The Edge of Understated Dominance Chapter 4 and 5. Don’t miss out this amazing novel, An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori.

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Chapter 4

"Mom, take James to the hospital. I'll deal with this."

"What do you think, Lyra?"

Dahlia rubbed her temples. She felt a headache coming on.

"It's obvious, isn't it? It was Dustin who assaulted them first. The security guards were witnesses, so that can't be a lie," Lyra said.

"But my mother's not exactly an honest person…" Dahlia began. She knew her mother and brother well. They were a hot-tempered and ruthless duo.

"Either way, it's still wrong for him to throw the first punch!" Lyra said righteously. 

Dahlia's frown deepened along with her doubts. Lyra was right. It would seem like her decision to divorce him was right.

She took out her phone and called Dustin. At the same time, Dustin was sitting in a silver Bentley and frowned when he saw the call coming in. Despite his reluctance, he still picked up the call.

"Dustin, I need an explanation!" Dahlia demanded. "Are you taking revenge on my family just because I divorced you?"

Hearing this, Dustin was taken aback. He hadn't expected Dahlia to be so aggressive. She hadn't even stopped to listen to what he had to say. After three years of marriage, she was treating him as if he was a mere stranger, or worse.

"Dustin, I'll give you another chance. Go to the hospital right now and apologize to James, and I'll pretend that nothing happened. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Dustin retorted. "Are you going to call the police on me, or hire someone to take me out?"

"Dustin! Are you really going to throw away my goodwill?" Dahlia snapped.

"Goodwill? Are you sure it's goodwill?"

"You…" Dahlia's retort was cut off as Dustin hung up.

She almost threw out her phone in anger. Dahlia had always been good at hiding her true emotions. It was one of the reasons why she had managed to get to where she was today. But right now, she was having a little trouble in that regard.

"How rude of him." Lyra was about to say more when Dahlia stopped her.

"That's enough of this. I need to work on more important matters, like the charity ball with the Harmon family."

"The charity ball? Has that got anything to do with our partners?"

"That's right. I just received news that the Harmon family has shortlisted the Quine Group. If we do well at this ball, we could be the Harmon family's next partners!"

"That's great! I'll go make the arrangements right now!"

Transformation of Ebiraland by Prof Adam Ahmed Abere Provost National Defense College Abuja

...

After hanging up the call, Dustin arrived at Swinton Primary Hospital. Natasha brought him into a VIP ward, where an old man was laying on the bed, looked dying. Several doctors surrounded him, but none of them looked optimistic.

"Natasha! You're finally here!"

Suddenly, a young woman ran up to them. She was the second daughter of the Harmon family, Ruth Harmon, and the old man on the bed was Andrew Harmon, her grandfather.

"Ms. Harmon, we've already done everything we could." a doctor said helplessly.

"Mr. Rhys will take over." Natasha said coldly.

"Mr. Rhys?"

Dustin looked too young to be a good doctor.

To be frank, she wasn't quite sure about Dustin either, but if Hunter recommended him, then he had to have his merits.

"Could Mr. Anderson have been conned?" Ruth still looked doubtful. "Hey, you, are you really a doctor?"

"I know a little about medicine," Dustin replied.

"Just a little?" Ruth pouted. 

"I won't believe in you unless you can prove to me," Ruth said with her head held high.

"How?" Dustin asked nonchalantly.

"Tell me what ails me. If you're correct, then I'll believe in you!"

"Really? Show me your tongue," Dustin said.

Ruth did as he said.

After a quick look, Dustin said without any hesitation, "Your hormones are imbalanced, so you should be experiencing irregular periods and migraines. You're also showing some signs of food poisoning, which has affected your digestive system. You've been having diarrhea, haven't you? Oh, another thing, you have hemorrhoids…"

The more he spoke, the tenser Ruth became.

 

Chapter 5

"How did you know that?"

