Fake Daughter Is The Real Legend Free Preview

Iris Sutton leaned lazily against one of the marble pillars, watching as the family doctor examined the Suttons’ newly found “real daughter.”

A month ago, Iris had learned the truth.

She wasn’t biologically related to the Sutton family.

And ever since Olivia Sutton had returned home, everything had changed.

Maybe the Suttons resented the fact that they had spent twenty years raising someone else’s child while their biological daughter suffered outside. At first, Iris genuinely tried to make things right. She gave Olivia space, tolerated her provocations, and ignored the subtle schemes aimed at turning the family against her.

But Olivia clearly had no intention of coexisting peacefully.

And tonight, at her own birthday banquet, she had prepared another performance.

Olivia sat weakly on the couch, wrapped in a blanket as though she were on the verge of collapse. Her face was pale, her lips trembling faintly.

Vanessa Sutton sat beside her, gripping her hand so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

“Doctor?” Vanessa asked anxiously. “How is she?”

Dr. Lewis slowly removed his stethoscope.

His expression darkened.

The atmosphere in the room instantly tightened.

“I’m afraid…” he said with a heavy sigh. “Miss Olivia appears to have been poisoned.”

The words exploded through the room.

Vanessa’s face went white.

“What?!”

Olivia let out a weak whimper and curled deeper beneath the blanket.

“I… I knew something was wrong…”

The guests who had followed upstairs from the banquet erupted into alarmed whispers.

“Poisoned?”

“Oh my God—”

“At her own birthday party?”

Vanessa’s chest tightened painfully.

Her biological daughter had only come home a month ago.

Only a month.

And before she could make up for twenty years of hardship, someone had already hurt her.

“How serious is it?” Vanessa demanded.

Dr. Lewis frowned gravely.

“She’s experiencing dizziness, weakness, and tremors. Fortunately, the dosage doesn’t appear to be fatal.”

Vanessa finally exhaled in relief.

Then her expression hardened.

“Who did this?”

The room fell silent.

Under the blanket, Olivia’s fingers trembled.

Her watery eyes slowly lifted.

“I…” She bit her lip weakly. “I don’t want to accuse anyone…”

Vanessa’s heart nearly shattered.

“Sweetheart, don’t be afraid. Mom is here.”

Olivia hesitated.

Then—

Her gaze shifted toward the doorway.

Everyone followed it.

And froze.

Iris stood there calmly, one hand tucked into her pocket.

While the entire room panicked, she looked completely detached.

Olivia’s breathing hitched.

“It…” she whispered.

Vanessa stood immediately.

“Olivia?”

Tears slid down Olivia’s cheeks.

“Sister brought me juice earlier…”

The room exploded.

Vanessa’s face changed instantly.

“What did you say?”

Olivia looked terrified.

“I-I was thirsty…” she murmured softly. “Sister personally brought me a glass of juice…”

A maid suddenly spoke up.

“That’s true!” she blurted. “I saw Miss Iris bring it!”

The whispers grew louder.

“So it really was her?”

“The fake daughter got jealous—”

“I knew something felt off—”

Vanessa turned sharply.

Her eyes burned with fury.

“Iris.”

The crowd parted automatically, leaving Iris standing alone beneath dozens of accusing stares.

Yet she neither panicked nor defended herself.

Instead, she almost looked amused.

Seriously?

Were these people incapable of learning? Olivia used the same trick every single time.

“You think I poisoned her?” Iris asked calmly.

Too calmly.

Vanessa nearly exploded. “Olivia drank what you gave her and immediately became sick!”

Iris nodded once.

“And?”

Vanessa stared at her in disbelief.

“And?” she repeated.

Iris pushed herself off the pillar and walked forward.

The crowd instinctively moved aside for her.

“If you’re accusing me of poisoning someone,” she said coolly, “I’d prefer evidence instead of emotional acting.”

Dr. Lewis frowned. “I already confirmed symptoms consistent with poisoning—”

“Symptoms,” Iris interrupted.

One word.

Sharp enough to make the doctor pause.

“You confirmed symptoms,” she corrected. “Not poison.”

The doctor stiffened.

Vanessa snapped immediately, “Dr. Lewis has worked for the Sutton family for years! Are you saying a professional doctor would lie?”

