Lu Ting Cheng stepped forward again, fists clenched. "And what does that have to do with my mother? She's hurt, for god's sake! Don't you dare accuse her without proof!"
"I don't need any proof," Gabriel spat full of disgust. "I know how far your family is willing to go to erase someone who gets in their way. Those two must have done it!"
"Enough!" Zhi Hao's voice cut through the rising storm like a whip. He was cradling Lu Wan Ruyi in his arms tightly, his gaze swept over everyone like a blade. "This is not the time for accusations. My son is missing. Your woman is missing. But arguing here won't bring them back."
"Lu Haoran, arrange for everyone to be settled in the various hotel rooms.... Lock down the entire building and no one is allowed to leave." Lu Zhi Hao coldly gave out those orders as everyone was guided out of the hall to the hotel rooms arranged by the staff.
Lu Wan Ruyi flinched, trying to rise, but pain rippled through her shoulders and thighs. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I haven't done anything to her... She… She attacked me first in the bathroom, and I dealt with her; what other purposes could I have by taking her away? Where would I take her?"
Even if they were rivals, she was still Lu Ting Cheng and Lu Ting Zhou's biological mother. At most, she would beat her up but not kidnap or kill.
"What?" Zhi Hao turned to her, his face going cold. How dare she attack his wife? He doted on her that he didn't want her to get exhausted, but someone dared to hurt her? She was pregnant!
"How dare she?" Lu Ting Cheng was infuriated, their mother was pregnant.
"She said I stole everything from her, everything I have now should be rightfully hers..." Ruyi gasped with pitying eyes that were aggrieved and could shed tears at any minute, "That I took you… and the life that should have been hers."
Gabriel looked stunned. "That's a lie! Yaya would never say that. Our relationship is stable, and we are doing so well...."
"She threw me against the counter, and I hit my head… tried to crawl away; I didn't start any of this; it ain't my fault," Ruyi whispered, eyes glassy and glistening with tears. "She said she would take him away from me and her sons. She said, no one would stop her this time."
"No," Gabriel muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "She wouldn't think of that…" as much as Song Yaya wanted to acknowledge her sons, she had promised him she wouldn't go back to Lu Zhi Hao. How could she desire to spoil another woman's marriage? This wasn't the woman she knew.
Zhi Hao turned to his guard. "Seal every exit. Bring me footage from the east hallway and service tunnels. They won't get far."
Another agent ran in. "Sir, we have confirmed a private vehicle left through the maintenance gate—accessed with an old staff code. No license plate and it's headed Northeast."
They walked into one of the spacious VIP hotel rooms, which had several bedrooms and a huge lounge. This befitted them at the moment.
Lu Wan Ruyi winced as she settled onto the king-sized bed, her face pale from the bruises forming on her shoulder and thigh. Zhi Hao gently adjusted the blanket around her, his fingers lingering on her wrist.
The ointment the doctors had applied would soon soothe her pain and her baby was okay. He bent over and gently caressed her face while kissing her forehead.