Lilah and Karol were soon ushered into a secure room.

Lilah glanced at her watch. It was already nine o'clock.

Gerard hadn't returned yet.

"Miss Phillips, many of the guests invited to the banquet were injured, so it's been postponed," explained the bodyguard.

Lilah didn't respond but tried calling Gerard. No one picked up.

“Can you reach out to Gerard?" she asked hurriedly.

The bodyguards exchanged glances but didn't say anything.

Worrying was pointless. She wanted to go find Gerard, but she had no idea where he was.

As her anxiety peaked, her phone buzzed with a message.

“I'm still busy. Are you doing okay?"

Lilah's eyes brimmed with tears of relief as she replied that she was fine.

"Ahhh! Please, be gentle." A cry of agony pierced the air.

"Lilah, did you let them do this to me to get back at me?" Karol's accusation rang out.

Lilah didn't have time to attend to Karol earlier, but now she had time.

She approached, reaching for the anesthetic the doctor held. “Please, just get the bullet out without numbing her."

“Lilah, are you out of your mind? How could you do this to me?"

Karol's face turned deathly pale with fear. She had just received an anesthetic injection to extract the first bullet, and the pain was nearly making her pass out. The thought of enduring such agony without anesthesia was unbearable. Wouldn't it be unbearable, maybe even lethal, without it?

"You know what you've done," Lilah scoffed, arms crossed tightly as she loomed over Karol.

“I haven't done anything!" Karol protested weakly, a flicker of guilt crossing her face before vanishing.

She wouldn't admit it without hard evidence staring her in the face.

“You've put me in this mess, plain and simple," Lilah said slowly.

“I always seek revenge on those who harm me, and I won't stop until I get back what I'm owed."

With a simple wave of her hand, Lilah directed the medical team.

Two nurses moved to support Karol, while the doctor readied his tools.