Shea reacted swiftly and kicked away the tile from Charlene’s hand before kicking at her lower abdomen. She did not hold back her strength at all. Charlene landed face-down on the ground and was rendered incapable of getting up. A few prison guards walked over, pinned her against the ground, and cuffed her hands behind her back. She was incapable of moving. Noticing that Charlene could not fight back, Shea helped Deirdre up on her feet. “Miss McKinnon, I’ll send you to the hospital. The injury on your face…”“It’s fine.” Deirdre wiped away the blood on her face. “It’s not deep. I’ll just get it dressed later.”Her utmost priority now was Charlene. Even though this woman was determined to kill her, Deirdre still wanted to acquire information about her father from Charlene. It was because Charlene would never be the most terrifying opponent. After all, her methods were nothing compared to those people.“Charlene, we can talk again if you have calmed down.” Her eyes were calm.
“To the mansion? However, your injury…”“It’s not a big deal. I’ll just clean the wound briefly. It’s not necessary to go to the hospital.”Shea felt extremely guilty, and Deirdre knew about it. Before getting out of the car, she said, “Shea, I know what you’re thinking now. Don’t tell Brendan about my injury, and don’t punish yourself over it either.”Shea was momentarily stunned before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Miss McKinnon. I’m sorry I didn’t manage to protect you. It’s my fault for neglecting my duty. If I choose to hide from Mr. Brighthall, I will do him a disservice. I’m sorry, Miss McKinnon. I will not only tell Mr. Brighthall about it, but I will also accept my punishment.”Deirdre was frustrated by Shea’s stubbornness. “I’m asking you not to tell Brendan, not because I want you to do us a disservice but because Brendan’s health is very poor now. He will surely be worried if you tell him about my accident. However, he’s still in the hospital. Do you want him to get o
Deirdre was a little dejected to hear that, but she nodded nonetheless. “Yeah. She… somehow knows something about my father.”After administering first-aid, Mrs. Engel called the family doctor and had them treat the wound on Deirdre’s face. It was not a serious injury, but the environment where Deirdre was hurt was not known to be sanitary, so an infection seemed a little too likely. The doctor had to sanitize her wound multiple times. Finally, they swiped some healing cream and pressed a bandaid on her cut, not too big to stick out but not too small to be ignored either.Deirdre was planning to coordinate a fib with Mrs. Engel to fool Brendan—her suggestion was to call it “an injury from being poked by something”—when Brendan suddenly called her. “What happened during your visit to prison?”Deirdre’s heart almost leaped out of her throat. How did he learn about that so soon? She had just returned for a few minutes!Still, she was not going to just come clean immediately. “Nothin
Charlene was dead? The person who held secrets about her father… was dead!?“She died from rat poisoning. Her cell mates claimed that she had become so hungry that she would pick up things from the floor to eat. She accidentally ingested some rat poison this way, and by the time her cell mates returned, she was gone.Deirdre clutched the edge of her blanket tightly. Her mind blanked. ‘How did this happen? She just… died like that, so suddenly.’Deirdre had been under the impression she could afford to wait a little longer before prying information from Charlene’s lips, but the latter ended up being more short-lived than expected.“Miss McKinnon?”Deirdre snapped out of her daze. “Did you check? Are you sure it really is her?”“I looked. No one else in that prison bore the same disfigured face.”“I… see.”The call ended, and Deirdre fell into a daze on her bed. Any clarity she had was replaced with genuine confusion. It was not that she was unwilling to believe it—it was just
Deirdre had personally told her that Charlene had information about her father. She had even divulged the knowledge she had gathered so far. Shea was a member of Brendan’s organization—he trusted her, and her loyalty could not be doubted.Thus, Deirdre was left with one last suspect. Her headache intensified into a painful, throbbing migraine. Brendan got down from his bed and pulled her into his arms. He ran his hand down her shaking back in comfort and did his best to hide how sick he really looked. “It’s okay, Dee. Calm down. Don’t overthink. I’m here with you.”Deirdre tightened her arms around him. His scent… It made her feel safe. She finally settled down, but that abject helplessness remained. It was, unfortunately, immune to being banished. “Could it be that I have trusted the wrong person all along, Brendan? I just… can’t believe this. I can’t believe it could be her! She treated me like… I was her own daughter, Brendan. If she wanted something bad to happen to me, s
“It doesn’t matter now that Charlene is dead.” Deirdre hung her head, sighing. “The fact that I didn’t manage to get any information about my father upsets me. I should have known Charlene had a target painted on her back! If only… If only I stayed there and waited for her answer right there and then instead of giving her a few days to mull it over!”“Nobody would have known someone would silence her. Not even me,” replied Brendan, his fingers gently smoothing the creases in Deirdre’s frown. “Don’t blame yourself. You did brilliantly. At least now we know there’s a mole among us. We can use her.”“I know.” Deirdre nodded tiredly. She wished it was all just groundless conspiratorial thoughts in her head. The last thing she wanted was for it to become real. After calming her nerves down, Deirdre thought about her conversation with Charlene before a thought hit her. “Speaking of which… Brendan, do you know a place called Southedge?”“Southedge?” Brendan frowned. “If I recall correctl
“Gosh, Miss McKinnon! What happened to you? You look terrible. Is it the cold? Aww, this is why I told you to wear one more layer of clothing over your first one! Good thing I prepared this coat for you, huh?” Mrs. Engel nagged in concern as she cupped Deirdre’s hands in her own, warming her. Deirdre cast her eyes down as a war of conflicting sentiments raged in her head. How was she supposed to believe this kindly older woman was a mole all along? Or that she was one of them?She could feel her unrestrained, almost sincere care for her. So why was the same kindly older woman working for those people to harm her?Brendan gently pulled Deirdre into his arms, stunning Mrs. Engel, who let go. “Mr. Brighthall! Why have you changed out of your hospital gown?” she asked. “I’m ready to be discharged.”“Discharged? Today?” Mrs. Engel was shocked. “But the doctor told me you’re to stay hospitalized for a week more.”“I know how well my health has recovered, and I know for sure I don’t n
Brendan smiled and pulled Deirdre into his arms. He leaned his head on her shoulder, but a shadow shrouded his mien. “Do you remember when I told you that Southedge lags behind Eastgene?”“Yes?”“Looks like things have changed.”Deirdre froze and shot him an aside glance. “What do you mean?”“Southedge is an island, so its development echoes that of a small country. It’s completely different from metropolises like Neve, especially when its geography and resources could not compare to that of a large country. Southedge was, at most, a second-class city… until now. According to the information Sam gave me back in the car, Southedge is developing at a pace that could possibly eclipse Neve.”Deirdre was bewildered. Neve was the nation’s most prioritized first-class metropolis. Southedge, in comparison, was just a remote island. How could the latter somehow match the first?“But how?”Brendan’s expression darkened. “This is what puzzled me. Maybe local authorities have been working t