Alain lowered his head and glanced at his phone, but he kept an eye on Talia from the corner of his eyes.He had met Talia twice before she moved into Skygarden.The first time was when she jumped into the river. The second was the night Sofia passed away.By the time Alain and Eden arrived that night, Alain had missed Talia’s fight, so he didn’t think much of it.To him, Talia had always seemed like a sweet and pleasant young woman.But now, he was seeing a different side of her.Her cold eyes and commanding presence weren’t something that had developed overnight.Alain could tell that if he hadn’t stepped in, Talia would have snapped Quin’s neck without hesitation.A tense silence settled between the three of them. Quin was shaken by Talia and, fearing Alain might actually throw her out, stayed quiet.Talia, too, remained silent, not wanting to risk her place in someone else’s home.When Eden finally came out, she sensed the strange atmosphere and glanced at them before ask
Talia, who was standing outside Eden’s room, could hear the sound of someone breathing. A fire seemed to burn brightly in her clear eyes. She wished she could kick the door open and kill the man inside.She was about to leave when Eden, from the other side of the door, sensed someone outside. Eden grabbed her jacket and rushed out, freezing halfway when she saw Talia. Frowning, she asked, “What are you doing here?”“I… I came back to get my revision papers. Our teacher wants to give us extra Physics classes this afternoon,” Talia said, lowering her head, the anxiety evident in her eyes.Eden glanced at the revision papers in Talia’s hand, which included questions for the upcoming international Physics competition. “When did you get back?”Eden and Alain were highly perceptive, and it was almost impossible for someone to enter their home without them noticing. It was clear Talia had tried to sneak in.“Just a little while ago. I thought you were all resting, so I did my best to sta
Eden was initially focused on reading her medical journal, but her attention shifted when she noticed Alain constantly making and receiving calls. One after another, the interruptions made her frown.When Alain saw her expression darken, he stepped out with his phone in hand.Eden glanced at him but didn’t think much of it.They were alike in that way—both had their own secrets, and they respected that. He had never asked about hers, and she wouldn’t ask about his either.After Hackers United intervened, they successfully defended the Ward Group against the hacker’s attack and tracked where the money had gone. It turned out the hacker had quickly donated the funds to children in the countryside.Alain found it hard to be angry after that.The Ward Group had its own charitable organization, often donating to support impoverished families in rural areas. While the company and the Ward Group had lost 7 billion dollars, knowing it had gone to those in need made the loss more tolerabl
After chatting for a while, Sinead finally introduced the elderly people who came with her. “These are the physicists I invited from Rielton. They’ll be tutoring you in physics starting today.”Eden raised an eyebrow. Physicists?“Mr. Grant called me and mentioned you signed up for the international physics competition. He even said you might make it to the finals if you work hard.”Sinead didn’t exactly share Mr. Grant’s confidence in Eden’s chances, given her academic track record, but since he was so optimistic, Sinead didn’t want to dampen her spirits.“I thought about it and decided to bring in a few physicists to tutor you. The preliminaries start in two days, so they’ll stay here to make it easier for you to prepare.”Eden was speechless.How little faith did Grant have in her?She rubbed her forehead. She wasn’t fond of being around too many people.But Sinead was doing this out of kindness. Would refusing her hurt her feelings?Alain, just coming downstairs, overheard
Eden glanced at each question and immediately knew all the answers.After reading through them all, she quickly filled in the answers on the paper. Her writing was extremely cursive, as she was eager to get to the hospital to visit Jerred. Fortunately, the physicists could still make out what she had written.She handed the paper to the physicists, and an older man with white hair took it, looking surprised. “You’re done already?”Eden nodded. “Take a look.”The man, Andrew Hughes, was the most senior physicist at the Physics Research Institute and a professor in the physics department at Rielton University. He was highly experienced and had mentored many exceptional students.He had personally created the questions for the test. With the sudden rule change that only allowed senior high school students to compete in the International Physics Competition, many were left scrambling. The difficulty level of national competitions was still quite different from the international stage.
When Eden was working on the papers, Alain had already left to take care of something else.Thinking Alain was busy, Eden didn’t bother calling him and went to the hospital on her own.Jerred’s condition had improved significantly after the Banevermin had been removed from his body. Thanks to Eden’s medicine, he was quickly regaining his strength.However, after being bedridden for nearly half a year, he was still physically weak—much like Alain had been when affected by the Seductress’s Sanguine. He couldn’t lift anything heavy at all.Once Eden finished the needling therapy on Jerred, she said, “To fully recover, you’ll need to take the Physique-Enhancing Infused Bath, which I’ll personally prepare. But I won’t be around much to keep an eye on things since I’m joining a physics competition. I’ll visit the Hunt family later and have your father look after you.”The staff and equipment here were all arranged by Alain himself—top of the line, with none better in the business. But t
"I’m warning you. With me here, I won’t let you hurt her again!" Melinda shouted fiercely at Eden.She had completely forgotten that the young woman standing before her was also her daughter—the daughter she had carried for ten months and abandoned after giving birth.Eden just looked at her, calm and composed.Melinda, feeling unsettled by Eden’s gaze, said anxiously, "Why... Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking of hitting me? This is the Hunt family, not the Ward family. You can’t just do whatever you want here.""My name is Eden Griffith," Eden said suddenly."I know you’re Eden Griffith! Are you trying to remind me how much trouble you’ve caused me?" Melinda’s anger hadn’t subsided. "You don’t need to remind me; I’ll never forget...""I am the daughter of Matthew Griffith and Melinda Moore," Eden said calmly, raising her eyes to meet Melinda’s.Eden didn’t know why she said that. It was the only thing she could think of at that moment, maybe to remind Melind
Back at Skygarden, Alain returned from handling business and found several physicists working on papers spread out on the table and floor, covered in letters and symbols.He quickly noticed that Eden wasn’t among them.Alain picked up a sheet of paper and asked, “Where’s Eden?”Andrew didn’t even look up from his work. “She’s out. Go away. You’re disturbing us.”Alain was taken aback. Disturbing them from working on questions? Were they not supposed to be here to tutor Eden?The physicists clearly weren’t interested in acknowledging Alain. He rubbed his forehead and decided to let it go.With nothing else to do, Alain stood behind Andrew and examined the questions. His expression grew serious.The questions were clearly set at a national competition level, suggesting they were intentionally difficult for Eden since she didn’t know much.Yet, the approach they were using to solve them was quite different, and Alain found himself getting drawn in.When Eden came home, she saw th