Vanessa's Condition

Unlike the lavish outer office, with its air of authority and power, this room felt more like a warm, comfortable home.

Vanessa lay quietly on the wide bed in the bedroom.

Her eyes were closed, her long lashes casting faint shadows across her bloodless cheeks. Her usually gentle eyes were hidden beneath her lids.

Her chest rose and fell ever so slightly. A soft velvet coverlet lay over her, but white bandages wrapped around her exposed neck and arms. Dark red blood had seeped through in a few places.

Vanessa looked terribly fragile, as though life were rapidly draining from her body.

Lin Hai strode to the bedside and placed his right hand on her exposed forearm.

Then he looked at Kingpin, who was visibly tense. "Mr. Wilson, I need to know exactly what happened when Ms. Vanessa was injured. Please tell me everything you know."

Kingpin's gaze had been fixed on Vanessa's pale face since he entered the bedroom. At Lin Hai's question, he forced himself to look away. His huge hands creaked as he clenched them, and his voice shook with barely suppressed rage and lingering fear.

"This afternoon, Vanessa went to pick Richard up from school, just like always. But... on their way back, they were attacked along a relatively deserted stretch of road."

A savage glint flashed in his eyes. "The attackers used a powerful explosive and flipped the car I had specially made for Vanessa!"

Confusion and fear mingled with the anger on Kingpin's face. "But... here's the strangest part. I don't know what the hell they used, but they tore through the shell of a car that could withstand an ordinary missile as though it were made of paper."

"And after breaching the car, they didn't kill Vanessa or hurt Richard, whom she was