Everyone Can Hear My Thoughts, and Now They're Panicking

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: No, I’m 99% Sure It’s Him Now

「A few minutes ago.」

Jane Lancaster stood by the hospital’s flowerbeds, holding an umbrella.

The hospital had recently installed new security equipment at the main entrance, and a guard was reminding everyone to go through the security check.

But the rain slowed things down, and the covered entrance was packed with people.

One middle-aged man, seeing he couldn’t squeeze through, simply backed out of the crowd.

As he stood in the rain preparing to open his umbrella, he accidentally bumped into someone, knocking the handbag she was holding to the ground.

"I’m so sorry, so sorry," the middle-aged man apologized reflexively.

He thought it was a minor incident and that he could leave after apologizing, but the person blocked his path.

"Is that your idea of an apology?" The clear female voice sounded young, yet carried an air of arrogance.

The middle-aged man glanced at the bag on the ground, frowned, but still bent down to pick it up.

"My apologies." He even used the hem of his shirt to wipe the handbag before holding it out.

’That should be good enough, right?’

The woman didn’t take it, and he, not paying attention, let go. The handbag fell to the ground once more.

The middle-aged man was instantly furious, glaring up at her with hostility.

Their eyes met, but Jane Lancaster’s gaze was even fiercer. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

The man immediately wanted to back down. This beautiful girl was clearly not someone to mess with.

"I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to..." He swallowed his anger and lowered his head.

Jane Lancaster watched him for a second. "I don’t want the bag anymore. Just pay for it. It’s not that expensive, only 110,000."

"110,000? That’s so much money!" the middle-aged man exclaimed in shock.

Passersby sheltering under their umbrellas were stunned. 110,000—wasn’t this just blackmail?

No longer in a hurry, people stopped to watch the drama unfold.

Jane Lancaster said, "I don’t care. You’re not leaving until you pay up."

’Host, are you sure it’s him?’ the system couldn’t help but ask.

’I’m not sure, that’s why I have to provoke him to test him,’ Jane Lancaster replied in her mind.

’Have you lost your mind?’ the system asked in shock.

"That’s right. ’Woman, you’re playing with fire,’" Jane Lancaster was even in the mood to quote a trope. ’But Sys, if you were even a little bit useful, I wouldn’t have to play with fire.’

In the novel, Claire Sheffield’s stabbing incident was described without any process, only the result: two dead and one injured.

The ones who died were the caregiver and the suspect; the one injured was Claire Sheffield.

After the attack, the suspect fled in a panic and fell to his death. The caregiver died a few days later after rescue attempts failed.

In the book, it was all summed up in just a few brief sentences.

The suspect wasn’t even given a name, which meant Jane Lancaster had no leads to find him.

As for the system, it was even more useless than her, the host, claiming it couldn’t look up anything unrelated to the main storyline!

It was Jane Lancaster who had to use the reward from clearing Alvin Lancaster’s affection points to exchange for some information about the caregiver.

The caregiver’s daughter, Zoe Carter, was Luna Morgan’s nurse friend who despised evil. To get justice for her father’s wrongful death, she made inquiries everywhere and pieced together the truth.

The suspect’s ex-wife had fallen in love at first sight with the handsome and charming Dr. Sheffield during a consultation.

The woman was unfaithful. She kept her ex-husband on the hook while using his money to support her pretty-boy lover.

When they divorced, the suspect had given his ex-wife a huge settlement, leaving with nothing himself. He had been hoping they might one day get back together, and only flew into a murderous rage after realizing that hope was lost.

However, after Claire Sheffield woke up, he denied any connection, claiming he didn’t know the suspect or his wife. And the police actually accepted his story.

Not only that, but because Claire Sheffield was one of Jane Lancaster’s attending physicians, the Lancaster Family even sent him abroad to have his hand treated.

This made Zoe Carter even more indignant.

She transferred the hatred from her father’s tragic death onto Jane Lancaster, believing that Jane had shielded the wicked, which left her with nowhere to turn for help.

