Samantha grew angrier the more she thought about it.Her carefully thought-out plan had gone up in flames.She'd been injured for nothing. Her head was still throbbing faintly.Just who had snitched on her?Only her parents and Abraham's confidant knew about this. The only one who could have snitched on her was that worker. It must have been him.How dare a worthless worker like him betray her?Samantha was furious. She said huffily to the driver, "Catch that worker! Fuck him. He has humiliated me! Now Bryce hates me more than ever. Damn it!""Yes, ma'am," the driver said quickly.He began driving, searching for the worker.After leaving Gabelman Manor, the worker walked forlornly on the road.This was an affluent neighborhood. There was no public transport available. There weren't even any cabs around to relieve his feet of the fatigue.As he looked around the road, trying to spot a cab, someone suddenly wrapped a shirt around his head.At once, he was dragged behind the b
A week later, Holly sat in the restoration studio, applying the finishing touches on an ancient painting.Annie came to Treasure Grove, wanting to talk to her about something important. But since Holly was working and couldn't be interrupted, Annie sat quietly on the first floor. She waited for her while sipping on some coffee.Holly worked until noon. Afterward, she went downstairs.Annie went up to her with a smile on her face. "Holly, I'm here to ask you a favor as a representative of my archaeological team."Holly raised an eyebrow. "Archaeological team? When did the switch happen?""It wasn't a switch, exactly. It's basically the same industry. My job at the museum was just because my mom knew someone. Archeology is my real passion. I studied about tombs and ancient booby traps overseas."Holly smiled. "Which tomb are you looking at now?""The ones at Dracowaist Village. A royal tomb has been discovered there, and we're excavating it. There are tons of frescoes and silk pai
Bryce glanced at his watch and said, "I'll go with you."Holly looked at him in mild bewilderment.Their marriage of three years had always been lukewarm. But now, with the fuss of divorce, their relationship seemed much better than before.Bryce's clinginess was like that of a newlywed.Holly considered it and said, "I'm there to work. I won't be able to complete it in just a couple of days. It would take me two weeks, at the very least. With your busy schedule, taking so much time off wouldn't be ideal."Bryce was silent for a moment. "Then, I'll get a few bodyguards to protect you. Is four enough?"That was way too many. She was just going to restore a fresco. Did she really need four suited bodyguards protecting her?It felt ridiculous when she thought about it."Just one is enough. I'm there with an archaeology team, not an army. They're not taking any bodyguards with them. I'll be the only one with a guard. It's just too showy.""You must take at least two of them with y
Two hours later, Holly, Annie, and the rest got off the airplane.Someone was already at the airport waiting for them.They got into the car. It was a bumpy journey to Dracowaist Village.The tomb was at the foot of Mount Dracowaist. It was behind the village.The birch trees in the vicinity were all hundreds and thousands of years old. It wasn't surprising that it was an ancient tomb site.Mount Dracowaist was surrounded by other mountains. There was also a large lake in front of it.It might be deserted, but it was a lovely place for nature hiking.With the help of the tour guide, Holly and Annie finally arrived at the tomb site.People who visited this place were few and far between.The tomb was already halfway excavated.The leader of this archaeological dig was a world-renowned historian and archaeology professor, Alex Gondalez.He led the team up to the tomb site and welcomed Holly.His hair was peppered gray. He looked like he was in his middle age.He had an angul
It was hard for the people in this generation to keep up with the wisdom of people from ancient times.Annie stared at the fresco and sighed. "Holly has a photographic memory. She can remember everything at a glance, down to the smallest detail. She can replicate everything exactly. We should have flown her in earlier."Alex's eyes shone in admiration. "The youngsters these days are just full of surprises. Your generation is truly talented."Annie wagged her eyebrows. "Of course. Holly is a one-in-a-million genius."Holly nudged her, trying to shut her up. Annie shut up at once.Holly said humbly, "We're young and therefore still inexperienced. We should learn from the older generations like you."Alex laughed. "I hear that you're Winston Sinclair's granddaughter.""Yes. I am.""Mr. Sinclair was world-renowned. I've worked with him multiple times before. Alas, he has passed on."Holly felt a sharp stab in her heart when she thought of her dead grandparents.She took a momen
No one dared to utter a word, afraid of disturbing Holly's focus.Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the colors of the painting faded.Alex looked at Holly inquisitively.Holly nodded. "All's good. I remember the colors of the clothes, too."Alex let out the breath he'd been holding. He handed the silk painting over to his assistant and said, "I heard Annie say that your memory was even better than a camera. I didn't believe it before. Now I know that geniuses exist, and they are far better than our predecessors."Holly smiled. "You can save the praise for after I'm done restoring it.""I believe you. You restored 'Mountain Home' by Stanley Warner very perfectly.""Why, thank you very much."After that, Holly had to begin restoring the painting.Because she needed peace and quiet, they let her stay in a motel in the city.The other archaeologists had to either sleep in tents or in the village.Holly and her group arrived at the motel.After settling down, she began evaluatin
