The Return of the Cannon Fodder Trillion Heiress - Chapter 988

Chapter 988: Chapter 988 Checking Her Out

To Zhane, it was clear: this wasn’t business. It was personal revenge. His uncle-in-law had always believed Zhane was the reason for his downfall. Now, he was lashing out from the shadows, like a rat festering in the sewers.

If Zhane followed this lead, it would be easier for him to gather the evidence he needed. His jaw tightened as he scanned the file, noting the attached dash-cam footage: his ex-uncle-in-law caught emerging from a black market alley. Alongside it were records of his phone signal pinging in the same area during the transaction.

Normally, pressing sellers for information was near impossible. The black market thrived on secrecy; every vendor’s reputation hinged on never exposing a client, no matter the cost. Trust was their currency; without it, their businesses would crumble. Even Gerald hadn’t expected success there.

But one seller had a hidden advantage, a CCTV camera discreetly installed over his stall. Whether it was for blackmail, personal records, or at the demand of a higher boss, no one knew.

What mattered was the footage Gerald retrieved: clear enough to prove Zhane’s ex–uncle-in-law had indeed purchased the poison. He was bundled in layers, but his eyes and nose were exposed, and with a little advanced image reconstruction, Gerald made the identification airtight.

“It seems the lesson we gave him wasn’t enough. Let me handle this one,” Zhane said, his eyes darkening with a murderous edge as he pulled out his phone to text his most trusted aide.

[Zhane: Track down my ex–uncle-in-law’s current whereabouts and invite him in for interrogation. Do whatever it takes to make him talk.]

[Zhane: Pull his call logs, transaction records, and recent location pings. Cross-check timestamps with the black-market buys and flag any suspicious contacts.]

Zhane’s words might have sounded polite, invite him in, but what he truly meant was kidnapping and torture if necessary.

For all his usual composure, the calm, responsible older-brother figure he appeared to be, Zhane was still a male lead. When the situation demanded it, he could be as cold and ruthless as any of the others.

And though he was a doctor who valued life, that very knowledge made him even more dangerous. He knew the human body intimately, where pain could be amplified, where pressure broke the spirit faster than the flesh.

When Zhane chose to abandon mercy, he wasn’t just cruel. He could be very terrifying.

After all, there was truth to the saying that the quietest, calmest person was the most terrifying when enraged, and right now, Zhane was boiling inside.

He and his family had already been magnanimous enough not to ruin that cheating scumbag of an ex–uncle-in-law when he was down. They could have sent him off to break his back in the coal mines, or abandoned him in some desolate wasteland where sweet potatoes were the only means of survival.

That would’ve been a fitting punishment for his betrayal and embezzlement. But instead of showing even a shred of gratitude for their mercy, the man chose to harbor malice. Worse, he went so far as to conspire with others to target one of Zhane’s high-profile patients.

This crossed Zhane’s bottom line. He wasn’t just the hospital’s director and its future chairman; his family name was on every brass plate. If a high-profile patient died under their care from poisoning, it would destroy the hospital and ruin their reputation.

They’d be investigated, dragged through the courts, and pilloried in public until the hospital’s legacy was razed to the ground. What would become of decades of his family’s work? Zhane burned with a cold, consuming anger. He didn’t pause to weigh options, only to decide how hard he would press until the truth came out.

Zhane’s eyes rimmed red with anger, the fury simmering just beneath his controlled exterior. Hera’s heart ached to comfort him, but confined to her wheelchair and sitting a little too far away, she could do nothing physically.

Instead, she quietly pulled out her phone and forwarded all the information Sasha had sent her straight to Zhane. She chose not to intervene further; this was something Zhane needed to confront himself if he was to untie the knot in his heart.

Whatever reward or recognition she might have gained from the Sullivans for helping solve the case didn’t matter. What mattered was Zhane.

So Hera didn’t hesitate to send all the evidence to Zhane. With Gerald’s findings and Sasha’s files, it would be much easier to tie both ends together and piece the truth into a complete picture.

Now, the only thing missing was a confession, just enough to lock the two away for good and to expose Sophia’s intentions with undeniable, cold, hard evidence.

But as Hera thought about it, she remembered that Zhane’s ex–uncle-in-law was supposed to be locked up in the cells. So how had he managed to get out after leaving the Everett family with nothing?

Through bail?

But how?

Did he have powerful connections pulling strings for him? After all, he had been charged with embezzlement, no small crime. Hera’s gaze flickered as she sank into thought. Clearly, there was more to this than met the eye.

Yet because she and Zhane had been too focused on Sophia’s schemes and the sudden reappearance of his ex–uncle-in-law, they had nearly overlooked this crucial detail. And right now, with Zhane still boiling in anger, he couldn’t think of anything else except putting that man back in his place.

The Sullivan brothers exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes shifting between Hera and Zhane. They had been watching and listening to the pair’s exchanges all this time, yet nothing made sense to them. Finally, the second brother stepped forward, breaking the silence.

“Can either of you explain what’s happening? If this is an investigation, then tell us where do we stand, what evidence do we have, and how do you plan to show us the sequence of events? Please don’t keep us in the dark. Our sister’s life is on the line, and we have every right to know what’s going on.”

His words were polite, his tone measured, but the tension in his jaw betrayed his struggle to hold back his temper. He knew very well they were the ones asking for help, not the other way around.

That meant he couldn’t afford to use his usual commanding tone, the one he wielded so easily in his own office, where orders were obeyed without question.

Besides, when he noticed Hera, who was about the same age as his sister, sitting quietly in her wheelchair, he couldn’t bring himself to speak the way he usually did. The sharpness in his tone softened, and he forced himself to hold back as he addressed her gently.

Earlier, he had been too rattled by the news of someone trying to harm his sister to pay Hera any real attention; all he registered then was that she was just another girl in the room.

But now, with the situation settling and the truth slowly unraveling, his nerves finally began to ease. It gave him the space to actually see her. To his surprise, the girl before him was strikingly beautiful, innocent and sweet at first glance, yet beneath that sweetness burned the confidence of a female warrior, fierce and radiant like the sun itself.

He found himself unexpectedly drawn to her, his gaze lingering longer than he intended, unable to look away.

But it seemed he wasn’t the only one stealing glances at Hera. The rest of the Sullivan brothers also found their eyes drifting toward her from time to time, especially the fifth brother, who worked in the entertainment industry.

Out of habit, he had once searched the domestic market to see which stars were on the rise, planning to extend a hand in that direction so he could blend in seamlessly when he eventually returned home.

Who would have thought that the woman sitting before them now was none other than the current reigning trending queen of the industry? And the more he snuck glances her way, the more her beauty seemed to bloom right before his eyes, making his heart race.

He had met countless women of stunning appearances from all over the world, but Hera’s beauty was something else entirely. It was the kind that transcended race and culture, universally captivating, undeniable, and unforgettable.

“Ehem!” Rafael cleared his throat loudly, his irritation barely concealed. How could he possibly be in a good mood when so many men were openly eyeing his woman?

Even bound to a wheelchair, Hera still drew in bees and butterflies from every direction. He couldn’t decide if he should feel smug that the woman they admired was his, or annoyed that they were practically gawking at her.

Yet the men seemed deaf to his warning, their glances lingering on her all the same, only stoking Rafael’s temper further as his patience began to fray.

At that moment, Zhane finally spoke up. “Gentlemen, we are conducting a thorough investigation to identify the mastermind behind this. For now, vigilance is paramount. No one aside from Miss Sullivan’s attending physician and her immediate family is permitted to enter her room without my authorization.”

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