~RIS HOSPITAL~
Zane remained motionless as his doctor conducted a thorough check-up on him, while the attentive nurse diligently recorded each report provided by the doctor.
The memory of the excruciating pain from the previous night lingered in Zane's mind as he sat on the recovery bed. He distinctly recalled the intense suffering before he lost consciousness on their way to the hospital.
Upon waking this morning, the pain persisted, coursing through his body, albeit with slightly less intensity than the previous night.
"What is wrong with me, Doctor?" Zane asked wearily, his voice betraying the exhaustion weighing heavily on his body.
The doctor took a step back after finishing the examination of his patient. He hesitated to deliver the news of the critical condition, but he knew he had to.
"Based on our test, you consumed a toxic substance that posed a life-threatening, and it almost caused your body to shut down. Fortunately, you were brought here on time and we immediately started the treatment. Otherwise, you would have been dead or maybe…." the Doctor said with concern but paused with a mixed expression of concern and a bit of fear when he met his patient's intimidating eyes who didn't tremble at the critical news.
Hearing the incomplete, distressed news about his health, Zane frowned at the doctor, who was finding it difficult to complete his information, which caused curiosity to kick in.
"Maybe what?" Zane asked though he didn't sound scared.
"You would have become disabled." The doctor finally completed his words, and Zane looked emotionless while a snigger escaped his lips.
"How fortunate I am to escape such miserable fate hitting me. Do I deserve to live?" He said sarcastically, taunting himself at his own doom that almost met him.
He had so many rivals in the business world and the Mafia world that he guessed this was a dirty game played by one of them to ruin him.
However, he wondered who among his rivals was bold enough to make him suffer this way without revealing himself.
"You don't have to panic, Mr. Morris. Please avoid stressing your body until the toxic substances has completely deteriorated in the next seven hours. If it triggers again during this time, the outcome would be unrecoverable, leading to death." The doctor advised him before turning around to leave the VIP ward with the nurses.
Hearing the doctor's caution, fear kicked in Damien's heart. He couldn't believe what he just heard, but he noticed his boss didn't look scared at the word 'Death'.
"Who wants you dead, Big Boss?" Damien asked with puzzled face, thinking about any rivals that could take this step, but he couldn't have a hint about who it was.
"This person seems to be my biggest enemy." Zane answered nonchalantly.
He stepped down from the bed and carefully strode towards the transparent window, with Damien dragging the IV drip stand closer to him.
"Where is Jane?" Zane asked when he couldn't see Jane around. He recalled she looked panicked about his critical health and came to the hospital with him the previous night.
"Madam Morris sent for Jane to meet the media house that broadcasted the ceremony's incident. There is chaos on the internet and in the RIS group." Damien informed and noticed his boss's eyebrows caressed.
Zane slowly turned around to face him with a stunned expression. "Whose media house dared to defile my order?" He asked softly, but anger laced in his voice.
"The Skyline media company broadcasted it, and there are so many subscribers saying ill words to you. Not only that, I got the information they are trying to publish those vulgar journals in the market. If it happens, it will ruin your reputation and that of the RIS group totally. There are lots of provocative words against you and the investors." Damien answered, and Zane's furrowed eyebrows deepened.
"Let me have a look," Zane said while he stretched out his hand.
Damien took out his cell phone from his jacket pocket and visited the Skyline website. He handed his cell phone to his boss to show him the comments and videos on the website.
As Zane watched the videos and read the comments, his expression gradually turned displeased. His and his investors' faces were used to create humorous stickers with the swear words he had subconsciously uttered.
There were hateful comments about him that he was mentally ill, with other unpleasant words as Zane was reading the hateful comments, he couldn't react to it.
Zane couldn't read or scroll through the website; he then handed the cell phone back to Damien while remaining calm since the doctor warned him about stressing his body.
"Why did my grandmother wants Jane to meet with the Skyline media rather than let me shut down that media house for defaming me and my investors?"
"I heard that the ongoing comments provoked the investors, causing them to decide to withdraw their investment. The RIS group is about to face an enormous loss." Damien informed him the current situation.
"Why must it be on the day of my ceremony I have dedicated my life for to celebrate victoriously? Who did this to me?" Zane pondered for a long time.
He couldn't tell how that person tried to sneak into the secured room and swapped his original journal. It hurts his alter ego to be ridiculed publicly, something he had never thought would happen to him someday.
"Big Boss, you are not in good shape to stress much about this. The cops are still investigating the case, and if they find anything, I will inform you." Damien assured him.
And there came a momentarily silence in the room.
"Do you find anything suspicious we can give to the cops to use as a clue?" Damien inquired.
Zane pondered about his ceremony day if he sensed something suspicious before or after the ceremony commenced.
While thinking, he remembered he had only had a glass of champagne during the ceremony the previous evening. After that, he started feeling strange because of drinking the champagne, and it was now clear to him that someone had drugged his champagne.
Although, he didn't see the server's face and couldn't tell if it was a male or female because his attention was on Anastasia. Also, the clown's mischievous smile said it all that he knew something about this.
"The clown is behind what happened. Did you see the clown leaving the ceremony hall that evening?" Zane inquired since Damien was the one handling the security the previous evening.
"No, Big Boss, I didn't see the clown around the ceremony, but the cops are still investigating the CCTV footage." Damien answered.
"That clown isn't just an ordinary clown. I won't spare him and his accomplice for this. Find out who that clown is and bring the clown to me." He commanded through gritted teeth with his eyes blazing fury.