Chapter 1565 He Is Waiting for Me to Save Him
The glass cabinet wasn't ordinary glass. Under the force of his blow, it cracked and shattered, sending fragments cascading to the floor.
The shards pierced Zaid's hand, leaving trails of blood across his skin. He didn't bother tending to his wounds—didn't even wrap his bleeding hand before turning and retreating to his bedroom.
Raymond watched this scene unfold, puzzled by the man's behavior. His confusion only deepened when, passing another room, he heard sounds that made him wish he could turn off his hearing—sounds no fifty-year-old woman should make. The deliberate coyness, the affected moans sent chills down his spine.
He understood what was happening below and recognized the name being called out in those moments of feigned passion.
Finally, Raymond grasped why Victor had snapped. What kind of man wouldn't lose his mind after pimping out his own brother to please a venomous old woman? Especially someone as proud as Victor.
A cynical smile played across Raymond's lips. What a twisted world this was. Victor believed he was manipulating everyone, when in fact, he was just another puppet on someone else's string.
By the time Raymond returned to his room an hour later, he had familiarized himself with most of the layout. He'd located almost everyone who was still alive, except for Lawrence.
Something told him the ventilation system didn't extend everywhere—he hadn't seen any of the research facility's higher-ups, including the man who had appeared in the central hall earlier that day.
He had initially assumed the ventilation network ran throughout the entire complex, but now it seemed to cover only about three-quarters of it.
The remaining quarter—likely where the executives resided—remained inaccessible. He'd also discovered information about certain toxins in the core research lab, but wasn't ready to act on that knowledge yet.
Better to observe for a few more days.
Meanwhile, Selena had been restless since losing contact with Raymond.
Unable to sleep, she decided to walk the hallway, respecting his strict instructions not to leave the building.
With all three floors occupied by their people, she felt relatively secure.
Gazing out toward the hotel entrance, she spotted a woman stumbling forward—the hat-wearing woman from the neighboring room who had been missing for two days. Selena's brow furrowed as she watched the woman collapse at the hotel entrance.
"Ms. Fair, Mr. Montague doesn't want you going outside," one of Raymond's men intercepted her as she moved toward the stairs.
"My friend just collapsed outside. Go check what happened," Selena insisted.
"I'm sorry, but with the Arcturus disease spreading, if your friend is infected, you could be in danger too. We can't risk it."
Selena took a deep breath. "It doesn't look like illness. She appears to be injured."
The man's face showed reluctance before he finally conceded. "Fine. I'll have someone check on her, take her to a hospital for examination, and if she's healthy, bring her back."
Two hours later, the hat-wearing woman was returned to the hotel. She had been shot twice—once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen. The bullets had been removed and her wounds properly dressed.
Selena slept briefly before checking on her at five in the morning. The woman remained unconscious. It wasn't until two hours later that her eyes finally fluttered open.
"Selena?" Her voice was raspy and harsh.
Selena nodded, offering her a glass of water. "How are you feeling?"
"I'll live. Thank you." The woman accepted the water gratefully.
"What happened to you?"
After drinking, her voice improved slightly. "I went to that village—the one ravaged by the disease."
As she spoke, her eyes instinctively darted to Selena's stomach.
Suddenly concerned, she shifted away. "You should keep your distance."
"They've checked you—you're healthy. But don't you realize how contagious this disease is? Going there was reckless..."
The hat-wearing woman's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Remember when I told you I felt my brother was still alive? I met a local in that village who claimed he'd seen a boy wearing jeweled beads."
"There are countless people with jeweled accessories in this world," Selena replied, hating to crush the woman's hope but worried about her dangerous behavior.
The woman lowered her head, staring into her cup. "I know. But I can't shake this feeling that he's waiting for me to save him. I can't sleep." Her grip tightened on the cup. "After my brother disappeared, my mother had a breakdown and vanished too. My father thought she'd run off with my brother, abandoning me—the useless daughter. He remarried quickly, leaving no place for me. A year later, I found my mother's body in a garbage dump, covered with rats. They said she'd been wandering for months, searching for her son."
Her knuckles whitened around the cup as her voice trembled. "If only I'd held onto my brother's hand that day... if only he hadn't been taken..."
Selena gently took the cup from her hands. "Be careful of your wounds. You should rest now."
The hat-wearing woman's eyes glistened with unshed tears, too overwhelmed to speak.
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