"I suspect that some of them are foreign mercenaries," Aria said.The train marshal was stunned for a moment. "You've read too many of those novels, young lady. We inspected everyone onboard very strictly so foreign mercenaries couldn't have boarded the train.""Usually." Aria opened a photo on her phone. "Look at the weird position of their hands. Also, the babies in these women's arms were all drugged."The train marshal shot up instantly after seeing the photo. It was obvious that this young marshal hadn't encountered something so serious before. "I'll report this to my superiors immediately.""You don't have time to. Where is the broadcasting system? Take me there," Aria said.The young train marshal was still hesitating. According to regulations, passengers couldn't enter the driver's compartment and the broadcasting room.Noticing that, Aria made a call immediately. "Have the conductor and person in charge of train K122 issue a command to every staff member onboard. Inform
"Yeah, that was weird as hell. He was saying something about how the hospital sold them, not him, and that they shouldn't come to him. What did this hospital sell?""Sounds dangerous. It's probably some shady hospital."Carriage 6 was instantly filled with a cacophony as everyone discussed what had happened. Under such circumstances, it was normal for people to develop curiosity about current events. However, some of the passengers didn't join the conversation; they were watching where Dean was taken away to, as if waiting for an opportunity to strike. Luckily, the train stopped temporarily, giving them time to devise a plan again. Pandemonium hadn't ensued because they were exposed but because Dean had suddenly spiraled into madness. Under such special circumstances, the last thing they wanted was for their plan to unravel halfway.Meticulous preparation was necessary prior to delivering a batch of goods. Not only did they have to bribe various authorities, but they also had to
The train marshal dealing with Marna was conflicted for a moment. Had the higher-ups made a mistake? After all, not every woman with a baby was involved in this case. While the officer hesitated, Marna started crying piteously. "I'm just taking my baby back to my hometown with me. Please, sir, you can't just arrest innocent people like me!"I'm so unlucky! Oh, dear! Why did I take this train? I should've gone back one day later. My son's grandparents wanted to see him badly, so I decided to rush back. Little did I know this would happen to me!"The authorities were most wary of people like her, with kind faces and little education, because they couldn't determine her alleged innocence.Even the other passengers were vouching for her. "Is there a misunderstanding, sir? She had been holding this baby in her arms. She wasn't talking much, and she didn't board the train with these men.""Exactly, sir—"The passengers onboard tended to be kind. Whenever something like this happened,
Even the members of the organization thought Bart was the leader. They didn't know Marna's true identity. She'd thought that she could escape from this unscathed. Even if she was arrested, she had prepared an excuse—she'd claim that she was doing this under coercion. However, this wouldn't happen, not when Aria was here. She was skilled in analyzing the logic behind people's actions as well as mental profiling, and she'd noticed, way earlier on, that Bart would look at Marna first whenever he spoke.Marna looked like a woman holding a baby, someone even Bart could be aggressive toward. However, that was only the surface. She had remained calm since the arrest started, and unlike everyone else involved, she was yet to be haunted by vengeful spirits.Like Bart, she carried an item that repelled vengeful spirits, which was why they dared not approach her. Aria yanked on the length of red string around Marna's neck, and the older woman suddenly turned pale. In front of her stood a
The train marshal didn't believe her. "You'd better tell the truth. Serenity Hospital is very reputable.""I'm telling the truth," Marna insisted, her voice shaky as she stared at Bart. She feared the ghost child might also start perching on her shoulder. The train marshal looked at Aria. "But Serenity Hospital…""Just because it's reputable doesn't mean there aren't immoral doctors," Aria replied flatly, not dwelling too much on this issue. After all, the Gunther family was a prime example in Southbury. Besides, one might lie when faced with others, but they couldn't do so when facing their inner fears.Aria leaned forward, her hands pressing into the table as she asked Marna, "Did they only provide the birth certificates to you, or did they also do something else? Did the parents not question the hospital when their babies died?""Some questioned, and some simply accepted it." Marna's hands trembled. "The hospital judges the parents by their financial situation as well. If the
Lucas' life took an unexpected turn when he met Aria, though Lily, confident in her knowledge, remained blissfully unaware.When Aria called, Lucas was packing up at the office, preparing to leave with one last glance around. Outside his door stood his secretary, Micah Wattiby, holding his phone.Micah knew Lucas had been inundated with requests for favors since his recent promotion. With more people seeking his attention, Micah hoped to leverage this moment to secure a position alongside Lucas in Janovin, which would greatly advance his career.Eager to discuss this with Lucas, Micah struggled to conceal his ambitions as he answered the call. "Mr. Murray is in a meeting and cannot take your call. Please leave a message, and I will relay it," he said curtly.Aria raised an eyebrow, curious if Lucas had replaced his secretary. "Can you tell me when the meeting ends?""I can't do that," Micah replied, frowning. Who did she think she was?Noting his attitude, Aria smirked. "Does Mr.
