Chapter 80

The hallway outside the ER at City Hospital stretched on endlessly, the sharp smell of disinfectant stinging the air. The fluorescent lights were harsh, and the air was cold. Juliet sat alone on a bench, her back rigid, her posture unyielding. She looked like someone bracing herself against a storm as if she were on the verge of breaking, but refusing to bend. Rapid footsteps echoed down the corridor, hurried and uneven. "Juliet Stone!" Amanda stormed up to her with Sarah close behind. Her expression tightened. Without a word, she slapped Juliet across the face. The slap echoed down the quiet hallway. Juliet's head snapped to the side. Red finger marks bloomed across her pale cheek almost instantly, and she tasted blood. "You heartless bitch!" Amanda stabbed a finger toward her face, so furious that she had completely lost her usual composure. "Our family took you in for all these years, and this is how you repay us? That was Asher's first child—the Greene family's first gran