CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: JULIANA JACOBS, ARE YOU COURTING DEATH?

"Ma’am, you’ve been following us all the way, may I ask who you are?" one of them asked.

Juliana smiled, "I’m just a concerned citizen."

The two of them looked her up and down.

"This is a testing center. If you have no business here, please leave, or I’ll call security."

"Oh, call security?" Juliana’s expression turned intriguing, "Are you afraid of being watched because there’s something fishy going on?"

...

Hospital.

After the samples were safely sent off, Evan Grant left.

George Grant also needed to go attend to other matters.

Only Lily Windsor and her daughter were left in the ward.

Lily couldn’t hold back, she got up and grabbed Stella’s arm.

"Is what Evan said true? Using those drugs would harm my body."

Stella stood by the window, deep in thought, and was suddenly grabbed by Lily, she felt quite annoyed.

"Anyone could come in here at any time, you better get back in bed."

"Stella, I’m pretending to be sick for you. For your sake, I didn’t hesitate to wipe bleach on my face, you can’t just ignore your mom’s health."

Stella reassured her, "Don’t worry, Dr. Miller prescribed medications that won’t harm your body, just lie back down, or if you’re seen by someone, and Uncle hears about it..."

Lily lay back down again, but recently, she felt increasingly uneasy in the hospital.

"Stella, your Uncle Grant has been spending less and less time at the hospital, I know how long men’s affections can last, if I don’t use something to keep him in check, he’s definitely been cheating outside. And since I have this illness, he dares not touch me, I’m worried he’ll have a change of heart."

Stella looked at her expressionlessly, "Who told you to label yourself with this illness? If you had just claimed it was leukemia from the start, it would’ve been much better."

Lily became anxious, "Wasn’t it an emergency? At the time, you were about to be sent away, you asked me to fake a serious illness to keep you here, I acted in the heat of the moment, I only remembered an acquaintance had this illness before, so I used it without thinking, why are you blaming me now?"

Just as she finished speaking, Stella’s phone rang.

She slid it open to answer.

"Miss Grant, someone followed us all the way, the sample couldn’t be replaced at all."

Stella’s eyes filled with a fierce determination.

"If Plan A failed then go to Plan B, do I have to teach you that? Once the sample is on the inspection table, it’s already within the surveillance range, how are you supposed to switch it then?"

After speaking, she angrily hung up the phone.

Yet, when she turned her gaze back to Lily Windsor, she had already calmed her emotions.

"Mom, it’s alright, once I and brother have passed the test, I’ll make your ’illness’ recover quickly, and Uncle will continue to be infatuated with you."

...

Regal Inspection Center.

The two staff members placed the incubator at the entrance of the testing room.

The entire corridor was empty except for a janitor.

Seeing them leave, Juliana asked, "Aren’t you going to hand it over to someone, just leaving it like this?"

The two staff members looked bewildered.

"The colleague responsible for the inspection has gone for lunch, after eating they’ll take it inside, what’s the problem with that?"

"Exactly, besides the incubator is locked with a password, only the colleague responsible for opening it has the password, don’t you trust our inspection center?"

Juliana pursed her lips, "I’m not reassured, you’ve been irresponsible since transporting it."

"Who exactly are you?" one of them ran out of patience.

"Call Ethan Carter and let him tell you who I am."

Hearing this tone, this confidence, they were certain she was someone Ethan had to respect.

The two staff members, being quite perceptive, immediately called the inspection department.

About ten minutes later, someone in protective clothing received the sample.

Juliana breathed a sigh of relief and left.

Hospital.

Stella received a call.

"The sample wasn’t successfully swapped, it’s already in the examination room."

"Useless, so much money was given to you, even a dog could wag its tail if given that much, yet you couldn’t even manage a fart!"

Stella hung up the phone furiously.

"Juliana, are you really looking for death?"

Lily panicked, "Didn’t the janitor you arranged manage to swap it either? What now? If my husband finds out we deceived him, he’ll divorce me."

Stella wore a dark expression, "Things haven’t reached that point yet, why are you panicking? Staying put is your main task, I’m going out for a bit."

...

