Chapter 484

So soon?

The police responded swiftly.

Hotel management was notified and immediately dispatched staff to assist with the investigation.

Alexander Laurent's room was sealed off immediately.

Air samples were collected and preserved by professionals.

The hotel manager personally escorted them to the security room to review the footage.

The commotion in the hallway drew curious glances from several guests.

Well-trained hotel staff quickly dispersed the onlookers.

But the door next to Alexander's remained firmly shut.

Not even a single curious soul emerged.

Let alone the so-called "friend."

The more they hid, the more suspicious it seemed.

Lillian Lopez was completely oblivious to this.

Or perhaps, she was too panicked to think straight.

That was indeed the case.

Lillian paced back and forth in her room.

Nervous sweat coated her skin.

Her facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Her hands trembled incessantly.

Ever since returning to her room after knocking on Sophia Sullivan's door, she had been restless.

She waited over half an hour, but there was no movement next door.

Alexander Laurent seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Then, the police arrived.

Peering through the peephole at the uniforms, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor.

Had someone called the police?

Who?

She tried to reassure herself it might not be about this.

But when Alexander emerged from Sophia's room and spoke with the police, her last shred of hope shattered.

He had actually called the police!

What should she do?

The police would definitely trace it back to her…

Her eyes fell on the phone on the bed, and she immediately snatched it up.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she dialed a number.

"Hello…"

At the same time, in the hotel security room.

"…Nothing? How is that possible?!"

The manager pushed the security guard aside and operated the computer himself.

Five minutes later—

He muttered dejectedly, "…There's really nothing… We just had camera maintenance last month. This shouldn't be happening…"

There was a young man on the police team with a background in computer science.

He spotted the issue immediately. "It's not a camera malfunction. The signal receiver was interfered with, causing the footage to freeze and the monitoring to fail."

The manager broke out in a cold sweat. "Then… what do we do?"

"Copy all the footage from the incident timeframe, whether it's intact or not, and hand it over to the police. Technicians will attempt to recover it later."

As for whether they would succeed, that was another matter.

The manager immediately promised his full cooperation.

…

"Failed?" Sophia was surprised by this result.

Alexander, however, remained calm, as if he had expected it all along.

The police finished collecting evidence and left first.

Whether a case would be formally opened required further notification.

The manager stayed behind to handle the aftermath. "Professor Laurent, my deepest apologies. We've prepared a new room for you on the second floor. Here is the key card."

Alexander accepted it.

Inside her room, Lillian watched the police leave through the peephole and let out a long sigh of relief.

She picked up her phone and dialed that number again—

"The police are gone."

"Tch— making a fuss over nothing." A man's light laugh came through.

"Are you sure they can't trace it? I knocked on the door and had hotel staff use a key card to open it! The police will definitely suspect me! If they open a case, then I…"

The more she spoke, the more frantic she became, starting to pace again.

The person on the other end, however, was eerily calm. "So what if they suspect you? As long as you keep your mouth shut, they have no evidence. They'll have to let you go eventually."

Hearing this, Lillian calmed down slightly.

"That drug… what exactly was it? You said it was highly pure and very potent, so why does Alexander seem perfectly fine?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. "You ask too many questions."

The woman frowned. "We are partners. Watch your tone."

"Heh… tone? The drug was mine. I arranged for it to be administered. And you? Take a shower, get naked, and sleep with Alexander Laurent?"

"Pity, you couldn't even manage that simple task, and you dare talk about partnership? Are you even worthy?"

The humiliating words made her furious. "Who are you? What do you want? Don't act so high and mighty! You wanted to use me against Alexander too! We were using each other! Neither of us is noble!"

"Tch! Idiot!"

After the insult, the call ended abruptly.

Lillian redialed. "Hello?! Explain yourself! Who are you calling an idiot?! Hello?!"

"The number you have dialed is not in service…"

Not in service?

Lillian stood frozen.

From hanging up to redialing, only几十秒 had passed. The SIM card had already been deactivated.

Just who was that person?

And that drug…

…

Alexander didn't go to the room on the second floor. He stayed with Sophia.

"…I should still go to the second floor."

Sophia put down the thermometer. "Do you want to see what your temperature is right now?"

"…"

"Why isn't the fever reducer working?" Sophia couldn't help but mutter.

Alexander sighed helplessly. "So soon?"

"Do you want some water? Something to eat? Or maybe some fruit?"

"Sophia, I don't need anything. Please, sit. Let's talk."

"Huh? Talk about what?" Sophia sat down, looking confused.

"Ahem! I saw everything earlier." A faint smile played on Alexander's lips.

"…Saw what?"

"You collecting the air samples."

Sophia: "…"

Nothing escaped his notice.

"I wanted to take them back to the lab for analysis, to see the specific components…"

She had entered Alexander's room and collected samples before the police arrived.

"Where did you get the collection tools?"

Sophia: "…I brought them with my luggage."

Alexander chuckled softly.

Coming to a summit and bringing professional tools— probably only she would do that.

"Ahem! Professor Watson mentioned we might visit F University and Stanford. I thought, maybe we could visit the labs? Bringing the tools was just being prepared…"

And it came in handy, didn't it?

…

Night fell, the moonlight cold and clear.

Alexander ultimately didn't leave.

Of course, he was also reluctant to go.

To prevent any issues in the middle of the night, Sophia planned to sleep on the nearby sofa to care for him.

But Alexander firmly objected.

He insisted on taking the sofa himself, letting Sophia have the bed. Otherwise, he would go stay in the second-floor room alone.

Unable to sway him, Sophia could only agree.

At 2 a.m., she was jolted awake by the sound of rapid, labored breathing.