James kneeled next to Oshineda, quickly checking his pulse. Everything seemed to be normal. It was as if the old man had just fallen asleep.
Soon, a doctor arrived there as well and said the same thing. Someone had drugged Oshineda.
Cindy's smile fell as she turned to James.
The glass was meant for her. Oshineda drank from that and collapsed. Her intuition was correct. Someone wanted to take advantage of her, but she declined the offer and Oshineda suffered because of it.
"Someone call the cops," Cindy said, eyeing James. "I know who is responsible for this mess."
"Ms. Myers, mind your words!" Mira yelled back. "James had been loyal to a fault when it comes to my grandfather. There's no way he would harm him."
"That's the thing! He never wanted to drug CEO Oshineda. He offered the wine to me first. I declined, and that's when your grandfather took a sip from it and collapsed."
Cindy's words were like someone had poured a bucket of cold water on Mira. Still, she didn't believe her. How could someone she had grown up with do something so disgusting?
"James, is it true?" she asked.
"Ms. Oshineda, I swear on my mother's grave I'm not involved in this mess!"
"Ms. Oshineda, instead of begging for a confession, why don't you check the cameras and see for yourself?" Cindy chimed in.
"…get me the surveillance footage," Mira said. "Call the cops and an ambulance. Grandpa's safety comes first."
Mira's words dealt a massive blow to James's heart. He had been nothing but loyal to the Oshineda family, following in his father's footsteps. Yet he was being doubted by them?
Just then, Mira touched his hand and whispered.
"James, I know it can't be you. But we have to prove your innocence to them. Please forgive me."
"N-No miss, you don't need to apologize!"
Mira didn't say a word and nodded. This wasn't how she imagined her night to end, especially after meeting Jack there.
Where is he?
Mira suddenly remembered Jack was the last person he had been with. Could it be that he administered something to Oshineda? Like a slow acting drug to make it seem like someone else did it?
But why would someone of his caliber attack Grandpa? What could he possibly achieve from it?
They were business partners, but only for a startup. The garage held no true value yet, so he couldn't have targeted Oshineda for it. But what if he wasn't aiming for short-term benefits?
What if Jack wanted to eliminate Oshineda, so he could woo her and take over the Oshineda wealth?
Don't be ridiculous. There's no way Jack would do anything of this sort. I should wait for the surveillance footage first.
Meanwhile, Cindy was convinced it was James's doing. He was just like the other agency heads. They all wanted to have a piece of her. Only… Jack was different from them. He genuinely cared about her.
But where is he?
The commotion had gotten everyone's attention, yet Jack was nowhere to be seen.
Cindy was worried something happened to him, but unlike the other guests, she didn't have any employees to look for him. Moreover, she had accused James, so if she left, he could twist things around. She couldn't let that happen, either.
No, he has his bodyguards with him. I shouldn't worry about him.
All this while, Anna was watching the scene unfold from a distance. She had intended to leave after informing Jack about a certain someone's intention towards Cindy, but the play took an unforeseen twist, and now, like many others, she was interested to see the end of it.
Someone brought a tablet with the recordings. Mira saw it and confirmed Cindy's words. James indeed gave the spiked wine to her, but nowhere did it show that he was the one spiking the drink.
"The drinks came from the kitchen. I don't see any video feed from there?" Mira asked.
"Young miss, the administration said they can't show the video without a warrant."
"What bullshit is this? A man was drugged on their premises, and they are busy saving their asses? Don't they know who I am—?"
"Perhaps they know someone more dangerous than you, Ms. Oshineda."
People turned to see Jack, still wearing his mask. However, he wasn't alone. Takeshi was holding a waiter by his nape. He was the same guy who served them wine, with a bloody nose.
"…did you hit him?" Mira asked.
"Would I do something like that?" Jack gasped, acting offended. "My bodyguard did."
Jack continued, "He didn't want to help with the investigation, so I got Takeshi to persuade him."
Anna smiled. She had expected him to act somewhat similarly, but Jack didn't dirty his hands. Perhaps because he knew how much Anna cared about cleanliness.
[Target: Anna Simorelli's affection +0.5%]
[Current Affection: 32.5%]
[$5,000 was added to the card.]
[Current Balance: $942,499]
Jack held the excitement back in, focusing on the task first.
I almost failed the side quest. Thanks to Anna, I got the chance to cause as much ruckus as I want.
The video feed Anna showed him was the one from the kitchen. In the feed, someone could be seen giving the waiter a vial of liquid and a bundle of crisp dollars.
Although the man's face was hidden, his hand was not. He wore a gold rind on all his fingers of the left hand. That was all Jack had to go with. That's why, instead of heading to the hall, Jack decided to find the waiter first.
The waiter tried to run, but Takeshi was ten steps ahead of him. Not in planning, but literally ten steps ahead and caught the guy while Jack chased him.
"Takeshi, the tab please," Jack said, extending his arm towards Takeshi.
Takeshi looked at Jack's hand and then at him, before shrugging.
"…you don't have the tablet?"
Takeshi shook his head, pointing upwards, as if saying he dropped the tablet on the terrace.
"…alright, waiter-san. Your time to shine is here," Jack said, quickly changing the topic. "Who paid you to spike the drink?"
The waiter seemed to have gotten bolder after learning Jack didn't have the footage. However, he turned docile once Takeshi hit him in the back of his head.
"I-It was h-him…" The waiter said, pointing at a familiar face.
"Barco?"