It was Vivian, who she had met before, in the welfare house!
Holding the baby in her arms, Vivian walked in, out of breath, flustered and very embarrassed. Her face and what Natalie could see of her neck were covered in bruises. “My baby, my baby…” Lydia pushed Natalie out of her way, rushing to grab the baby from Vivian’s arms and weeping for joy.
Natalie pulled herself together and then turned to Vivian in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
Brandon was also surprised, but he didn’t show it.
“How did you get that baby?” Brandon asked warily, grabbing hold of Natalie’s hand.
Vivian turning up right after Lydia being saved was quite suspicious, maybe too suspicious.
“It’s windy up here, and there’re too many people. Why don’t we go and find a nice, quiet, warm place to talk? I’m sure you don’t want the press taking pictures of you here. It wouldn’t look good for the Larson Group.”
Hearing her mention the Larson Group again got Brandon’s back up and he decided to keep a closer eye on her.
Natalie took a good look at Vivian. She’d already seen all the injuries to her face and neck but now she noticed her jeans were ripped as well. She looked at Brandon and said, “She’s right. This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go back to the ward.”
Natalie helped Lydia back to the ward. Lydia was quieter and more absent-minded than she had been before the accident. All she could do was smile at the child.
Outside the ward, with a sad look on her face, Vivian said, “If I had got here just a little earlier, this wouldn’t have happened to Lydia.”
“Why did you come to the hospital today?” It reminded Natalie of the figure she had seen outside the hospital. It had been Vivian after all.
“I saw what happened to Lydia on the news and came here to see her today. After all, the Turner Group used to work with Jethro’s factory and all this was caused by the conflict between the Turner Group and the Larson Group.” Brandon put on his best poker face. It hadn’t been that long since Vivian was taken on by the Turners, and somehow she already knew so much about what had happened between the Larson Group and the Turner Group and she had even come to see Lydia in person.
He felt like there was something fishy about her. i “I was offering Lydia compensation on behalf of the Turner family, but she refused to take it. She threw things at me, broke stuff, then told me and the Turners exactly where we could go, so I left.” Vivian suddenly sobbed, “But I didn’t expect two men in black to rush into the ward and take away Lydia’s baby as soon as I left the ward. So I acted on instinct, without thinking about it, and chased them down.”
“Did they hurt you? Did you catch them?” Looking closer, Natalie could see a vicious-looking knife wound in Vivian’s arm.
Vivian covered her arms self-consciously and said, “They ran off. Luckily, there were other medical staff around to help me, so I got the baby back.”
Then she looked at Brandon, who had remained silent throughout.
Vivian was pretty sure her story had fooled Natalie.
But Brandon played his cards pretty close to his chest, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. She didn’t know whether or not he believed her.
“I’ll go and ask the doctor about Lydia’s condition. You two can keep talking.” Brandon nodded graciously, turned around and left the ward.
He waited until he was out of sight of Vivian before he called Sean and asked him to find out what had really happened today.
Brandon didn’t believe what Vivian had just said.
And Vivian hadn’t expected Brandon to leave immediately. She was a little disappointed since the whole point of this play was to make him believe her. 1 She had no choice but to continue chatting to Natalie. After a while, Brandon returned.
“The baby is fine and the Larson Group will take good care of Lydia. Is there anything else you need to do here, Miss Cooper?” His tone was deadpan.
A glimmer of embarrassment flashed across Vivian’s face. “Then… I’ll head back.”
She stood up to leave, but before she had even taken two steps, the blood oozed from the wound on her forehead. She wobbled before falling into Brandon’s arms.
“Vivian!” Panic was all over Natalie’s face. She reached out to hold Vivian. “I’ll help Vivian into the ward. You go find a doctor,” she said to Brandon with a nervous look. Watching Vivian being taken away by Natalie, Brandon had mixed feelings.
Natalie nudged him, clearly annoyed. “Don’t just stand there. Vivian is seriously hurt. Ask the doctor to come and check on her. I’m worried she’ll have some complications.”
Brandon was left with no choice but to go and find help. The doctor soon appeared, helped Vivian into a wheelchair and pushed her off to get a CT scan.
Natalie was about to try and follow, but Brandon tugged her arm back.
“I just want to see how she’s doing,” Natalie tried to explain as she turned to him. She noticed him staring at her. “Do you have something to tell me?”
Brandon released his grip on her and stroked her hand softly. His eyebrows were raised and he looked off into the direction Vivian had gone. “That girl is not as simple and innocent as she appears. You should be careful.”
Natalie frowned. Just then, Sean appeared, panting.
He handed a phone to Brandon “I’ve brought you the surveillance videos,” he said, interrupting their conversation.
“The camera by the door of Lydia’s ward has been damaged, so there’s only video of the two men dressed in black entering the hospital, and the video of Vivian fighting them.” Sean tapped the screen and the video began to play.
They watched as Vivian followed the men in black down the corridor, as she tried to get Lydia’s baby back.
The video was very clear. It was obvious the two men were brutish, and had even hit Vivian with a fire extinguisher. Luckily, the security guards and nurses realized what was going on and helped her out to prevent the incident escalating. With their help, Lydia’s baby was finally rescued.
“Vivian does seem to be telling the truth. At the very least, she did help Lydia get her baby back.” With this evidence, Natalie was more inclined to believe Vivian.
The corner of Brandon’s mouth twitched. He knew his words had been in vain. “Who was it who sent these two men?” he asked Sean.
Sean reached out and touched the back of his head. “We don’t know yet, but it does seem to be premeditated. They knew where the surveillance cameras were, and deliberately avoided them. Their faces can’t be seen at all.”
Sean lowered his eyes. He had come to a realization. “I think they might have been sent by Jethro’s previous creditor. He probably asked his men to steal the baby to threaten Lydia to accept the compensation from us and pay off her husband’s debt.”
Everything seemed to make sense.
“Go and get Vivian a room here. Then you can go back and have some rest.”
Brandon knew when he asked Sean to leave, that wouldn’t be the end of it. In fact, he had a feeling that a storm was brewing. Vivian was very suspicious…
Sean didn’t move. He had no intention of leaving.
He had a strange look on his face as he hesitated for a moment. “There’s one more thing. Lydia’s attempt to jump off the building was recorded and posted online. People are accusing the Larson Group of being a corrupt business. They’re suggesting that to make Lydia concede, we even took away her baby…”
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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