Louisa changed the subject. "So, you don't think it's a good idea for Brian to be involved in the case," she said. "What will we do then?"
Riley didn't say anything.
"Riley, don't you think we're being a little too cautious?" she asked. "Although Brian is a person of authority and is impartial, he's also very loyal to my father."
"I think it's better not to do anything for the time being," replied Riley. "Both Brian and Timothy are watching the situation closely. It wouldn't be wise to carry out my plan now. But that doesn't mean we should just sit idly."
**
It was cold and wet the next morning, and the shops opened slightly later than usual, but Kendall still opened the clinic on time.
Alex had sent a message that she should open the clinic, no matter what happened to him, and she was determined to carry out his wishes.
The doctors had arrived early and were getting ready to see patients.
There was quite a lot of damage done to the clinic from the truck incident, but Kendall and Sophie worked hard to get it up and running again. They had replenished all the medicine that had been destroyed, and they were ready to get started.
Just as the doctors began to see their patients, they heard a commotion outside.
When they opened the door to look, they saw a large group of people gathered outside. They all wore bandages around their heads and were walking toward the clinic. A moment later, they started unrolling banners and holding them up.
Each banner was more than five meters long, and the words "Justice for Michael" were written in red ink.
The protestors stood in front of the clinic and started chanting, "Justice for Michael! Close down the Woodside Clinic!"
There were also a few people crying as they held up posters of Michael.
Louisa stood in the middle of the crowd with her head wrapped in a bandage, and she was weeping. It was clear she had arranged the protest.
Kendall grabbed a kitchen knife in case there was any trouble.
Before long, passersby gathered around and reporters and photographers arrived.
Reporting the incident in the media would not only result in calls for the Woodside Clinic to be shut down, but it would also vilify Alex.
"Close down Woodside Clinic," chanted the protestors.
Furious, Kendall started brandishing the knife at them. "Get away from the clinic!" she yelled. "I will kill anyone who comes close."
She was so angry that many of the protestors retreated.
"Kendall, don't be so impulsive. Put the knife away," pleaded Sophie, holding her back. "Otherwise, we'll get even more negative press."
"Reasoning with them is useless," Kendall said. "The only way to get rid of them is to threaten them."
"We shouldn't resort to violence, lest it causes more trouble for Alex," said Sophie.
Seeing Kendall retreating, the protestors walked forward and called out, "The owner of the clinic kills people, and yet you still support him. You're all corrupt."
"Can a doctor be a murderer?"
"The doctors in this clinic must be killing their patients."
"Close down the clinic."
"Alex is a murderer! Justice for Michael!"
Sophie and the other doctors looked at one another and started forming a human chain in front of the clinic.
"Alex is not a murderer," Sophie shouted. "He was wrongly accused. Get away from the clinic."
Patients who had come to see the doctors at the clinic were blocked by the protestors and couldn't get in. Annoyed, they started remonstrating with the protestors.
Many of them had heard what had happened to Alex through Kendall, and they believed her.
Michael had not only continuously sought to cause trouble at the clinic; he had also arranged for someone to ram into the clinic the other day, resulting in Celeste being badly hurt.
They understood why Alex had been upset and had gone to hold Michael accountable for it.
They decided they had to protect the clinic. After all, if it closed, they wouldn't be able to get treatment.
The group of patients rushed toward the protestors to stop them from entering the clinic.
At first, they thought the crowd consisted of members of the Murdoch family, but apart from Louisa, they didn't recognize any of them.
The protestors reacted quickly and yelled that they would demolish the clinic to avenge Michael and his family.
The two sides started blustering and pushing one another back and forth. Photographers took pictures and reporters broadcast the disturbance.
After hearing about it on social media, many more patients rushed to the clinic to help.
Within an hour, hundreds of people had gathered outside the Woodside Clinic.
Louisa sneered as she watched the situation.
We need to make things as chaotic as possible, she thought. Eventually, they will have to close the clinic.
"Avenge Michael Murdoch and close down the clinic," shouted one protestor.
"Death to Alex," shouted another.
As soon as Louisa gave the signal, the protestors rushed toward the clinic.
As a result, a fight broke out and several patients were pushed to the ground. The atmosphere became tense, and the situation quickly got out of control.
Patrol officers were called to the scene to deal with the dispute, and they tried to separate the two groups but were unsuccessful.
Suddenly, the group of protestors started picking up stones and hurling them toward the clinic.