Iris raised a brow.

“Professional doctors don’t lie,” she said lightly. “Bribed quacks do.”

Dr. Lewis’s breath caught for a second.

He quickly slammed his medical case shut, masking his panic with anger.

“What are you implying, Miss Iris?” he demanded. “I watched you grow up. Are you trying to slander me now?”

Olivia sensed the timing was right.

With the maids supporting her, she weakly rose to her feet and hid timidly behind Vanessa.

“Doctor, please don’t be angry,” she said softly. “Maybe… maybe my return made Sister unhappy, so she drugged me.”

She lowered her head pitifully.

“If she really hates me that much, I can leave and go back to my foster mother.”

Her voice trembled.

“But… could I still visit Mom and Dad once a month? I still want to be filial to them…”

Vanessa’s last trace of doubt disappeared instantly.

“Olivia, what nonsense are you saying?” she said firmly. “You’re my biological daughter. This is your home.”

Before anyone could react—

SLAP.

The crack echoed across the hall like shattered glass.

Olivia screamed.

Half the guests froze.

The other half nearly dropped their champagne glasses.

A vivid red handprint bloomed across Olivia’s cheek.

Iris slowly lowered her hand.

Her expression remained ice-cold.

“You accused me of attempted murder,” she said evenly. “That slap was me being polite.”

Dead silence.

Vanessa stared at Olivia’s reddening face and nearly lost her mind.

“Iris!”

She rushed forward furiously.

“How dare you hit her—”

“How dare she?” Iris cut in sharply.

Her gaze swept across the room.

“Your daughter just accused me of poisoning her.” She looked back at Olivia. “So she’d better actually be dying.”

The room collectively inhaled.

Olivia’s face went pale.

Iris stepped closer, her eyes calm and terrifying.

“You say I poisoned you?” she asked softly. “Good.”

Then she turned toward Vanessa.

“Call the police.”

Everyone froze.

Vanessa blinked. “What?”

“I said call them.”

Iris folded her arms casually.

“I’d appreciate professional involvement.”

The confidence in her voice made several guests hesitate.

Dr. Lewis visibly stiffened.

Iris looked directly at him.

“And while we’re at it, let’s run a full toxicology panel.”

The doctor’s fingers twitched.

“Blood test. Stomach contents. Everything.” Iris smiled faintly. “If poison exists, it can be traced.”

Olivia’s breathing suddenly faltered.

Iris narrowed her eyes.

“Or…” she said lazily, glancing toward Dr. Lewis, “if no poison is found…”

A thin layer of sweat appeared beneath the doctor’s collar.

Iris’s voice turned cold.

“I’ll sue.”

The ballroom fell completely silent.

“For false accusation.”

Her eyes moved to Olivia.

“For defamation.”

Then Vanessa.

“For public slander.”

Finally—

Dr. Lewis.

“And for medical fraud.”

The doctor’s face instantly lost all color.

At that moment, Olivia coughed weakly again.

“Mom… don’t call the police,” she whispered pitifully. “It’s family business. We don’t need outsiders laughing at us. Let’s just forget it…”

Seeing Olivia’s pale face, Vanessa finally snapped.

“Iris, look at her!” she shouted furiously. “Even after everything, she still wants to protect this family’s reputation! But you?” Her voice sharpened. “You don’t care about the Sutton family’s name at all!”

Her chest rose violently with rage.

“Apologize to Olivia right now,” Vanessa demanded. “Or I swear, I’ll throw you out of this family myself.”

“Pfft—”

A small laugh escaped Iris’s lips.

The sound instantly made Vanessa’s face darken further.

Iris tilted her head slightly, almost amused.

“Did I hear that correctly?” she asked lazily. “You want me to apologize?”

Her eyes turned cold.

“I’d rather die than admit to something I didn’t do.”

Then she smiled faintly.

“And honestly? Being kicked out sounds far better than staying here as your obedient puppet.”

Vanessa froze.

Clearly, she hadn’t expected Iris to say something like that in front of everyone.

For twenty years, Iris had always endured silently no matter how unfairly she was treated.

But tonight—

It was as though she had become a completely different person.

“You ungrateful little brat!” Vanessa shrieked, clutching her chest. “I gave you a way out, and this is how you repay me after twenty years of raising you?! I treated you like—”

“Like your own daughter?”

