Chapter308
Soon, the elevator dinged as it reached the ground floor. As the doors barely started to open, Gabriel squeezed his way out sideways.
Outside the hospital building, a car was waiting, with the door held open for Gabriel. As soon as he got in, the driver immediately started the engine and sped toward the hospital where Teresa had been taken.
"How's my wife?" Gabriel leaned back in his seat after the car pulled away, his voice grave with concern.
At this moment, he was visibly uneasy, unable to find a comfortable place for his hands or feet. Anxiety gnawed at him like many insects relentless in their bite, the discomfort nearly unbearable.
"She’s severely injured and lost a lot of blood," Luke replied cautiously from the passenger’s seat, glancing back at Gabriel.
"Video call now. I need to see her," Gabriel ordered, his voice deep and commanding.
"Right away." Luke nodded and immediately initiated a video call to Teresa's bodyguard.
As soon as the connection was established, Luke handed Gabriel the phone.
"How is she? I need to see her now," Gabriel demanded, taking the phone.
The person on the other end quickly shifted the camera to reveal Teresa unconscious on a stretcher.
Gabriel's eyes went red, his brows shaking, as he saw the emergency medical technicians working to stop Teresa's bleeding, her cream-colored sweater soaked in blood.
Gabriel wished he could sprout wings, fly to Teresa's side, hold her tight, and beg her to be all right.
What would he and Croissant do without her?
"Sweetheart..." Gabriel's voice broke as the camera showed Teresa's pallid, blood-drained face. His other hand curled into a tight fist, veins popping on the back of his hand.
"Who did this?" Gabriel asked hoarsely, struggling to suppress his murderous rage.
"It was one of her students... I think her name is... Lauren," replied the bodyguard, recalling the name Teresa had used.
"And what good are you if you can't handle one student named Lauren?" Gabriel roared, unable to contain his anger any longer.
On the other end of the call, not just the bodyguards but also the medics aiding Teresa were startled, looking back at the bodyguard with the phone.
Realizing his outburst was affecting the medics, Gabriel, in agony, closed his eyes and ended the call. "Notify the police. Issue a citywide search for Lauren. I want her, alive or dead," he instructed solemnly.
"Yes, Gabriel," Luke responded, moving to carry out the command immediately.
Gabriel hurried to the hospital where Teresa was taken, but she was already in the emergency room. Outside, he stared at the light above the door, his fist hitting the wall in frustration.
Immediately, the pristine white wall was marred with fresh crimson stains.
Several bodyguards stood by, their heads bowed as they watched Gabriel, flooded with painful self-blame and seething anger, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
"How did Lauren hurt Teresa?" Gabriel's knuckles were still pressed against the wall as he asked in a low, gravelly voice.
"After her meeting at school, Lauren went to her office. She was waiting outside, looking utterly pitiful," the bodyguard reported without daring to lift his head. "It was clear she was waiting for Teresa, asking for help with something. Teresa didn’t say much as she just opened the office door and let Lauren in to talk. After they went in and closed the door, we didn't hear any commotion from inside. When Lauren hurried out soon after, we went in and found that Teresa had been stabbed. We let Lauren escape because our priority was to save Teresa."
Teresa disliked being constantly watched, so the bodyguards usually didn't enter her office, standing guard at a respectful distance instead.
"Lauren..." Gabriel ground out through clenched teeth, her name seething from his throat.
Why would Lauren do this to Teresa? As Lauren's teacher, Teresa had done nothing to deserve such hatred. There was only one reason for such an attack... Liam!
With that thought, Gabriel immediately commanded the bodyguard beside him, "Call Liam now."
"Yes, Gabriel." Though it was unclear why Gabriel wanted Liam on the phone at such a moment, Luke promptly dialed his number and passed the phone.
"Hello," Gabriel said, taking the phone as Liam's voice came through.
"It's me." Gabriel's voice was a mixture of deep raspiness and unprecedented rage, each word squeezing out between clenched teeth. "Liam, I don't care what your relationship with Lauren is, but she stabbed Teresa and tried to kill her. I swear I'll skin Lauren alive, pull out her tendons, and make her pay a hundredfold for every ounce of pain and every drop of blood Teresa has shed."
On the other end of the phone, Liam sat in a conference room, frozen in place as Gabriel's chilling voice, as grim as the Grim Reaper's, made every hair on his body stand on end.
Lauren stabbed Teresa.
How could this happen?
Liam was momentarily dazed then clarity struck, and he immediately asked, "Gabriel, what's going on?"
"What's going on?" Gabriel spat out between clenched teeth, his voice growing colder and more frightening, "That's what I want to know. You'd better get some answers from Lauren and give me a satisfactory explanation."
With that, Gabriel hung up.
Liam remained seated at the head of the oval conference table, staring blankly as the dial tone echoed from the phone. He couldn't snap out of it.
The executives in the room exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what colossal event had rattled the usually composed and commanding shopping mall mogul.
"Liam." Thomas, seated beside him, called out softly.
Liam glanced at Thomas and quickly realized something. He jumped from his chair and ran out of the room, leaving the confused executives behind. Thomas promptly stood up and followed him.
As Liam was hastily returning to his office from the conference room, Diana rushed toward him. "Liam, it's bad! Lauren's on the rooftop of our office building, ready to jump!"
Liam's pupils narrowed instantly upon hearing Diana's words. He spun around and headed for the stairwell, moving swiftly toward the roof as he angrily asked, "Who let Lauren up here?"
Security at the Evans Group office tower was tight normally. Nobody could get inside without permission, let alone up to the rooftop.
"I don't know," responded Diana, keeping pace behind him, with Thomas following closely as well.
"Notify security, send someone up right away, and call the police to have them prepare for a rescue," Liam instructed sternly as he marched on.
Lauren couldn't just jump to her death. Gabriel had the only right to decide her fate.
