CH 178

The tray that Amy Borro held shook.

This was probably the first time that such a situation had arisen in her ‘professional career’. 

The man actually had a nice voice, which was especially pleasant to the ears when carrying mirth. That was what Amy Borro thought when she first heard it.

Unfortunately, times were different now.

Right now, it didn’t bring her any pleasure. It was driving her nuts.

Why have you nuisances returned?! 

Have you made Spring Ivy your home?!

Amy Borro whipped her head towards Yan Suizhi, and those two irascible questions almost sprung out of her mouth. A wild thought even flashed across her head—Fuck the mission! Let me curse my heart out first!

Mercifully, the bare bones of her remaining sanity sealed her lips.

She hardened her neck, exhausting a lifetime’s worth of good upbringing and emergency experience to restrain her urge to curse. Her mouth twitched twice, gritting out a normal greeting. “Good evening, what brings you back here?”

After saying so, the superstar actress even put on a polite smile. “Did you just say that I’ve dropped something? Did I mishear you? Why haven’t I noticed?”

As she spoke, she even looked down at herself to check if she was missing anything.

Then, she heard Yan Suizhi say, “Oh, it isn’t anything much; just a ball.”

“…” 

Just for a split second, Amy Borro wasn’t able to make sense of his words, inspecting herself.

And then, her motions screeched to a halt.

What did I drop?

You’ve dropped the ball. 

The response was evenly and simply spoken, as though the other was just telling a harmless cold joke. But it sent Amy Borro plunging into a deep freeze.

By the time she recovered from the scalp-numbing sensation, she had already been ‘invited’ by Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan into the adjacent cargo elevator.

“Qtja yjii? Uifjrf rabq pbxlcu jgbecv, P’w ralii yers klat kbgx.” Cws Dbggb gfjmtfv bea ab qgfrr atf yeaabc ab bqfc atf vbbgr, bcis ab tjnf atf fcalgf qjcfi yibmxfv ys Xe Tjc yfobgf rtf mbeiv.

“Po ys kbgx sbe wfjc vgeuulcu ws milfca, Lbgjmf Off, atfc atfgf’r cb cffv ab gert.” Xe Tjc ibbxfv ja tfg klat tlr fsfr ibkfgfv, tlr nblmf jr mjiw jcv mbiv jr ereji. 

Amy Borro entered deep freeze again, but she still feigned cluelessness on the surface, “Drug? What drug? What do you mean? The more I hear, the more confused I’m getting.”

“With all due respect, I can’t really tell if you’re getting more confused the more you hear, but I can clearly see that the more you hear, the whiter your face becomes.”

Yan Suizhi’s tone wasn’t forceful; it could even be considered gentle, like he was placating someone. But the words that came out of his mouth could actually placate someone to puke blood. “The reaction you’re having now is what our Teacher Gu usually calls a cornered beast in politesse. I’m going to be more blunt; I usually call this a deathbed struggle. Actually, it’s futile, just a waste of effort. What do you think, Miss Borro?”

Amy Borro, “…” 

She pursed her lips, and her face finally darkened. As she glared at Yan Suizhi, she unconsciously raised her chin. With just these minute actions, her entire temperament seemed different.

The crybaby nurse instantly vanished, instead replaced by the woman who independently drove to the highway rest stop for a meet-up, who oversaw the handling and transport of drugs on the freight shuttle, who was one of the Manson brothers’ men.

Amy Borro said icily, “Deathbed struggle isn’t a nice way to put it. I don’t like it. Besides, I don’t think that these actions are futile. Since when can lawyers declare someone’s guilt with just empty talk? You say that I’m drugging Horace Lee. Sure, I am. All the medicines that I’m giving him are here.”

She raised the tray in her hand, pointing them out with a slender finger, “Anti-inflammatory medicine, fever medicine, viral infection medicine, and nausea medicine. I collected exactly what Dr Xiao had prescribed, and the dosage is clearly stated. No more, no less. There’s a testing facility in this building; we can go over right now and have these drugs tested. If you can find any evidence that they were tampered with, I’ll turn myself in to the police at once. Conversely, if there are no signs of tampering, I’ll send you to the police.” 

As she spoke, she thought back on the whole process of her dropping the drug pellet, confirming that her actions were subtle. Furthermore, she was sure that Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan had not yet appeared when she passed by the exit staircase or, at least, hadn’t been standing there staring at her hands.

Even taking it one step back, so what if they had seen her do it? How much sway could a verbal statement carry?

With that in mind, Amy Borro swiftly calmed down, and instead of being nervous, she was even condescending. “Tell you what, let’s not waste any more time. Even though the police station is nearby, it would still take a few minutes for them to come; there’s really no need for that. Aren’t there officers just upstairs? I’ll invite them down right now and have them personally watch the testing process, so that you can’t deny the results when they come out. How about that?”

Gu Yan, “Can we take your word for it, Miss Borro?” 

Pride welled in her heart. “Yes. So, I’m going to have to ask you to step aside and press another floor. After all, the testing facility isn’t on the ground floor.”

Gu Yan didn’t budge an inch.