Iris cut her off smoothly.

A mocking smile curved her lips.

“Oh, please.” Her gaze turned icy. “You and I both know exactly how you treated me all these years.”

Vanessa’s expression twisted.

“You—!”

Overcome with fury, she suddenly raised her hand and swung toward Iris’s face.

But before the slap could land—

Iris caught her wrist effortlessly.

The entire room froze.

Vanessa struggled instinctively, yet Iris’s grip didn’t budge in the slightest.

Iris lowered her eyes to the trembling hand in hers.

Then she smiled coldly.

“See?” she said softly. “What touching motherly love.”

The humiliation hit Vanessa like a knife.

Before she could react again, Iris casually flung her hand aside.

Vanessa lost her balance in her heels and crashed onto the floor.

Gasps erupted throughout the hall.

“Mrs. Sutton!”

Vanessa’s face burned red with humiliation.

When Olivia saw this, she immediately rushed forward to help her up.

“Mom!”

Then she turned toward Iris with tearful eyes.

“Sis, I understand if you’re angry at me…” she said shakily. “But Mom still raised you for twenty years. How could you be so heartless?”

The moment Vanessa heard those words, her heart softened instantly.

Compared to Iris’s cold rebellion, Olivia seemed unbelievably considerate.

And when Vanessa saw the swollen handprint still visible on Olivia’s cheek, the last trace of restraint in her heart disappeared completely.

She grabbed Olivia’s hand tightly.

“Olivia,” she said firmly, “you are my only daughter.”

Her gaze toward Iris became utterly merciless.

“And I won’t let anyone humiliate you.”

Then Vanessa turned sharply toward the servants.

“Bring it over.”

A servant quickly hurried upstairs before returning moments later carrying a stack of documents.

Vanessa snatched them over and threw them directly at Iris.

The papers scattered across the marble floor.

“I already investigated your biological family,” Vanessa said coldly. “Your real surname is Noir.”

Her eyes filled with disdain.

“They live in Ashford County.”

A murmur instantly spread through the crowd.

Ashford County.

One of the poorest rural towns in the entire state.

Most people there survived on farming and factory labor. To the wealthy elite standing in this ballroom, it was practically another world.

Vanessa stared at Iris with cruel satisfaction.

Someone as arrogant as Iris would never survive there.

A spoiled girl like her probably wouldn’t last a week.

“From today onward,” Vanessa declared mercilessly, “you have nothing to do with the Sutton family.”

Then she looked toward the guards nearby.

“Call security.”

Her voice was ice-cold.

“Throw her out.”

“And if she ever dares return…” Vanessa’s eyes hardened. “Drag her as far away from this estate as possible.”

Two large guards immediately stepped forward.

Yet Iris didn’t even spare them a glance.

“I can walk out myself.”

Her tone remained calm and detached.

As the guards reached for her, Iris casually shoved one aside with each hand without even slowing her steps.

The guards stumbled backward several steps in shock.

They stared at each other blankly.

How was she this strong?

And she hadn’t even gotten serious yet.

“Sis, wait!”

Olivia hurried after her, quickly catching up before glancing back at Vanessa. “Mom, I’ll walk her out. She’s still my sister.”

Without waiting for a response, she followed Iris outside.

Iris didn’t even spare her a glance, treating her as though she didn’t exist. But Olivia only felt more pleased with herself.

As they walked side by side, Olivia revealed a sweet smile.

“Sister, I still need to apologize for what happened between Stanley and me. You were the one engaged to him, but he ended up falling madly in love with me.”

It sounded less like an apology and more like a deliberate boast.

The Lancaster family stood on equal footing with the Sutton family—both were among the city’s elite. The marriage alliance between the two families had originally been arranged for Iris, but now the bride had naturally become Olivia instead.

“Stanley is wonderful in every way,” Olivia continued softly. “The only problem is that he’s too clingy. He spoils me so much. I didn’t want to act affectionate in front of you, Sister, but he insists on it.” She paused before adding with fake concern, “I haven’t hurt your feelings these past few days, have I?”

Iris lifted a brow, amusement flickering in her eyes.

“Why would I be upset?” she said casually. “Watching the two of you embarrass yourselves has actually been pretty entertaining.”

