said, “When I’m done, I’ll take you to your mom.”

    Jessica didn’t quite understand what the kind woman was saying, but she knew thisdy had just helped her. When she heard the word “wait,” she nodded obediently, trusting her.

    The nurse, seeing they knew each other, stayed by Jessica’s side to watch over her.

    After a while, Vivian came out, turned to Jessica, and said, “Alright, where’s your mom?”

    With a sob in her voice, Jessica whispered, “I… I don’t understand/

    Vivian sighed helplessly, rubbing her temples with a wry smile. She pulled out her phone and opened a trantion app.

    Five minutester, after finally finishing their conversation, the two of them entered Maxine’s hospital room together. Her caretaker had just left, and Maxine was alone, propped up in bed, scrolling through her phone. When she saw Jessicae in, she smiled warmly and said, “Hey, you’re back! Why are you sote today?”

    As soon as Maxine finished speaking, Vivian stepped out from behind Jessica, looked at her, and said, “She just got picked on outside by some clueless

    brats.”

    Hearing this, Maxine frowned, put down her phone, and gently said to Jessica, “Come here, sweetheart.”

    She had just woken from thea and was still too weak to even lift her arm.

    Jessica came scampering over to Maxine.

    Vivian ced Jessica’s backpack on the nearby table, then recounted what had just happened.

    Maxine thanked her, then added with slight embarrassment, “There’ve been some family matters, so it’s just the two of us here right nowb. /bbI’m /bbreally /bbsorry /bfor the trouble. I’ll arrange for someone to pick Jessica up from now on.”

    b08:31 /bbTue/bb, /bb1 /bbJul /b

    Vivian paused, surprised. “Nobody’s taking care of you?”

    Maxine said, “My caretaker took the day off today.”

    Vivian nced at the medical chart by the bedside. “Car ident injuries? That’s rough… Poor thing,” she sighed sympathetically, bthen /bbplopped /bbdown /bbin /b

    the chair with effortless familiarity. “Don’t worry, my daughter’s staying here too. Let’s be friends! I’ll help take care of you!”

    Vivian smiled warmly at Jessica, then extended her hand in a formal introduction. “Hi, I’m Vivian Bernard.”