Chapter 163: Dead

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Dead

Vivian Lowell froze. She hadn’t expected such a sudden turn of events. "Quick, go check on him!" she urged Julian Faulkner.

Julian frowned. He kept his arm securely around Vivian’s waist, worried she might lose her balance and fall to the ground. Instead of going himself, he simply turned and cast a glance at Vance Wyatt.

Understanding Julian’s unspoken command, Vance led a few men forward to check on Robert Lowell’s condition.

Meanwhile, Julian pulled out a pocket knife and sliced through the ropes binding Vivian. He glanced at the bloody chafe marks on her wrists and ankles. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No." Vivian shook her head. She felt slightly unaccustomed to her newly regained mobility, but she turned and pulled Julian along as they walked over to Robert.

Vance pressed two fingers against Robert’s neck. Another person came over to examine him. Supported by Julian, Vivian arrived and immediately asked, "Can he still be saved? He knows a lot of things.

"Didn’t he already drop his weapon? Why did they still have to kill him?"

Vivian thought that normally, once a suspect was confirmed to be no longer a threat, there was no need to shoot to kill immediately. It was a risky move, after all. No one could predict whether a stray bullet might hurt someone else in the crossfire. Moreover, Robert genuinely held a lot of secrets.

Julian shared her doubts. He turned to look at the police officers present.

"He is extremely dangerous. He must have been shot by one of our snipers hidden in the dark," an officer replied. "President Faulkner, we reached a consensus on this from the very beginning, didn’t we?"

The police’s stance was clear. The moment Robert showed any intent to harm someone, they would take him out. It was a necessary precaution for the hostages’ safety. Julian had certainly agreed to this beforehand. However, Vivian had clearly been out of danger just now, yet they still chose to pull the trigger. It was truly baffling.

Vivian couldn’t bring herself to get angry at the police. They were public servants who worked tirelessly for the people; their intentions were always good.

"Thank you for your hard work," Vivian said. "By the way... what exactly happened today? Also, I saw Sharon Galahad just now. She drove away the moment she realized you had arrived.

"Please send someone to go after her quickly. She shouldn’t have gotten far. If we can capture her, we should be able to interrogate a lot of information out of her."

The officer nodded and picked up his walkie-talkie, presumably speaking to the men guarding the perimeter. An immediate response came through the radio. The static was too loud for Vivian to hear clearly, but she noticed something. As the officer standing in front of her conversed with the person on the other end, his expression gradually changed, turning grim.

Upon seeing this, Vivian instinctively felt that something bad had happened.

Her intuition was right. After clipping the walkie-talkie back onto his belt, the officer looked at Vivian and Julian with a heavy expression. "Something has happened on Sharon Galahad’s end," he said gravely.

"Not long after she drove off, her car lost control and veered off the road. The vehicle is currently engulfed in flames, and she’s trapped inside. Our men have already caught up to the scene. However, we don’t know if she can be saved."

Vivian fell silent. The way things had escalated, there were simply too many coincidences. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was some hidden conspiracy behind it all.

"Julian." Vivian looked at him, wanting to say something more.

But before the words could leave her lips, her vision blurred—whether from exhaustion or something else—and she lost consciousness once again.

When she woke up, Vivian found herself lying on a soft bed. Opening her eyes, she recognized the familiar surroundings—it was the Faulkner villa, in the bedroom she shared with Julian.

Julian was sitting on the edge of the bed, working on his laptop, seemingly handling some business affairs. Grandma Faulkner sat on a nearby sofa, engrossed in her phone.

The moment Vivian stirred, both of them heard the rustling from the bed and looked over.

Grandma Faulkner practically leaped up, tossing her phone aside, and hurried over. "Vivian, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt?

"You silly child, really! You stayed up half the night working and completely forgot to eat breakfast this morning. The doctor said you have low blood sugar!

"You can’t do this anymore! Health is wealth, my dear! If your body breaks down, how can you expect to work properly?

"I had Shaw brew some bird’s nest soup for you. Have a few sips to soothe your stomach first! Later this afternoon, you’re having afternoon tea with me, and we are going to eat plenty. Do you hear me?"

Grandma Faulkner was beside herself with worry. Vivian stared at her, momentarily stunned, before she realized what was going on. Julian must have fabricated a cover story so his grandmother wouldn’t worry too much.

But why had she fainted so suddenly? Was it because some of the drug from before the explosion was still lingering in her system? Vivian thought that was highly likely. Thank goodness Julian hadn’t told Grandma Faulkner the truth, or the elderly woman would be even more frantic by now!

"Grandma, I’m perfectly fine. What about you? Have you felt any discomfort since you were discharged from the hospital?" Vivian looked closely at her.

Grandma Faulkner’s complexion was actually quite rosy—a stark contrast to how she looked on her first day in the hospital. Hearing this, she stood up, looking as if she wanted to twirl around for Vivian to see. "Just look at me, I’m doing wonderfully! After staying in the hospital for a few days, I think I’ve even gained some weight!

"Sigh! They say it’s a blessing to stay thin in your old age. It’s better not to get too plump!

"I’ve made up my mind. When you have free time, you need to practice Tai Chi with me. I also need to go out for walks more often. Looking at the freshly blooming flowers and getting some fresh air will be good for my mood."

"Mhm." Vivian nodded.

She was about to say something else when Julian chimed in. "Grandma, it’s time for your medication. Shall I walk you downstairs to take it?

"You’ve been keeping watch here ever since you got back today and skipped your afternoon nap. Now that she’s awake and fine, shouldn’t you go get some sleep?"

Grandma Faulkner seemed to have made some sort of prior agreement with him. Now that Julian brought it up, she couldn’t help but pout. "Alright, alright, I know. Sigh! I’ll just leave you and Vivian to spend some time together.

"And you, you brat, you’d better take good care of our Vivian. Don’t let her exhaust herself again!"

"I know," Julian replied helplessly. He shot Vivian a glance, his eyes conveying a silent promise that he would take Grandma down for her medicine and come right back up to see her.

Vivian gave him a knowing nod. Only then did the amusing grandmother-grandson duo finally leave the room.