Chapter 495

Sebastian pressed his slender fingers to his temple, his brow furrowed. "Who told you to come?"

His gaze swept the hospital room, landing only on Theodore. He distinctly remembered Evelyn being here—was it another hallucination?

Theodore cleared his throat awkwardly. "Miss Roland had urgent business. She asked me to look after you."

Before he could finish, Sebastian reached for his IV line.

"Sir!" Theodore grabbed his wrist. "The doctor said you need at least 24 more hours of observation."

"Move."

"Miss Roland said..." Theodore steeled himself, "...if you dare discharge yourself without permission, she'll personally come break your legs."

Sebastian froze.

A flicker of emotion crossed his pale face before he slowly withdrew his hand. "What else did she say?"

"To...stop being reckless."

Theodore immediately regretted his words, watching his boss's reaction nervously.

Sebastian merely gave a quiet "Hmm" and lay back on the bed.

Theodore gaped. The mighty CEO of Valdemar Group, tamed by a single sentence?

"Pull the surveillance footage from the day Melanie jumped. Keep it discreet."

"Understood."

Over the next two days, Sebastian and Evelyn pursued separate investigations—both hitting dead ends.

"All footage was deleted?" Evelyn tapped her desk. "What about hospital staff?"

"Questioned them all. Everyone claims they were too busy to notice anything." Her assistant handed her a report. "Even the shift logs were tampered with."

Meanwhile, at Valdemar Group headquarters...

"No leads?" Sebastian's gaze sharpened. "Keep digging."

"Every trail goes cold." Theodore wiped his brow. "It's like...someone scrubbed the scene clean beforehand."

With both investigations stalled, the Lintons grew desperate.

"Why isn't Scarlett answering?" Mrs. Linton clutched her phone, fingers trembling.

Mr. Linton took a drag of his cigarette. "Call again!"

They'd dialed Scarlett's number over a dozen times, sent countless messages—all met with silence.

"Richard..." Mrs. Linton's voice shook. "Have they abandoned us?"

The image of their comatose daughter and mounting medical bills made her vision blur.

"Shut up!" Mr. Linton exploded. "If you hadn't left your post that day, Melanie would never have—"

"My fault?" she shrieked. "That man pressured her into joining that project!"

Mr. Linton opened his mouth, then fell silent.

"We can't just wait to die." Mrs. Linton's eyes hardened. "If they show no mercy, neither will we."