CHAPTER 7: CHAPTER 7: "MR. LANGLEY...

Juliana picked up her phone.

"I’m stepping out for a bit, no need to tell anyone, I’ll be back soon."

"Be careful..."

Before Mrs. Young could finish her sentence, Juliana had already disappeared from the door of the hospital room.

She headed to the cake shop where the accident occurred that day.

The police had issued an accident report yesterday, and Ethan Carter was handling negotiations with the store owner regarding compensation on her behalf.

Juliana walked into the shop, which largely remained in its post-explosion state.

The owner, a young man, was cleaning up.

"We’re closed now, you can come back tomorrow to refund your membership card," the young man said without looking up.

"I’m just here to have a look," Juliana said.

The young man glanced her way.

He hadn’t been in the shop during the explosion, so he didn’t recognize Juliana.

Juliana pointed to a spot on the floor with a bloodstain, "I was lying here at the time."

Shocked, the young man nodded repeatedly, "Feel free to look around."

This shop had been open for less than three months, but the cakes were truly delicious, so Juliana had signed up for a membership, coming to the store to buy cakes every other day.

It was that very afternoon when a loud boom sent her to the gates of death.

In the last moment of consciousness, she called Evan, but he didn’t answer.

These past days, she hadn’t wanted to recall the perilous experience until standing there now, needing to trace clues and find evidence proving it wasn’t an accident, she forced herself to confront the past.

However, as she pieced together the timeline of that day’s events, a chill rose from her feet.

When she called Evan, he should not have boarded the flight yet, but he still left her to the medical team and headed to Aldoria.

The importance was evident all along.

Even though he promised to stay this time, his mind flew to that woman’s side.

Juliana’s gaze dimmed.

"I don’t even know why that apprentice was using a gas stove to cook instant noodles in the shop, it’s not allowed."

The young man felt wronged.

Juliana snapped back to reality, the gas stove wouldn’t cause such a large explosion.

"Where’s your apprentice after the incident?"

"Sigh...he came to work at my shop with a fake ID, ran off after the incident, probably scared of paying up."

"Miss," the young man didn’t want to miss the chance, "I just started this business, my parents pooled together money for this shop, haven’t even broken even, and then this happened. Can you please reconsider the compensation? I truly can’t afford it."

Juliana didn’t answer his request, carefully searching the fragments on the ground for clues.

After who knows how long, suddenly, she found what seemed to be a piece of ordinary electronic waste, a battery fragment.

To an untrained eye, it was just a piece of junk.

But she was a top student in material science, although she had lived a life of domesticity after marrying Evan, she kept up with cutting-edge research on new energy batteries these years.

She recognized at a glance this was a special high-energy battery’s burnt residue, highly explosive due to instability, hence abandoned during laboratory research stages.

Once the material composition is analyzed, its origin and handlers can be traced.

By then, who’s behind her attempted murder would be clear.

"I spent money at your place yet you couldn’t guarantee my safety, your staffing was improper but you expect my sympathy to waive the compensation, do I deserve to endure this hit for nothing?"

The young man was left speechless by Juliana’s words.

Juliana wrapped the small battery fragment she gathered and walked out of the cake shop.

Just as she reached her car, a gaze from a nearby black SUV locked onto her.

Her sixth sense, crisis alert kicked in, Juliana glanced at the car that sent a jolt through her heart, she feigned calmness, opened her car door, and sat in the driver’s seat.

Did they not give up because she survived?

Or did they guess she found a clue and aimed to silence her?

Or was she overthinking?

Juliana fastened her seatbelt, steadied herself, and as she started the engine, the SUV in her rearview mirror also moved.

Suppressing the restlessness caused by rising adrenaline, she smoothly merged into traffic.

Originally supposed to head back to the hospital, but she changed course, driving towards Cortexa Group.

The unwavering thought in Juliana’s mind: Evan is there, he can protect her.

Just past an intersection, there was a car accident ahead.

And the trailing black SUV sped up, closing in.

Juliana understood they didn’t want her finding Evan.

With no other option, she altered course again.

Taking a detour to Cortexa required a stretch on the coastal highway.

While speeding up, Juliana trembled as she dialed Evan’s number.

"The number you dialed is turned off."

Boom...Juliana’s nails dug into the steering wheel, her mind went blank.

Evan’s private number is never off, unless...

In the race with the car behind, she quickly found Ethan’s number.

Ethan was in a meeting, it took him quite a while to pick up.

Juliana glanced at her rearview mirror, their car closed in from the rear corner, she tightly gripped the steering wheel.

Ethan assumed she found out President Grant left, searching for confrontation.

So as soon as he answered, he said, "Ma’am, it was Dr. Shaw’s urgent call about Miss Grant’s critical condition that he couldn’t handle, so President Grant decided to go to Aldoria on a moment’s notice, but he said it wouldn’t be long..."

Ethan’s words were cut off over there.

He presumed Juliana was furious, took a deep breath, and sighed, "When President Grant returns, he’ll have a tough time making amends with Ma’am."

Juliana’s car took a hard hit from the SUV, jolting the car violently, nearly losing her grip on the steering wheel.

She felt the car being tossed off the road like a toy, broke through the barrier, finally flipping into the sea.

Suddenly, the world around her quieted down.

The car slowly sank, accompanied by the cracking noise of windows unable to withstand the pressure of seawater.

Panting, Juliana strained to imprint her last impressions from the world onto her mind.

Then, there was someone knocking on her car door.

Only then did Juliana notice there was someone next to her in the water.

The other wore a mini respirator, someone’s face was unclear, signaling her to undo her seatbelt.

Juliana didn’t hesitate, calmly did as directed.

Ready, the person used a tool to smash the window.

Salty cold seawater surged in with enormous force instantly, flooding Juliana’s mouth and nose, her vision blurred.

Simultaneously, the person grasped her hand.

An irresistible strong force pulled her from the sinking car.

Then the icy seawater was shaken off, and sunlight dazzled her to the point of closing her eyes.

She was saved ashore by someone.

"Mr. Langley..."

Someone stepped forward, promptly handing a towel to the man who rescued her.

Juliana looked up, the drenched black clothes clung to the person, outlining a powerful figure.

No need to see his face, no need to know his background, just this noble back alone was imposing.