Begging For A Reconciliation

Chapter 411

Chapter 411

Chapter 411 Keeping Him In Check

Leah went back to the room, but she was so disturbed that she was unable to relax. Her phone was more or less unusable by now and Shawn would certainly not allow her to buy a new one to contact anybody.

She had to find out more about what he was scheming!

She went into his study and painstakingly searched all the bookshelves, bookcases, and drawers, looking for anything that seemed at all suspicious or worthy of further investigation.

Unfortunately, she found nothing at all beyond a few words written in a notebook. "Influenza virus?" Stunned, she stared at this for a moment. She was absolutely certain that it was connected to Shawn's experiments!

She returned to the room again, feeling extremely uneasy. Was Shawn planning to unleash some kind of influenza virus in Linkville in the future? If so, it would definitely result in countless deaths, just like he said…

"No!" Leah cried out in horror, covering her head with her hands. The raging storm outside increased in its fury, and the torrential rain beat down mercilessly on the leaves of the trees.

Suddenly, she heard an odd clunking sound from outside the window. Curiously, she went over to investigate and discovered that it was caused by the propellers of a drone beating lightly against the glass.

Just as she was puzzling over why a drone would be here of all places, Ross's familiar voice suddenly

crackled from the machine. "Ms. White, I'm here to rescue you. I'll decoy the bodyguards and the butler away in a little bit; when that happens, please get out of there as fast as you can!"

Leah's eyes lit up, but abruptly, her excitement faded. Clenching her fists tightly, it took her a moment to gather the courage to reply, "That won't do. I can't leave yet, there are some matters I need to finish up."

If she escaped, there would be no one here to stop Shawn. At the very least, she had to find out where his laboratory was and how far his experiments had gone, as well as when he was planning to unleash an influenza plague in Linkville…There were still far too many things she needed to find out, so she could not just leave like that.

The inhabitants of Linkville had every right to look forward to a better, brighter future; they did not deserve to be treated as pawns in Shawn's diabolical scheme.

"Ms. White, if you remain here, what about the company?" Ross sounded extremely agitated. It had never occurred to him that Leah might not want to leave. He added, "You can talk to Mr. Hendrik, you know, if anything's amiss. He'll definitely be able to help you. It's far too dangerous for you to stay here!"

Leah knew that Hendrik was concerned about her, but despite his power and influence, he would not be able to ferret out Shawn's entire, insidious plan. What if Shawn had laboratories in other countries as well? If she were to disclose what she knew right now, it would only alert the enemy and put them on guard.

"I'm very sorry. Please ask Mr. Hendrik to appoint someone to take over my position. You'd better go

now, quickly! It won't do if Shawn's henchmen discover your presence. I really do have some very important matters to finish up here…" She stood by the window and signaled for Ross to pilot the drone back.

Ross could not linger either; reluctantly, he steered the drone away. After retrieving it and putting it away, he wiped the rain off his face and returned to the car, looking resigned. The chauffeur immediately opened the door for him. He got in and sighed. Glancing at the aloof, distant Han, who had his eyes closed, he said, "Mr. Hendrik, you heard Ms. White, didn't you? She doesn't want to leave yet; she said she has to finish up some matters there."

Han's eyes glittered coldly when he opened them. "Let's head back first."

At that very moment, Ben called on the phone. "Boss, you hit the nail smack on the head. Owen Lancaster did indeed purchase a specific kind of poison some time back. Not only that, he bought up the entire stock of antidotes and cut off access to them. We've also been able to find out more about the symptoms caused by this poison, too. The victims will experience constant fevers and contract repeated colds; they'll also cough up blood and are prone to fainting. These symptoms will become increasingly frequent in the mid-to-final stages of the poison's effects. Eventually, the victim will die within a month."

Han frowned. "Investigate and find out where he's keeping the antidotes, and do it as quickly as you can. In the meantime, I'll continue to see Anna and keep him in check that way. We can't allow such a dangerous substance to flood the market indiscriminately."

After hearing about the symptoms of the poison, he could not help thinking about Leah, who had been constantly coming down with a cold over this period. He firmly put aside his grim thoughts for now; he felt that it was probably a coincidence that her symptoms dovetailed so neatly with the symptoms

caused by exposure to the poison. After all, she had been under his constant surveillance recently and had not eaten anything out of the ordinary, apart from the wine from the auction. He had sent the entire bottle for testing later, but there was nothing unusual in it, aside from some traces of sleeping drugs.

Ben painstakingly noted down his boss's orders, then asked, "Boss, Donald Harper is the one who sold that poison to Owen. What should we do about him?"

Han's expression darkened. "Keep tabs on him. Find out about his overseas supply channels, then hand the information over to the police and let them deal with him." Donald had consistently ignored his warnings; he was in no mood to tolerate the man any longer.

The poison Owen had purchased was very likely to be used on Leah; he had to find out as quickly as possible if Owen had used it, and if so, on whom.

Ben nodded gravely. "Got it, Boss!"

After ending the call, Han's frosty eyes turned to the storm outside the car window, taking in the bleak autumn vista. Why had Leah cut off her relationship with him to remain with Shawn? What was she planning?

"Ross, keep a security detail stationed at the Ford family's villa to watch over Leah. If you can, try and find out why she was so adamant about staying."

"Yes, Mr. Hendrik."

Night fell soon. By then the rain had stopped and the scent of damp earth still lingered. Leah opened the window for some ventilation and deeply drank in the fresh, invigorating air.

Footsteps sounded from outside the room. A moment later, Shawn opened the door and came in. He headed straight for Leah and attempted to slip his arm around her waist. "Sarah, I noticed you went into the study today?"

Leah slipped aside and evaded his attempt at contact. Her body stiffened slightly and she felt panicky; nonetheless, she put on a show of calm. "Mmhmm. I did." She had managed to avoid the servant; how had he found out?

Shawn's smile hardened. He strode forward and pulled her into his arms without taking no for an answer. "The surveillance cameras saw you go in. What were you looking for in my study, hmm?"

Leah's heart thudded wildly in her chest and her palms began sweating. She wanted to struggle free from his embrace, but Shawn held her even more firmly. She had no choice but to abandon her attempts. Lowering her eyes to avoid betraying her panic, she forced herself to keep her voice calm. "Oh…I was just looking for a good book to read. You've taken my phone away, and there's no TV here. I'm really bored."

Naturally, it had never crossed Shawn's mind that Leah might have accurately guessed the nature of his laboratory experiments and his scheme. All his doubts vanished at once. "I see. You should have just asked the servant to call me, you know."

A slight gleam flickered through Leah's eyes. She squirmed out of Shawn's embrace the minute he loosened his grasp. "Well, now you know. Could I have my phone back then?"

Even though she had found out from Lucy that her phone had been rendered useless, she could not let him know that Lucy had told her. She could only play dumb.

Shawn chuckled and leaned in close to murmur against her ear, "Just use my phone, Sarah; you can play whatever games on it you'd like…"

His hot breath against her ear gave Leah goosebumps and she felt extremely uncomfortable. She took two steps back to distance herself from him a little. "Maybe tomorrow or something. It's late, and I'm tired."

However, Shawn's smile deepened in disturbing fashion. With one arm around her slender waist, he gently slid his hand down her neck in a gentle caress. "Alright. I'll come to bed with you then…"