The Bargain Undercover

Sound Sleep

The morning sunshine sneaked into the classroom, glazing the diligent dancers rehearsing with fresh energy.

Eliana was the only exception.

She sat on the floor weakly, gasping for air. Her face was pale, and the throbbing in her temples gave her a continuous headache.

And none of this was fake. Eliana felt terrible at the moment.

"Hey, you OK?" Ophelia noticed it, squatting beside her.

"I feel horrible," Eliana answered in a strengthless voice.

"You've been like this for days. What's wrong on earth?" Ophelia was worried. "Ellie, you should go to see a doctor."

Eliana shook her head. "I have no time."

"You have no show tonight, right? Take today off to see a doctor. Are you going to tell Mrs. Morse or do you want me to do it?" Ophelia was determined, pressing Eliana to choose.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell her." Eliana compromised. "But before that, can you give me some water?"

Ophelia handed over Eliana's water bottle, watching as she gulped down the drink. "Better?"

"Worse." A sharp buzz reverberated in Eliana's head, prompting her to close her eyes in pain. "It's weird. I always feel worse after I drink my water."

Eliana said all this on purpose, hoping Ophelia would convey this message later.

Ophelia said something, but it sounded so vague to Eliana. Her head spun faster and faster, until suddenly, all the sounds around started to fade.

There seemed to be a lot of people talking from afar. Breaking sounds and voices entered and left Eliana's head, but she was too tired to react. She just wanted to have a sound sleep, leaving everything else behind temporarily.

She could vaguely feel that someone was moving her. Who was it? Where were they taking her to? She wasn't sure. Her mind wasn't clear. And when it became quieter around her, she fell into deep sleep uncontrollably.

She didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but when she woke up, the ceiling in her sight was unfamiliar.

She stayed blank for a few seconds, wondering where she was at. When the odor of disinfectant woke up her smell, she finally realized she was in the hospital.

"Ellie! You wake up!" The next second, she heard a familiar male voice. Turning her head, she saw Alex.

"How do you feel?" Alex moved closer to her ward bed, worry all over his face.

Eliana looked around and saw no one else. She parted her lips, but her throat felt too dry to utter a sound. She used every strength to ask out what she cared about the most at this moment, "How did it go?"

"Everything went as planned." Alex patted her hand, his smile warm like the brightest spring sun. "Ellie, you don't have to be scared anymore."

Eliana immediately felt a wave of relief wash all over her. She stared gratefully at Alex, saying quietly, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Alex sounded relieved as well.

After Alex fed her some water, she felt better and sat up. "What happened after I fainted? I could hear things vaguely, but I couldn't think."

Alex couldn't be more excited. "Oh dear, you have no idea what you missed."

Then, he told her about what happened during her sound sleep.

Ophelia was scared out of her wits to see Eliana faint right in front of her. "Ellie, are you OK? Hey! Don't scare me!"

Her scream attracted everyone else in the classroom.

"What's wrong?" Fiona asked as she walked over to check on Eliana.

"I don't know! She just fainted! She's been feeling unwell for days, but I don't know why!" Ophelia almost cried.

"OK, I get this." Fiona was about to get her phone.

Alex cut in right at this time, making a phone call. "Mrs. Morse, I'm calling an ambulance."

"Thank you." Fiona stayed calm, soothing Ophelia. "Don't worry. She'll be fine."

The classroom was filled with whispers and guesses. Alex glanced at Lyla out of the corner of his eye.

She looked surprised as he had expected.

But soon, she would understand.

The ambulance arrived soon. Before taking Eliana to the hospital, the first-aid people asked the dancers a few questions, trying to figure out what happened to the patient. Ophelia had calmed down a bit and answered, "She's been dizzy and nauseous recently."

Alex added, "She said especially in the classroom."

This reminded Ophelia. "Right! She said she always felt sick after drinking water."

"Water?" Fiona frowned. "You mean water from her bottle?"

"Yes." Ophelia was certain because they had this conversation just now.

Fiona looked at Eliana's water bottle on the floor. Then, she asked the first-aid people, "Could you take her water bottle to test?"

