Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 292

While Julie and Kieran were en route to Dylan’s, a call came through from Harding Ladd.

Harding sounded a bit excited on the other end of the line, “Kerry, you will never guess what I just saw!”

“A naked Mr. Watson?” Kieran quipped, casually steering the wheel.

In the passenger’s seat, Julie, who’d chosen a black cashmere coat from the stack in Kieran’s office, chuckled at his comment and shot him a thumbs up.

Harding silently reminded himself that he was a man of class before responding with a calm tone, “Just spotted Zenith and Kyle hopping into the same car at the hospital entrance. They seem to be acquainted.”

“Kyle?”

“Zenith?”

Kieran and Julie echoed simultaneously, taken aback. Harding, presumably grinning ear to ear, confirmed, “Yes, Zenith and Kyle. I arrived late and only saw them get into the same car, Kyle’s car. I was so shocked that I pulled the hospital’s CCTV footage. I’m sending it to you.”

“Okay,” Kieran hung up after a short reply.

A video arrived on Kieran’s phone shortly after. As he was driving, Julie took the phone to view it.

In the footage, Lisa was holding a black umbrella for Kyle. From the CCTV perspective, Kyle and Lisa’s expressions weren’t visible, but they were standing at the entrance of Tranquil Care Hospital, hesitant to go in. Sansa was inside. It wasn’t hard to guess Kyle’s intentions.

Julie had never thought of Kyle as the type to resort to kidnapping as a means of threat. So when she learned from Julien that Kyle had kidnapped Emily to threaten Professor Fred to not treat Sansa, she had blacklisted Kyle. She’d even specifically instructed the hospital staff to keep Kyle away from Sansa.

So, Kyle’s hesitation at the entrance was likely due to this.

Zenith, originally standing behind them, had just gotten out of the car and was on his phone. His gaze fell on Kyle’s back, and after about half a minute, he abruptly hung up the call and walked towards Kyle.

Kyle turned to face Zenith. Due to the umbrella, Julie couldn’t see Kyle’s expression, but she did catch sight of Zenith’s face. He seemed to be communicating with Kyle. In the end, Kyle and Zenith got into the car together.

From the video, it seemed like they were old acquaintances.

“Do you think Zenith and Kyle could know each other?” Julie asked Kieran. She could only think of a work–related reason for their acquaintance.

One was a crisis management expert; the other was the head of a law firm. It was plausible that they would occasionally collaborate.

But when Julie searched for JS and Zenith Group together on the internet, she found no related information.

“Does the lack of online reports mean they know each other personally, not by working relations?” Julie turned to Kieran for answers.

Instead of answering, Kieran recalled something else.

“Do you remember when Julien went to rescue Emily?” he asked Julie..

Julie nodded, “What about it? She was saved, right?”

“On the day Julien went to rescue Emily, he encountered another man who was there to save Emily. The man looked a lot like Zenith from behind,” Kieran added, “but we haven’t confirmed it yet.”

Hearing this, Julie became even more confused.

“Zenith and Professor Fred are close. If Zenith went to save Emily, it would make sense. So the man Julien saw could indeed be Zenith, But considering the situation today, Zenith and Kyle seem to have a close relationship. If Zenith knew about the villa, why wouldn’t he just ask Kyle directly for Emily?” Julie tried to analyze the situation, but in the end, she was left more baffled. She tossed her phone aside and declared, “No matter. All I want to know now is if Zenith is Lucian, and whether his appearance today was a coincidence or premeditated.”

Julie clutched the boxed white coat stained with Zenith’s blood.

“Can we identify him just by this bloodstain?” she asked Kieran worriedly.

“QuadDylan can,” Kieran affirmed. Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

At this, Julie finally cracked a smile.

When Kieran and Julie arrived at Dylan’s lab and handed over the coat, Dylan frowned and said, “My place has become your private lab. Next time you visit, if all of you are not paying, at least bring some food!”

