Chapter 201 Related to the Howard Group?
David suddenly stopped talking. I couldn't help but cut him off, "I have nothing to do with the Howard family; stop making things up."
David looked surprised by my outburst and gave a helpless smile. "Alright, you have nothing to do with them."
I huffed and turned away, ignoring him.
Time dragged on as I waited anxiously, and finally, Lila was wheeled out of the operating room. I rushed over, my eyes glued to her face. She looked pale, but her breathing was steady, making me finally relax.
The doctor said, "The surgery went well, but she needs to stay in the hospital for a while. She needs proper care."
I nodded, already planning to take care of Lila. Her parents are old and not in great health. If they knew about this, it would only worry them more, so I decided to take on the responsibility.
During our time at the hospital, Lila showed more strength than I expected. She sometimes talked about the danger she faced that day, still scared, but she never forgot to thank David and me for saving her.
But I felt guilty. If it weren't for me, she could have been safely working at her lawyer job, without getting involved in the mess at Stellar Legal Advisors, and without facing such danger.
Days went by, and Lila's health slowly got better.
One day, when Joshua found out Lila was out of danger, he came to the hospital with another officer to take her statement. As the key victim, Lila cooperated fully with the police.
After they took her statement, David and I walked Joshua out. He looked tired and sighed, "This case is a mess. There's pressure from above, and progress is slow. It's unlikely we'll have any breakthroughs. But at least Lila wasn't seriously hurt. It seems the suspects were targeting her, but they claim it was an accident that the pill fell into her drink, and we don't have enough evidence to prove otherwise."
I couldn't believe it and asked, "How can this be? Are we just going to let them get away with it?"
Joshua shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "We're frustrated too. It's a tough situation."
My anger flared up, and I raised my voice, "This is unacceptable. Lila can't be hurt for nothing!"
Seeing my agitation, David quickly stepped forward, placing his hands on my shoulders and making me look at him. His eyes were deep and steady. "Diana, calm down. Anger won't solve anything. We need to think rationally about how to respond. Panic and impulsiveness will only make things more complicated." He gently patted my shoulders, calming me down.
Joshua stood by, hesitating for a long time before finally saying, "Actually, there's a direction you can try."
Hearing this, I immediately perked up and asked, "What is it?"
"This whole thing went down at Edward's club, and from what I hear, all the company execs there have business ties with the Howard Group. Maybe you can dig up some dirt on Edward," Joshua suggested.
I glanced at David, who gave me a slight nod, showing he was on board with Joshua's idea.
Just thinking about Edward made my blood boil. "I can't believe he'd stoop so low, hurting people around me to get what he wants," I muttered. I clenched my fists and turned, ready to confront Edward.
David quickly stepped in front of me. "Diana, it's too risky to go alone. I'll come with you."
Having David with me made me feel a lot better, so I nodded.
Since Lila was still recovering, we decided not to tell her the truth just yet. We'd wait until after we confronted Edward to break the news to her.
David and I drove to the Howard Group's office building.
While David parked the car, I stared up at the towering building, feeling a mix of emotions. This was where I had come with Lila to sign the agreement to transfer Stellar Legal Advisors to Edward. Now, I couldn't believe Edward would want to take out the leader of Stellar Legal Advisors for some reason.
I still held onto a tiny hope that Edward wasn't behind this. The Edward I knew seemed above doing something so shady.
David joined me after parking the car. "Let's go in."
I nodded, and we walked into the building together. As expected, we were stopped before we could get to Edward's office.
I thought it would be the receptionist or Edward's secretary, but to my surprise, it was Aria who blocked our way.
Today, she was dressed in a sharp professional outfit, her face no longer gentle but showing a cold, ruthless expression. She stood in our way, mocking and arrogant. "What brings Ms. Cooper here today?"
I glared at her. "Where's Edward? I need to see him."
Aria sneered. "Edward is the president of the Howard Group. Do you think you can just waltz in and see him? Do you have an appointment?"
I felt a pang of guilt. David and I had rushed over without making an appointment. But even if I had tried, Edward might not have agreed to see me, especially not with David.
When Aria saw me at a loss for words, her arrogance grew. "No appointment, no meeting with Edward. Don't waste your time here. Go back."
She turned to leave but then stopped and added, "By the way, I heard your friend got drugged. Maybe the drug was hers to begin with. How else do you explain her being the only one who drank the drugged wine while everyone else was fine?"
Her snide remarks about Lila made my anger flare up. Unable to control myself, I reached out and slapped Aria across the face.