Chapter 192: Why are you holding my hand?
After the whole fiasco, the venue finally began to settle down as the guests slowly made their way outside.
The once-lively atmosphere had been replaced by whispers and uneasy conversations.
Countless murmurs followed them as they discussed Vincent’s shocking actions, especially the accusation that he had tried to frame his own daughter.
Some guests couldn’t help bringing up the way he had treated Clara earlier, now seeing his behavior in a completely different light.
"Did you see how quickly he blamed his own daughter?" one guest whispered.
"I know. And he kept defending Julianna the entire time."
"Something about this whole family is strange."
However, not everyone seemed interested in the drama.
A few guests simply shrugged it off, more concerned about getting home than discussing someone else’s family problems.
"Let’s just leave. We’ve already seen enough for one evening," a man muttered as he walked toward the exit.
"Agreed," his companion replied. "I’m exhausted."
Soon, the crowd thinned out, leaving only a handful of people behind.
Clara stood quietly in the middle of the venue, watching the last few guests leave.
The entire evening had turned into something she could never have anticipated.
She had come expecting a simple charity event.
Instead, she had ended up being accused of poisoning someone, nearly taken into custody, and watching Vincent get arrested.
And somehow, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.
"How did Vincent Hayes end up being the person talking to Thomas?" Hannah, still trying to process everything that had happened, turned to Clara.
The same question had been lingering in Clara’s mind. Yet, despite everything she had witnessed, she had no answer.
Just when she thought every outcome she had expected had turned out to be wrong, Silvia came running toward them and abruptly stopped.
"What happened here? Where is everyone?" Silvia asked, looking around in confusion. She clearly had no idea what had happened while she was gone.
Before she could make sense of the situation, Lily suddenly ran toward her and threw her arms around her.
"Silvia! You’re finally back. What took you so long?" Lily exclaimed, hugging her tightly. It felt as though she had been waiting for Silvia forever, and seeing her finally return brought an immediate sense of relief.
Silvia gently pulled away and looked at Lily with a frown.
"That man who came earlier lied to me. There was no manager looking for me at all."
Clara and Hannah exchanged a glance before turning back to Silvia.
"What do you mean?" Hannah asked.
Silvia opened her mouth to explain, but Lily spoke first.
"A staff member came looking for Madam and said the manager wanted to speak with her about something important. Since you weren’t there, Silvia decided to go and find out what it was about."
"But when I got there, someone locked me inside one of the storerooms," Silvia continued, her expression darkening. "There wasn’t any office. There was no manager waiting for me either."
Lily nodded quickly. "Exactly. Even the actual manager was outside attending to the guests. Someone deliberately tricked us."
Clara’s expression hardened as she processed their words. Hannah also fell silent, her mind going over everything that had happened since the beginning.
A staff member had lured Silvia away.
Someone had deliberately separated her from the others.
And now, with Vincent Hayes somehow being the person who had been speaking to Thomas, the pieces were beginning to fall into place.
Hannah suddenly looked at Clara.
"Do you think..."
"Julianna," Clara said at the same time.
The two women stared at each other.
"Julianna," they repeated in unison.
Silvia blinked between them, clearly confused.
"Wait... what does Madam Julianna have to do with this?"
Neither Clara nor Hannah answered immediately. Because if their suspicion was correct, then everything that had happened might have been planned from the very beginning.
"Anyway, Lily, how come Mr. Graham was fine?" Clara suddenly asked.
She clearly remembered telling Lily to accompany Logan and Adrian to the hospital. Yet, somehow, Adrian had returned looking perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened.
That raised several questions in Clara’s mind.
Lily immediately fell silent as three pairs of eyes turned toward her.
"Well..." she began hesitantly. "Even I don’t really know how it happened."
She scratched her head awkwardly.
"He suddenly woke up. It shocked all of us. Even the hospital staff didn’t know what to make of it."
Silvia, Clara, and Hannah stared at her in disbelief.
"You’re telling us he just woke up?" Hannah asked.
Lily nodded.
"Just like that."
"While being taken to the hospital?" Clara pressed.
"Yep."
"And the doctors didn’t find anything wrong with him?"
Lily shook her head.
"Not that I know of."
The three women exchanged confused looks.
Lily, however, could only remember what had happened inside the ambulance.
[Flashback]
The moment the hospital staff arrived, they rushed Adrian onto a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance.
Lily and Logan climbed in with him while a doctor immediately began examining Adrian.
Lily was scared out of her mind.
But if she thought she looked terrified, Logan looked even worse.
"Boss, nothing is going to happen to you," Logan said anxiously, gripping Adrian’s hand as though refusing to let go.
Adrian remained completely motionless.
"Please wake up, Boss..."
The doctor glanced at the monitor before preparing an injection.
"Doctor, please help him," Logan pleaded.
"I’m going to administer something that should—"
Before the doctor could finish, Adrian suddenly sat straight up.
"AHHH!"
Lily and Logan screamed at the top of their lungs.
The doctor nearly dropped the syringe.
For a moment, everyone froze.
Even the ambulance driver probably wondered what kind of horror movie was happening behind him.
Adrian calmly looked around.
He glanced at Lily. Then at the doctor. Then finally at Logan, who was still clutching his hand.
"Why are you holding my hand?"
Logan stared at him in complete disbelief.
"Boss..."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You were unconscious!"
"I’m aware."
"You stopped responding!"
"I was sleeping."
"YOU WERE NOT SLEEPING!"
The doctor slowly lowered the syringe, looking as though he needed medical attention himself.
Adrian ignored everyone’s horrified expressions and sat up properly.
"Logan."
"Yes, Boss?"
"Get permission to check the guests at the venue."
Logan blinked.
"Right now?"
"We can’t waste any more time."
"..."
Logan looked at the doctor. The doctor looked at Lily. Lily looked at Adrian.
Everyone seemed to have the same question.
Was this man actually supposed to be the patient?