Chapter 289

Chapter 289

The person outside seemed extremely patient, and from start to finish, no one answered Lisbeth's question.

Lisbeth stood up, positioning herself in front of Megan. Her gaze swept the hospital room quickly, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. But this was a hospital—of course there wouldn't be any sharp objects left lying around in a patient's room.

"I've already called the police," Lisbeth said, her voice low and steady. "I don't care who you are. You'd better leave. Now."

The knocking paused. Lisbeth and Megan exchanged a glance, both thinking the person must have left. But in the next second, the door shuddered violently as someone kicked it from the outside.

They both flinched.

The door looked like it would fly open any second, but after that single kick, everything went silent.

Lisbeth's back was drenched in cold sweat. Part of her wanted to go out there and see who it was. She was scared, yes, but not so scared she couldn't face whoever was out there. After all, it had to be a person.

And possibly the killer.

But she couldn't leave Megan alone. Whoever was out there, their target was clearly Megan.

Lisbeth didn't turn around. She stood by the bed, eyes locked on the door, one hand reaching back to grip Megan's. That hand was ice-cold.

Megan was terrified.

The hallway outside fell quiet. Lisbeth's nerves were stretched taut. Time seemed to drag endlessly—or maybe it was only a second.

Then the knocking started again.

Both of them jumped.

But the next moment, a familiar voice came from outside.

"Lisbeth, it's me."

Sebastian.

Lisbeth exhaled in relief. She slowly released Megan's hand and walked to the door, opening it just a crack. She saw the person's clothing outside.

A black windbreaker.

Wait.

Sebastian had been wearing a black suit today. Not a windbreaker.

The person raised their hand and sprayed something. A sharp, acrid smell hit Lisbeth's nose, and her legs gave out beneath her.

Her phone slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

In the split second before she collapsed, Lisbeth managed to shove the door shut with her hand—but she didn't have time to lock it.

She slumped against the cold wall, eyelids drooping, vision blurring.

We're done for.

That was the only thought in her head.

The figure in the black windbreaker walked past her.

Lisbeth tried desperately to force herself to stand, but no matter how hard she tried, her fingers only trembled slightly. The phone screen on the floor lit up.

Sebastian: [I'm almost there.]

Hurry. Please hurry.

Lisbeth's whole body felt numb, impossible to move. She forced her eyes open as wide as she could, trying to see the person walking toward the bed, but her eyelids were too heavy.

All she could see were the person's shoes.

Designer sneakers.

The figure stopped at the bedside, looking down at Megan. He wore a mask and a hat, only his cold eyes visible.

Megan's eyes widened. She stared at him.

It's him!

It's him!

She wanted to speak, to scream, to struggle, but her body hadn't recovered yet. The more panicked and furious she became, the more her body seemed to lock up.

She vaguely remembered hearing someone talk about a theory once—that when danger strikes, the body activates a self-preservation mechanism. The body freezes. You can't move.

The man was cautious. He didn't touch Megan directly. He wore black gloves. He picked up the pillow from beside her and pressed it down over her face. Megan's furious, terrified eyes were gradually covered by the white pillow.

Just then, the door swung open. Sebastian stepped inside and immediately saw Lisbeth collapsed against the wall. "Lisbeth?"

At the sound of his voice, the figure inside froze.

Lisbeth still couldn't move. All she could do was signal desperately with her eyes. Fortunately, Sebastian understood. He quickly locked onto the person standing by the bed and, without a word, charged forward and grappled with them.

The person seemed thin, but surprisingly agile. Still, they were no match for Sebastian, who worked out regularly and had even trained in boxing for a while. During their scuffle, the attacker spent most of the time dodging.

And they were slowly backing toward the door.

Sebastian kept blocking them, because Lisbeth was right there by the entrance.

He was afraid of accidentally hurting her. But the attacker had no such concern. When they got close enough, they grabbed Lisbeth and used her as a shield. Sebastian's fist froze mid-swing.

In that opening, the attacker shoved Lisbeth hard into Sebastian's arms, then turned and ran.

Sebastian caught Lisbeth. "Are you okay?"

By now, Lisbeth had regained a little strength. She lifted her hand, pointing at the door. "Don't let him… get away…"

Sebastian scooped her up and carried her to the couch. "His target is Megan. If I leave and there's someone else, you'll both be in danger. Noah's downstairs. I'll have him intercept."

Downstairs, Noah had just received Sebastian's message when someone slammed into his shoulder from behind. He saw a figure in a black windbreaker bolting toward the exit and immediately realized this was the person Mr. York had warned him about.

"Stop!"

Without hesitation, he gave chase.

But the person was too fast. They disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Noah searched through the crowd for a long time but came up empty. Reluctantly, he turned back.

Upstairs, the doctors and nurses had all been alerted.

A doctor hurried in to examine Megan. Fortunately, she was only shaken—nothing else was wrong. She was just mentally exhausted, and she fell asleep during the examination.

After all that chaos, Lisbeth couldn't bring herself to leave Megan alone. Sebastian said he'd arrange for caregivers, but Lisbeth wasn't reassured.

"You still don't trust me to handle things?"

Sebastian patted her shoulder and led her outside the room. Standing by the door were two caregivers and two bodyguards.

It was an interesting combination. The caregivers were one man and one woman. So were the bodyguards.

The men were tall and broad-shouldered. Even the women had visible muscle definition on their arms and shoulders.

Just looking at them made Lisbeth feel safer. "Please take care of her."

"You're too kind," the female caregiver said with a warm smile. "We're professionals. Leave it to us."

"She had a terrible scare tonight. She needs rest. When she wakes up, please let me know."

"Of course."

Once everything was settled, Sebastian picked Lisbeth up. "Now will you come home with me like a good girl?"

Lisbeth relaxed into his shoulder. The doctor had examined her too. She'd inhaled a paralytic drug. It didn't require medication—her body would naturally flush it out over time.

But in the meantime, she'd experience weakness and fatigue.

"Who do you think it was?" Lisbeth asked.

Sebastian had fought the person up close. One thing was certain. "A man."

Lisbeth's head shot up. "A man?"

But that day at the restaurant, those two sisters had clearly said the person who fought with Megan was a woman.