In that split second, Alex saw fear flash across Lyla's face. He really wanted to screenshot that face to show Eliana when she woke up.

The ambulance took Eliana and her water bottle away, and the Executive Director accompanied her. The rest of them stayed to continue their rehearsal, however, the atmosphere in the classroom became a bit tense. Everyone was curious about what on earth had happened, Ophelia was worried about her friend, and Alex was mentally preparing for the next step.

During the coffee break, Fiona left the classroom to call Xander, who was meeting with the board outside the company. Before she made the call, Alex caught up with her. "Mrs. Morse! I need to tell you something."

Fiona turned around. "What is it?"

Alex looked around cautiously. Seeing no one else, he led her into the stairwell.

Seeing the seriousness on his face, Fiona knew it must be something important. "What is it, Alex?"

Alex took a deep breath. "I think Lyla might put something into Eliana's water."

Fiona was shocked. "What makes you think so?"

"I saw it during a coffee break. You know, everyone left the classroom for a short break, and I went to get some fresh air at the other end of the corridor. When I came back, I saw Lyla walk out of the changing room. She didn't see me and quickly went back to the classroom. When I walked past the classroom toward the restroom, she was opening Eliana's water bottle." Alex looked so regretful. "I was curious but didn't relate it to any evil deed. Two minutes later, I totally forgot about it. Until Ophelia said something was wrong with her water just now..."

He made all the details up to push them into searching for Lyla's stuff.

Fiona realized how serious this issue was. "When was this?"

Alex thought about it. "On the day of our opening. During the coffee break in the morning."

"I see," Fiona said slowly, frowning. "I'll let Xander know. Don't tell anyone else about this for now, OK?"

Alex felt the thrill of seeing everything progress smoothly as they had planned, but he suppressed that perfectly and made his promise.

Before lunch break, Xander came back to the company. He and Fiona had a brief talk outside the classroom. The dancers remained rehearsing, but Alex was sure that everyone plucked up their ears just like he did.

But he couldn't hear a thing.

Luckily, he didn't wait for too long. A few minutes later, they came back in.

Xander walked straight to Lyla. Fiona followed him. Everyone else in the classroom stopped their rehearsal and watched.

Lyla looked composed on the outside, practicing her Pirouettes without stopping. She finally stopped when Xander stood right in front of her, looking at him with an expressionless face.

"Come with me." Xander gave a cold order and then turned around, striding out.

He gave Lyla no chance to refuse.

The whole classroom was deadly quiet. Silent guesses were in everyone's eyes, but no one uttered a single sound.

Lyla straightened her back and followed Xander out, her elegance ever-present. No matter what came her way, she refused to let go of that grace. It enveloped her like a protective garment, shielding her from the harshness of the outside world.

However, as Xander approached the female changing room, she almost lost her composure.

She hid those pills behind the clock in the female changing room. It was a public area with no surveillance cameras, so technically, she would never be caught.

She wondered how Xander knew.

Actually, Lyla was also confused to see Eliana faint this morning because she hadn't drugged Eliana today yet. Something seemed off, but she couldn't think now because her heart was almost in her mouth.

Xander knocked on the door of the female changing room to make sure no one was inside before entering. Then, he went straight to Lyla's locker.

When he walked past the clock by the door, a hint of relief flashed across Lyla's eyes, because that wasn't where she hid those pills.

She followed Xander, calm and confident.

Xander stood in front of her locker and turned around to face her. Seeing the confidence on her face, he asked, "Aren't you confused?"

Lyla immediately realized that she should look more confused rather than confident at this moment. But that was something she could smooth over easily. As long as Xander had no evidence, he couldn't deal with her.

She raised her head elegantly. "I am. Director Lane, may I know why I should be here?"

Fiona stood beside Xander, looking at Lyla disappointedly as if she had never known Lyla before.

That look annoyed Lyla. For years, her only goal had been to be noticed, but not like that.

More and more people gathered at the door, peering inside. Their gazes were like hot flames, burning Lyla's nerves. She clenched her fists to steady herself, determined not to avert her gaze from Xander's icy stare.

Xander knocked on her locker door twice with the knuckle of his index finger. "Open it."