Holly immediately grabbed a robe to cover herself. She jumped off the bed and turned on the lights.The bright lights illuminated everyone in the room.Holly's breaths were erratic. She took in the intruder who had assaulted her. It was a thug-like man.He had tan skin, a stocky build, and a genetically unfortunate face.Based on his clothes, he was a local.The man who was pointing a revolver at his head had tan skin and a buzz cut. He looked handsome in a mysterious sort of way. He had on a black coat, and his legs were slim and toned.It was Abelin.Holly hurriedly fastened her nightgown and smoothed out her hair.When she felt more presentable, she said, "Why are you here, Mr. Gabelman?""I was visiting a client of mine."Holly was bewildered. "Here?""Yes. I'm here to collect an ancient artifact," he said gently. Then, he pointed the revolver at the intruder's head and barked, "What's your name?"The intruder's hands shook slightly. Moving his cracked lips, he said wit
Abelin had gone too hard on the first bodyguard. His face was red and swollen.That wasn't just a slap. That was like a wall of iron crashing into his face.Abelin grabbed Mason's shirt and shoved him out the door. "Get up. We're going to the police station."Abelin wanted to investigate him to see if he had come here on anyone's orders.Going to the police station meant filing a police report. Since Holly was the victim, she had to come along as well.The silk painting in the motel was important. She called someone from the archaeological team, asking them to guard the room.They got into their cars in the middle of the night and drove to the police station in the city.Once they arrived, Abelin dragged Mason to the lobby. He said coldly to the policemen, "Do a background check on him."Mason was a local. With such small villages around, it was common for them to know a few people here and there.At the police station, Mason wasn't so afraid anymore.In fact, he began tellin
Sitting by Bryce's bed, Holly softly held his slender fingers as if such a move would keep him safe.She must have been exhausted or emotionally spent, as she soon fell asleep by the bed. She then suffered a nightmare, in which Bryce stood in front of her, covered in blood from head to toe. Forcing a smile, he said to her, "Holly, I can't stay by your side anymore. You need to take care of yourself and be strong."After that, he turned into wisps of smoke and vanished right in front of her eyes. She frantically reached out to hold him, but she was clawing at the air.She waved her hands madly to take hold of him and run after him. Her voice was hoarse from all the yelling. "Bryce! Bryce Gabelman!"Her shouting was futile. Jolting awake, she gasped for air. Her forehead was drenched in sweat, and her eyes were wet from crying.She noticed that she was lying in the caregiver's bed. Someone—perhaps Bryce—had carried her to the bed.Bryce managed to get out of bed and lay by her
"You're injured. Don't stay on the floor—it's cold. Get up now!" Holly cautiously pulled Bryce up from the ground.He was speechless at her response. Any other woman would have happily accepted the ring and put it on.Perhaps, the woman he loved was different from the others.Going on one knee, Bryce refused to get up. He tenderly stared at Holly. "I'll get up after you agree to remarry me.""Get up now, and I'll agree to it."Defeated, he stood up, held her hand, and tried to put the ring on her finger when he was overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness. He lost his balance and collapsed forward onto her.Holly quickly held him and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"Bryce's lips parted. He wanted to reassure her that he was fine, but he couldn't utter a word. Soon after, his fingers that grasped the ring went numb. The large diamond ring dropped to the ground, spinning and clattering until it came to a stop.Panicking, Holly patted his cheek. "What's going on?"However, Bryce didn't
Looking at the man in Holly's embrace, Abelin turned his attention back to his phone. He asked inquisitively, "Who are you?"The person on the other end of the line was filled with anger. "I'm Bryce. I called her phone, but it was switched off."Abelin replied honestly, "She lost her phone.""Where is she right now?" Bryce questioned indifferently.After Abelin told him the villa's address, Bryce hung up.Abelin once again glanced at his phone before looking toward the dazed-looking Holly. "Holly, I think this man might not be Bryce."Holly shook her head. "You don't need to comfort me.""I just got a call from Bryce. He's on his way here."Holly thought he was lying and refused to believe him. When Abelin wanted to pull her away from the corpse, Holly got triggered and pushed him away. "Don't touch him! He'll be in pain!"Seeing Holly in such a dazed and abnormal state, Abelin felt a sense of pity for her.A tall figure emerged from the door about 45 minutes later. He was we
