It was already the second lap, but Sophia still had not found a chance to overtake Mary. Liam said, "I think we should let Mary win. It's too dangerous to overtake her."Elijah replied, "If she wins, she can advance. Do we want to let that ticking time bomb in?"Liam responded, "Isn’t it better to have her right under our noses than somewhere we can't see?"Xena interjected, "Her goal is to explore Black Den. Why would we let her in?"Liam suggested, "If necessary, we'll find an excuse to eliminate her."Xena questioned, "What excuse? If she wins, she'll almost have a perfect score to enter. She might even skip the investigation stage. You won't even have the chance to eliminate her."Andrew remained silent, not participating in their discussion. His eyes remained on the monitor. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing!"Everyone turned to the monitor, only to find that Sophia had successfully overtaken Mary. The red car now dominated the blue one. Elijah was surprised, "Ho
The machine chimed, "Correct."Sophia was surprised, "Oh, he's pretty good."Liam remarked, "Hey, didn’t he participate in the finals last year?""Oh right, he's excellent with computers," Elijah said, "He’s your apprentice, right?"Sophia nodded. "Yeah, he helped design our Ourea’s Peak game cosmetics."Xena chuckled. "It looks like more participations offer more experience."Everyone laughed, thinking Xena was right because Onyx’s progress in the subsequent challenges went smoothly. Of course, he faced deductions, but they did not hinder his advances.Since the finals were next, Liam asked, “What do you think? Will he choose the individual or competitive mode?”Elijah said, "Probably individual. After all, he'll face Visage if he goes competitive."Xena smiled and looked at Sophia. "But wouldn't it be interesting if he recklessly chose competitive? Will you let him off easy?"Sophia said, "Why would he risk that? He has sixty-five points now, and getting fifteen more should
Ethan and Sophia arrived home simultaneously. Since he had been busy these past few days, she wondered what kept him occupied. Sophia asked, “Did you just get home?”Elliot waved her over and smiled as if something good had happened. “Come here.”Sophia got into the car, asking, "What's up? Where are we going?"Elliot said mysteriously, "I’m taking you to see a show.""What show?""Ethan's.”Sophia’s eyes lit up with excitement. “What, are you guys making a movie or something?”Elliot chuckled. “Kind of. I heard Ethan’s visiting Edmund’s grave and is even bringing a shaman to perform rituals for him.”Sophia laughed. “Are you planning to scare him?”“We’ve planned it all out. I found someone with a similar build as Edmund and prepared a mask for him to wear. We’ll scare Ethan all night with sound and lighting effects. Ethan went to see Scar in prison and probably doesn’t know that you can make such realistic masks.”Sophia chuckled. “Didn’t Ethan visit Janine? He did all the
Sophia noticed Elliot’s frown and pulled him closer, saying, “Let’s save the kisses for later and enjoy the show first.”As Ethan and his group walked up the hill, they noticed how much darker it was than usual that night. Meanwhile, Elliot and the others could not see how many people were coming up the hill. Finally, Ethan and his group became more visible as they approached.Leading Ethan and his bodyguard was the shaman Ethan had hired for the ritual. The former followed the yellow-robed shaman closely as the latter carried several items up the hill.Meanwhile, Ethan’s bodyguard, Logan, also carried various items as he trailed behind. Finally, the shaman’s assistant followed Logan while holding a yellow flag. Soon, the group reached Edmund’s tombstone and saw his picture on it.The graveyard was cold and lonely at that moment. Ethan kept his head down as he arranged the items he had brought to the tombstone. He dared not look at the photo.The shaman then instructed his assista
Ethan hurriedly explained, "Edmund, I admit I was wrong! Please spare me. You should haunt Elliot. He’s the one who tried to kill you—"The shaman hastily interjected, "His grudge is too heavy. We can't suppress it. You should seek help elsewhere, Mr. Ethan!"He then ran down the mountain with his assistant. Meanwhile, Logan wanted to help Ethan, but Edmund’s sudden appearance frightened them. He dropped his things and fled with the shaman and the assistant.Ethan saw the fleeing trio and cried in panic, “W-Wait for me!”He stood up and tried to run but saw two more ghosts ahead—they were Elliot’s parents. They floated toward him with the same miserable appearance as before they died."Ethan, we had no grudges against you. Why did you kill us?"Their voices were eerie and terrifying, scaring Ethan so much that he fell and trembled with fear. He then huddled up and held his head, shaking. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to harm you! I just wanted to be the head of the family—"Edmund i
Elliot and Sophia slept all night. After teasing Elliot with a kiss at the graveyard, she pretended as if she had forgotten about it.Elliot suppressed his urges along their journey home. When they finally returned, he carried her to the room and quenched his thirst for her. He knew he could never resist her and would take the chance to sleep with her whenever possible. Elliot wished just to hold Sophia and fool around with her constantly.He grew restless as he watched her sleep peacefully. Although he did not want to disturb her, he would occasionally touch and pinch her. He laughed when he woke her up and saw her eyes rolling."Are you awake?" Sophia was exhausted, but it was strange because Elliot did all the work. Although Sophia had woken up, she had trouble keeping her eyes open.Elliot watched her yawn and squirm under the covers restlessly. He thought his wife looked adorable as he leaned in and kissed her. "Do you want to hear something interesting?"Sophia mumbled a
Elliot said, "Don't worry, Aunt Beverly. My wife’s a doctor. Should I ask her to take a look at Ethan?""No need. I’ll follow the shaman's instructions first. We’ll call your wife if it doesn’t work.""Okay then, I'll take off now. Take care of Ethan.""I will, dear."Elliot then got into his car and video-called Sophia. When she answered, her delicate face appeared on the screen. "Elliot, you're coming home?""Yeah, where are you?"Sophia adjusted her phone's camera, saying, "I'm at Xena’s place."Elliot saw Xena's house through the video call and sighed. Indeed, Sophia insisted on bringing Xena along. He wondered if his wife would have time for him if Xena were around. Still, he said, "I thought you were home. I'll go to the office for now and then pick you up tonight.""Okay."…Hamish looked at Elliot in disbelief. "What? Xena’s going to Bermill?"Elliot glared at him irritably. "Of course she is.""Then I'm going too," Hamish said, "I'll take a week off.""No way!""
After going to the villa, Elliot and Sophia visited Ethan. Beverly was surprised to see the couple, asking, “Elliot, why are you here again?”"Is Ethan feeling any better, Aunt Beverly?""His condition hasn’t changed. He looks like he's lost his senses. The doctor came again and prescribed a bunch of medication. He said it was due to excessive trauma. There's not much we can do but to observe."Elliot glanced at Sophia, then smiled. "I talked to Sophia about it. She's seen similar symptoms to Ethan's before. We're going on a business trip tomorrow, so I wanted her to check on Ethan before we leave.“After all, Ethan is the head of the family. We need his decision on too many things. He can't just keep lying in bed like this.""You're so thoughtful and caring toward Ethan. He hasn't mistreated you, either."Elliot chuckled sarcastically. "Of course not. When I was in a wheelchair, Ethan helped me out when Edmund and Edward bullied me.""Yeah, I’m surprised you remember that. The