Troubles

Phil Coulson came and went on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It seemed to have had no effect, but in reality, he had brought Sean a great deal of trouble.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was not an especially powerful organization. But unlike the others, it had the world government behind it.

An organization backed by the authorities.

Being targeted by an organization like that was genuinely annoying for Sean.

He himself was fine. Sean White had a legitimate identity, after all. But Ava Ellis was different. Her demon identity truly could not be exposed to the light.

1907! Sean had to admire this female demon. She had used one identity for over a hundred years without ever changing it.

He really had no idea how she had gotten by while walking among humans before.

Just as Sean was feeling troubled, a Cadillac stopped in front of him.

"Dr. White?"

A young woman got out of the car.

"Hmm..."

But Sean could not remember who she was.

Did he know her?

"I'm Wendy Duncan. You saved my daughter last time..."

"Oh, Kitty, right?"

"It's Kelly~"

"..." How awkward.

"Uh... what is this?"

"The consultation fee~"

Oh! So that was it!

Sean nearly blurted out, "Come in and have a seat!"

Remembering the ruins behind him, Sean awkwardly said:

"My place is currently experiencing some internal unrest~"

Wendy Duncan glanced at the construction site behind Sean, smiled politely, and took out a check to hand to him.

Sean took it and looked. Ten million, eight hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars—not a cent short.

This deal was complete. What a huge profit! He happily shook hands with the beautiful woman and said enthusiastically:

"Here, I treat all illnesses, big or small, and guarantee results. If anything comes up, be sure to come find me!"

Then he turned and left without looking back.

Wendy Duncan was left somewhat stunned. She stared blankly at Sean's retreating back for two seconds, then shook her head with a laugh.

More than ten million dollars, and it was swept away by the ledger in the blink of an eye!

Sean could not understand it. Why could it not have some kind of top-up system, separating its money from his? Why did one ledger have to control all the property of a living person like him?

Did it want to be a housekeeper or something?

Sean returned to the construction site grinning from ear to ear. This was the only major deal he had successfully closed in the past few months! Plenty of people still owed him fees of a hundred or two hundred thousand. Especially Cyclops from Xavier Institute, who had claimed he was not short on money—tch! He still had not paid up!

That Duncan woman really was a good person! What a wonderful feeling~

In a good mood, everything looked pleasing to the eye~

"Lorna, come on. I'll treat you to ice cream~"

(--Д)

Polaris completely failed to understand why Sean had suddenly said that. Was she someone who lacked an ice cream? Well... she actually was~

Ever since the ledger had forcibly enforced its judgment, Polaris had had no pocket money at all. Forget ice cream—even if she wanted to replace her underwear, she had to ask someone to donate it to her~ Life was unbearably hard~

She did not even want to stay at the Institute anymore. She was afraid that if enough time passed, everyone would start looking at her strangely~

"Dr. White~ Can I work for you?"

"Oh~ You've got quite the plan there. Earn my money and use it to repay your debt?"

"Uh..."

That did seem right when he put it that way~

Polaris had only one sentence in her heart: This is so hard for me~

"What can you do?"

Sean did not reject Polaris outright.

"I can do anything!"

(O_O)

You seemed to have some misunderstanding about the phrase "anything."

"I think you can only work the front desk."

"Meals and lodging included~ And you have to provide clothes too~"

The girl immediately added that condition. She had to negotiate those terms, or her wages would go toward the debt—what would she eat and wear?

"We'll talk tomorrow. Right now, let's go get ice cream. Yuriko, let's go!"

One man and two women sat by the window in a dessert shop two streets away.

There were few pedestrians outside, most of them young people. That was how Washington Heights was. Many students chose to live there after graduation.

Polaris quietly ate her ice cream, not knowing what she was thinking about. Yuriko only focused on eating, seemingly thinking about nothing at all.

Sean, meanwhile, recalled his experiences over this period. Although he had been a little unlucky lately, the previous six months had been peaceful. He saw two or three patients every day. Most were children, but the revenue had still been decent.

His clinic was located in Washington Heights, one of Manhattan's notoriously rough neighborhoods.

The income of the residents here was easy enough to imagine.

In the United States, sixty percent of people did not even have five hundred dollars in savings.

So the clinic's real target was not the local residents of Washington Heights, but the middle class.

It was only because his building was here that he had no choice but to set up here.

This accident had actually given him an opportunity. Once the clinic was rebuilt, it would at least no longer look as shabby as before.

He hoped more people would come to the clinic for treatment, especially those who could afford to pay.

But how could he attract them? That was the problem.

Wendy Duncan had given him a good start. At the very least, his clinic could gain some recognition among people of Wendy Duncan's social standing.

Sean was imagining his clinic packed with people and lined with cars when a phone call interrupted him.

"Dr. White, are we still hiring doctors?"

Linda Carter was calling. That girl and Ava Ellis were probably wandering around somewhere. From the background noise on the phone, they seemed to be in a mall or somewhere similar.

"Of course. Of course we're hiring."

"Someone just contacted me. They want to meet with you and discuss it."

"Discuss it with me? Discuss what? You can decide."

Sean had no interest whatsoever in this kind of meaningless meeting. If they wanted the job, they could take it. If not, forget it. Why did they have to see what the boss looked like?

"Um... do we need nurses too?"

"Obviously. Unless you think you can handle everything by yourself, then we don't need any."

Linda Carter curled her lip on the other end of the call. Only a ghost could handle all that alone.

"One more question. Do we only need one doctor?"

"Of course not. It would be best to get one for surgery and one for internal medicine. It would be even better if we could get a gynecologist too."

If Sean wanted to expand the clinic, he obviously could not rely on just one or two doctors to keep up appearances.

At the very least, he needed to see ordinary cases, right? He could not always charge by weight.

That way, the clinic could have a chance of being included in the health insurance system. Then there would be many patients, making it easier for him to collect unusual cases.

"What happens if I can't pay the interest?"

Polaris suddenly asked.

"What happens? Nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have any debt now."

"Huh?"

Polaris was extremely surprised. No debt?

Sean glanced at her and knew the girl had misunderstood.

If it was only a matter of debts piling up, then of course it did not matter. She could not repay them now anyway, so what difference did it make if they increased?

But there were many more problems involved.

"Do you know what compulsory enforcement means?"

"It means forcibly confiscating my property?"

"No. It means forcibly turning you into property."

∑(дlll)

Polaris's face immediately darkened.

"Then what you said back then..."

"I was very clear! You belong to me as property now."

(_)

Polaris was practically about to cry. She had never considered that she herself could be part of the property.

"Liar!"

Two chapters done! Where are the votes?