Olivia’s expression twisted instantly, her face burning red with humiliation and anger.

How dare Iris insult her and Stanley like that?

And right to her face!

Meanwhile, Iris only smiled faintly.

“A shameless man and a gold-digger,” she said coolly. “Honestly, you two deserve each other.”

Ever since Olivia returned to the Sutton family a month ago, Stanley had been obsessively devoted to her. Iris had watched the entire thing like it was some ridiculous comedy show.

Olivia was on the verge of losing her temper, but Iris had already stepped out through the front doors.

Just as she reached the villa entrance—

A car came roaring down the estate driveway.

The deafening growl of the engine shattered the silence of the night.

Everyone inside instinctively turned toward the sound.

A black sedan screeched to a halt in front of the Sutton residence.

The car had no visible logo, but the rear bumper was crushed inward so badly it looked like it had barely survived a highway collision. The entire vehicle rattled violently before the engine finally coughed into silence.

Then the driver’s door opened.

A grimy middle-aged man climbed out through a cloud of black smoke. One lens of his gold-rimmed glasses was cracked, and grease stains covered nearly every inch of his clothes.

The moment he spotted Iris, however, his face lit up.

“Miss Noir!” he called enthusiastically. “I’m the Noir family’s butler. You may call me Uncle Walter. Master and Madam sent me to bring you home!”

He hurried over, opened the back door, and bowed dramatically.

“Please, Miss.”

The contrast was almost absurd.

The wrecked car. The suspicious smoke. The shabby-looking butler.

And yet his manners were so refined that everything felt strangely out of place.

Iris glanced at the license plate.

A string of repeated eights.

Flashy.

Oddly familiar.

Without another word, she stepped into the car.

A flicker of surprise crossed Walter’s eyes. He carefully shut the door before returning to the driver’s seat.

“Please fasten your seatbelt, Miss,” he said politely.

Then—

He slammed on the accelerator.

The engine erupted with a deafening roar.

A second later, the damaged hood rattled violently before flying straight off the car, releasing another wave of thick black smoke into the air.

Silence filled the vehicle for a brief moment.

Walter waited awkwardly, almost expecting a scream, a complaint, or at least a furious outburst from the back seat.

After all, most young ladies would have exploded by now.

But Iris merely looked ahead calmly, her expression unreadable.

Inside the banquet hall, the guests burst into laughter.

“What kind of family drives a car like that?”

“That thing belongs in a scrapyard!”

“Forget the road. It’ll probably explode before it reaches the gate!”

Walter heard every single word.

His expression darkened instantly.

He had served the Noir family for decades and had never encountered people this openly disrespectful.

And honestly… this was partly his fault.

If he had not deliberately dressed shabbily to test the young miss, those fools would never have dared to mock her so openly.

Now he finally understood a little of how she had lived all these years.

And somehow, he realized this young lady might be completely different from the other one—the pampered fake heiress who threw tantrums and acted superior over every little thing.

Because of his momentary doubt and negligence, people were now insulting his young miss right in front of him.

Naturally, he could not let that slide.

Walter slowly rolled the window halfway down and turned toward Vanessa Sutton.

The soot covering his face and the cracked glasses conveniently hid the sharpness in his eyes.

“And you’re simply allowing them to mock the daughter you raised for twenty years?” he asked calmly. “With values like these, it’s no surprise the Sutton family has only managed to build a minor reputation in this city.”

His tone remained polite.

But the words landed like a slap across Vanessa’s face.

The Sutton family had spent years desperately trying to enter elite circles in the capital and had failed every single time. It was a sore spot Vanessa rarely allowed anyone to mention.

Yet this shabby-looking driver knew about it.

And said it publicly.

Vanessa stormed toward the car.

“And what about your family?” she snapped coldly. “Be careful. Iris might destroy your household too. A psychic once warned us she was a curse—bad for wealth, bad for family, rotten to the core. She even poisoned my daughter!”

The butler smiled faintly.

“The Noir family is wealthy enough to survive whatever ‘curse’ Miss Noir supposedly carries.”

His expression cooled slightly.

“And as for your accusations…” he added mildly, “slander is a crime.”

Iris paused.

A hint of surprise finally appeared in her eyes.

She hadn’t expected a complete stranger to defend her so firmly.

