The middle-aged man next to him asked, "Do we need to investigate this, Mr. Walters?"Noah's expression was grim. "No. This formula is from the Aspens. It's either the mother or the daughter.""But the poison just showed up around Ms. Belle. Isn't that suspicious?""Has she acted weird recently?" Noah asked.After thinking for a while, the man replied, "No. Besides fighting at the boxing gym, all she does is butt heads with the Peterson ladies. "Oh, and she took the perfume pouch to the Sylvester family, but she had to leave for the gym at the last minute, so she didn't get to meet Mrs. Sylvester Senior," he said.When Noah didn't respond, the man continued, "We did a background check on Wayne after he died. He's a regular guy, so he's probably unrelated to the Aspen ladies."However, we can't be sure whether they've already noticed her and got Wayne to test her."Noah frowned, and his expression became even more grim. The man's face was also grave too. "Mr. Walters, if they
At the same time, Dorothy Jenkins was lecturing her granddaughter, Jordyn."I told you to stay away from June Peterson, but you wouldn't listen! The Sylvester family's been doctors for three generations, and no one's gone into acting before! I forbid you to do it!"And another thing! Don't even think about the frostle pill! That's a family heirloom meant to be passed down through the generations!" she yelled. Then, she added, "If your brother hadn't sold it in secret, I never would have let it appear on the market!"Jordyn was furious to hear that. She wanted to be a star like June wanted to be. It would be so cool to be famous. She didn't want to be some poor doctor.Jordyn didn't want to argue with Dorothy right now. All she wanted was the frostle pill. If she could get it, she could start acting in her first movie with June. Surely, she could be popular with her help."Don't you know who's backing June, Grandma? It's Grayson Page, CEO of Page Corporation! If we offend her,
In the end, Dorothy's personal maid interrupted and said, "Mrs. Sylvester Senior, you and Ms. Walters shouldn't be standing around. Please take a seat, and I'll get someone to make tea.""Yes, yes, bring us the best tea! Break out my Earl Grey tea!""Understood."Dorothy quickly sat Belle down and asked with teary eyes, "Belle, all these years … how did you survive them?""Grandpa took care of me," Belle said respectfully."Mm-hmm. How's Noah?""He's good. He's still quite healthy. He just doesn't want to come to Maltford, so he asked me to visit you."Dorothy discreetly wiped her tears. When she saw a scar on Belle's wrist, her expression changed immediately. "How did you get this? Were you hurt? How did you get a scar?"Belle looked down. That was the scar she got from running around the safari park. "Oh, it was an accident. I'm fine."Dorothy frowned. "Do you have any other injuries?" Belle hesitated. She didn't expect to be asked that question, so she said, "I used to be
Dorothy closed her eyes and internally sighed for a long time to suppress her anger. She couldn't think about some things because they would just piss her off on behalf of dead people.After a long moment, Dorothy said, "It was your parents' good karma that saved you. Stay alive, child. Anything's possible as long as you're still alive."Belle used to hear Noah say that a lot when she was growing up. He thought her parents were the best people in the world, but that elder from the Reese family said … Belle wanted to ask more about her parents, but the maid was already back with a wooden box containing a white ceramic bottle.Dorothy opened the bottle, took a pill, and gave it to Belle. "Eat this, child. You'll heal quickly after that and won't have any scars anymore.""My scars are fine, Mrs. Sylvester Senior. Besides, I've seen the pill before, and I know the formula. If I needed one, I could make it myself. Keep this, please."Dorothy was shocked. "You know the formula?"Be
The Aspen family might have been wiped out, but the Aspen blood runs in Belle's veins."Did your grandfather tell you why you had to marry Grayson?" Dorothy asked tentatively. "He said Grayson was a successful man and the grandson-in-law he wanted, but he didn't mention anything else."Dorothy was silent. She'd guessed by now that the marriage was arranged to secure Belle's future. "Your grandfather has good taste. Grayson Page is indeed a successful boy."Belle thought, "But what good is he if he's successful but doesn't like me?"After that, they chatted for a while before Belle left. Dorothy's personal maid, Ethel Cole, asked confusedly, "If I may ask, Mrs. Sylvester Senior … what is Ms. Walter's relation to you?"She assumed they were grandmother and granddaughter, but they didn't look like each other. Dorothy seemed too polite to her and not kind like a grandmother should.Dorothy stared wistfully in Belle's direction, then said, "She's my master, and I'm her servant."Et
To Grayson, it sounded more like it was unlucky to have Belle. He hadn't had a day of peace since he married her. However, he didn't argue and simply nodded before he continued, "Mrs. Sylvester Senior, can you do me the honor and sell me the pill? You can name any price.""I'll be honest. I've just gifted the frostle pill to someone else. However, I have a new pill called the froston pill with the exact effect. Would you like to gift that instead?"Grayson was shocked upon learning that Dorothy had gifted such a precious thing to someone else.But she didn't seem like she was lying, so after some thought, he asked, "Did you invent the froston pill?"Dorothy shook her head. "No, but don't worry, there's nothing wrong with the pill. I've checked."After another pause, Grayson asked, "How much would one pill cost, then? I'll get Sam to transfer the money." He trusted her character and skills, so any pill she recommended must be alright.Dorothy smiled. "Just take it, free of charge.
Grayson found Belle and Sixteen in front of a barbeque food truck inside a fairground, sitting at a table piled with grilled food and surrounded by beer bottles.Belle was stuffing her face at the table while Sixteen gnawed on a chicken drumstick at her feet. The nearby tables were occupied by people either smoking, drinking, or causing a raucous commotion.One of the tables even had shirtless men trading dirty jokes and swearing like sailors, with scantily clad women wearing heavy but cheap makeup that made them look like monsters.Some tattooed men were shouting and boasting at another table, each exaggerating their abilities more shamelessly than the last."Who the hell does the boss think he is? I'll fire him if he dares give me a pay cut!""Yeah! We're all future hotshots here. Why should we let him walk all over us? When I'm rich, I'll be the first to snap up his company." The man wiped his mouth with a tissue as he talked, then tossed it on the ground just like that. The
Grayson didn't ask any further questions. It was getting late, so he demanded that Belle go home again. "Stop drinking! Get up!" he snapped."No. I haven't gone drinking in ages. Let me have two more bottles." Belle didn't want to leave and kept downing bottle after bottle. Clearly, she was drinking to her heart's content now that there was someone to drive her home.Grayson was furious now. "Belle Walters! You'll get drunk if you keep drinking!"Belle pouted. "Why so fierce? That's not very gentlemanly at all. Hmph!" Her voice was a bit whiny, like a little girl's. She was obviously drunk.Grayson was about to drag her away with an angry face when the tattooed young men got offended. "Hey, what are you doing, bro? Can't you tell the lady doesn't want to go?" A blonde guy patted Grayson's shoulder, alcohol on his breath.Grayson moved away and ignored him before asking Belle, "Are you going or not?""No.""Why you—"The blonde guy shoved Grayson before he could finish. "I t