When Luna Morgan found out, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, since the matter concerned the person who had saved her life.

Not only did she tell Zoe Carter not to pay back the money, but she also gave Zoe another sum in Jane Lancaster’s name, hoping to dissolve the hatred in her heart.

’This information seems even more useless...’

Jane Lancaster thought, ’I’m the villainess. Do I really need to know how the heroine is secretly doing good deeds for me?’

The system was speechless.

Meanwhile, the rain drizzled on as the passersby murmured among themselves.

The girl was dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, arrogant and haughty, while the middle-aged man was plainly dressed and haggard, looking like an honest person.

It was obvious who was bullying whom.

The middle-aged man tried to leave several times, but Jane Lancaster stopped him each time.

Seeing the dialing screen on Jane Lancaster’s phone, his expression changed. "What are you doing?"

"Calling the police, of course. Did you think my bag was a fake?" Jane Lancaster said.

Before she finished speaking, the middle-aged man suddenly wrenched his arm free from her grasp and bolted.

Jane Lancaster grabbed his umbrella, but he simply let it go, disappearing into the crowd in a few quick movements.

’It’s probably not him. He didn’t enter the outpatient building,’ the system said.

Jane Lancaster replied, "No, I’m 99% sure it’s him now! He took a detour to the back entrance of the outpatient building, where there’s no security check. It’s an easier way in."

She made a snap decision, closing her umbrella and rushing through the main entrance of the outpatient building.

The security checkpoint was packed, so she bypassed the crowd and squeezed through a side entrance near the guards.

"Hey, what’s wrong with you? Who said you could push in here? Go back and use the security lane!" a guard stepped forward to block her.

Jane Lancaster dodged the guard’s hand and ran inside at top speed.

"Dammit, in a rush to get reincarnated or something?" The guard cursed, annoyed, but didn’t try to stop her again. He sat back down and went back to monitoring the security check.

Jane Lancaster went upstairs. The waiting area was full of people, but the middle-aged man wasn’t there.

After a moment’s thought, she walked straight past the triage desk and headed toward the consultation area.

A nurse glanced at her casually. Seeing her clutching her chest with a pale face, she assumed Jane was a patient and didn’t stop her.

Jane Lancaster walked down the hall. The consultation rooms all had their doors open, but she didn’t see any sign of Claire Sheffield.

Sys: ’Claire Sheffield doesn’t seem to be working today. There’s no need for you to meddle any further, is there?’

This incident wasn’t related to Jane Lancaster’s main quest anyway, so there was no need to waste time on it.

As Jane Lancaster reached the fire escape, she heard a noise from inside. The corners of her lips curled into a slight smile.

She pushed the door open and walked in. "So, you’re here."

The middle-aged man was startled at first, then his eyes fixed on her with a grim, menacing stare.

"Who let you in? Get out. This is no place for you," the caregiver standing beside him said, his expression hostile.

He recognized Jane Lancaster. His daughter often came home and complained about her, saying she had thought Jane was a righteous hero, but in person, she turned out to be a hypocritical schemer.

Ethan Carter would laugh at his daughter’s naivety. ’These daughters of capitalists all have black hearts. A life-saving hero? You actually believe that?’

Jane Lancaster asked, "You two know each other?"

Ethan Carter replied, "So what if we do? It’s just a handbag. Wipe it clean and it’s still usable. Do you really have to be so relentless?"

He had been drinking and gossiping with Lawson recently and considered them friends, so of course, he was going to speak up for him.

"Don’t think 110,000 is such a big deal. When Lawson had his own company, he bought plenty of designer bags for his ex-wife. He wouldn’t be in this state if she hadn’t tricked him into leaving the marriage with nothing."

Ethan Carter paused, then added, "Your Lancaster Family is so rich, 110,000 isn’t even enough for one of your meals. Take my advice and just let this go."

Jane Lancaster said, "Fine, I’ll let it go. Give me his bag as compensation."

Ethan Carter froze for a second, instinctively glancing at the bag in Lawson’s hand. ’Could that bag be some designer brand, too?’ he wondered.