The butler looked ready to continue, but a calm voice suddenly came from the back seat.

“Forget it,” Iris said lazily. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, Miss.”

The butler immediately stepped on the accelerator again.

With a thunderous roar, the battered sedan shot out of the estate like a rocket.

Once they reached the main road, the butler glanced at Iris through the rearview mirror.

“Miss, don’t take tonight to heart,” he said gently. “A family like that isn’t worth your feelings.”

Iris nodded calmly.

She had stopped caring a long time ago.

“It’s true that the Noir family originally came from Ashford County,” the butler explained proudly. “But your grandfather built the business from nothing, and your father expanded it even further. The family moved to Crown Heights Estate in the capital years ago.”

He grinned.

“Once you arrive there, even if you walk upside down in the middle of the street, nobody would dare criticize you.”

That finally earned a faint smile from Iris.

As she glanced at the date displayed on her phone, something suddenly came to mind.

“Uncle Walter,” she said, “can you take me to St. Grace Medical Center first?”

The butler instantly tensed.

“What’s wrong, Miss? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No.” Iris shook her head. “A friend asked me to come by. Something urgent came up.”

Only then did he relax.

“Of course. We’ll be passing the hospital anyway.”

...

The conference room at St. Grace Medical Center was completely silent.

On one side of the long table sat the hospital director and several senior executives in expensive suits. Though they appeared composed on the surface, anxiety lingered beneath their calm expressions.

Two copies of a contract rested neatly on the table.

One side bore the name:

Lytton Pharmaceuticals.

As the first pharmaceutical company in the country to successfully develop medication for cystic fibrosis, Lytton Pharmaceuticals had become one of the most influential companies in the medical field. St. Grace Medical Center had spent months fighting for this partnership.

And now, they were only waiting for the representative to sign.

At exactly one o’clock in the afternoon, the conference room doors opened.

Escorted by the director’s assistant, Iris walked inside.

The moment the executives saw her, several of them froze in shock.

A young girl?

Iris ignored their reactions completely.

She sat down across from them, flipped directly to the final page of the contract, and signed her name without hesitation.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds.

A multi-million-dollar partnership had just been finalized by a teenage girl with terrifying efficiency.

Iris calmly set the pen down and looked toward the hospital director with a polite smile.

“Director Hayes,” she said, “I still have somewhere else to be, so I’ll take my leave first. We can discuss the remaining details another time.”

Director Hayes finally relaxed, the tension leaving his face.

“Of course,” he said warmly. “Safe travels, Miss Noir.”

—

The floor below the conference room connected directly to the VIP patient wing.

The area was usually quiet because the patients staying there were either extremely wealthy or highly influential.

Nobody dared cause trouble there.

Iris had just stepped off the elevator when she saw several doctors and nurses rushing a little girl—around seven or eight years old—toward the operating room.

“The patient is experiencing severe arrhythmia!” Dr. Lang shouted urgently. “Classic congenital heart disease symptoms! She needs surgery immediately!”

The hospital bed had barely cleared the doorway before a slender figure stepped in front of it.

Iris stared at the unconscious girl.

Her face was pale, her breathing uneven.

“She doesn’t have congenital heart disease,” Iris said coldly. “It’s Anderson-Fabry disease.”

One of the younger doctors frowned.

“Who are you?” she asked sharply. “This is a medical emergency.”

Her eyes swept over Iris.

“You're not hospital staff. Please move aside.”

The moment Dr. Lang recognized the person standing in front of the hospital bed, Dr. Lang’s expression darkened instantly.

“Iris?” he said sharply, disbelief flashing through his eyes before turning into ridicule. “What are you doing here?”

The surrounding doctors looked between them in confusion.

One of them laughed awkwardly. “Dr. Lang, you know this girl?”

Dr. Lang let out a cold sneer.

“She’s just a fake daughter,” he said dismissively. “An adopted girl who read a few medical books and suddenly thinks she’s some kind of genius.”

His gaze swept over Iris from head to toe, contempt obvious in his eyes.

The Sutton family had tolerated her existence for years purely because his mom insisted on raising her. In Dr. Lang’s eyes, Iris had always been nothing more than a fake heiress clinging desperately to a wealthy family she didn’t belong to.

