Everyone could see who held the upper hand now. Julian’s opinion didn’t matter anymore. In fact, no one even cared what he had to say. It was almost laughable.

The foreign doctor, speaking with calm authority, said, “Sir, you’re holding a syringe filled with an unidentified substance inside our hospital. In this case, we are fully within our rights to investigate, in order to protect our patients’ safety.”

Julian’s panic deepened. “This is your turf–who’s to say you won’t tamper with it? What if you add something and pin it all on me?”

At that, Tessa raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected Julian to suddenly grow a brain under pressure. He was clever enough to shift the narrative. And truthfully, he wasn’t entirely wrong. They were on the hospital’s grounds. If the staff wanted to twist things, there was nothing anyone could really do to stop them. Not to mention, if they had ulterior motives, there’d be no way to stop them either.

The foreign doctor’s expression tightened, clearly offended. “Sir, you’re welcome to question our methods, but don’t question our integrity. We work in partnership with law enforcement. The police send all sorts of samples to our hospital for forensic testing.”

Jason was fuming. Their hospital was internationally renowned. How dare this man throw such accusations around? He would not allow it. If this nonsense spread, how was he supposed to continue saving lives? How was the hospital supposed to keep its doors open? Was this man seriously trying to ruin their reputation on a whim?

Thinking that, the foreign doctor’s expression darkened. Even the department head who came with him looked visibly unsettled. Tessa sensed something was off, but didn’t know what to say. After all, this was someone else’s turf, and right now, she was under close watch, making any sudden move could backfire. Julian had already been exposed. If she got dragged down with him, she’d really have no future left. Even the chance to turn the tables would vanish. That much, Tessa knew well.

With that in mind, she made a decision. She decided to cut Julian loose. If she couldn’t deflect the situation, then someone else would have to take the fall.

Julian, meanwhile, still looked defiant. “This is your hospital, your system. You all know how things really work behind closed doors. I won’t spell it out—but come on, how many of you are actually clean?”

As he finished, his expression turned smug, as if he thought he’d just exposed some grand secret. Seeing him like that, Tessa could only rub her forehead, wishing she could vanish—But did Lucas look like someone who’d let them walk away?

He sat on the edge of the bed and suddenly spoke, “So, what you’re saying is… a hospital of this scale would go out of its way to frame you?”

Lucas didn’t even look Julian in the eye as he said it. The meaning was clear–he didn’t even consider him worth addressing directly. He didn’t want to look at Julian at all. He was pathetic. Julian lay slumped on the floor, still unable to recover from Lucas‘ earlier kick.