Chapter 578
On the other end of the line, Maya casually strolled onto her balcony and pushed the soundproof glass doors shut behind her. She looked down at the empty backyard and laughed softly. “I am afraid. But you won’t do it.”
People who were desperate for love were always the most pathetic.
She was handing Frank the ultimate opportunity on a silver platter. She didn’t
believe for a second that he could turn it down.
Frank started the engine, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Where are you?”
Clearly, his legendary polite temper was a myth. He had zero patience for her manipulative word games.
Maya wasn’t intimidated. Resting one hand on the balcony railing, she drawled, “It doesn’t matter where I am. What matters is that I’ve already sent the antidote to Atwater Manor.”
“The Manor?”
Frank paused in surprise. Maya chuckled. “Exactly. Atwater Manor.”
“Frank, I’m doing you a massive favor. This is your absolute last chance to win back the love of your life.”
Maya tapped her perfectly manicured nails against the railing, her tone disgustingly cheerful. “Don’t blow it. Opportunities like this don’t come twice.”
Without giving Frank a second to process, she prepared to end the call.
But Frank didn’t take the bait. Instead, he asked coldly and sharply, “What exactly do you get out of this?”
What did she get…
Maya’s eyes flashed with pure venom.
She got a lot out of it. But obviously, she wasn’t going to tell Frank the real reason.
Instead, she gave an incredibly plausible answer. “If Elissa gets back together with you, the position next to Rowan Murphy opens up.”
Frank had heard whispers of Maya’s desperate obsession with Rowan before.
He let out a cruel, mocking sneer. “The position next to him was open for years, and you clearly didn’t have what it takes to fill it then.”
The utter contempt in his voice was impossible to miss.
It struck Maya’s absolute deepest insecurity. Instant, blinding rage exploded in her chest. Just as she opened her mouth to scream at him, the line went dead. Frank had hung up on her.
Maya’s fingers clamped down on the balcony railing with such psychotic force that there was a sharp *snap*. One of her acrylic nails broke clean off, and blood instantly welled up from her fingertip.
She didn’t even seem to notice the pain. Her eyes burned with a deranged, hysterical jealousy.
*Why?*
Even though they had grown up together, the Wilkinson family still looked down on her! They spent all their time obsessing over finding Vera! Year after year, it was always Vera!
And now, even an outsider like Frank thought she couldn’t compare to a piece of trash like Elissa?
Other than sharing the Wilkinson bloodline, what exactly was so damn special about that bitch?
*Couldn’t compare?*
Fine.
Very soon, she wouldn’t have to compete with a corpse.
Back in the hospital room, Elissa took her seat beside the bed and made another quick call to the research institute.
As soon as she hung up, she felt an intense, unmistakable stare locked onto her.
She turned her head, following her instincts, and met Rowan’s dark, unblinking gaze. “Why are you staring at me?”
Rowan didn’t even blush. He answered with absolute shameless confidence, “I’m just looking at you.”
Lately, Rowan had been having profound, startling realizations about just how much she had grown up.
She was fiercely independent in her career, and she was fiercely protective of the people she loved in her personal life.
Like just now, when she had completely annihilated Frank to protect his honor.
It was the very first time Rowan had ever experienced the thrill of a woman openly, aggressively defending him.
Right now, Elissa’s entire mind was consumed with formulating an antidote. She gave a highly distracted reply. “Alright, look all you want.”
With that, she unlocked her phone and got right back to work.
Rowan simply watched her work. A few moments later, the hospital door swung open.
Cliff walked in. He smoothly plucked the phone out of Elissa’s hands and passed it to Rowan, saying, “I can take the night shift. You and Rowan need to go home and get a proper night’s sleep.”
Elissa wasn’t comfortable leaving. “I should really stay…”
“If Mr. Blaine gets back tomorrow and finds out I let a pregnant woman stay up all
night pulling a vigil, he’ll actually murder me.”
Using Aaron Blaine’s name as a
weapon, Cliff placed a firm hand on
her shoulder and gently pushed her
toward the door Go, seriously promise lif call you the second anything changes.”
Elissa was forced to stand up, but her heart was still heavy with anxiety.
Rowan, who had been texting someone, looked up. Seeing her anxious expression,
he handed his own phone over to her. “Read this. Maybe it’ll convince you to finally go home and sleep.”
“What is it?”
Elissa asked distractedly as she took the phone.
Once she read through his text
exchange with Lorraine, she let out a
massive shuddering breath of relief. She looked at him in total shock.
“When did you manage to get Mr. Whitman on board?”
Alastair Whitman was one of the most brilliant toxicology experts of the previous decade.
In recent years, he had completely retired due to health issues to enjoy life with his family. Almost no one could drag him out of retirement anymore.
Having his expertise would drastically cut down the time needed to break down the poison’s chemical composition.
Rowan stared down at her, his eyes incredibly deep and tender. He pinched her cheek affectionately. “Are you ready to go home now?”