Chapter 7
1618words
"There's a brain hemorrhage. She might remain in a permanent coma," the doctor recited his lines according to Jason Johnson's arranged script.
Lucas was silent for a moment. "Use the best medicine, regardless of cost."
Footsteps approached the bed. Emily maintained steady breathing, feeling Lucas's gaze on her. His fingers lightly touched her bandaged forehead, with rare gentleness.
"Emily..." His voice was hoarse. "If I had known it would come to this..."
The sentence remained unfinished. Through the earpiece, she heard him turn and leave, along with an extremely soft sigh.
Emily laughed coldly inside. This scheme involving her own injury was working even better than she had anticipated.
For the next three days, visitors came in a constant stream. Mark Porter brought greetings from allies, Victoria Lambert secretly passed along new evidence, and even two of Simon Shaw's men came to "visit." Emily Anderson lay like a genuine vegetative patient, collecting every piece of information.
On the fourth night, Jason Johnson quietly entered the hospital room.
"Claire Lee has agreed to meet," he whispered in her ear. "Tomorrow night at 10, at the back door of the villa."
Emily's eyelashes fluttered slightly to indicate she understood.
The following evening, the hospital room surveillance suddenly malfunctioned. While security personnel were busy with repairs, Emily quickly removed her bandages, changed into a nurse's uniform, and left through the emergency exit. Jason's car was waiting at the alley entrance, with prepared equipment on the back seat.
"Simon has increased security at the villa. We only have twenty minutes," Jason said, handing over an earpiece and signal jammer.
Claire Lee lived in Jade Villa Estate in the west of the city. The car stopped one kilometer away from the villa, and Emily Anderson walked through the forest on foot. Ten years of house arrest had caused this once-prominent Mrs. Shaw to be almost forgotten by the world, but Emily knew that she must be holding some winning cards.
The back door of the villa was ajar. Emily slipped inside and saw a thin woman standing in the moonlight. Claire Lee looked much older than in her photos, but her eyes remained sharp.
"You look like your mother," were her first words.
Emily froze. "You knew my mother?"
"More than just knew her." Claire led her into the basement. "Simon Shaw and your father were once sworn brothers."
The basement was filled with boxes. Claire took out a photo album and opened it to the first page, which showed four young people—Emily's father, Simon Shaw, Claire Lee, and an unfamiliar woman whose features resembled Emily's by seventy percent.
"This is..."
"Your mother, Lily Lambert." Claire Lee gently caressed the photo, "The four of us started a business together, until that project..."
"New Beginning?"
Claire Lee nodded, "Your father discovered the project was illegal and wanted to withdraw and report it. Simon Shaw fabricated false evidence framing him for embezzlement. Your mother, trying to prove his innocence, drove her car into the river."
Emily Anderson steadied herself against the wall, her legs weakening. Her mother didn't die from illness; she died for her father.
"Your father came to see me before he jumped. He left these in my care." Claire Lee opened a metal box containing complete project documents and files with Simon Shaw's handwritten signature.
At that moment, Jason Johnson's warning came through the earpiece: "The guard shift changed early. We must leave immediately."
Emily quickly photographed the key evidence. "Come with me. Simon already suspects you."
Claire Lee shook her head. "If I leave, these documents will have no witness. Hurry, and remember—to bring down Simon Shaw, you must first cut off his funding sources."
Emily Anderson retreated with a backpack full of evidence. When she returned to the hospital ward, there were still three minutes before the surveillance system would resume. She had just laid down when she heard hurried footsteps in the corridor.
Lucas Lawrence rushed in with two doctors, "Do a brain CT scan immediately, I suspect she's awake."
Emily's heart was pounding, but she kept her breathing steady. As she was wheeled to the CT room, her mind raced through possible countermeasures.
The examination results showed "abnormal brain activity." Lucas stood by the bedside staring at her, then suddenly reached out and pinched her philtrum—a crude method to test for coma.
Emily endured the intense pain without moving a muscle.
"Seems I was overthinking it," Lucas finally left.
After confirming it was safe, Emily quietly took out a USB drive that Claire Lee had given her. She plugged it into an encrypted tablet, revealing records of Simon Shaw's transactions with overseas money laundering organizations spanning twenty years.
