Chapter 189
In the crowd, someone tried to sneak away, but a security guard yanked him out without mercy. It was a tall, lanky man.
He still clutched an egg in his hand. Once dragged out, he simply stopped running. He glared furiously at the people onstage, focusing mainly on Josephine, as if he wanted to devour her alive.
"Josephine! Why don't you just go die!"
The hatred burning in his eyes was shockingly intense. Josephine pulled the tissue from Emma's hand and wiped her shoulder, frowning as she studied him. "I don't know you."
"Of course you don't know me! Someone as high and mighty as you—how could you possibly know me?" The man let out a bitter laugh, resentment flooding his gaze like it might consume her. "My name's Yves. It's all because of you that my sister's lying in a hospital bed. You think a flimsy apology's going to make this go away? Hell no! I want you to apologize to my sister—on your knees, bowing down! You're the cause of this whole disaster! You belong in hell!"
His curses were so vicious that Emma frowned, unable to hold back. "What is wrong with you? You throw an egg at someone and don't even explain yourself. Who's your sister, anyway?"
"My sister is Lily!" Yves roared. "She's one of the volunteers still lying in the hospital! All because your company screwed up, my sister still hasn't been discharged! And you—a department manager—how the hell do you run your department? How do you supervise your staff? A mistake this huge, and you think I'm not going to come after you?"
As he spoke, Yves lunged toward the stage. A cluster of reporters simply stood by watching, even stepping aside to let him through, cameras clicking wildly.
Kenneth stepped in front of Yves just in time. Two security guards immediately grabbed his arms, restraining him at the edge of the stage.
Pinned against the platform's edge, Yves struggled to lift his head and stare at Josephine. "You just wait! I'm not letting you off the hook! If anything happens to my sister, you'll pay with your life!"
"I visited your sister two days ago. She was doing fine—recovering." Josephine understood where this rage was coming from. Had Lily's condition worsened after her visit?
It wasn't impossible.
Josephine pulled out her phone and dialed Lily's number, but no one answered.
"Don't give me that fake sympathy! If you really visited my sister, you'd know she's seriously ill!" Yves struggled violently, but he couldn't break free from the two guards. His face pressed flat against the platform, contorted from the pressure.
"You murderer! Everyone, take her picture! This woman slept her way to the top, and now she's pretending to be responsible. She's never once visited my sister, and she hasn't paid a dime for medical expenses or emotional damages! Our family had to sell our house just to pay for her treatment."
As Yves spoke, tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the dust on the stage. He looked even more wretched and pitiful.
Reporters swarmed forward, snapping photos. Someone shouted, "Ms. Kennedy, you just said you'd take responsibility for your employees. How can you be so heartless to this man? Isn't that a double standard? Or was everything you said earlier just an act for us?"
"I had no idea you were such a good actress. I almost believed you."
"You say you'll take full responsibility, but you don't even know a volunteer's condition got worse. You're a total liar!"
"That's not what happened. What this man's saying isn't reliable—we haven't even investigated..." Kenneth tried hard to explain.
At that moment, Yves twisted free one hand and hurled another egg onto the stage. It hit Kenneth square in the chest.
His white suit instantly turned filthy and reeking. Egg slime slid down the fabric, sticky and foul-smelling, absolutely revolting.
Kenneth's expression darkened. Ignoring the mess, he stared at Yves. "I'm calling the police right now."
Yves's gaze flickered. "Go ahead and call them. Let's see who they arrest!"
Kenneth pulled out his phone.
Seeing everything descend into chaos, Josephine said, "Everyone, stop arguing. We'll let the police handle this. Once they arrive, the truth will come out."
She could tell that no amount of talking would help today. This man's sudden appearance didn't seem spontaneous—it reeked of premeditation.
She crouched down and asked Yves, "You're really Lily's brother?"
"Yes!" Yves's voice rang out with certainty.
Kenneth lowered his phone. "I've called the police."
No one noticed Yves's eyes flash.
Suddenly, he burst into motion. Everyone assumed he was going to attack Josephine, including the two guards, who rushed to block him. But he only feinted.
He spun around and bolted toward the door.
Josephine shouted, "Stop him!"
The two guards chased after him. Yves ran like hell, and in the blink of an eye, he was on the street, about to dash across.
But just then, a car came driving through.
The driver gripped the steering wheel, staring in disbelief at the man flying across his path. "Mr. Getty, that guy looks like he came from the press conference."
Cedric looked up, his gaze instantly locking onto Yves. "Follow him."
The driver slammed the gas pedal. The tires screeched against the pavement, and the car shot forward, chasing Yves in a cloud of smoke.
Hearing the noise, Yves looked back and nearly died of fright. The car was barreling after him, closing the distance fast. Any second now, it would run him down.
Yves's mind went blank. He ran for his life.
But how could he outrun a car? Hearing the roar of the engine getting closer, his legs went weak. Before he knew it, he tripped over a roadside planter.
He hit the ground hard, completely dazed.
Josephine and the others had also rushed out from the press conference. They witnessed the car's reckless chase unfold before their eyes. The vehicle showed no signs of slowing down as it bore down on Yves, sprawled on the ground.
Everyone covered their eyes, afraid to watch.
Josephine recognized the license plate. Her breath caught.
She had no idea what Cedric was doing. Running someone over was a crime!
The car stopped smoothly right in front of Yves.
The door opened. Cedric stepped out. He wore a black custom-tailored suit and leather shoes. He walked over to Yves and looked down at him, lying limp on the ground.
A strange odor wafted into the air.
Yves had wet himself.
Cedric took a subtle step back. "Apologies. I saw you running recklessly into traffic—it was dangerous. I had no choice but to force you to stop this way."
Yves looked dazed.
...So he was trying to save him?
Josephine ran over. Cedric's eyes immediately landed on the remnants of egg still clinging to her shoulder and the faint stench of rotten egg in the air.
He narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"
Josephine brushed it off casually with her hand. "It's nothing. Good thing you stopped him, or if he'd gotten away, today's press conference would've been a total waste."
Cedric was sharp. Seeing she didn't want to talk about it, he didn't press. He turned to look at the reporters flocking over.
They were relatively quiet in his presence.
Even the aggressive male reporter from earlier became more polite. "Mr. Getty, I think this press conference is done for... Even the patient's family showed up..."
"The patient's family—him?" Cedric glanced at Yves.
Yves had already gotten up from the ground, though his pants were still wet. He glared at Cedric. "That's right! Lily's my sister! I came here today to get justice for her!"
Cedric asked a loaded question. "Are you sure Lily's your sister?"
"I'm absolutely sure!"
Cedric looked at the car stopped by the curb. "Come on out."