Chapter 176 - The Deranged, Crazy, Lunatics

"Patricia Smith has taken a liking towards your husband."

Andrea thought to herself, 'My husband is handsome, and it is only natural for him to have admirers but why did it sound like I am being warned.'

"Thank you for letting me know, but my husband only has eyes for me - "

"I'm sure he does, but if he were drugged, he would have no choice but fall trap into an unwanted situation."

Andrea's eyes narrowed at him and she folded her arms across her chest before taking a deep breath. She clarified, "Excuse me?"

"Last night, they tried to drug your husband. I intercepted by taking his wine glass but his companion, a very lean and tan gentleman whom he spoke that night, took the glass of wine from me."

"Yesterday's commotion was orchestrated by them as a distraction, hoping they could get your husband to sleep with Patricia while separating him from you."

She began to recall the turn of events last night. Mother and Father Lu left early because Lu Jie felt tired.  When a man started making a fiasco from outside the building, most of the guests had already left. Lu Fang asked her to stay behind while he checked outside with Hanxi and Han-joon. 

Pamela Smith came rushing to our table saying it's best for me, being pregnant, to stay inside and wait for the trouble to quiet down. That did not bother her at all. 

When they had gone up to their Presidential Suite, Lu Fang narrated how odd Harold and Patricia's actions were. "Babe, earlier Patia - "

"Patricia."

"Right. Patricia and Mr. Smith. They came to me saying I may need help to come up to the suite."

****

Hanxi and Han-joon, together with two of the Starlight's security team took care of the strange man causing trouble near the entrance building. 

The said man started throwing pieces of rocks against the glass window and swearing against Lu-Wei Enterprises, then he switched to blabbing about how the rich people living in the Twin Towers were constantly looking down on middle classes like himself. 

Patricia and Harold then came up to Lu Fang asking if he was feeling fine. "Mr. Lu, you seem like you are getting tipsy. Do you need any help?" asked Harold Smith. 

Lu Fang's brows knitted together, confused at the question. He responded, "Do I look tipsy? I'm perfectly fine. I can drink well and can manage myself."

The father and daughter exchanged glances at each other, wondering how could the drug took too long to take effect. 

"Mr. Lu?" Patricia called, slightly touching his arm. "Are you sure you don't need to go up to your penthouse suite? You might be feeling dizzy."

Lu Fang had his attention to the man outside that he did not carefully listen to their words. 

When General Lei came out to the lobby with Rou Chunhua, he called out to him, "leaving already?"

"Yes. I'm feeling… unsteady. We best be on our way… Thank you- Thanks for dinner once again," Lei Dong said, barely able to speak simultaneously. 

When the strange man was already apprehended, Lu Fang excused himself saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Smith. I just wanted to make sure that the problem was dealt with. You were here to bid goodbye?" He extended his hands and added, "Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoyed dinner."

The two were left dumfounded. Not only did their plan fail, but they were utterly ignored. 

****

Back at the lounge area of the Starlight Tower, Andrea noticed a few tenants had come down to take a seat. She requested the front desk to book her the small conference room beside the restaurant and directed Darwin Clark to follow her. 

As she walked, she called Hanxi to come down and bring her laptop. 

"I will listen to you for a few minutes, but if I find out you are lying, I will have you beaten up in an instant," Andrea said as she gestured him to take a seat. 

Just timely, Hanxi came with the laptop and placed it  of her. He turned to look at the man in front with the scarred face but immediately directed his gaze to his sister, feeling sorry for him. 

Andrea's fingers did the work and as she researched, the other two sat quietly. After ten minutes, the sound of her typing slowed down. 

"It says here you fled your responsibility at the company and your engagement with Patricia Smith," announced Andrea as she looked at him straight in the eye. 

Hanxi was curious about what was going on so he sat closer to Andrea and whispered, "What's this about?"

Before she could reply to Hanxi, Darwin spoke, "That's what the lunatics said about me and made everyone believe that happened."

"Lunatics?" She asked with her eyebrow raised. 

"The deranged, crazy, lunatics, Harold and Patricia Smith," Darwin said with conviction and anger in his eyes. 

Astonished by how fast she found out about his so-called disappearance, he hoped she could also dig deeper into the truth. He asked, "Seems like you are a capable woman, why not look into my disappearance and see if it makes sense to you."

"I stormed into the biggest event of Intramed Wise, telling everyone how the Smiths had cornered me to leave my fiance and to invest in their company. I had sworn to get back my investments and then the very next day, I just supposedly left the country?"

"The truth was, they hired a group of men to hunt me down. I was abducted and left to burn in a warehouse somewhere. If it were not for one of their accomplices, whom I had bribed, I would not have escaped." He paused for a second before removing the gloves in his hands, "This and this, are proof of that."

Darwin waved his burned hands and pointed out to the obvious which was his face. He continued to narrate how it all began and said that Patricia had a strange obsession with the men she becomes infatuated with. 

He also suggested going through the lobby's surveillance since Patricia had paid off one of the restaurant's servers. 

"I think she's psychotic. Harold is even worse to support his daughter in her delusions," commented Darwin before ending his piece. 

Andrea held her chin up trying to absorb everything but just before she could respond, General Lei called her. She quickly answered the call. 

"Hello, Dong."

"Andy, I could not reach Lu Fang. I was drugged last night. I suspect it was the wine I drank which, by the way, was meant for Lu Fang."