No one said a word. Even Oscar looked like all the blood had drained out of him.
Xavier, who’d been hovering off to the side, barely daring to breathe, had sweat soaking through the back of his shirt.
“I lost,” Oscar muttered, wiping his hands as he grabbed the backpack beside him. “Let’s just call it done.”
He turned to leave. The job applicants who’d followed him in causing trouble suddenly became model citizens, hurriedly gathering their things to go too.
Lucian, leaning against the wall, spoke up at last. “Who said you’re allowed to leave?”
A group of soldiers immediately sealed off the doorway, cutting Oscar and the others off.
They erupted at once. “We’re not even going after Blossom Hospital anymore. What do you want from us?”
“You might not be pressing charges,” Lucian said flatly, “but I am. You’re suspected of defamation, spreading false rumors, and inciting a crowd to protest the hospital. I’ll pursue this under the law.”
Loyce lifted a hand and smiled—polite, but cold. “Negative stories about our hospital are everywhere online. The damage you caused doesn’t just disappear. Someone’s going to pay for it.”
Oscar stared at them like they’d lost their minds. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t even accused you of scamming government money yet!”
“Shut up!” Xavier slapped him hard across the face. “You idiot. Do you even know who she is, running your mouth about fraud?”
“Uncle!” Oscar clutched his cheek, voice cracking. “You said it too! You said they were scamming!”
“Uncle?” Lucian’s brow lifted as he looked at Xavier. “So there’s abuse of power involved too—shielding a relative, enabling wrongdoing?”
“No—no, absolutely not!” Xavier blurted, practically ready to drop to his knees. If that charge stuck, his career was finished.
At the entrance, Robert spotted a large group of people in suits escorting an elderly man into the station. He turned and reported crisply, “Gordon Lonsdale is here.”
“Send him in.”
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