The Billionaire And His Son Want Me Back (Paisley)

Jonathan snapped into action. "Right, I'll get everything set up."

As Paisley was about to head to the operating room with Jonathan, Charles chimed in, "Hey, Ms. Sutton, what about me?"

Paisley shot him a side glance. "You might as well come help, too."

Charles broke into a grin, his eyes lighting up. "Sure thing."

He was supposedly going to help, but with Paisley there, they hardly needed him. Paisley was just using Paul's treatment as a teaching moment for him. 'Man, you really never stop learning in this life,' Charles mused to himself.

Marissa watched anxiously as Paisley disappeared into the operating room with Jonathan and the others. She couldn't hold back anymore. "Dom, are you seriously okay with this? You lived with her for four years. You know better than anyone if she has any real medical training. Don't let her fool you. This is your grandpa we're talking about."

Marissa's emotional outburst struck a chord with several of the elder Vanderbilts.

"She's got a point," Harris Vanderbilt, Paul's younger brother, chimed in. "Dom, don't let yourself get played like this."

But Dominick stood his ground, unusually firm. "Even if she could fool us, you really think she managed to deceive both Mr. Walsh and Mr. Hansen, too?"

Harris fell silent, unable to come up with a comeback.

"Mr. Reginald Vanderbilt, what do you think?" Marissa turned desperately to Reginald. "We can still stop Paisley now."

Just then, a group of medical staff in white coats rushed past, their faces a mix of urgency and barely contained excitement.

"Move it, everyone. Mr. Walsh wants us in the observation room for the whole thing," someone called out. "Wait, is this that expert who kept turning down Mr. Walsh's offers?" another doctor chimed in.

"That's the one. Hurry up, it's already started," came an eager response.

The doctors practically sprinted down the hallway, like they were afraid of missing even a second. As they rushed past the Vanderbilts, their name tags were impossible to miss, flashing titles like Chief Physician and Associate Chief Physician.

The sight of so many top doctors rushing to watch left the skeptical Vanderbilts completely stunned. Watching this unfold, Reginald finally felt the knot of anxiety in his chest loosen.

"So...Paisley's really that good?" Kayla mumbled, her voice soft and uncertain. The shock hadn't quite worn off, and her eyes held a distant look of disbelief.

Lauren stood there speechless, feeling like she'd just been slapped across the face. This was not how things were supposed to go. She turned stiffly toward Dominick.

He was staring at the operating room doors, dead silent, his eyes deep and unreadable. Shock, confusion, and something else she couldn't quite place flickered across his face.

Right then, Lauren knew that Dominick hadn't seen this coming either.

Marissa watched the Vanderbilts' reactions carefully, trying to keep her own emotions in check as she drifted over to the window. So it was true. Paisley really was Charles' mentor.

Marissa had brought Charles here, thinking that no matter what happened to Paul, the Vanderbilts would be grateful to her. But Paisley had completely destroyed that plan. Marissa needed to act fast, to do something-anything-to make sure the Vanderbilts remembered who had really helped them. "Hey Marissa, what's wrong? What's with that look?" Kayla walked over to ask. She'd almost said "terrifying" because that was exactly what Marissa's expression had been, but she'd caught herself at the last second and softened it.

Marissa quickly rearranged her features, letting her eyes well up with tears. She lifted her hand to dab at imaginary tears, using the gesture to cover how unnatural she felt. "It's nothing. Just worried about Grandpa Paul.'

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Though Kayla hated admitting anything good about Paisley, the results spoke for themselves. "Everyone's acting like Paisley's some miracle worker. She should be able to help Grandpa, right?"

Marissa kept her eyes down, a flash of something ugly crossing her face. But Kayla's presence had reminded her of something. "Hey Kayla, you still want that painting by Mr. Vaire?" Marissa asked.

Kayla's eyes lit up. "Want it? Gosh, I dream about it every night." But her excitement quickly faded. "Not that wanting matters. Marissa, remember what I told you before? Mr. Vaire doesn't sell his paintings to the public."

If he did, Kayla wouldn't be stuck making copies of his work.

"I can get one for you," Marissa said softly.

"No way, seriously?" Kayla couldn't believe her ears.

"Absolutely." Marissa's voice was confident. "My old classmate, Jack, from abroad, is related to Mr. Vaire's assistant. Í actually got in touch with them a while back.

"I was planning to surprise you on your birthday, but seeing how down you've been lately, I figured you could use some good news now."

"For real? Marissa, you're literally the best." Kayla bounced with excitement. "Do you think we could meet Mr. Vaire in person? Can I come with you?"

She dreamed of meeting her idol practically every night. In her mind, he had to be the perfect gentleman -sophisticated, generous, and handsome to boot.

"Let me check my schedule and get back to you on that," Marissa said, carefully sidestepping Kayla's request.

The truth was, Marissa wasn't even sure she could get a meeting with Nion's assistant. She'd already tried reaching out through Jack, mentioning she wanted to buy a painting, but got shut down immediately. Though buying a painting seemed out of reach, Marissa figured meeting Nion in person might actually be doable.

From what she'd dug up, Nion only had one assistant, who was also one of her apprentices. The two were super close. And since Jack was related to Nion's assistant, Marissa thought this connection might just be her ticket to meeting the artist himself.

Even without a direct promise from Marissa, Kayla felt absolutely certain she'd get to see Nion. She believed that Marissa would never lie to her about something like this.

*****

The seconds dragged into minutes, and minutes into hours. Everyone had been waiting since dawn, watching the daylight fade into darkness, but not a single medical staff member had emerged from the operating room.

No one outside knew what was happening in there, and the tension was getting unbearable.

"Why isn't Grandpa out yet?" Kayla paced anxiously in front of the operating room doors. "You don't think something's wrong, do you?"

"Seriously, this is taking forever," Marissa chimed in, seemingly agreeing with Kayla while actually stoking the Vanderbilts' anxiety. "They could at least send someone out to give us an update."

Marissa's words sent everyone into a worried silence. She had a point. They'd been waiting forever, and no one had come out to give them any updates.

'What if something's gone wrong with Paul, and they're too scared to tell us?' they thought. 'I knew we couldn't trust that girl.'

Harris shot an accusing look at Reginald and Dominick. They were the ones who'd insisted on letting Paisley help with the treatment.

"If anything happens to Paul, it's on you two." Harris didn't hold back, glaring daggers at Dominick and Reginald.

Dominick stayed silent, his brows furrowed as he stared at the operating room doors.

Reginald felt his stomach drop at Harris' harsh words. He frantically tried calling Jonathan, but the phone just kept going straight to voicemail.

Just as the Vanderbilts were about to lose it completely, the operating room doors swung open.