Abelin wanted to follow through with the protocol, but Holly refused.Realizing they weren't locals, the police decided to let them be. Thus, Abelin sent Holly and the corpse back to a villa their family seldom stayed in.Upon arriving at the villa, Holly did nothing but hold onto the bloodied man dazedly. Her heart felt heavy and chaotic. She was filled with regret and self-blame.Did she regret breaking up with him? The answer was no. Instead, she regretted not being firm enough with her decision. If she had been more resolute and didn't give him any hope of reconciling, he wouldn't have flown to Calria to find her. Correspondingly, he wouldn't have gotten into a car accident and died.Death was such a dreadful word. Bryce was gone, forever disappearing from this world. Holly would never hear his voice or see his smile and face. It was all gone.She would never see him again. She would rather he had lived, no matter who he ended up with in the future. She just wanted him to
The driver pressed the pedal, made a U-turn, and accelerated. When Holly arrived at the address Tobin sent, she saw two deformed cars at the crash scene. However, she didn't find anyone there.Holly's heart skipped a beat. She could only call Tobin repeatedly. However, the call didn't go through.Bryce and the others didn't own a car, only renting one after they got off the plane. Thus, Holly didn't know which car belonged to them.The driver continued driving a bit further until they came upon a collision between a car and a truck. The car's front end was completely obliterated. The driver was cut in half at the waist, and the person in the back seat was so badly mangled that his face was unrecognizable.A loud roar echoed in Holly's mind as it went blank. Her gaze fell on the man's blood-soaked suit. This was the deep-colored suit that Bryce always wore. The man had long legs. The wrist that was hanging out of the car wore a Patek Philippe Celestial watch.Holly remembered the
The moment Bryce reached Calria and got off the plane, he received a call from an unknown number. He took the call with furrowed eyebrows. "Hello. Who are you?"Zenia fumed. "I'm Zenia. Holly and Abelin's wedding is today. Your woman snatched away the man I loved!" She hung up the call after that.Bryce didn't believe her. He tapped into his messages, and several wedding photos came into view. Although the images were not high resolution, one could at least make out the newlywed's features.The groom wearing a suit had striking facial features, and Bryce recognized him as Abelin. Meanwhile, the woman was dressed in a fitted floor-length gown and wore a white veil. Under the thin veil, Bryce could make out her defined features. The woman was none other than Holly.Bryce felt like he had been struck by lightning. His mind went blank, and the hand holding the phone turned cold.He could feel his heart sinking and his blood going cold. Instantly, he felt he got toyed and betrayed
Michelle was gravely ill, with her vision and hearing failing. Thus, they should be able to deceive her.While Abelin let out a sigh of relief, Merope threw daggers at him. She couldn't believe he was stupid enough to let go of such a good opportunity. She wondered why someone as smart as her would have such a dumb son.As it was almost time for the wedding ceremony, Merope wheeled the sickly Michelle out. Michelle's complexion seemed better than a few days back, perhaps due to the joyful event or the effects of terminal lucidity. Her dull eyes were shining when she saw Abelin and the fake bride on the red carpet.Michelle pursed her lips and asked Merope, "Is he really getting married to Holly?"Merope replied unwillingly, "Yes.""Bring me over to have a look," Michelle ordered. When Merope wheeled her over to the fake bride, Michelle took her reading glasses from her pocket with trembling hands.Abelin held his breath as Michelle eyed the fake bride up and down. He was fear
Merope pleaded earnestly, "Abel, your grandmother is on her last breath. Please try to fulfill her last wish for her."Abelin didn't seem to reject this plan as much as before. "Wedding arrangements are already in place, and I've notified a couple of cousins. I'll try to make the entire wedding as genuine as possible."Merope was overjoyed. "Why did you suddenly change your mind? Is Holly the bride?""No. I found a woman who looks quite similar to her. Grandma is old and has blurry eyesight. I doubt she'll recognize her."Merope rebuked, "Your grandma isn't blind!""Well, that's all." Abelin then hung up the call.…Three days later, many relatives gathered at the Gabelman residence. The brightly decorated courtyard was filled with people. Abelin hired a professional wedding team in advance, making sure the officiant, red carpet, circular arch, fresh flowers, and bridal bouquet were all in place. A professional violin team was also playing the wedding march.Although it was a
Abelin called Priscilla's bodyguards, and they arrived at the Calria police station together.The bodies were stored in the morgue. Since they weren't Calrians, the police couldn't find any information on them or confirm their identities.However, they were sure that the two bodies had something to do with Priscilla because one of the bodyguards left a long scratch mark on one of the culprit's arms. At that moment, the mark was rotten due to being submerged in the water. The skin was peeling, and it was a horrifying sight.Clearly, the person behind the culprits was worried they might get caught and expose their employer's identity. So, someone was sent to silence them right away. It was easy for someone like them to kill a person.After giving a statement, the police told Abelin that they were going to do an autopsy on the bodies. Once they had news, they would call him again.After coming out of the police station, Abelin got into his car and called Bryce. "The two guys who hu