"Is that true? Is his girlfriend really that important to him?" Chris stared at Melissa in wonder.
He had never known a man to be so infatuated. He certainly never cared that much about the girls he spent time with.
"I'm not lying. Did you hear the story of the rich young guy in New York who offended one of the gang's leaders because they insulted his girlfriend? When the gang killed his girlfriend, he tracked them down and was determined to avenge her. In the end, they shot and killed him. Well, Alex is just like that guy," Melissa said.
Although Ken had tried to suppress it, everyone was still talking about how a rich guy at Preston University had stood up to a local gang. However, none of them, including Melissa, knew that the rich guy was Alex.
"Okay, I believe you," Chris said.
"Chris, after Alex's death, we'll get married immediately, and go abroad for a few months on our honeymoon. I want to forget all about this matter," Melissa said, looking at Chris earnestly.
"That's easy to say now but I need to know that Alex is dead before I can relax," Chris murmured. He was lost in his thoughts.
**
Later that night, Debbie started to feel uncomfortable.
She was lying in bed when her head started to ache. She felt dizzy and confused. The Moon girls assumed that she was just tired so didn't mention anything to Alex.
It was not until the next day when Debbie's condition became a lot worse than they realized something was seriously wrong and informed Alex.
They rushed her to the hospital.
After her examination, Alex grabbed the doctor's arm and asked anxiously, "How is she, doctor?"
"She has ingested some very potent poison. We have detected ten different natural toxins in her system. At present, her condition doesn't look good. Once we've reviewed these results further, I can give you more information, but we can't do any more for her at this time," the doctor replied.
He thought that Alex was a security guard and that the patient was just an ordinary student. He doubted that they had insurance or could afford to pay for such treatment. Even if they could afford to pay, there wasn't much that could be done for the patient. Her prognosis was very poor.
Alex's mind was in turmoil as he asked, "What do you mean you can't do anything for her? Do you need more money, Doctor? I have money. Is one hundred million enough?"
"Please calm down, Sir. Her prognosis is very poor and there's nothing you or I can do about that." The doctor thought that Alex wasn't thinking straight. He was saying anything out of desperation. How could a security guard afford to pay the hospital one hundred million dollars?
**
Alex took Debbie to several different hospitals in Baltimore, but they all said there was nothing they could do. Finally, they tried the Union Medical College. The college hospital told him that they weren't able to remove the poison from Debbie's bloodstream, but they could administer drugs that would inhibit the effects of the toxin and prolong her life.
The medicine was extremely expensive and would cost him over one hundred thousand dollars a day. Of course, Alex didn't care what it cost. All he wanted was for Debbie to recover.
His heart broke as he looked at her lying in bed.
Finally, Alex informed the Clifton family about Debbie's condition.
When he got the news, Jessop was so worried that he was desperate to visit Debbie to see for himself. However, to protect her and the rest of the family, he knew that he couldn't let her relationship with the family become public knowledge. For that reason, he knew he couldn't visit her.
He wouldn't allow any of the rest of the family to visit her either.
Jessop did request that Alex go to their house to tell them more about the situation.
Alex walked into the Clifton mansion, kneeled on the floor in front of Jessop, and said, "Mr. Clifton, I'm so sorry. I didn't take good enough care of Debbie."
He felt terrible for what had happened. Debbie was Jessop's granddaughter and he had sent him to protect her. But he had not protected her well enough and now she was in a critical condition in the hospital. He felt very guilty.
"Alex, get up," Jessop said as he quickly helped Alex to his feet. He frowned and said earnestly, "You've been a great friend to our family. I cannot blame you for what's happened. Especially as I know that your heart is as hurting as much as mine."
"How is Debbie now?" he asked Alex. That was his only concern.
"A variety of toxins have been identified in her body. The hospitals all told us that there was nothing they could do to help. She's now at the Union Medical College Hospital who have told us that they can prolong her life, but they don't know if they can cure her."
When Jessop heard what Alex said, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, Rufus grabbed him before he fell.
"Dad, are you okay?" Rufus asked as he looked at his father anxiously. When he saw that Jessop had recovered a little, he pulled out his cell phone. On the screen he brought up the copy of Debbie's laboratory results, which Alex had sent him, to show his father.
Jessop took it and read the list of toxins identified in her blood:
Phospholipase A2.
Alpha neurotoxin.
Arsenic trioxide.
Tetrodotoxin.
When he saw the list of toxins, Jessop was startled. "This is black poison water," he exclaimed.
Alex asked, "What? Mr. Clifton, are you saying that Debbie was given black poison water?"
Jessop nodded. Looking desolate, he said, "You can buy it on the dark web. And I've heard that street gangs sell it. It's a highly toxic mixture of various poisons taken from snakes and grasses found on thousands of small islands in Indonesia, combined with modern synthetic poisons. At present, there's no antidote for it anywhere in the world."
There's no antidote. Those words felt like a bomb detonating in Alex's heart. All his hope was gone.
Jessop covered his aching chest as tears appeared in her eyes. He asked, "How could this happen? Alex, how did Debbie get poisoned?"
That was the first time that Alex thought carefully about how it could have happened, and he suddenly remembered Melissa persuading Debbie to eat her soup at the sports ground.
He remembered thinking at the time that Melissa's demeanour seemed a little odd. Also, Melissa usually visited him and Debbie every day, but he realized that he hadn't seen her at all since Debbie was poisoned.
It must have been her.
He closed his eyes and thought it through again. He kept coming back to how oddly Melissa had been acting at the sports ground.
He knew that it was her.
Then he remembered that initially, she had given him one bowl of soup and had one herself. It was only after the bowls had been mixed up that she offered one to Debbie. That was obviously because she knew that one was poisoned but didn't know which. She was afraid to drink one herself, so she gave it to Debbie.
It should have been him lying in the hospital, not Debbie. He was responsible. He had killed Debbie.
"Debbie was poisoned because of me. It's my fault," he said miserably. He was full of remorse but also wanted to get revenge on Melissa.
**
After leaving the Clifton mansion, Alex returned to the hospital. On the way, he tried to call Melissa several times, but she didn't answer the phone. That confirmed his suspicions.
When he arrived back at the hospital, the four Moon girls quickly pulled him into Debbie's ward. Luna said excitedly, "Mr. Alex, Debbie's woken up and she wants to see you."
"Alex," Debbie whispered as he walked in. She was still lying in the hospital bed. She was very pale, her eyes were almost closed, and her voice was weak. These were common symptoms of digesting black poison water. With the gradual invasion of the toxin, the poisoned person would quickly become weak. Eventually, they would experience a very painful death.