Ruth's eyes almost bulged out of her head. Everything from the migraines to diarrhea was spot on. 

"There's a lot you can tell about a person just by looking at them," Dustin said nonchalantly.

"Do you believe him now, Ruth?" Natasha smiled. At the same time, she also heaved a silent sigh of relief. Thank goodness Dustin knew what he was doing.

"He just got lucky!" Ruth refused to admit defeat. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rhys. Please ignore her," Natasha told Dustin apologetically.

"It's fine. Shall we begin?"

Dustin didn't take Ruth's attitude to heart. He walked over to Andrew and gave him a thorough check-up. It didn't take long for him to find out what was going on. It was obvious to him that the old man had been poisoned. Thankfully, it was discovered early on, so he could still be saved. 

"Ms. Harmon, can you get me some silver acupuncture needles?" Dustin asked.

"No problem."

Dustin nodded his thanks, then began. His actions were light but firm as his hands flew deftly. With his skill, his patient would not feel any pain from the needles. Seeing this, Natasha was surprised.

"He's good!"

Once all 16 needles were in place, Dustin breathed a sigh of relief. It had been some time since he last performed acupuncture, but thankfully he was still familiar.

"Is that all? Nothing changed!" Ruth looked confused.

"It'll take about two hours to drain the toxin from his body; you shouldn't remove the needles before the two hours are up, or there might be serious side effects!"

Ruth pouted.

"I need to go to the bathroom. Please watch over him while I'm gone," Dustin told the occupants of the room before leaving.

Not long after he left, a group of doctors barged in. These were some of the most skilled doctors in the hospital. A balding man led the troupe.

"I'm Jansen, the executive director of the hospital. I'm here on orders to treat Old Mr. Harmon," the balding man introduced.

"Ah, you're that famous Dr. Jansen! The best doctor in Swinton!" Ruth was ecstatic.

Dr. Jansen said proudly, "yes, I am."

Ruth immediately moved out of his way. Clearly, she trusted Dr. Jansen more than she trusted a youngster like Dustin.

Dr. Jansen nodded. When he got nearer to the bed, he frowned. "What's with the needles? What nonsense is this?"

As he spoke, he made to remove the needles.

"Wait!" Seeing this, Natasha stopped him. "Dr. Jansen, I've already hired another healer. He said that my grandfather has been poisoned. We cannot remove these needles as there might be serious side effects."

"A pack of lies!" Dr. Jansen snorted derisively. "If these needles can cure ailments, then what are doctors for?"

"That's right!" Ruth agreed. "Natasha, that Dustin barely looks a day over 20. How could he be a skilled healer? Please don't tell me you believe what he said."

"Ms. Harmon, all of the best doctors in Swinton are here." Dr. Jansen took the next word. "Please don't believe in these superstitions. It would just make things worse!" 

Their confidence weakened Natasha's resolve. However, she insisted, "We should wait for Mr. Rhys to come back."

"Ms. Harmon, I'm busy. If I pull out these needles and anything happens to Old Mr. Harmon, it'll be on me." With that, Dr. Jansen pulled out all of the needles.

As soon as the needles were removed, something strange happened.

Andrew's body began convulsing. His face began to turn black, and blood gushed out from his nose and mouth. The machines on either side of the bed began beeping.

"What's going on?" Dr. Jansen was surprised by the turn of events.

"What's this, Dr. Jansen?" Natasha frowned.

"That's strange, he was fine earlier…" Dr. Jansen felt uneasy.

"Sir, the patient is coding!"

"Quick, get the machines!"

Without delay, Dr. Jansen began emergency resuscitation. Even after a lot of effort, Andrew did not seem to get better at all. In fact, his stats were declining uncontrollably. Dr. Jansen was panicking.

"Ms. Harmon, I think… I think Old Mr. Harmon is… dying…"

"What?" Both Natasha and Ruth were shocked.

CONTINUATION OF 6 AND 7