Juliana returned to the car, Summer Shaw let out a sigh of relief.

"If you hadn’t come down soon, I would have called for help."

Juliana looked at her, "Who were you planning to call?"

Summer nearly bit her tongue when she closed her mouth.

Who could she call? She only had one reliable brother to count on.

But as soon as Juliana saw him, her identity couldn’t be concealed, she would definitely get furious with her.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Summer asked.

Juliana started the car, "If you give me a day off, I will be."

"Your DNA data should have been uploaded for several days now, with no news at all, I was thinking maybe we should go to Hospital 547 to ask."

That was a good idea.

The car headed towards Aetherflame Dynamics.

Summer glanced at the rearview mirror reflecting the sign of the Regal Inspection Center, considered it for a moment, and asked, "Juliana, do you think the people at the testing center wouldn’t tamper with the data, would they?"

Juliana didn’t have an answer for that.

Summer pondered, "Maybe I’m just being paranoid, falsifying data is illegal, who would risk their career for that?"

Juliana remained silent, the tight corners of her lips revealing a barely noticeable tension.

That night, Evan Grant didn’t return to Platinum Bay, but he called her.

He called the landline in the living room.

Juliana knew he was checking if she was home.

Though Evan didn’t ask her directly, he still had some reservations in his heart regarding the matter with Chase Miller.

On the phone, Evan also mentioned he had to work overtime tonight and would be staying at the office.

This had happened before, but Juliana would always send him a change of clothes and remind him to eat on time and get enough rest.

But this time, Juliana’s response was quite indifferent, she merely said "Oh" and hung up.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Evan looked out at the endless night, feeling a subtle emotion within.

Like holding a kite string that hasn’t snapped yet, but already feeling it inch by inch slipping away.

The night’s melancholy seeped into every soul filled with secrets.

At this moment, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the penthouse suite at The Apex Hotel, a man stood quietly in the dim yellow light, his precise silhouette hiding all restrained sharpness.

The assistant entered the room and turned on the lights.

"Sir, there’s still no progress on the investigation into the DNA sample source, the main issue is with the monitoring at Hospital 547, as for Madam’s whereabouts... it might be difficult to trace again, Kingsford City has called three times urging you to return, you see..."

The man turned around and put down the wine glass in his hand.

"Book a flight, and visit Hospital 547 once more before leaving."

...

The next day, Juliana and Summer met up at Aetherflame Dynamics and went to Hospital 547 together.

When they left it was quite muggy, but shortly after, a heavy rain came, and the temperature dropped accordingly.

Juliana shivered from the wind as she got out of the car.

Summer noticed her unease and asked, "Are you okay?"

Juliana rubbed her arms, "I’m fine, just that my body isn’t as strong as before, I can’t handle even a bit of coolness."

Summer felt quite sorry for her, "Once you move out of Platinum Bay, you must take good care of yourself."

Juliana nodded.

Summer found a scarf in the car and wrapped it around her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Juliana found it funny, but Summer insisted, so she had to "keep warm" like this.

"Juliana, why don’t you wait for me, I need to go to the restroom."

Summer suddenly clutched her stomach.

"It’s just to ask at the window, it’s not a big deal, you go to the restroom, I’ll go inquire, we’ll meet at the entrance later."

The two parted ways before entering the lobby.

Juliana went to the window to inquire about the DNA kinship search procedure.

The person wasn’t very friendly, gave her a website and phone number, told her the data had been uploaded, and to consult the database for any issues, not the hospital.

Looking at the cold numbers on the note, Juliana turned to leave and almost bumped into a tall figure.

The man gently pushed her aside.

Juliana lowered her eyes and nodded apologetically before walking away.

At the hospital entrance, Summer was already done.

"How did it go? Any progress?"

Juliana showed her the note, "Passing the buck, told me to check with them."

Summer was also displeased, "Aren’t they supposed to contact us if there’s news?"

With no results, they got into the car.

Just as the car was about to start, Juliana’s phone rang.

It was a voice call from Ethan Carter.

"Ma’am, Ms. Windsor’s test results are out, President Grant wants you to come to the hospital immediately."