Despite Dylan’s grumbling, the couple’s attention was elsewhere…

“Who else is using your lab as their private investigation service?” Julie curiously asked Dylan from her seat.

Maybe it was because she had too many close shaves with death, but Julie seemed to adapt to anything new quite quickly now. The petite woman, spinning in her swivel chair, looked just like a playful child.

Kieran stood by Julie, watching her with a fond smile. He turned to Dylan and asked, “What are your security guards for? Anyone who dares treat this place as a private lab, just have the security throw them out.”

“I don’t even have enough security guards to keep her entertained for a morning.” Dylan retorted, flipping out Julie’s coat.

Julie looked at Dylan curiously. “Really? Is she that good?”

“A woman who dares to fight with Hayden? How could she not be?” Dylan sighed. “I mean, why am I so scared of that female assassin? I have a black belt in karate after all!”

Julie covered her mouth to giggle. “You have to admit it. Julien is quite the fearless one!”

She leaned in to ask Dylan, “What did Julien want you to appraise?”

“She brought in a bottle of vitamins and asked me if they were birth control pills. She said she needed it for a murder investigation. Who would be so low to put vitamins in a birth control bottle? I bet this murder case the female assassin mentioned is probably a crime of passion mixed with a property dispute. A couple’s relationship was already strained, and then the wife accidentally found out that the husband was keeping a mistress. The wife, wanting to kick the husband out penniless, deliberately switched the mistress’s birth control pills with vitamins. Once the mistress got pregnant, the wife could use the child as evidence of the husband’s infidelity and kick him out…”

“Dr. Dylan, you must be glued to the TV dramas every night, right?” Julie interrupted.

Dylan shook his head, looking puzzled. “No, why do you ask?”

“I thought you grew up watching soap operas!” Julie laughed heartily, wrapping her arms around Kieran’s waist.

Dylan was speechless.

Julie looked up at Kieran and said, “You know, the first time I met Dr. Dylan, it was outside your office. He was so gentle back then, like a typical man in a romantic comedy. He even lent me his jacket and was so warm. But after getting to know him…”

“He’s a total goof.” Kieran finished for her.

Julie looked surprised. “You use slang like ‘goof“?”

He gently brushed her nose with his finger. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me. I’ll tell you slowly.”

“Stop spreading your lovey–dovey vibe here. Out, out, out! I’ll personally deliver the appraisal results when they’re ready!” Dylan looked at the couple in front of him and cringed. “You two are so sickeningly sweet!”

Julie took Kieran’s hand. “Let’s go. After all, Dr. Dylan has his security.”

Dylan thought to himself, ‘Poor choice in friends.

Tranquil Care Hospital.

Julie and Kieran stood outside Sansa’s ward, looking in. Inside the ward, Professor Fred was reading Sansa’s medical record, a worried look on his face.

Dr. Brice stood beside Julie and Kieran, suggesting, “Shall we go to my office?”

:

Once they were seated in his office, Dr. Brice handed a medical record to Kieran and Julie. “This is all the medical data from Sansa’s last shock after seeing Kyle, and Her subsequent revival. Professor Fred says it’s almost a miracle for someone in a vegetative state for so long to wake up. You two had better not get your hopes up too high. But he will do his best, only…”

He paused here.

Julie neatly placed the record on the desk, looking at Dr. Brice determinedly. “Only what?”

“Only the patient’s cerebral cortex is severely damaged and she’s been in a deep coma, from which she can’t be reversed, for a long time. Only her subcortical center can maintain her autonomous breathing and heartbeat. Professor Fred can apply hyperbaric oxygen therapy, physical therapy, and his own treatment. Though vegetative patients have cognitive impairments and are unconscious, they often respond to auditory stimuli. And based on her previous response, Sansa reacted most strongly to Kyle, so…”

“Professor Fred wants us to get Kyle to cooperate with the treatment?” Kieran guessed.