With his height, even just standing rooted before the floor panel with his hands in his pockets would make it impossible for Amy Borro to force him away to press a button.

And that was really what happened. Even when the two sides were at loggerheads, his demeanour remained gentlemanly and measured, without a single fault. He said staidly, “I’m not referring to testing it, but this sentence.” 

He worked his ring-shaped smart device, and Amy Borro’s earlier words were replayed in perfect reproduction.

“If you can find any evidence that they were tampered with, I’ll turn myself in to the police at once.”

Amy Borro’s complexion turned green before whitening. “You’ve actually been recording?”

Gu Yan replied indifferently, “It’s an occupational habit. My apologies.” 

Even sliding in ‘my apologies’?!

Amy Borro was practically smoking with rage. “Fine. You recorded it? Go ahead! Do whatever you want! So can we go to the testing facility now?”

“There’s no need to go through that trouble. A trip to the testing facility won’t reveal any traces either, I trust you on that,” Yan Suizhi said.

Amy Borro sneered. 

“Isn’t it just evidence? Relax, Miss Borro, you don’t have to trouble yourself to find a way for us; we’ve already made the preparations.” Yan Suizhi spread open his palm. A tiny black object rested silently on his palm.

The colour that Amy Borro had just recovered not long ago washed out again, turning her complexion sheet white.

She could recognise this. It was an adhesive high-definition camera bead. Its advantage was that it was difficult to detect, and its disadvantage was that it could only record once and for a limited span at that. It wasn’t considered any kind of fancy device, unlike the high-end stuff that she used more often. Yet she never thought that one day, she would fall into the hands of the likes of this.

“From how white your face is, I see that you recognise this.” 

Yan Suizhi explained unhurriedly, “It’s like this; Mr Horace Lee’s symptoms onset so abruptly that we, as lawyers, the more suspicious sort, had a sixth sense that something was amiss. Therefore, we made use of our stay at the hospital today to walk through the corridors, covering the possible routes of the doctors and nurses. After going through them several times, we stumbled upon a blindspot in the surveillance. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist; I can’t stand to see such gaps. So, we dropped by the electronics shopping mall next door on the way back after dinner to buy this gadget to plug in the gap for today.”

Then, he smiled gently. “I didn’t expect that it to come in handy so soon. But the recording’s a little long so I won’t play it for you here, I personally think that it’s a bit of a waste of time. Do you have any objections? You may raise them.”

“…”

Amy Borro was already unable to raise any objections. Just the sight of this tiny toy had drained all of the blood from her body. 

The elevator dinged again; the floor read the underground car park.

She stared at the digit for a few seconds, then, the split second the doors parted, she swung the tray.

Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan stepped out of the way, and its contents clattered to the ground, echoing loudly in the quiet car park.

Amy Borro leapt at the opportunity to dart out of the elevator. 

As if she would be taken down here so easily after all her successes. Or so she thought to herself.

She was still so young. Although she had been involved in a lot of things, she wasn’t the worst guy of the lot. She didn’t spill that much blood. How could it be her turn when those who were worse and more dangerous hadn’t received their retribution yet?

It was at times like this that Amy Borro suddenly believed in justice again. She hoped that God would open his eyes for a while, torturing the big fishes before dealing with small shrimps.

Then, her thoughts swivelled to the car at her apartment that was ready to go anytime. Though it was a bit louder, it was an emergency situation now; she had more to worry about. She could flee from Fa Wang to the suburbs first, thereafter contact the car repair shop to clear the road for her. 

She could keep low for a while, have some underlings arrange hidden accommodations. She could endure not seeing the light of day for a while, giving up some freedom and comfort.

With sufficient patience and care, she should be fine. That was what she thought to herself, but it was a pity that her understanding of the two lawyers who had caught her was too lacking.

Whether it was Yan Suizhi or Gu Yan, the moment that they took initiative, they would have already prepared for all contingencies.

This was why when Amy Borro dashed out of the elevator, neither of them was in a hurry to stop her. 

Gu Yan glanced at his smart device. The message that he had sent several minutes ago had since received a response from the police station two streets away. It only contained two words: We’re here.

The police chief that they contacted wasn’t associated with the Mansons, nor did he have any dealings with Old Fox from Spring Ivy Group or anyone else.

This particular chief had a reputation as a hard-headed prick who feared nothing under the skies. Before the facts were ascertained, no one could pry a word about the case out of him, including officers from other divisions and the press.

It was only fitting that someone of Amy Borro’s character was handed over to him for investigation. They wouldn’t even have to worry about spooking their enemies. 

It was 8:41 p.m. in Fa Wang District.

A dark blue patrol car came swathed in the twilight, sliding through the entrance to Spring Ivy Hospital’s car park.

A minute later, Amy Borro was apprehended in the car park.

The officers confiscated and monitored her smart device and external communication tools. The adhesive high-definition camera bead had recorded the whole process of her drugging the medicine. On that basis, they ‘invited’ her to cooperate with the investigation. 

8:43 p.m.—Young Master Joe sent a notice. The nurse roster on Spring Ivy Hospital’s database quietly refreshed with an additional status message next to Amy Borro’s name:

On indefinite sick leave.