It was time.
The next day, "Justice Mirror" went live simultaneously on eight platforms. Emily Anderson sat on the hospital bed, the bandage on her forehead not yet removed, but her eyes were bright as torches.
"I am Emily Anderson, and every word I'm about to say is supported by evidence."
The livestream switched to close-ups of the materials she had collected: evidence of Lucas Lawrence's affair, records of asset transfers, Simon Shaw's money laundering documents, and even photos of her father with Simon Shaw.
The number of viewers instantly surpassed one million. Lucas Lawrence called, but she hung up immediately and turned off her phone.
Forty minutes into the livestream, Jason Johnson suddenly rushed into the hospital room, "Simon Shaw's men are coming to the hospital!"
Emily Anderson said her final words to the camera: "This is the truth, and I believe justice will prevail." Then she cut off the livestream.
She quickly removed her IV needle and evacuated with Jason Johnson through the emergency exit. Just as they got into the waiting vehicle, they saw three black sedans rushing through the hospital gates.
"Go to the docks," Emily said, "Claire Lee said there's evidence of Simon Shaw's smuggling operations there."
The car sped through the night. Emily Anderson checked the livestream aftermath—the topic had exploded, Lucas Lawrence's company stock had plummeted, and regulatory authorities announced they would launch an investigation.
But Simon Shaw's influence was greater than she had imagined. Ten minutes later, their car was forced to stop by two SUVs.
Jason Johnson jerked the steering wheel. "Hold on tight!"
Gunshots pierced the night. Emily ducked to avoid the shattering glass, clutching the evidence tightly against her chest. At that moment, she remembered her mother's resolute plunge into the river, her father's desperation before jumping from the building.
She couldn't lose.
Jason managed to shake off one pursuer, but their tire was hit by a bullet. They were forced to abandon the car and run into a nearby logistics park.
Behind a shipping container, Jason suddenly grabbed her. "We should split up. Give me the evidence."
Emily hesitated for a second. It was the most rational choice, but she remembered Simon Shaw's warning—trust no one.
Gunshots drew closer. Jason gave her a push, "Go! Meet me at the dock!"
Emily Anderson turned and ran in another direction. At the corner, she looked back and saw Jason Johnson raising his phone—not making a call, but taking photos.
Her heart sank.
Following the map Claire Lee had given her, Emily found Warehouse Seven at the dock. After picking the lock and entering, she was shocked—the place was filled with boxes labeled "Medical Equipment," but they actually contained smuggled artifacts.
She quickly took photos as evidence, but in the innermost boxes she discovered something even more alarming—bundles of cash and several foreign passports, all bearing Simon Shaw's name but with photos of... Jason Johnson.
Footsteps approached from outside the warehouse. Emily hid between the crates and saw Jason walk in, heading straight for those passports.
He picked one up and spoke into his earpiece: "Target has entered the trap, ready to close the net."
Emily covered her mouth, her blood running cold. All the help had been an act, all the concern had been a trap.
Jason Johnson suddenly looked in her direction, a strange smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Then he turned and left, deliberately giving her time to escape.
This was a cat-and-mouse game. Emily Anderson understood that Simon Shaw didn't want her life, but all the evidence in her possession, and... to see her in despair.
She gripped the mini-bomb in her pocket—the last lifeline Mark Porter had given her. If she couldn't escape, they would go down together.
Police sirens wailed outside the warehouse, but it wasn't the police coming—it was Simon Shaw's private armed forces. Emily climbed out through the back window and jumped into the cold seawater.
In the second before sinking beneath the surface, she saw a familiar figure standing at the end of the pier—Lucas Lawrence. He was holding up his phone, the screen displaying three words: No way back.
Emily surfaced, took a deep breath, and swam toward the deeper darkness.
There was no turning back now. From the moment she discovered the truth about her father's death, she was destined to follow this path to the very end.
In the distance, the city lights remained brilliant, like a massive lie. Emily Anderson moved her arms through the salty seawater, feeling like a sword finally unsheathed, destined to be stained with blood before returning to its scabbard.
This desperate counterattack was just beginning.
