Returning - Chapter 61
Chapter 61: Lost Her
The lounge was inside the banquet hall. Once the heavy metal door closed, it blocked out all sound from outside.
Xue Zhan sat slouched at one end of the sofa, legs crossed, his posture seemingly relaxed and at ease, yet his sharp gaze was unnerving.
Knowing the juice he had prepared had caused a major problem, one that could potentially claim a life, the server recounted the day's events in a trembling voice, not daring to hide or omit a single detail.
After he finished, Xue Zhan was silent for a moment before speaking. "So, you asked first, and then she mentioned her citrus allergy?"
The server nodded. "Yes."
He didn't want to say more, but Xue Zhan kept staring at him intently. After a hesitation, he could only add, "I... I saw she was very pretty, with a great figure, and... dressed plainly. I figured she was probably just a low-level employee too, and hitting on her might be easier than with others, so I took the initiative to chat a bit."
At this point, he hurriedly emphasized, "I really just wanted to get to know her better. I never meant to harm her. When she told me about her citrus allergy, I was especially careful not to let her juice touch anything else. I honestly don't know why she still had an allergic reaction. Maybe... maybe she's also allergic to mangoes."
Xue Zhan didn't question him further. He signaled his secretary to take the server out, then gave a faint smile to the hotel manager who had been listening nearby. "I have no more questions. It was my employee mistakenly consuming something she was allergic to. This has nothing to do with your establishment, and naturally, I won't hold you responsible. Manager Zhou, rest assured, I won't let this get out to damage your hotel's reputation."
The hotel manager was well aware that Xue Zhan's personal interrogation meant this was definitely not a simple case of accidental ingestion. But since it wouldn't harm the hotel's reputation, he didn't need to pry into the rest.
Once everyone had left, Xue Zhan leaned back against the sofa, his fingertips tapping lightly on his knee as he fell into deep thought.
The makeshift dessert area in the corner of the banquet hall was a surveillance blind spot. Even if he had the hotel pull the footage, the most he could find was a suspect. Tangible evidence was impossible to obtain. Besides, he was already completely certain the person who tampered with the juice was Yu Fei, so any further steps would be superfluous.
What truly puzzled him was how Yu Fei had learned about Zhao Yu's citrus allergy, and why she would commit such a foolish act.
From what he had just learned, Zhao Yu's slip was unintentional, Yu Fei's act was impulsive. Everything was logical and reasonable, with no questionable points.
Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on the problem.
His phone screen lit up beside him. He opened it to see a report text from Wang Qi, stating Zhao Yu's condition was stable and her life was not in danger.
After a pause, he made a call to his secretary, Chen Zhao. "Please invite President Yu and Miss Yu in."
Yu Fei was unwilling to see him, but she had no choice, faced with Chen Zhao's seemingly polite yet firmly insistent invitation. Her father, still oblivious to the truth and hoping for a successful union between the two families, also pushed her. So, father and daughter soon appeared in the lounge.
Xue Zhan had been staring coldly at Yu Fei from the moment she entered. Once she was close, he slowly dropped a bombshell. "Just received word. My employee's rescue efforts failed in the ambulance. She has died."
Yu Fei's legs immediately gave way. She collapsed onto the sofa, her face drained of all color.
Xue Zhan sneered and looked at Yu Fei's father. "Does President Yu know his daughter is a murderer?"
"I'm not!" Yu Fei looked terrified, trembling all over. "I'm not! I didn't!"
Xue Zhan continued to watch her coldly. "Knowing she was allergic, you secretly spiked her drink with orange juice. Wasn't that trying to kill her?"
Yu Fei shook her head frantically. "No! I wasn't trying to kill her! I just... I just wanted to embarrass her! I just..."
"Tch." Xue Zhan scoffed quietly. With just that one sentence, everything had been bluffed out. Was there any need for an investigation now?
Just after sending the message to Xue Zhan, Wang Qi received another call from Xue Zi'ang.
This was already the fourth time Xue Zi'ang had called her.
When she took the first call in the ambulance, she had assumed it was just a typical case of a superior worried about a subordinate. But Xue Zi'ang's tone was truly abnormal. Heavy breathing, trembling, anxious and frantic, demanding to know Zhao Yu's condition. She had even paused, momentarily unable to grasp the real situation.
It wasn't until he called a second time shortly after, again asking for real-time updates on Zhao Yu, that she realized the relationship between these two was definitely not simple.
Connecting the fourth call, she answered before Xue Zi'ang could even ask. "We're at the hospital now. She's in the resuscitation room."
Silence fell instantly on the other end. After a long while, Xue Zi'ang's voice came through, trembling even more violently. "Res... resuscitation? Is... is it very dangerous?"
Even through the speaker, she could feel the tension and fear. Wang Qi quickly added, "President Xue, don't worry. She is in the resuscitation room right now, but the emergency doctor already said her breathing and circulation are stable. She's not in any life-threatening danger. It's just that her symptoms could worsen at any time, which is why she needs emergency care. Rest assured, she's already at the hospital. Nothing else can possibly happen now."
Xue Zi'ang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning back in the car's rear seat, he took several deep breaths before barely managing to calm down. Only then did he realize his neat, pressed suit was nearly soaked through with cold sweat.
In this short half-hour, he had experienced a fear unlike any before.
By the time he rushed to the hospital, Zhao Yu had already been moved to the observation unit.
Family members were not allowed inside the observation unit. The doctor said she needed to stay there for six hours, under constant monitoring of her heart rate and breathing, until she was completely stable before being transferred to a regular ward.
Through the glass window, he could even see the red blotches on her face and hands that hadn't yet faded. They were hideous and horrifying, sending stabs of pain through his heart.
Looking at his reddened eyes, Wang Qi comforted him, "President Xue, you don't need to be so anxious. She's out of danger now."
Xue Zi'ang's clenched fist grew tighter and tighter. "It's my fault. I forced her to attend the annual meeting. It was me... I should have been there sooner. I shouldn't have gone to the restaurant. I didn't protect her..."
Wang Qi had never seen him like this and didn't know what to say for a moment.
But then, on the hospital bed, Zhao Yu seemed to sense someone outside the window. She turned her head towards it with difficulty.
Their eyes met. Xue Zi'ang's eyes grew hot. He raised his right hand and placed it flat against the glass in greeting, smiling at her.
Zhao Yu, however, just stared at him fixedly, without the slightest reaction, as if she didn't recognize him at all.
After a long moment, two lines of clear tears slowly slid from the corners of her eyes. She turned her head away and didn't look this way again.
The hand pressed against the windowpane clenched back into a fist. Xue Zi'ang's lips moved, and he leaned against the window, closing his eyes in agony.
It seems I've already lost her.
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