After a series of rapid-fire questions from Ellar, Patricia maintained her glare at him, refusing to answer any of it.Instead, she countered, "Why are you here? Weren't you at BayCorp?""I came over because I was worried about you. I noticed you were missing early in the morning, so I came over to ask Nicole. As it turned out, you were gone before we even knew it," Ellar explained, his head voice still tinged with fear and concern.A wide-eyed Patricia then turned to Nicole, who nodded and smiled. "Indeed, he was the first to notice your absence. Otherwise, we might not have known as soon as we did."It was then that an important realization dawned upon her. 'So that was why Ms. Riddle arrived earlier than expected.'"That's right. Moreover, he was genuinely worried about you. If it weren't for me holding him back, he would have rushed over to where you were. He was super antsy even when he was here too." Lulu looked at Patricia with a meaningful smile etched on her face.Just l
Helpless and moved, Patricia massaged her temples and said, "Ellar, you really don't need to waste your time on me. With your qualities, getting yourself a girlfriend should be a piece of cake.""But you're the only person I want to be with. If I can't be with you, I'd rather remain single forever!" Ellar stated firmly, his eyes burning with passion and unyielding persistence.Unable to meet Ellar's gaze, Patricia blinked and looked away from him.She had taken care of him at BayCorp for some time now, connoting that she was not completely indifferent to Ellar. However, she also understood that certain things in life were destined to be impossible, with the prospect of getting together with Ellar being one of them, so she dared not lead him on and give him any hope.Gritting her teeth, Patricia continued to feign indifference. "That's your business. It has nothing to do with me."After saying that, she picked another file up and ignored Ellar.Ellar looked at Patricia, his eyes w
"They're there with her too. Said they wanted to play for a while." Stanley shrugged."Oh." Lulu turned to look at Nicole. "I suppose Nolan and Lana prefer hanging out with their Aunt Tia.""Are you jealous right now?" June smirked and teased her.Trying to appear as if she was unaffected by June's remark, Lulu smiled. "Jealous? Nope. Not to that extent.""You're all our aunts. Of course we like all of you." Nolan and Lana interrupted while pushing Mrs. Wallace Sr. in."Hey, Mrs. Wallace Sr.," everyone greeted in unison."You're all back," Mrs. Wallace Sr. replied, and gave everyone present a loving smile.Once the little ones had positioned Mrs. Wallace Sr. next to one of the couches in the living room, Lulu smiled and looked at them. "You cheeky little ones. You went out there to invite someone over, huh?"Raising her head proudly and unapologetically, Lana replied, "Yeah, I knew you're all here the moment I saw your cars.""I figured that you all came back here to pay Aunt
"Take care of everyone and make sure they're safe." Jared sped off, leaving the words hanging in the air.Lulu bit her lip as she looked out the window with worry written all over her face. She had to force herself to calm down, as acting out in a panic would do her no good.She figured that Jared had ordered her to stay behind because there was nothing she could do to help, and since that was the case, she decided that it would be in everyone's best interest for her to stay put and ensure that the rest of the family were safe. In all likelihood, there was grave danger involved, or else Jared would not have dashed off while telling her to take care of everyone without further elaboration."Lulu? Do you know what's going on?" Gloria asked, her forehead creased in concern.The sudden escalation had made everyone realize that something was amiss, giving them an oppressive and lingering feeling of anxiety."Oh, since the package was delivered by an unknown sender, Nicole was worried t
Deep down, Nicole knew that letting the bomb go off would be much more ideal than defusing it. This would trick Damien into thinking that his plan had succeeded. The flip side to allowing the blast to occur, however, was that Nicole's family would be in for a shock of their lives.And since she did not want her family to think that the blast had affected her, she decided to defuse it."I trust that you know what you're doing, but we don't have any tools to work with. Can you do it?" Jared asked.After all, Nicole was once the Turmann family's chief weapons designer. Thus, defusing a simple bomb would be a piece of cake for her. However, Nicole did not have the tools she needed at the moment, prompting Jared to wonder how it would be possible.Resourceful as always, Nicole smirked at the look of doubt on him. Then, she pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, and with a slight twist, the pin transformed into a long needle, one end with a sharp, jagged tip.Pleasantly surprised by what s
June sighed. "He really is off his rocker, isn't he?""How did you find out?" Spencer shuddered with horror.This incident might have escaped their notice entirely had they been totally clueless about Damien's little scheme.After issuing another sigh, Lulu went on to narrate the entire story of Damien's escape, and Patricia's efforts at tracking him down."Thankfully, you're here." June nodded, knowing full well that everyone would have been in grave danger if Nicole was not here today."What are you planning to do next?" Spencer asked.At present, Damien was still on the loose. In addition, he had the backing of someone who wielded great power, so there was still much danger lurking in the dark."It's time to wrap things up." Nicole looked up, her eyes burning bright with crimson fury."Huh?" the others asked in confusion."We're going to seize Damien, or else, he'll be gone before we know it," Nicole declared, her voice dark and deep. 'We will capture both Damien and the ma
Dawn arrived eight hours later, with the sun showing its first blossom at seven. After breakfast, Nicole and Jared got into their car and made their way to Riddle Corporation.However, Lulu was not the only one waiting for Nicole today, as Spencer, Samuel, and June were there as well."Have you heard from your men?" they anxiously asked upon spotting the couple."Charlie and Patricia are not back yet," Nicole replied. "Let's wait for them in my office.""Alright." They nodded in agreement, after which they entered Nicole's office together.After sitting down, Lulu gritted her teeth and asked, "Why have we not received any news from them? Are they in trouble?""No way," Nicole shook her head.If something had occurred while they were on their mission, they would have gotten wind of it by now."Let's wait a moment," June advised in an attempt to calm Lulu down.Though everyone was worried sick, there was little they could do but wait for word to return to them. The ones whose li
Soon, a group of bloodied and battered operatives descended from the ridge, carrying with them a bunch of men whose hands and feet were bound with iron leashes. The latter were none other than Damien and his contacts."Cap, will they be fine?" someone asked in concern."They will be," another replied firmly, though his words sounded as if they were said in an effort to reassure oneself.It was an accident, one that they could never have anticipated. They, too, were praying that an ill-fate did not await them.Nicole and Jared soon received the news, causing the air in the office to become even gloomier and more suffocating."You can relax a little now that we've captured them. You guys should leave and get on with your day," Nicole said to the others."Okay, but you should check on them in the hospital." The others nodded, knowing that there was much to be done without them getting in the way."I'm coming with you," Lulu said, standing up.Nicole turned to Lulu and nodded. Afte