Marcus was shocked, “Im… Impossible!”
“That’s what I thought too. But there’s no other logical reason to explain Savannah’s behavior. Don’t you think so?” William asked in response. “Think about it. You wouldn’t put your only son’s reputation at risk just to get back at your enemy, would you?”
He had thought it through before proposing this idea to Marcus. Raymond was Archer and Savannah’s only son, and he would be the sole rightful heir to the Saunders family’s business.
Unless Raymond wasn’t her blood and flesh, otherwise Savannah wasn’t that witless to hurt her own son.
Convinced, Marcus asked worriedly, “What should we do now, Mr. Howard?”
“A maternity test will do. Marcus, get your hands on Raymond’s DNA sample as soon as possible.”
“Sure. But it isn’t easy to get Ms. Howard’s DNA sample. We might have to wait for a few days for the opportunity,” Marcus replied.
“We don’t have the time to waste. Maybe we can do a kinship test instead of the maternity test using my dad’s or my DNA sample… If Raymond is Aunt Savannah’s son, he will have a biological relationship with either my dad or me.”
In a split second, William made the decision, “I’ll get Andrew to send you my dad’s DNA sample now. You’ll get right on it as soon as you get the samples, alright? I want to see the result first thing tomorrow.”
A few more sentences later, William hung up the call and let go of the breath he had been holding. He had done everything he could, and there was nothing else he could do other than wait for the result.
However, just who Raymond was if he wasn’t Savannah’s son.
Knowing that there was no use to think about it now, William sighed again in exasperation. He really couldn’t wait to see the result the next day.
Meanwhile, the air in Charles’s study was a little thick with tension. He was pacing back and forth, agitated, while Savannah remained seated with her face pale.
Savannah bit her lips and asked, “We had everything planned out so well… It’s supposed to be failproof. What went wrong? Do you think Sir Gavin found out about our plan?”
Charles didn’t reply to her. Her guess was as good as his. But if Gavin was the one to intervene with their plan, he might have realized their reason behind it.
If so, Charles had to think about a way out. He began to go through their plan with a fine-tooth comb.
First of all, he was cautious when he hired people to do the dirty work. He never contacted them himself. So, even if the Saunders got ahold of the reporters, they wouldn’t be able to trace things back to him.
Therefore, Charles figured that he and Savannah were in the clear at the moment. After all, Raymond was Savannah’s son in the publics’ eyes. No one would think that his own mother and uncle would want to cause harm to Raymond.
At the thought of it, Charles felt more at ease. But he still needed to find out the person who ruined their plan. There were a few people he could think of, like Gavin or Lamont. Yet, the person could always be someone else.
As he was thinking, he didn’t stop pacing. Irked by his pacing, Savannah frowned, “Charles, can you, please, sit down? You’re giving me a headache.”
“Savannah, don’t worry,” Charles sat down as he was told. “I don’t think anyone is going to suspect us. I’m now more worried about the person who spoilt our plan. Other than Sir Gavin and Lamont, can you think of anyone else that might do this?”
“Wait, I might really have a name to tell,” Savannah’s face twisted. “Richard.”
Before Richard’s name came up in their conversation, Charles and Savannah had never really thought about people outside of the Howard and the Saunders family. But there were three people in the private room that night, one of which was supposed to be the main character of the dinner, Abbie.
Charles gasped in realization, “Richard! Of course. How could I forget about him! Yes… It must be him. After all, Abbie is his pride and joy.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry if it was Richard. For all we know, he might think that the b*stard is the one who drugged Abbie and Valeria. I hope Richard beat that piece of sh*t to death,” Savannah said bitterly.
“Yes, that would be the best we can hope for… Savannah, ring Raymond and see if Richard said something to him.”
She did, but Raymond didn’t answer. After a few tries, she gave up, “He’s not picking up.”
“He might be under treatment in the hospital right now,” Charles said. “Let’s wait for a while and see. I mean, Archer never treated him well. And he has always seen you as his own mother, right? He’ll call you if he thinks he got into trouble.”
It was already five hours later when Raymond came to his senses. He opened his eyes to the glaring ceiling light in the wardroom. Then, he heard a familiar voice spoke hesitatingly, “Sir Raymond?” It was Bobby.
Raymond tried to get up, but he was still too weak to do so, just as he was before he passed out. Speaking of which, he turned to Bobby, who sat at the chair beside the bed, and asked, “Where’s Abbie and Valeria?”
“They’re fine,” Bobby answered immediately.
Raymond heaved a sigh of relief, “Thank god… What happened anyway? I saw Valeria and Abbie passed out before me. I tried hard to call William, but still fainted eventually…”
He rubbed his temples and continued, “Bobby, how did you know that we were in trouble? Did the restaurant call Uncle William? How can we have food poisoning?”
“No. Someone drugged you,” Bobby’s answer was concise.
“Huh? Why? I mean… Who?” Raymond was bewildered.
“We don’t know yet,” Bobby shook his head.
“What do you know then?” Raymond clicked his tongue. “Where’s Uncle William?”
“Sir William is taking care of Madam Valeria right now. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands with me.”
“I still don’t believe you,” Raymond was skeptical, and he insisted on getting out of his bed. “Is Abbie and Aunt Valeria really alright? Maybe I should go visit them. Where’s their ward?”
“Sir Raymond, please, listen to me. They’re not in the hospital,” Bobby stopped Raymond. “But Sir William wants you to call him once you’re ready. You need to know about something.”
“Fine, I’ll call him,” Raymond sulked, but he still called William, “Uncle William! Well? What happened?”
“Raymond, do you trust me?” William only asked.
Raymond answered without any hesitation, “Of course I do!”
“Okay, I’ll make it quick then. Even though we got lucky, what happened tonight is unthinkable. Someone spiked your drinks, drugged Valeria and you with stimulating substances, and tipped some reporters off so that the tabloid would pick up your affair with Valeria. Now, we need to find out the culprit, and I need you to play along with me.”