Chapter 223: An Accident Occurs!

Chapter 223: Chapter 223: An Accident Occurs!

The remaining possibility was the one Vivian Lowell was least willing to face.

That the kitten was already gone!

In the past, when Vivian and Eleanor Rhodes had gone to rescue cats, they had encountered this kind of situation before. Trapped kittens, due to poor environments, couldn’t hold on until they arrived to help, and had already crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

The moment Vivian realized this, her heart sank. She really didn’t want to encounter such a situation.

With this in mind, Vivian was just about to turn around and ask Eleanor what to do when she suddenly heard a sharp gasp from behind her.

"Miss Bell, what are you doing?"

Eleanor’s shout followed immediately. Startled, Vivian wanted to pull back and see if there had been some sort of accident, but then she felt someone shoving her!

Vivian had been leaning against the wall of the ventilation shaft. To observe the situation inside, the upper half of her body was suspended over the opening. Now, someone was pushing her from behind, trying to shove her directly into the shaft. Unable to find any leverage, Vivian could only kick out blindly with her legs.

But she had miscalculated.

Her attacker had clearly come prepared. Although Vivian kicked out quickly, catching the other person slightly off guard, she was still a step too late.

Vivian’s foot connected with someone. She heard a muffled groan, followed immediately by a numb, tingling sensation of electricity shooting up her leg.

A stun gun!

Stun guns were illegal domestically, though they were commonly used for self-defense abroad. When pressed against an enemy, they discharged an electric current. Being struck by the current typically incapacitated a person, though it wasn’t lethal.

Where did they get a stun gun?

After being hit by the stun gun, Vivian’s mind grew slightly muddled. Then, she remembered hearing Eleanor ask what Miss Bell was doing.

Was it Miss Bell?

Vivian bit her lip. As the series of bizarre events that had occurred since they arrived at the neighborhood flashed through her mind, it all made sense. No wonder she hadn’t found anything even after turning on her flashlight and playing recordings of a mother cat’s calls. It turned out Miss Bell was behind this!

What was she trying to do?

Vivian didn’t have time to think. The force pushing against her back grew stronger; Miss Bell was clearly getting desperate, determined to push her down the ventilation shaft.

She couldn’t just sit back and wait to die!

Although Vivian’s legs felt weak, she still had strength in her upper body. She braced herself fiercely against the wall of the ventilation shaft, preventing Miss Bell from pushing her any further. At the same time, she shouted, "Siri, call Julian Faulkner!"

The phone reacted instantly. The speed-dial system activated, calling Julian straight away.

Before heading out to catch the cat today, Vivian had already sent Julian a message! As long as Julian answered the phone and realized she was in trouble, he would rush over to save her at the first opportunity!

The call quickly went through.

Miss Bell was clearly panicking. Abandoning her attempt to push Vivian, she crouched down to snatch the phone away, making a call of her own at the same time.

"Miss Winslow! This is bad, Vivian Lowell made a call! I think she called Julian Faulkner! Get your people over here right now, or it’ll be too late!"

Miss Winslow? Wendy Wynn!?

Vivian immediately thought of that face, gnashing her teeth in sheer hatred.

Just a couple of days ago, Vivian and Eleanor had run into the Sterlings at a roast duck restaurant. At the time, both Mrs. Sterling and Henry Sterling had promised to take care of the Wendy Wynn situation!

Had they actually let Wendy escape?

And she had somehow found an accomplice from out of nowhere, intending to use Vivian and Eleanor’s desire to rescue cats to harm them!

Over the phone, Wendy said something to Miss Bell. The force of Miss Bell’s grip suddenly loosened, and she slowly backed away.

Was she gone?

With no time to think, Vivian struggled to pull herself out of the ventilation shaft. She emerged back into the light, only to see a car driving toward her from a short distance away.

The vehicle pulled up next to a nearby lamppost. Several people slowly stepped out of the car. There were both men and women; the men were all dressed in black suits and wore sunglasses, exuding a chilling, ruthless aura.

There were two women in total. Vivian glanced over and found that they were both very familiar faces.

One was Wendy Wynn, and the other was Rachel Faulkner.

In an instant, any lingering confusion in Vivian’s mind cleared up. She knew it. Wendy had gone bankrupt abroad and returned to the country with nothing. Her only reliance should have been whatever residual affection Henry still held for her.

But clearly, Wendy had miscalculated.

Henry no longer loved Wendy, and with her final lifeline gone, Wendy had resorted to her last option: faking a suicide attempt to garner sympathy. Unfortunately for her, Mrs. Sterling saw right through this final trick. Mrs. Sterling tore away Wendy’s facade, leaving her out of options.

Wendy and the Sterling family were now completely at odds! Yet Wendy had still managed to stir up public opinion, trying to drag down Eleanor and Vivian!

Vivian had found it strange at the time. With absolutely nothing left, where did Wendy get the immense power to buy trending searches and manipulate public opinion?

It turned out Rachel Faulkner was backing her.

Rachel Faulkner.

A cold sneer flashed across Vivian’s lips. She felt nothing but disgust for Rachel!

Rachel had been single-handedly raised by Grandma Faulkner, yet she was an ungrateful traitor who turned around to harm her grandmother and scheme for the Faulkner family’s fortune! Previously, Rachel’s coconspirator had been Annie, and now it was Wendy Wynn!

It seemed Rachel truly enjoyed hiding behind others, using them as pawns to strike at the Faulkner family! Using others to do her dirty work had always been Rachel’s favorite tactic!

Speaking of which, Vivian and Eleanor had their own set of principles when it came to cat rescues. They prioritized trapped kittens that already had prospective adopters lined up.

Rachel must have investigated this thoroughly, deliberately fabricating a "perfect adopter" and a trapped kitten to lure Vivian in!

Rachel had succeeded!

This was Rachel’s final, desperate counterattack before Julian could catch her!

"Vivian Lowell."

Rachel walked up to Vivian step by step. Because of the stun gun, Vivian’s mind wasn’t entirely clear. She could only sit on the ground, leaning heavily against the wall, looking quite wretched.

Looking at Vivian in such a state, a flash of malicious satisfaction crossed Rachel’s eyes.

Rachel looked down at her condescendingly and scoffed. "I didn’t expect it to be this easy to deal with you. I wonder how my stupid brother will blow his top when he finds out you’ve fallen into my hands again?

"It’s a pity he won’t get the chance. Vivian Lowell, everything is over.

"Let’s go. Grab Vivian and let’s get out of here."

As soon as Rachel gave the order to the men in black behind her, they swarmed forward to take Vivian away!

"No, you can’t!"

At that moment, Eleanor, who had previously passed out, regained consciousness. She fought to grab hold of Vivian’s hand, struggled to pick up a rock from the ground, and hurled it at Rachel.

"I won’t let you hurt Vivian!"