Chapter 152: An Accident?

"Welcome to the party," Gabriel said."Thank you," Lillian nodded and turned around, making sure her team members were not just awkwardly standing around.

Luckily they weren’t, especially Liam who seemed to have fit right in with the gathering of ladies who were chuckling at his jokes...maybe?

He seemed right at home, which wasn’t strange since, although he was an outcast in university, he was a pretty confident one...

Hence the reason he was the one to always try making friends. Though that didn’t work out because of his body size but now? He was an eye candy.

Lizzy was doing the exact opposite, as she stood quietly near the buffet table, a glass of wine in hand, pretending to study the appetizers as if they were part of a lab experiment.

Lillian smiled faintly at that. From what she had observed in just a month, Lizzy hated social events almost as much as Ethan did.

Gabriel noticed her glance and followed it toward Lizzy. "Your team seems to be adapting well," he said, amusement tugging at his tone.

Lillian gave a light shrug. "Depends on your definition of well. Liam’s definitely adapting. Lizzy’s just surviving."

Gabriel chuckled. "You’re a good leader, Lillian, I’m sure they look up to you."

"I try to make sure they have something worth looking up to," she replied simply.

Before Gabriel could respond, Richard Caldwell’s voice called from behind them. "Ah, Ms. Hayes!"

Lillian turned and immediately straightened her posture. The older man approached with a calm, confident stride, dressed in a deep navy suit that reflected the dignified air of someone who had spent decades commanding respect.

"Mr. Caldwell," she greeted politely. "It’s an honor to see you again."

"The honor’s mine," Richard said, offering a hand. "You’ve done something rather remarkable, Ms. Hayes. I don’t say this often, but I’m impressed."

Coming from him, that was no small compliment. Even Gabriel looked a little surprised.

"Thank you, sir," she said with a modest nod.

"I know the Caldwell Hospital has always been associated with innovation," Richard continued with a faint chuckle, "but I have a feeling the Vitaband will mark an entirely new era. And honestly, that makes me think it’s about time this old man fully retires."

He paused, a teasing glint in his eyes as he looked between Gabriel and Aria.

"Luckily," he added with a smirk, "my son seems to have found a beautiful lady who might finally give me a reason to enjoy retirement, preferably in the form of a grandson."

This caused Gabriel to almost choke on his drink as he quickly turned to look at Aria’s reaction before glaring at his father.

This was only the first day of them meeting so why was the old man trying to make his girlfriend run away?

Aria’s eyes went wide, her cheeks instantly flushing crimson. "M–Mr. Caldwell!" she stammered, clearly flustered, gripping her glass a bit. "I—I think we might be skipping a few steps there!"

Lillian nearly choked on her drink, barely suppressing a laugh. The corners of her lips twitched as she fought to maintain her composure.

Aria was flustered? That was a first....ohh, she was going to enjoy this payback.

Gabriel, on the other hand, looked mortified. "Dad!" he called out under his breath, shooting his father a glare. "Can we not do this here? Please?"

Richard just laughed, completely unfazed. "What? I’m just speaking my mind. It’s not every day I meet a woman who manages to manages to sweep my son off his feet."

"Dad," Gabriel repeated, his tone firmer this time, though the faint pink on his ears betrayed his own embarrassment. "You’re going to scare her off."

"If she really likes you, she won’t be scared off easily," Richard said as he turned back to Aria, "am I right young lady?"

Instead of Aria, Lillian was the one to reply, " you’re right."

"Besides, I understand completely," she made her eyes glimmered with amusement. "You’re just being a father."

This earned a glare from Aria but Lillian didn’t mind, this was one of the few...no, only time she had gotten the chance to get pay back so she was going to make use of it.

Richard chuckled. "Exactly. Someone has to keep the pressure on him."

"Anyway, if you’ll excuse this old man," he added, "I’ll go and keep the investors busy while you kids enjoy the party, have fun."

With that, he walked away, leaving the three together.

"So that’s how it feels," Lillian commented the moment he left, a grin was on her face as she looked at Aria who still had a light blush on her face.

"I’ll get you back for this," Aria promised.

Gabriel on the other hand just looked at the two with a slight sigh of relief, he was a bit nervous that Aria would take his father’s words as her being pressured but he was glad she didn’t.

After that, their conversations went back to normal...well everyone, except Lillian.

Everyone around her was smiling and laughing, but something in the air felt... wrong.

Still, she couldn’t place what.

"You okay?" Aria asked, picking up on her friend’s change in expression.

"Yeah," Lillian said after a second. "Just... tired, that’s all."


"Liar," Aria said, though her tone was playful.

"I promise," Lillian said, "I guess I’m just a bit too tired."

"I see," Aria nodded, having no choice but to believe her for now, looking ahead, she noticed a few people approaching and she turned to back to Lillian, "I guess the investors are finally approaching Ms COO, good luck."

With that, she pulled Gabriel away, leaving Lillian to deal with the investors as pay back for what just happened.

****

A few hours later, Lillian was completely exhausted from dealing with all the investors.

She was so tired that she had changed her heels for flats before approaching Gabriel who was standing with his father and said his goodbyes.

After signalling to his team that she was leaving, she was approached by Liam and Lizzy.

"Go enjoy the rest of the night," she told them when they caught up to her, voice smaller than she’d intended. "I’ll head back early and—" she let out a tired yawn, "get some sleep."

"Should we go with you?" Lizzy asked.

"No, it’s fine," Lillian replied, "just enjoy the party for a while longer."

Getting a nod from them, he walked out the backyard and towards the main entrance where a car was waiting for her.

She hopped in, and the driver immediately drove out of the Caldwell family Mansion and towards the main street.

Lillian picked her phone up and turned it on, to see there was no text from Ethan so she put it back down and rested her head on the seat.

Planning to catch a bit of sleep before they got to the hotel, but before sleep could actually take her, a flash of bright light blinded her, causing her to squint.

The next thing she felt was the violent shaking of the car as something rammed into them.

The tires screeched against the asphalt as the car spun violently to the side. Lillian’s head slammed against the window and the pain caused her vision to momentarily go white before adrenaline took over.

"W–What the hell?!" she let out, clutching the seat in front of her as the driver fought to regain control.

"Ma’am, hold on!" the driver shouted, his voice filled with panic.

It took a moment but the situation was soon clear to Lillian, they had just being rammed and it was not by accident either.

Her instincts kicked in instantly. "Don’t stop!" she said as her eyes wide and she turned toward the back window.

Two black SUVs were tailing them which confirmed her thoughts.

The driver didn’t respond, only pressed harder on the accelerator, trying to veer off onto a narrower lane.

But the second SUV anticipated the move, swerving in from the side and cutting them off.

"Damn it!" the driver cursed, turning the wheel, but there was nowhere to go.

"Call the police!" Lillian said quickly, fumbling for her phone to text Ethan, but before she could even unlock it—

The front windshield exploded.

Glass fell all across across the car as a the sound of gunshot was heard. The driver jerked violently, slumping forward onto the steering wheel as blood splattered across the dashboard.

The car then went out of control.

Lillian screamed as it slammed into a parked vehicle by the curb, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs and slamming her head a lot harder, causing it to bleed.

At this point her ears were ringing and she was disoriented as she fought the pounding headache.

But she knew that she couldn’t stay in the car.

She fought with the seat belt, only to realize that it was stuck and she could hear the steps of her attackers approaching the car.

So she did the last thing she could, picking up her phone, she typed: [help] and clicked send just a moment before the door was violently pulled open.

"Got you."

Was the last thing she heard before she finally gave into the headache and passed out.