Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee by KIKI

Chapter 827: Tina, Have You Been Possessed? In the back seat, Ella Bailey sat with her head lowered, fingers flying across her phone screen as she typed quickly: "I told you bringing Kelly along would be a bad idea. Worked out well, didn't it?" Tina, perhaps not too busy lately, replied almost instantly: "Even if you hadn't brought Kelly, it still wouldn't have worked." "Don't think I don't know what's going through your head." Ella Bailey let out the faintest hiss, amazed at how Tina seemed more adept at reading her mind than anyone in her own Bailey family. Shaking her head, she hastily tried to defend herself: "What else was I supposed to do? You can't expectto expose myself to Luke Gill right now and let him find out I'm involved with you guys. Kelly was the perfect scapegoat. Without her, you wouldn't have been able to leave so early today either." Tina replied: "Watch your wording. Anyway, I do have another task for you." "You're not askingto steal Luke Gill's latest research results, are you?" Ella Bailey tightened her grip on her phone, sneaking a glance at Luke Gill, who was seated in the front row with his head down, engrossed in something.

Sensing her gaze, Luke turned his head slightly to look at her. The moment their eyes met, an unexplainable anger surged through Ella Bailey once again. She shot him a glare before lowering her head to type furiously: "That's not something I can handle. Luke Gill is as cunning as a fox. He's only been thrown off balance lately because you've been pressing him too hard. Frankly, I'd rather argue with Victor a hundred times than deal with him!" Tina replied with a teasing tone: "Even through the screen, I can feel how much you dread Luke Gill." But Tina quickly clarified: "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to do that. I need you to protect Victor for the next couple of days." Ella Bailey froze, staring at the message for a solid ten minutes, unable to process what she had just read. For a moment, she even thought she had traveled to an alternate reality.

Tina wanted her to protect Victor? She rubbed her eyes, checked the message again, and confirmed she hadn't misread it. Then she typed back in disbelief: "Are you okay? Are you still Tina? If you killed Tina and took her place, just letknow so I can buy a tombstone and give her a proper burial." Tina's response cswiftly: "...Do you wantdead that badly?" Ella Bailey quipped: "Of course not! I mean... no, no! We're partners now, you're still my Tina. But if you've been possessed, out of humanitarian concern, I'd have to bury her!" Tina replied dryly: "...Thanks, I guess?" Ella pressed on: "No need to thank me. It's the least I could do. But seriously, have you been possessed or not?" Tina: "...No." Ella: "If you haven't been possessed, then why on earth are you askingto protect Victor? Honestly, with my half-baked skills, he'd be better off protecting me!" Tina: "Someone will assist you tomorrow." Ella: "..." That night, darkness blanketed the sky like a thick ink stain. Apart from a handful of drowsy officers working the night shift, most of the city had settled into slumber.

The police station's holding cells were eerily silent, save for the intermittent snores that echoed from various cells. Phil Walker lay in a solitary cell, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. It had been a full day and night since his arrest.

Victor had promised to get him out, but there'd been no sign of action. His wife had gone to seek help from Vivienne, but all she'd received was a vague "We'll do our best." Anxious and restless, Phil stared at the silver-gray wall of the holding cell, his mind churning with thoughts. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in his stomach. He groaned, clutching his abdomen as he curled into himself. His vision blurred from the waves of agony. "Help... help me..." he croaked weakly.

His fragmented cries were drowned out by the snores from neighboring cells. Beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he clenched his teeth.

"Is anyone there?! Help! Help!" Phil shouted with all the strength he could muster, his voice ringing through the quiet night.

After that burst of effort, he collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily. His legs thrashed involuntarily from the pain, accidentally kicking over a stainless steel thermos in the corner. The clatter of the tumbling thermos startled one of the lighter sleepers in the cell next door.

"Damn it," the man muttered as he groggily opened his eyes. "What's with all the noise? Do you wantto kill you or what?!" Phil didn't have the energy to argue. Seizing the opportunity, he rolled off the bed and dragged himself to the cell wall.

"Brother, please... help me. I've been poisoned. My stomach... it hurts... help me..." His voice trailed off, barely audible.

The faint, broken pleas in the dead of night sounded like ghostly whispers from hell, sending chills down the spine of the man in the neighboring cell. The last remnants of his sleep evaporated instantly. "Hey! What did you say?! Brother?!" He slapped the wall, his voice rising with alarm.

"Brother?!"

Unable to see into Phil's cell, he could only hear the increasingly faint groans of pain. Realizing something was wrong heed to the cell door and shouted, "Guards! Guards! Someone's been poisoned! Get over here, now! He's going to die!" "What the hell is going on?!" "Who's dying?! This is a holding cell, not death row. How could anyone die here?!" "Guards! Police! Someone's been poisoned!" The commotion woke the other inmates, their voices creating a cacophony of curses and concerned calls. The noise finally reached the ears of two officers on duty in the surveillance room.

Armed with batons, they approached the cells, their footsteps echoing in the corridor.

The metallic clanging of batons against the steel bars silenced the inmates instantly. None of them dared to speak under the officers' cold glares.

"What's with all the yelling?" the lead officer barked.

The man from the neighboring cell raised his hand timidly, pointing toward Phil's cell. "Officer, he' heren. Helsay this guy he's been poisoned.

He's been groaning about stomach pain for a while now. I couldn't just ignore it."

The younger officer frowned, his expression briefly betraying unease as he glanced at Phil's crumpled m form on the floor. "Poisoned? This is a holding cell. How could anyone get poisoned here? He's probably just dreaming." "Dreaming?" the neighbor shot back. "How could a dream cause such a racket? And why would I be talking to him if he was asleep?" The man, detained for drunk driving, wasn't willing to let the matter slide. "Officer, please, at least check on him.

If something happens, none of us can afford to take the blame."