Chapter 54 Courting Death

Chapter 54 Courting Death

Cordelia turned to glance at Julie and nodded calmly, "Congratulations."

Then she pushed the door open and walked out. Seeing her leave just like that, Julie's smile froze on her face. She had carefully prepared this blow for so long, thrown it out with such fanfare, only to receive a lukewarm congratulations.

Where was the loss of composure and jealousy from Cordelia that she had imagined? How could there be none?

Why was there none!

Julie stood there in a daze.

Seeing her pale face, Marigold knew what was bothering her. She quickly came over to help her sit down, whispering, "It's okay, it's okay. She's just being stubborn. Who knows, she might be crying in secret somewhere."

Julie gave Marigold a look that was worse than crying and said, "Mom, I'm fine."

Marigold was right—Cordelia couldn't possibly not care about this.

Jack, immersed in the huge surprise, didn't notice the interaction between Julie and Marigold at all. He just kept ordering the servants to quickly make some nourishing soup for Julie.

Cordelia got into her car, her lips curling into a cold smile. Julie was pregnant—this really wasn't good news for her.

After all, Julie was still manageable while she was with the Fox family, but if she married into the Perez family, dealing with Julie would become quite difficult.

Thinking of this, she took out her phone and sent an encrypted message to Asher: "Speed up the investigation into the kidnapping case from three years ago."

Just after sending the message, her phone rang.

It was an encrypted call with no visible number. When Cordelia answered, the voice on the other end had been processed through a voice changer, sharp and grating like nails scraping across metal.

"Phoenix, people from the Empire of Upheaval have arrived in Harborview City. There's a spy around you."

With that, the call ended.

Cordelia's grip on her phone tightened, the warmth in her pupils gradually fading away.

She quickly glanced at the rearview mirror. The parking lot lights were on, several cars sitting quietly in their spots, empty of people.

But her instinct told her someone was watching her.

She started the car and drove away from The Fox Villa, changing routes three times along the way. Only after confirming no one was following her did she turn toward Starlight Heights.

Meanwhile, at Lakeside General Hospital.

Raymond was flipping through a surgical record when Leo happened to pass by and poked his head in to chat: "Dr. Perez, congratulations! Is your nephew about to become a father?"

Raymond's hand paused mid-page. "What do you mean?"

Leo chuckled, "A few days ago I saw your nephew's fiancée at Mercy Point Medical Center—that Julie girl. She seemed to be pregnant."

Julie was pregnant?

Raymond was somewhat surprised. Why hadn't he heard Ryan mention this?

Wait, could it be that Ryan himself didn't know about this either?

If she really was pregnant, the Fox family definitely wouldn't keep it hidden, and they certainly wouldn't sneak off to some unknown small hospital.

Thinking of this, Raymond closed the medical record, thought for a moment, picked up his phone, scrolled to a number, and called it.

The phone rang twice. Cordelia looked at the screen—it was Raymond. The image of that serious face in the elevator flashed through her mind as her thumb slid across the answer button.

"Did you go back to The Fox Villa today?" It wasn't a question but a statement.

"What's it to you?"

Cordelia's tone was full of hostility. Did Raymond dare to follow her?

Raymond said, "Don't misunderstand. I just heard that Julie is pregnant."

Cordelia laughed coldly, "Yeah, she announced it herself. Your information network is pretty good."

So she really was pregnant.

Hearing this, Raymond said unhurriedly, "Pregnancy is naturally a good thing if it's real. The problem is when someone treats something fake as real and puts on a show."

Cordelia paused for a moment, then immediately caught on. "Mr. Perez, there's a deeper meaning to what you're saying."

Raymond chuckled lightly, "I'm just stating facts."

By making this call specifically, Raymond was hinting at something.

Cordelia asked the question on her mind: "Why are you helping me?"

"It's nothing. Having a new addition to the family is a good thing, but the fear is that this is a conspiracy. I'm doing this to help the Perez family, that's all."

Raymond's voice was calm and measured, but his reason was irrefutable.

Cordelia's grip on the phone tightened. "Got it."

After hanging up, Cordelia smiled softly. Turning a fake show into reality? If that was really the case, Julie was digging her own grave!

Cordelia pulled out another phone and called Asher. "Check all the private hospitals in Harborview City and see if Julie has paid for a fake pregnancy test report in the past two weeks."

Asher clicked his tongue on the other end and replied, "Understood."

The next morning,

As Cordelia was leaving, she inexplicably glanced at the room across from hers.

The door was tightly shut, with no sound coming from inside. It was so quiet it seemed like no one was there.

She went downstairs and had just walked out of the residential complex when a black business van slowly drove up from the left and stopped beside her. The window gradually rolled down.

A man sat in the driver's seat with deep, chiseled features, showing a mouthful of white teeth when he smiled.

"Miss, could you tell me how to get to Willowbrook Street?"

Although the man deliberately imitated the Harborview City accent, Cordelia still detected something off—a slight turn in his intonation at the end, not obvious, but she caught it.

Cordelia took half a step back, her right hand naturally slipping into her jacket pocket, her fingertips touching the cold handle of the folding knife.

The man waited two seconds. Seeing she didn't respond, he smiled again, "Never mind, never mind. I'll just use GPS."

With that, the window rolled up and the car slowly drove away.

Cordelia stood there, watching the car turn the corner and disappear.

Asking for directions?

This was a one-way street, and right across was a main road that would come up with a simple GPS search. What person asking for directions would specifically stop at a residential complex entrance to block someone?

It seemed the people from the Empire of Upheaval had arrived faster than she expected.

She pulled out her phone and sent the license plate number to Asher with one word: Check!

Before long, Cordelia received Asher's message.

Julie had made an appointment for an examination at Mercy Point Medical Center a few days ago. The attending doctor was named Gavin Dixon, deputy director of obstetrics and gynecology, with fourteen years of experience.

But Gavin's record wasn't clean. Three years ago, he had been anonymously reported by a colleague for forging medical documents for patients. Later, due to insufficient evidence, the matter was dropped.

Asher added at the end of the message: "Phoenix, should we go have a chat with this Gavin?"

Chat? Forget it. Someone like that wasn't worth her time.

But what was Julie so eager to do?

Force a marriage?

Find a doctor to issue a fake pregnancy report, pressure the Perez family to finalize the marriage, and after entering the Perez family and establishing a foothold, find some random excuse to have a miscarriage.

Thinking of this, Cordelia smiled. Although it was a very old trick, it might actually work.

Fine, since she wanted to dig her own grave, Cordelia didn't mind personally sending her on her way!