Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 199

Emma kept a backup plan, leaving the sealed bag of hair with VP Levi.

"Levi, take this to the lab yourself and hand it directly to my assistant."

After giving the order, Emma and Violet headed toward the capital's testing center. But halfway there, Violet suddenly received a phone call.

She lowered her phone, her voice frantic. "Emma, we'll have to go to the testing center another day."

Emma's eyes darkened. She had heard Gillian crying through the receiver; it sounded like she was in a massive fight with Logan.

"Please pull over," Violet told the driver.

Emma thought about it. Since Violet had already agreed to the paternity test, there would be other opportunities.

Pushing too hard right now would only backfire.

She met the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror and gave a subtle nod. As soon as the car stopped, Violet scrambled out in a panic.

Emma frowned but ultimately didn't care.

She already had the hair sample. The DNA lab could run the test with or without Violet present.

However, what she absolutely didn't expect was a frantic call from Levi's assistant.

"Boss, Levi was attacked! He was mugged on his way to the lab, and the bag with the sample was stolen!"

Emma's heart plummeted.

Was that really a coincidence?

"To the hospital."

Emma gripped her phone tightly. Arriving at the VIP wing of Metropolitan Medical Center, she found Julian and Carter standing outside the operating room.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked at Carter in sheer disbelief. How had he gotten here faster than her?

"You didn't know?"

Julian had been completely buried in Vance Group and CFT operations lately, not to mention single-handedly cleaning up the media fallout from the Garrison City murder case. He was entirely out of the loop regarding Elder Shaw's dramatic visit to the Harrington estate.

Looking confusedly between the two of them, Julian told his junior, "Douglas Harrington has been stressed and overworked. His health took a hit, so he's recovering here in the hospital."

Carter quickly chimed in, "When I heard Julian was coming here personally, I came over to see if he needed any help."

Emma pressed her lips together and gave a brief nod before turning all her attention to Julian.

"How is Levi?"

She needed to stay at the Harrington estate a little longer.

But if she was going to investigate Raymond, she couldn't afford to be completely transparent with Carter.

"Come to Elder Shaw's house and have dinner with me tonight."

At her words, Carter's eyes lit up instantly. He reached out, wanting to pull her into a hug, but stopped his hands mid-air, terrified of pushing her away.

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs below, accompanied by the hushed voices of two people talking.

Normally, Emma wouldn't have cared, but the second she caught the topic of their conversation, her instincts took over. She grabbed Carter and dragged him to hide behind the heavy iron door of the stairwell.

The cramped space forced their bodies to press tightly against one another. Carter tried to step back to give her room to breathe.

Fearing he would give away their position, Emma immediately threw her arms around his waist.

"Don't move. Shh."

Her warm breath ghosted across Carter's chest, sending violent ripples through his self-control. He pressed his lips together as hard as he could.

"There wasn't any lab sample in there at all. It was just a few broken strands of hair. I was so mad I threw them in the trash. But I guess our boss finally has a real shot now."

Emma's eyes turned ice-cold. There was indeed a mole.