Chapter 85 Target Locked
Olivia's murmur reached Peter's ears.
Peter paused, quickly understanding what Olivia was thinking.
"Lillian may be a nasty piece of work, but surely she wouldn't do something this extreme."
However, Olivia had already gained deep insight into human nature. She didn't want to gamble on whether Lillian would obey the law, especially considering the recent rumors circulating at the animal hospital.
'I heard gossip about myself the moment I returned to work, so naturally, I wouldn't want to stay at the hospital. If there was a chance for a business trip, I'd definitely agree to it. If Lillian's target really was me, then this scheme is absolutely terrifying.'
Olivia felt a bone-deep chill. Being in death's crosshairs was not a pleasant sensation.
Although Olivia harbored these suspicions, she didn't voice them. After all, speaking about things without evidence would be considered slander, and if someone like Lillian found out she was being accused of this, she'd probably cause even more trouble.
"Maybe I really am overthinking this."
Olivia shrugged, temporarily pushing the matter to the back of her mind.
Meanwhile, Conrad's expression was grim when he returned to his estate.
The tiger incident had resulted in a death, and no matter how much he loved his pet, local law wouldn't allow his beloved animal to continue living.
A subordinate in a white coat approached Conrad.
"Mr. Wall, after testing Goldie, we found that his stress response was caused by an injection of a special substance."
The subordinate produced a transparent syringe, its contents already depleted.
"We found this near the tiger's bathing pool. We tested the residual liquid and discovered it was concentrated capsaicin."
"I see. You're dismissed."
Conrad narrowed his eyes and nodded, then pulled out his phone to call Matthew's assistant, John.
At that moment, Matthew sat in his office, lost in thought, holding his phone displaying a photo of him and Olivia together.
In the picture, Olivia slept peacefully, her sexy shoulder exposed above the covers, while Matthew lay beside her, having secretly snapped the photo.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the office door. Matthew closed his phone and called for them to enter.
John walked in carrying a lunchbox and reported Conrad's investigation findings to Matthew.
Matthew's eyes immediately narrowed.
"So Conrad's saying that when the tiger went into stress mode, he wasn't near the animal, meaning the killer's target might have been Olivia and the other two?"
John nodded. Matthew slammed his desk and shot to his feet in fury.
"What's he trying to say? Is he trying to shirk responsibility? Even if the killer's target was Olivia and the others, shouldn't he explain how an assassin could so easily enter his estate? Is he too broke to hire security guards?"
Seeing Matthew's rage, John quickly approached to gently pat his back.
"My goodness, Mr. Howard, please don't get so worked up! Your family keeps insisting you return to the hospital for continued observation. You don't want to collapse from anger and end up back in a hospital bed, do you?"
Matthew took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his fury as he sank back into his office chair.
"I feel much better now. I don't need to go back to the hospital. Have you found anything about the man Zack described?"
Seeing Matthew's anger gradually subside, John breathed a relief.
"We've provided the tattoo description to both the police and private investigators. Butterfly and scorpion tattoos are quite rare, so we should have results soon."
Matthew nodded, then turned to John again.
"Have you found where Olivia is living now?"
"Yes, we have."
John provided Olivia's new address.
Matthew nodded, then suddenly noticed the lunch box in John's hands.
"Did you buy me dinner?"
John shook his head, placing the lunch box on the desk.
"I ran into Ms. Lewis downstairs. She asked me to bring this up, saying you're so busy with work that you probably haven't had time for dinner. Since you're still recovering, she specially prepared a nutritious meal for you."
Matthew glanced at the several food containers on his desk and sighed.
"Has Scarlett left?"
"She left right after giving me the lunch boxes."
Matthew nodded, then stood and headed for the door.
"I'm going to see Olivia. You can have those for dinner."
John stared wide-eyed at Matthew's retreating figure, then looked at the beautifully presented food on the desk.
"All this delicious food is for me?"
John could hardly believe it, but quickly shrugged and opened the containers to dig in.
"Ms. Lewis completely underestimates the power of first love over a man! Mmm, tastes great though."
Meanwhile, the animal hospital sent someone else to care for Manuel, while Olivia and Peter each returned home.
Due to the tiger incident, Happy Paws Animal Hospital had given the three of them extended leave to recover from their traumatic experience.
Olivia returned to her new rental apartment. Opening the door and looking at her new place, she felt no joy of homecoming.
The room was tiny, nothing compared to Matthew's spacious penthouse, and the soundproofing was poor; sometimes she could even hear her neighbor's snoring through the walls.
Olivia looked at the pitch-black rental apartment and shook her head with a bitter smile.
"What are you thinking, Olivia? This is where you belong. Your marriage to Matthew was just a game to begin with!"
Olivia sighed. Though she now had the $20 million from the Howard family, she needed to save that money. Once the Howard family stopped supporting Jasper's treatment, that money would become his lifeline.
Olivia moved to turn on the lights and change into slippers, but the moment the light came on, she screamed in terror. A man was sitting on her shabby sofa.
"Olivia, congratulations on surviving the tiger's jaws today. But I'm sorry to tell you—you're about to face death again."
The man on the sofa wore a mask covering his face. He stood up, gripping a knife in his hand.
Olivia's gaze locked onto the man, particularly the butterfly and scorpion tattoo visible on his wrist.
"Damn it! So your target really was me."
Olivia turned to open the door and run, but the man viciously grabbed her hair. With a brutal yank, Olivia crashed to the floor. She could only watch in despair as the man locked the door and stood over her with the knife.