However, his phone had been taken away when he was held. As he had no way to communicate with the outside world, Austin planned to go downstairs to seek help from Dominic.When he tried to open the door, he realized it was locked from the outside.He was surprised when he was unable to open the door. He yanked it, then twisted the handle, but the door did not budge. Austin pulled the handle with all his might, but to no avail. Then he realized Dominic had locked him inside the room.‘But why? Didn’t he say there was no virus in me? Why did he lock me up if there’s no virus?’“Uncle Dom, open the door! Uncle Dom?!” He banged on the door and shouted, trying to get Dominic to come.However, no one responded even after he shouted till his throat hurt. Either there was no one upstairs or Dominic was intentionally ignoring him.At his wit's end, Austin turned and looked around, then finally came to the window and opened it to look downstairs.He could not stick his head out due to a
Someone had called Austin a human trafficker for the first time in his life. He was nonplussed and caught himself after two seconds before reaching an arm through the grille to point at Galen.“Hey, you little brat! Who are you calling a human trafficker? Have you seen such a good-looking one? How could you accuse me of such things?!”“Who are you calling little brat, Little Brat?” Having given no response, Dominic suddenly leaped out of nowhere and shouted at Austin.Austin lost his nerve when he saw his granduncle. “U-Uncle Dom, it wasn’t me…”“Who else but you? I heard it! I’m doing you a favor by letting you stay here, you know? How dare you scold my grandson?” Dominic stood akimbo and argued loudly with him.Austin was at a loss for a moment.He tried vainly to stop himself from retorting, “Uncle Dom, I’m your grandnephew. That little brat—" He noticed Dominic’s glare and quickly amended, “That little thing did it on purpose. Besides, he is not related to you…”His voice gr
“Argh!” He screamed in pain. Unlike the soundproofed place where he was held, the open space outside allowed his howl to echo loudly. “Gahhh! Argh!”Besides a headache, his eyes were also hurting, as if they were bulging. Austin wanted to hold his head with both arms, but one remained stuck in the grille. He could only hammer his head with one hand while trying to swing his other arm.Either his strength grew due to the pain, or the grille had finally loosened after he kept swinging for a long time. The metal framework suddenly detached from the wall with a loud clang.The window grille remained on his arm. Having lost much of his sanity, Austin instinctively wanted to free himself and kept banging it about. The clangs of the grille banging against the wall were too loud.Dominic hurried out of the house and looked upstairs. “You brat, what the hell are you doing? You…”Before he could finish, his eyes widened as Austin banged the grille against the wall a few times, then suddenly
Austin had no energy left when he woke up again. He opened his eyes and stared upward in a daze. Still not fully awake, Austin tried to move his arm but could only lift his fingers. His throat was itchy, so he wanted to cough but could only breathe when he opened his mouth.It was a weird feeling. It was as if Austin was on the brink of death but had hung on by a single breath. He could not die, yet could hardly live.“You’re awake?” A gentle voice sounded.Austin wanted to turn his head but could only move his eyeballs.“Don’t try to move. You’ve drained your energy. Even if you want to move, it’ll be hard.” Dominic guessed what his grandnephew wanted to do and sighed before sitting beside Austin. Dominic was holding a bowl of steaming herbal medicine but looked gentler.“I…” Austin struggled to speak. He had too many questions, but his throat was unbearably dry, and it would take a lot of energy to utter even a single word.Dominic leaned over and pulled Austin’s blanket up a b
“Does...”“The medicine only helps balance your bodily functions and replenish your energy and vitality. It doesn’t counteract the virus, so don’t expect too much!” Feeding him the medicine, Dominic said, “I’m no god, and I can’t yet figure out what’s going on within you. I won’t be able to come up with a cure so soon, okay?”Austin remained quiet and drank the medicine. He knew Dominic could not have come up with a cure so quickly, if he could at all. He did not want to put too much faith in him for fear of being disappointed.However, he was glad Dominic was being friendly to him.After feeding Austin, Dominic looked at him while holding the empty bowl, and sighed. "We don't know what's inside you yet, but you know how bad the pandemic has gotten. For your safety, stay here for the time being. Of course, you can’t move even if you want to. Let me... think of something.”He sounded angry when he said the last sentence.“Thank…” Before Austin could say “you,” he saw Dominic stalk
When asked so, Lily only said blandly, “We’ll know in a while.”“Even if he’s truly the one, will he still do anything now despite the risk?”The man removed his goggles and revealed half of his face—he was none other than Dr. Blanc, who ordered her containment.Lily nodded affirmatively. “He will!”She then asked a seemingly unrelated question. “I heard the vaccine development center has started its research recently?”“That’s right.” Dr. Blanc answered. Although he was not in charge of the vaccine's development and it was outside of his purview, he was aware of it because it was significant and related to what they were doing.“What does it have to do with whether he will act, though? Even if the development of the cure is stalled, would it impede vaccine research? Or are there conspirators over there as well?” Pausing, Dr. Blanc seemed to think about something and said, “Oh, yes, I remember your husband’s company initially securing that project before it… reopened for tender,
“He’s doing something!” He turned and walked out of the door with Lily in tow. The workers were surprised to see Lily walking behind Dr. Blanc along the way. “Isn’t Dr. Russell…”However, as they were walking fast without stopping and Dr. Blanc looked grim, no one dared to ask any questions and simply looked on as they headed toward the wards.‘Is there… an emergency again? But we’re not getting any alerts from the wards!’While the doctors and nurses wondered, Dr. Blanc and Lily had arrived at the VIP ward area. They hurried past the door to Debbie’s room and headed straight to… Alexander’s room.Dr. Blanc slammed the door open with such force and speed that even Lily was taken aback.‘He usually looks gentle and cautious, yet the way he kicked the door was bold and fearless.’Alexander, who should be lying in it, was holding someone face-down on the bed with his arms locked behind him.He was wearing the hospital gown, but he was invigorated, and his gaze was cold and piercing
“Dr. Blanc, I don’t get it.” Edmund still tried to defend himself, but Lily interrupted him before he could finish. “Is this necessary?”Edmund was quiet.“Do you think you can lie your way out of this? Or do you think we would show up and expose you without proof?” Lily felt a mix of emotions as she looked at Edmund.She had known Dr. Blanc and Edmund the longest and was most familiar with them. Although she and Edmund were far from good friends, they at least worked well together. At first, she could feel he did not trust her, but she later discovered him to be a relatively objective person.She could accept Edmund holding a prejudice against her just like Austin did, but it was difficult for her to believe he was a traitor.Edmund suddenly laughed when hearing Lily’s words and seeing Dr. Blanc’s expression. He tilted his head back and let out a long sigh. As if he was relieved of a heavy burden, he looked relaxed, and the smile on his face grew… creepy.“I never expected this.