And now she dared question him publicly?

Before he could continue, the surrounding doctors immediately jumped to his defense.

“Do you even know who you’re arguing with?”

“Dr. Lang is one of the hospital’s top cardiac specialists!”

“He’s never misdiagnosed a patient before!”

“Where did this kid come from? Move aside! If the surgery gets delayed, can you take responsibility?”

The corner of Dr. Lang’s mouth lifted slightly as the others defended him.

Clearly, nobody here took Iris seriously.

Good.

That was exactly how things should be.

But one of the interns behind Dr. Lang hesitated after hearing Iris’s words.

“I...” he began carefully. “I studied abroad and saw a similar case before. What she’s saying is possible. I think we should perform another detailed examination first.”

The two illnesses shared similar symptoms.

But congenital heart disease and Anderson-Fabry disease required completely different treatments.

If they were confused, the patient could die on the operating table.

“What examination?” Dr. Lang snapped furiously.

Then he pointed directly at Iris.

“You’re seriously going to trust someone like her?”

His voice was filled with mockery.

“She couldn’t even survive in the Sutton family, and now she wants to lecture doctors?”

“If we delay any longer, the patient will die! She needs surgery immediately!”

He glared at the intern before turning coldly toward Iris again.

Iris’s eyes turned icy.

Her slim figure remained firmly planted in front of the bed.

“If you operate now,” she said evenly, “you’ll be the one killing her.”

“The golden rescue window for Anderson-Fabry disease is only twenty minutes,” she said evenly. “You have ten minutes left.”

“Even with ten minutes left, it’s still congenital heart disease!” Dr. Lang barked. “I’ll stake my entire career on this diagnosis. You don’t even have clinical experience. Move aside!”

Iris met his gaze without flinching.

“No.”

She stood alone against an entire group of specialists, yet her presence was overwhelming enough that none of them could pressure her into backing down.

The hallway fell into a tense stalemate.

Neither side was willing to give in.

“Iris? Why are you still here?”

Director Hayes had just finished his work upstairs. The moment he came down the stairs and saw the confrontation, confusion crossed his face.

“I was about to leave,” Iris replied calmly, “but this associate director misdiagnosed Anderson-Fabry disease as congenital heart disease and insisted on surgery.”

Since Langley had already made it clear that they were merely distant relatives, there was no point in calling him her brother anymore.

Director Hayes nearly missed a step. He rushed downstairs and quickly examined the little girl himself.

“The corneal whorl opacity...” he blurted out in shock. “That’s a classic symptom of Anderson-Fabry disease!”

The hallway instantly fell silent.

It wasn’t congenital heart disease.

Dr. Lang had actually misdiagnosed her.

Several doctors immediately broke out in cold sweat.

If they had gone through with the surgery, the child would have died.

Dr. Lang’s face turned pale.

“That’s impossible...” he muttered instinctively.

Director Hayes shot him a furious look.

“Impossible?” he snapped. “Miss Noir personally participated in the early clinical development of Anderson-Fabry treatment research three years ago. If she says it’s Anderson-Fabry disease, then it is.”

The hallway fell deathly silent.

Several doctors stared at Iris in disbelief.

Three years ago?

But she couldn’t have even been an adult back then.

Even Dr. Lang’s expression froze completely.

He had spent years building his reputation in cardiology.

Meanwhile, this girl—

The very adopted sister he had always looked down on—

Had already entered a medical field he could barely touch.

Director Hayes didn’t even spare him another glance.

Instead, he turned toward Iris with obvious urgency.

“Iris, you can perform this surgery, right?” he asked quickly. “That child is Mr. Barclay’s niece. If anything happens to her, St. Grace is finished.”

He looked close to begging.

“Please save her—and save St. Grace too. Do it for my sake.”

The surrounding doctors were stunned.

They had never seen the proud and arrogant Director Hayes lower himself like this before.

Iris looked at the frail little girl on the bed and nodded lightly.

As a doctor, she couldn’t stand by and watch a patient die even if nobody asked her to help.

The moment she agreed, Director Hayes finally relaxed.

“Prepare the operating room immediately!”

...

While the surgery was still ongoing, Dr. Lang stood outside the operating room with a dark expression.

The more he thought about it, the uglier his face became.

