Chapter 179 Drugged
Emily looked at the group before her.
Erica was blatantly lying, Zander was blinded by lust, Lucy and Lauren were playing along—the cold smile in her heart deepened.
"Whether I have children or not, and whether Charles is their father, you can find out by asking around in the Emerald City's social circles. If you insist on deceiving yourselves and want to set me up with Zander, do you think Charles is easy to bully, or do you think I'm easy to manipulate?"
Zander's expression darkened, his tone shifting, "Emily, don't think having Charles backing you makes you untouchable! I'm telling you, back home, no one dares talk to me like this! Today you'll either drink a few glasses with me nicely, or else..."
"Or else what? Or else you'll kidnap me and drag me to your bed?"
Zander's face instantly flushed red—he hadn't expected Emily to openly call out his intentions right at the dinner table.
Calla also panicked, slamming the table and cursing, "You little bitch! How dare you talk about my son like that! I'm going to teach you a lesson today!"
As soon as Calla finished cursing, Erica quickly rushed over to restrain her, plastering on a fake smile to smooth things over, "Calla, don't be angry! Emily's young and speaks rather directly. Please don't take it personally!"
Lauren also chimed in, picking up a teacup and offering it to Calla, "That's right, Calla, have some tea to calm down. Emily doesn't know better; let's not argue with her."
Lucy moved closer to Zander, speaking in a soft, soothing voice, "Zander, Emily's just stubborn by nature. Don't take it to heart, she actually wants to get to know you better."
While restraining Calla, Erica secretly caught Zander's eye, moving her lips to say something only they could hear, "Don't worry, I guarantee you'll have her tonight."
Seeing Erica's look and remembering her earlier promise, Zander's lecherous gaze swept over Emily's figure. Suppressing his anger, he smiled, "Fine, for Erica and Lucy's sake, I won't hold it against Emily. Let's eat first and chat over dinner."
Since Zander had backed down, Calla couldn't very well keep making a scene. She could only snort coldly and sit back down, though she still shot Emily disapproving glares from time to time.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, Zander was extremely attentive to Emily.
He kept serving her food and trying to pour her wine, chattering constantly, "Emily, this dish is the Jade Pavilion's specialty—you should try more; this wine is also their signature—have a taste."
Emily remained cold throughout, leaving all of Zander's served food untouched on her plate and not taking a single sip of the wine he offered. Her tone was distant, "No need to trouble yourself, Mr. Griffin. I can manage on my own."
Erica and Lauren watched anxiously.
If Emily didn't drink the drugged wine, their whole plan would fall apart.
Erica's eyes darted around, then she picked up Emily's juice glass, pretending to refill it, "Emily, eating without drinking anything is so dry—have some juice to wet your throat."
As she spoke, she secretly sprinkled the white powder hidden in her hand into the juice, gave it a gentle swirl, then handed it to Emily, "This is fresh mango juice, your favorite."
Emily looked at the juice glass, a cold smile flashing in her eyes.
She'd anticipated they would use such underhanded tactics. Before leaving home, she'd specifically taken the antidote from Elodie's little gift, preparing for exactly this moment.
She accepted the juice, pretended to hesitate briefly, then took a small sip in front of everyone, even deliberately frowning, "It's a bit too sweet."
Seeing this, Erica and Lauren immediately relaxed, exchanging glances that sparkled with satisfaction.
Zander was so excited that he was rubbing his hands together, the greed in his eyes nearly overflowing as he waited for the drug to take effect.
Sure enough, within five minutes, Emily deliberately swayed, braced herself against the table, her face turning pale as she spoke weakly, "I... I feel dizzy."
As soon as she finished speaking, she slumped onto the table, motionless, as if completely unconscious.
"Emily!" Lucy immediately rushed over, pretending to be anxious as she shook her, then looked up at the others, "Emily must be too exhausted lately. I'll help her to the rest room next door to recover."
Erica quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, Lucy, you take Emily to rest first. We'll check on her later."
Zander sat in his chair with eyes wide, desperate to follow immediately, but Erica held him back with a meaningful look.
It wasn't time yet.
Lucy supported the unconscious Emily, stumbling out of the private room toward the adjacent rest room.
Once inside, she immediately let go, her anxious expression instantly transforming into smugness as she whispered in Emily's ear, "Emily, your day has finally come! When Zander gets here and sleeps with you, let's see how you pretend to be so high and mighty!"
Just then, the unconscious Emily suddenly opened her eyes. Before Lucy could react, Emily raised her hand and covered Lucy's mouth with a pre-prepared handkerchief.
The handkerchief was lightly soaked with ether—another item from Elodie's little gift collection.
Lucy felt dizzy and disoriented, struggled briefly, then completely passed out, collapsing motionless on the floor.
Emily quickly dragged Lucy onto the rest room's bed, drew the curtains, and turned off the lights, ensuring Zander wouldn't be able to tell who was really there.
Then, she quietly cracked open the rest room door, checked that the hallway was empty, and swiftly left, deliberately leaving the door slightly ajar to give Zander his opportunity.
Sure enough, barely two minutes after Emily left, Zander couldn't wait any longer and slipped out of the private room, muttering, "Emily, I'm coming to keep you company."
He pushed open the rest room's partially open door, saw the shapely figure lying on the bed, assumed it was Emily, and was immediately overjoyed. He shut the door and pounced, unbuttoning his shirt while murmuring, "Emily, don't blame me, who told you to be so irresistible."
Meanwhile, in the conference room, Charles looked at the person delivering documents and asked puzzledly, "Where's Nathan?"
"He drove Ms. Johnson to the Jade Pavilion."
"What's Ms. Johnson doing at the Jade Pavilion?"
"Nathan said Ms. Johnson went to attend a family dinner."
"Get the car ready, we're going to the Jade Pavilion!"
"But Mr. Windsor, there's still a meeting in a few minutes!"
"Postpone it!"