The two hitmen immediately went forth to them and asked, “Is there anything we can do? Mr. Clark sent us here.”
The men who carried Raymond out were working under Marcus. Upon hearing the hitmen, they promptly handed Raymond over to the hitmen and said, “Bring Mr. Saunders to the hospital. Thank you.”
Then, not even blinking an eyelid at the six reporters who laid on the ground, Marcus’s men went back into the Thai restaurant. After all, Valeria and Abbie were still inside the private room. They wouldn’t want anything to happen to those two ladies.
At this time, Marcus, Richard, and William arrived at the restaurant almost simultaneously. Abbie was still unconscious, but Valeria had already woken up, her cheeks rosy and her eyes unfocused.
She threw herself at William when she saw him enter the room, and she slurred, “Honey! Don’t you think it’s hot in here? I don’t like it…”
Obviously, Valeria was being more flirty than usual. William gulped, and he pulled her into his arms, “I’m taking you home.”
“It’s too hot! I really don’t like it… Help me!” Valeria began rubbing herself against William, as how the cats would rub against their owner to show affection.
Not expecting that from her, William’s eyes darkened. He quickly pulled her under his overcoat and headed out without a word. Richard’s face was dark, too. It was clear what had happened in this very room.
“Abbie,” he crouched down near Abbie and gently shook her, trying to wake her up. “Abbie, wake up!”
Yet, Abbie didn’t seem like she was going to wake up anytime soon. So, Richard felt her forehead, only to find that she had a usual body temperature. Abbie only passed out, but Valeria was drugged with stimulating substances.
Without further delay, Richard carried Abbie and left the private room. William and Valeria were already gone by the time Richard left the restaurant with Abbie. The reporters were still there, and Marcus’s men were tossing them into their car.
Seeing that Marcus was into dealing with the aftermath, Richard put Abbie into his car and drove off to the hospital.
Meanwhile, William was driving as fast as he could. Even held down by the seat belt, Valeria was squirming in her seat, and she never stopped whining about the heat she felt.
At first, she was still lucid. But it wasn’t long before she lost her mind. She even unbuckled herself and tried to grab William.
He sighed. He was planning to wait until they got back to help Valeria to deal with whatever she was going through at the moment. But it seemed like things were going to get out of control anytime now.
With that in mind, William turned his car into a secluded path. As soon as he pulled up, Valeria climbed over and positioned herself onto his lap.
…
At the same time, Raymond was already admitted and treated in the hospital.
One of the two hitmen, who sent Raymond to the hospital, called Richard to debrief him on the situation. He said, “The doctor said there’s a very high level of stimulant in Mr. Saunders’s body. But there are drugs to lower that down, so there’s nothing you should be alerted about.”
Upon hearing that, Richard breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did his fear catch up to him. He couldn’t even bring himself to imagine how things would end up if William didn’t have his man watching over Raymond and Valeria.
Drugged, Raymond and Valeria would definitely hit the home run in the private room itself. Even if Abbie was passed out, all three of them would have ruined their reputation once words about their dinner that day got out.
Then, Richard remembered that, on the phone, William told him that Charles and Savannah were behind the stunt. But he didn’t quite understand why.
Savannah setting Valeria up was foreseeable, but not Raymond. After all, Raymond was Savannah’s son.
What happened in the private room wasn’t supposed to be orchestrated by a mother to her child.
All things aside, Richard just couldn’t believe that Charles and Savannah had the nerve to involve Abbie in the scheme. He definitely wouldn’t stand down, not after what they did to his only sister.
On the other hand, Charles and Savannah were anxiously waiting for the scandal to make its way to the headlines after their celebratory wine.
They refreshed the websites again and again, hoping that something would pop up on the home page.
But, more than an hour later, there was still nothing.
Savannah got nervous, “Charles, do you think something went wrong?”
“I don’t think so,” Charles replied tentatively.
Savannah frowned, “You should have people stationed around the restaurant so we wouldn’t be kept in the dark like this.”
“Are you out of your mind? They can’t stay there!” Charles asked with displeasure. “They can easily trace back to me, or us, if they got caught.”
Savannah, of course, understood that. However, it still didn’t feel good to be kept out of the action. She suggested, “But shouldn’t the news be up by now? Maybe you should call them and ask.”
To which Charles complied. He called someone, “What’s wrong? What hasn’t anything turned up in the headlines yet?”
“I was about to call you, Mr. Howard. The journalists are missing,” the person on the other end answered.
“What do you mean missing?!”
“No one can get through to them. We think something might have happened.”
“D*mn it!” Charles cursed through gritted teeth. “That’s our only chance at succeeding! How did they find out about it!?”
In the meantime, Valeria, who had escaped the catastrophe, dozed off after the business. William helped put her clothes back on and continued to head back to the Wolf Group Hotel.
When they arrived at the hotel, William parked at the underground parking lot. Carrying Valeria in his arms, they returned to their presidential suite using its dedicated elevator.
And when William finally put Valeria to bed, he couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. But he couldn’t rest yet. With a long face, he called Marcus, “So?”
“Miss Clark and Mr. Saunders are both being treated at the hospital. They’re fine. As for the reporters, I got them to come clean. They all said someone texted them about Mr. Saunders’s affair today, and they went there because they all wanted to get the news first hand. I think the person who tipped the reporters off is the one who’s behind this plan.”
Marcus took a deep breath and continued, “Mr. Howard, do you think Charles and Savannah really plotted this? But… Isn’t Raymond her son?”
“Who else do you think it would be? Didn’t you tell me yourself that Charles had his people following Raymond?” William sneered. “As for why they targeted Raymond and Valeria, I think they might have found out about Valeria’s identity, and they want to use this opportunity to bring her down too.”
“But still… Raymond is her son! Even crows know to feed their young. How can anyone be so cruel to set up her own child?” Marcus asked, utterly staggered.
He had seen many strange things and people in his life, but he had never thought that he would see someone as heartless as Savannah and Charles.
William didn’t answer Marcus’s question. He was silent for quite some time until he finally got a crazy idea.
“No, mother will have the heart to turn away from her child,” He spoke rather slowly, “So, the simplest answer is usually the correct answer… I don’t think Savannah is Raymond’s birth mom.”