Lawrence's eyes were icy as he glanced toward the door. "Looks like if we don't fix this, we're stuck here for good, huh?"Charles lost it again, his teeth clenched as he hammered the desk, only to wince and pull back in pain."I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out, but I'm terrified. This mission i
Ms. Shadow eyed the imposing figure before her, her heart doing a little flip.The Strategist was hands down the most commanding guy she had ever met—smart, and easy on the eyes, too.Thinking of Helma, who was currently holed up on the first floor, Ms. Shadow's resolve hardened."Strategist, about
The silence in the office was deafening. Cole broke the stillness, finally lifting his head to address Jordan."Go ahead, send all the research we've got over to the Kings! And make sure Andrew gets it, too!"In Greenville these days, the Kings' Guller Mansion was the hub of info, sharing intel with
Two days zipped by, and at eight in the morning, Ethan stepped into Alan's room.Helma was at the bedside, watching a nurse feed Alan his liquid meal.Ethan had found all the staff locally, and they all spoke the language of Cerezo Isle.When Helma saw Ethan enter, she acknowledged him with a cool n
The following day, after she finished checking up on Alan, Helma heard the door swing open behind her. Her gaze grew more intense. She did not turn around, however. Instead, she listened to the footsteps that crept up behind her. "How's he doing today?" came Ethan's deep, concerned voice. Helma kep
Thrown off balance, Helma stumbled, catching herself on the foot of the bed to stay upright.The nausea clung to her as the door slammed shut behind Ethan.Taking deep breaths, Helma tried to steady her racing heart.Alan and Ethan both came from the Shade family, but they could not have been more d
Helma felt a tightness in her chest. "I'm sorry, Charles. Don't worry, I promise I'll take care of you guys—"Charles did not even let Helma finish before he gave her a hard shove. "Enough with the empty talk. I've heard it a million times. If you're so capable, then let us out already. You keep say
An hour later, Cole's wheels rolled to a stop outside the Pearce Group skyscraper.The receptionist on the ground floor did not waste a second and buzzed the big boss's office up top. Owen's right-hand man came down to do the honors."Mr. Guller, Mr. Pearce isn't around. He's out on business."Cole'
With everyone else keeping mum, Silver Obsidian cut to the chase, "We'll go with Helma's plan."For six months straight, Serena had practically lived in the lab. At first, Starlight Blossom did not seem to do much. Everyone was on edge, wondering if it would make any difference at all. Then, in the
During her month off, Helma took a break from the daily preschool runs and whisked her kids away on a travel spree.The trip was not without its scares—Serena had a severe bout of illness.Helma was prepared, yet the sudden severity of the attack caught her off guard.Without a second thought, she r
Under the questioning eyes of the crowd, Helma fired up her laptop and plugged in a USB stick.The video started playing on the massive screen.The timestamp in the corner showed it was from two nights ago.Usually, the lab was locked up tight after hours, and by eight or nine, the research center w
Hort watched her walk away, a storm of emotions on his face.Ever since she joined the research center, he had seen Wendy as this super-capable girl with a heart of gold.Whenever the team hit a wall with the experiments or the data just would not play nice, Wendy was the one who would spark up the
The poor thing's symptoms were straight out of a horror flick: muscles clenching like crazy, nerves on fire, bleeding inside, gasping for air, and foaming at the mouth. Some of them even had their hearts stop cold turkey.According to the timeline, the rat had been juiced up with three rounds of Sta
With the report out of the way, the experiment team kicked things into high gear to wrap up their project.The meticulously calculated data was in, and the verdict was clear: Starlight Blossom's effects were rock-solid stable. The only thing left for the lab mice was one final shot.The brain trust
"Come on, you think the boss is scatterbrained like you? Someone totally did this on purpose!" "Who would do something that evil?!" "Guess we're gonna have to push back the presentation." Everyone looked like they had lost their best friend, except Wendy. She had this worried frown, but her eyes w
After pulling two all-nighters, Helma had the report materials ready to go.The research center was deserted.She stretched, yawned, and glanced at the clock. One AM.She powered down her computer and left, still yawning.Once she was gone, a sneaky figure slipped into the office...Deputy Commander
Helma had tried to get the scoop from Leon, but the guy was like Fort Knox—nothing useful ever slipped out. Therefore, she backed off from the matchmaking game. Still, she was not blind to Wendy's little crush, especially with errands like these document deliveries. "You got it, boss," Wendy replied