Chapter 243: Successfully Resolved
Vivian Lowell had thought that once Julian Faulkner reached her, he would ask with concern how she was doing, just like Eleanor Rhodes and Finn.
But Julian Faulkner didn’t.
He swept Vivian Lowell into his arms, princess-style, and carried her out.
"Julian, you... Is your hand alright?" Vivian Lowell was at a loss for words, finally settling on asking about his injured hand.
"It’s fine."
Julian Faulkner murmured, and Vivian Lowell could tell he was in a terrible mood.
Even though the situation had been resolved perfectly, Julian was still livid over Finn Drake’s disgusting intentions.
Vivian Lowell had a feeling that, knowing Julian’s temperament, the siblings Sylvia and Finn Drake were not going to get off easy this time.
"I’m fine, too."
Vivian Lowell nestled in Julian’s arms. She knew the only way to put him at ease was to be compliant, so she said, "I prepared an antidote in advance."
"They must have put something in the wine they gave me. Oh, right, the bassist drank it and passed out. Then Finn Drake’s men threw him into the sea."
"What they did was wrong. Julian, shouldn’t your men go rescue him? He’s a witness in this case. Whatever punishment the law decides for him has to go through the proper channels."
"I know."
Julian Faulkner agreed softly. "Sylvia Drake came to me a little while ago. I had her seized immediately. Under interrogation, she told me everything."
"As for the bassist, I already sent people to pull him out when I arrived. He may not be the mastermind, but what he did is just as unforgivable!"
Vivian Lowell didn’t comment, seeing they had reached the stairwell.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
A small crowd had gathered. After all, Julian Faulkner had caused quite a stir when he arrived with his men, and many people were curious about what was happening.
And then...
Vivian Lowell saw Joy Drake hurrying over. Joy was leading a large group of bodyguards armed with batons and shields, all looking disciplined and grim.
Julian Faulkner didn’t slow his pace at the sight of Joy Drake, not until she stepped directly in his path.
"President Faulkner, Mrs. Faulkner, did something happen? I was just watching the security feed and noticed something seemed wrong, so I brought my men over immediately!"
Joy Drake seemed anxious as she yelled to the people behind her, "The doctor, where’s the doctor? Get over here and check on Mrs. Faulkner!"
"That won’t be necessary."
Julian Faulkner’s refusal was curt. He clearly had no intention of dealing with Joy Drake. "Move."
"..." Joy Drake was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Julian Faulkner to be so cold. His tone was laced with hostility, as if she were the perpetrator.
Joy Drake opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but no words came out. She just gave an awkward smile and stepped aside.
Nevertheless, Joy Drake continued, "President Faulkner, I don’t know what happened, but if this incident has affected you and Mrs. Faulkner, I will be sure to resolve it and give you a satisfactory explanation."
"That applies even if a member of the Drake family is responsible! I’m sorry for the trouble this has caused you and Mrs. Faulkner tonight. I take full responsibility."
Julian Faulkner still ignored Joy Drake, continuing on his way with Vivian in his arms.
Vivian knew what Julian was thinking.
’Joy Drake has always been a hypocrite, completely two-faced. She’s good with sweet talk, but who knows if there’s any truth to what she says?’
’She claims she didn’t know anything?’
’Joy Drake organized this yacht party herself, so of course she would have had people in the security room monitoring everything.’
’Finn Drake just casually climbed a wall and carried me off, and with all those security cameras, not a single person noticed anything was wrong?’
’If Joy Drake had noticed the problem and brought her people right away, I wouldn’t have had to wait for Julian to show up!’
Vivian even had a theory.
’Joy Drake might not have participated in the plot this time, but she must have noticed Sylvia and Finn Drake’s strange behavior and realized something was up.’
’She knew what Sylvia and Finn were planning to do, but she didn’t stop them. Instead, she let it happen, deciding to sit back and watch the drama unfold from a safe distance.’
’If things went south—for example, if Julian found out—Joy would show up with her people to curry favor and proclaim her own innocence.’
’This was exactly the kind of thing Joy Drake would do.’
’After the "one needle" incident at the last party, Vivian had already gotten a taste of Joy Drake’s schemes!’
The fact that Julian was ignoring her now meant he had surely come to the same conclusions.
Julian carried Vivian all the way to a speedboat, back to their hotel room. He then had Vance Wyatt arrange for a doctor to come and give Vivian a check-up.
The examination was quick. The doctor then said to Julian, "Mrs. Faulkner is fine. She just had a bit to drink and needs to get some rest tonight. Would you like me to prescribe something to help with the alcohol?"
"Please do."
Julian agreed quietly and had Vance Wyatt go with the doctor to handle it. Only then did he turn to Vivian and ask, "I wasn’t too late, was I?"
"No, not at all."
Vivian shook her head and hugged Julian. "You did everything perfectly! I’m completely fine, so you don’t need to blame yourself."
"And it’s a good thing we went with this plan. We successfully caught the people behind it. We have witnesses and physical evidence. There’s no way Sylvia and Finn Drake can get away this time!"
’Finn and Sylvia Drake were both suspected of attempted murder—assuming the bassist survived, of course—as well as administering a drug and conspiracy to commit assault!’
’Adding it all up, while they might not get the death penalty like Rachel Faulkner, they could definitely get a few years in prison and then be deported, just like Wendy Wynn!’
’And most importantly, as members of the Drake family, Sylvia and Finn had brought utter disgrace upon their name by doing something like this.’
’The Drakes would never allow such "scum" in their family. It was almost a given that the two of them would be kicked out of the Drake Family!’
Thinking about all this put Vivian in a reasonably good mood.
’As long as the wicked get the punishment they deserve, that’s all that matters.’
The two of them talked for a little while. When the doctor came back in, Vivian noticed someone else was at the door.
"Vivian, it’s me. May I come in?"
It was Mr. Drake.
Vivian utterly loathed the Drakes now and had no desire to see any of them, but the person at the door was none other than Mr. Drake.
"..."
Julian was about to refuse, but upon seeing who it was, he decided to look to Vivian for her decision.
"Come in."
Vivian sighed in resignation, ultimately agreeing to let Mr. Drake enter.
’After all, Mr. Drake was different from the rest of the Drakes.’