Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 318: The electronic records… they’re fake

“Did they find someone on their own?”

The woman’s words only deepened Ryan’s confusion. He even wondered if he had misheard her, so he asked again.

“Yes, the patient’s family found someone on their own. I was actually a little involved in the situation back then…”

The woman hesitated slightly but decided to tell the truth.

Before continuing, she quickly stood up, grabbed two disposable cups from a drawer, and nervously poured coffee into them while Ryan and Mia watched.

“Miss Alice, Mr. Ryan, you’ve had a long day. Please, have some coffee. This is a premium single-origin brew, it’s really good.”

She placed the coffee in front of Ryan and Mia. Even though it was just a simple pour-over, the rich aroma filled the room.

The fragrance was so enticing that even someone who knew nothing about coffee could tell it was expensive.

Ryan wasn’t particularly interested in these things, nor did he understand why the woman was suddenly trying to butter them up. Instinctively, he glanced at Mia, who had more experience with this kind of stuff.

Mia winked at Ryan, picked up her cup, and gently sniffed the coffee. A satisfied expression crossed her face as she closed her eyes, savoring the aroma.

It was clear she liked the coffee.

Seeing Mia’s reaction, the woman finally relaxed. The intense look Mia had given her earlier had really scared her, making her feel like she was in serious trouble.

Simply cooperating and sharing what she knew wouldn’t have been enough to ease Mia’s displeasure. So, after realizing she had some insider information that Ryan and Mia were after, she decided to go all out, offering them her prized coffee—something she usually wouldn’t even drink herself. Her sincerity was genuine; she was treating them like honored guests.

Mia still looked quite young, and the woman worried that Mia might not realize how expensive the coffee was. If that were the case, her attempt to win them over would be wasted.

Luckily, her little gesture seemed to have worked. Mia was clearly pleased with the coffee, and the sharp glint in her eyes had disappeared.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief, mentally patting herself on the back for her quick thinking. Now that Mia was satisfied, all she had to do was answer Ryan’s questions properly, and Mia probably wouldn’t hold any grudges over minor issues.

Her attention shifted to Ryan, who seemed distracted. He hadn’t reacted at all to the coffee in front of him and was just staring blankly at Mia.

Ryan had no idea how valuable the coffee was. Terms like “premium single-origin” didn’t mean much to him. He was more intrigued by how Mia had downed the entire cup in one go, as if it were just a regular drink.

“Uh, could we get another cup of coffee? She seems really thirsty,” Ryan asked, feeling a bit awkward as he noticed Mia had already finished her coffee and still looked like she wanted more.

“Uh… sure, of course…” the woman stammered, snapping out of her thoughts.

The coffee had been a gift from a wealthy local businessman a while back, and she had always been careful to only drink a little at a time, telling herself that good coffee should be savored slowly.

She had already been generous with the first round, using a lot of coffee grounds for each cup. But she hadn’t expected Mia to gulp it down like it was water.

To put things in perspective, premium single-origin coffee could sell for thousands of dollars per pound. Just one cup could easily cost dozens of dollars—definitely not something the average person could afford.

But since Ryan had asked, she couldn’t exactly refuse. Forcing a smile, she reluctantly made another cup for Mia.

Earlier, her hands had been shaking from nerves. Now, they were trembling from pure heartache.

Mia gave Ryan a thumbs-up as the fresh cup of coffee was placed in front of her. Ryan really knew how to read the room—good job.

Mia’s stomach had been feeling a bit off earlier, and the coffee had come at just the right time. It was like someone handing you a pillow when you’re ready to sleep. Plus, the woman had dared to look down on Ryan earlier, which had annoyed Mia. Drinking a few more cups of her expensive coffee seemed like a fitting way to teach her a little lesson.

“How do you know about all this? Why would Frank hire a caregiver from outside the hospital?” Ryan asked, still uninterested in the coffee. His mind was focused on what the woman had said earlier. As soon as she finished pouring Mia’s coffee, he pressed her for answers.

“I don’t know why he hired someone from outside the hospital. But I can guarantee one thing: all the caregivers in the hospital are professionally trained. Their pay is directly tied to the quality of their service.”

“If you go through the hospital, the money goes straight to the administration, and they assign a dedicated caregiver. There’s no room for any gaps in care.”

The woman explained carefully, making sure not to leave out any details.

Ryan rubbed his chin as he listened. The caregiver wasn’t hired through the hospital? If the woman wasn’t lying, then this whole situation was getting even stranger.

There could be plenty of reasons to hire someone from outside the hospital—maybe it was cheaper, for instance. But with a price tag of $10,000 for just two weeks, that didn’t make sense. With that kind of money, you could hire the best caregivers the hospital had to offer. Why go outside?

And then there was the glaring contradiction between what the woman was saying and the evidence. If Frank really hadn’t hired a hospital caregiver, why was the payment recorded in the hospital’s accounts? Could it be that someone had cooked the books?

Ryan felt like things were getting more and more bizarre. He looked up, trying to gauge the woman’s reaction.

At that moment, the woman was busy pouring Mia her third cup of coffee. While Mia looked completely satisfied, the woman’s face was filled with pain.

Mia’s visit was turning out to be quite costly for her. Not only did she have to be on edge, making sure she didn’t say anything wrong, but the coffee alone was probably costing her several days’ worth of wages.

“Mia…” Ryan called out to the girl, a bit exasperated. Figuring out what was going on here seemed a lot more important than drinking coffee.

Mia was happily slurping her coffee, even blowing bubbles into it for fun. When Ryan called her name, she stuck out her little pink tongue at him playfully, but then obediently quieted down.

When Ryan turned back to the woman, she was looking at him like he was her savior.

“What’s the deal with the discrepancies in the electronic records? What else do you know about this situation?” Ryan asked, cutting straight to the point.

He didn’t care what the woman was thinking. All he wanted was the truth.

Ryan’s question was blunt, leaving the woman with no room to dodge. Her fingers nervously tapped the table as she hesitated for about half a minute before finally making up her mind.

“The electronic records… they’re fake. I made them for the patient’s family.”

“He originally wanted the hospital to act as a third-party witness to oversee the caregiver he hired, but we couldn’t find any professional credentials for that person, so we refused.”

“He was really disappointed and left that day, but the next day, he came back with a large sum of money and found me.”

“He begged me to include the caregiver’s expenses in the hospital’s official records. He said it was extremely important for him and his daughter.”

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