An adopted daughter outperforming him in front of the entire department?

Impossible.

His jaw tightened before he finally pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

The call connected quickly.

“Langley?” Vanessa sounded surprised. “Why are you calling me at this hour?”

Dr. Lang lowered his voice.

“Mom,” he said coldly, “what exactly is going on with Iris?”

The mention of Iris instantly darkened Vanessa’s mood.

“That ungrateful brat?” she snapped. “I just kicked her out of the Sutton family tonight.”

Dr. Lang froze slightly.

“Kicked her out?”

“Yes,” Vanessa said harshly. “Why? Did she cause trouble again?”

Dr. Lang glanced toward the operating room.

Inside, Director Hayes was personally assisting Iris during surgery.

His expression turned uglier.

“She somehow convinced Director Hayes to back her publicly,” he said through clenched teeth. “Now the entire department is acting like she’s some medical genius.”

Vanessa let out a mocking laugh.

“Medical genius?” she scoffed. “That girl only knows how to pretend.”

Her tone became colder.

“She’s good at acting pitiful and manipulating people. Director Hayes is probably just helping her build a reputation.”

Then, after a brief pause—

“Or maybe she climbed into someone’s bed already,” Vanessa sneered. “That girl was always shameless.”

Dr. Lang’s expression finally eased slightly.

So that was it.

He had almost believed that ridiculous performance himself.

A cold sneer appeared on his face.

No wonder Director Hayes suddenly protected Iris so aggressively.

...

Inside the operating room, Iris disinfected her hands and put on her sterile gown with practiced ease.

Only her bright almond-shaped eyes remained visible above the mask, calm and focused.

“Anesthesia.”

“Establish IV access.”

“Scalpel.”

One medical instruction after another left her mouth while her hands moved steadily.

The doctors assisting her gradually widened their eyes in disbelief.

She actually knew what she was doing.

Not only that, but every incision was perfectly measured. The depth, angle, and precision were flawless.

And her hands never trembled once.

The doctors observing from the viewing room were completely dumbfounded.

Iris held the scalpel with calm confidence, every movement smooth and efficient, like a perfectly calibrated machine.

Her surgical skill was on par with Director Hayes himself.

The operating team went from skeptical to fully obedient within minutes, following every instruction she gave without hesitation.

Without anyone realizing it, the entire surgery had begun revolving around her.

Everyone in the observation room stared in shock.

Who exactly was this girl?

Iris worked incredibly fast.

Many of the doctors could barely keep up before she had already moved on to the next step.

A surgery like this normally took around ninety minutes.

Iris completed it in less than thirty.

And the procedure itself was flawless—textbook perfect.

After confirming the little girl was out of danger, Iris removed her sterile gown and stepped out of the operating room, calmly giving the attending physicians post-operative instructions.

“Iris, thank you so much this time!”

Director Hayes rushed over the moment she finished speaking and gripped her hand tightly in gratitude.

The doctors who had mocked her earlier all lowered their heads silently.

Her ability spoke for itself.

At that moment, two lines of bodyguards dressed in black suddenly approached from the far end of the hallway, surrounding someone in the middle.

The man at the center paused briefly when his eyes landed on Iris before turning toward Director Hayes.

“How is my niece?”

“Mr. Barclay, don’t worry. Miss Barclay is out of danger,” Director Hayes said quickly. “Iris performed the surgery herself.”

Iris?

Ares Barclay looked toward her again.

Because of the surgery, her dark hair had been tied into a neat bun, and half her face was hidden behind a medical mask.

Wearing a simple white dress, she stood quietly beneath the hospital lights like a rare flower blooming in isolation.

Elegant.

Mysterious.

The kind of woman who naturally made people want to know more about her.

Iris’s first impression of him was simple.

A fox.

Tall and strikingly handsome, Ares wore a faint smile that looked refined and pleasant—but never quite reached his eyes.

Ares glanced toward his assistant, Julian Cross.

Julian immediately stepped forward and handed Iris a blank check.

“Miss Sutton, thank you for saving our young miss,” he said respectfully. “Please write whatever amount you’d like.”

Iris didn’t refuse.

She borrowed a pen from Director Hayes and casually wrote down a number.

One of the nearby doctors caught sight of it and nearly choked.

One million dollars?!

That expensive?