Aria took Lucas' words to heart, constantly considering his perspective."I have a lead on Uludon's human trafficking case. Besides the people you arrested, there's a major player connected to Serenity Hospital."Serenity Hospital was the last place Lucas expected to be involved. "Serenity Hospital? This is shocking. Whoever can control that place must be quite powerful.""Exactly," Aria replied, explaining further. "There's something important to note about Serenity Hospital. They are the ones issuing birth certificates for the trafficked children on the train I'm on."Mercenaries are even involved, which is unusual for typical trafficking operations. I questioned the mastermind, but she seemed unaware of the mercenaries' involvement. But I'll keep digging on my end."Within the next half hour, there will be a news report about child trafficking on a train. You can use Serenity Hospital as a starting point to investigate the people behind it."Lucas recognized the gravity of the
"Huh?" The person on the other end of the line made a double-take, unable to believe Aria was going through with the delivery. But that was precisely Aria's intent as she handed Marna back her phone."Based on what you just said, the recipient will contact you," Aria replied dismissively. "As someone in this profession, you should know when to expect his call. I noticed you've deleted all your recent calls. How often do you contact him?"Marna hadn't expected that question. "They call us every three hours." She glanced at Bart. "If they can't get ahold of Bart, they'll contact me."As if on cue, Bart's phone began to ring. Marna's face drained of color.Aria raised an eyebrow. "Answer it and say something came up. Mention that someone encountered a few ghosts in their dreams, but it won't affect the delivery."Marna wanted to refuse, but fear held her back. She knew that the ghost children would come after her if Aria left. So, she reluctantly took the call.An annoyed voice
Everyone in the café had been enjoying their afternoon tea when they heard the commotion. They turned to look. "Where's the server?" Nisa called out. These rich ladies were all regulars who paid hefty annual membership fees. At their summons, the manager appeared with a smile before any server could respond. "Mrs. Guetta, how may I help you?" "Jonah, perfect timing. I was wondering when this place started letting country bumpkins like her in," Nisa said, her gaze sweeping over Lily. Without hesitation, Jonah Marx kicked Lily out. At that same moment, Aria arrived for their appointment. Traffic had been terrible. She had only agreed to meet Nisa because she needed to uncover something important. In her dreams, there was still one voice that hadn't appeared. The owner of that voice had harmed her mother, Fiona. She would never feel at peace until she dug out the person behind it. Aria was never worried about threats from others. For instance, she knew about Lily's wild accu
Dorian was grinning from ear to ear, showing none of the dignity expected from someone of a prominent family. He had less class than a common street hustler. The members of the Chamber of Commerce had good reason to look down on him. Dorian didn't believe that Neval, who was addicted to gambling, wouldn't return to the country for at least ten years. Once they took down the Grisham family, he'd be calling all the shots in the Chamber of Commerce! Dorian truly took after Magdalene in this aspect. The latter embodied all the worst traits of her generation—a twisted mindset and was always scheming something. Also, she was arrogant and had a superiority complex. Magdalene didn't want Neval to return, which explained why she'd readily given him money. She thought that Waymond would soon be arrested. Then, the Grisham family would go from riding high to crashing and burning, and Aria would pay the price. These were already set in stone! The prominent families' joint effort to targe
In the Fitzroy family, only Neval saw things clearly, despite being a screw-up. Everyone else was blinded by their own arrogance. Laura, of course, never saw it that way. Perhaps too much time had passed, which made her forget how she had married into the Grisham family in the first place. She had also forgotten what it meant to be grateful. Without the Fitzroy family's involvement, Orion's long-standing attempts to sabotage Waymond would have failed. This had been an unspoken secret between the two families for years. Magdalene had always been the head of the Fitzroy family. The best thing about her younger son, Dorian Fitzroy, was that he would always follow her orders. Neval wasn't her biological son, but Dorian was. As a child born in her later years, Dorian was showered with love. Now, he sat at the meeting place where several families had agreed to gather. "How do you plan to deal with Aria?" The Guettas were the ones who had organized this meeting. They used to keep
Magdalene said, "In the past, our family had helped the Grishams to survive. But now..." She took a sip of her tea. "They're digging their own grave, and we can't help them anymore." Just as she finished speaking, a middle-aged man walked in. When Magdalene saw him, her brows immediately furrowed. Her eldest son, Neval Fitzroy, was her least favorite child. He had brought nothing but shame to the Fitzroys. If he hadn't developed a gambling addiction, the Fitzroy family wouldn't have fallen this far. She asked, "What are you doing here?" Neval rubbed his hands together and snickered. "Mom, I'm a little short on cash lately. I mainly came because I missed you, but I'm also here to ask for a little money." Before Magdalene could respond, Laura stood up. "Neval, Mom just gave you 20 million last month. You shouldn't have spent it so quickly." Magdalene had been in a good mood, but now her face darkened. "Did I raise you to leech off me? How could 20 million dollars be gone so
Orion slammed his fist hard on the table. He'd been played by someone who looked like nothing more than a trust fund kid. Yet he had no choice but to let Aria manipulate him. Because no matter what he said, someone would show up to "take care of" him. At this point, he could only make everything look like a simple financial crime in order to protect himself. Aria had calculated this perfectly and planned accordingly. Even now, most people saw Aria as just some young hotshot who made money but didn't understand the bigger picture. They thought because she came from a small town, she was naïve enough to believe taking down the Draycott family would solve everything. In reality, she would be dragging herself down as well. Unless she didn't plan to stay in Ludwiten at all! Most people who thought this way were driven by pride and jealousy. They wouldn't admit they wished they were in Aria's shoes. The Carvers had raked in so much money from the stock market this time around. The
"Yes, I'm sure," Gabe said, having checked everything carefully. The old man thought for a moment. "Find a way and get someone else to tell Orion what he should and shouldn't say. If he's smart enough, he should understand." "Alright." Gabe pushed up his glasses. "Don't worry; everything will be handled." The old man's eyes were deep and calculating. "To achieve great things, some people must be sacrificed. If necessary, offer the Draycott family some benefits. Go take care of the Bellebrook situation." Gabe chuckled. "They're just some greedy, low-class people. They only succeeded because of you, yet they always think they made it on their own." "Gabe, mind your words." The old man had a kind face. Looking at him, one would think he cared for all people. Judging from his simple lifestyle, he did not seem like someone who would do bad things at all. Even the cup he used was bought from the supermarket for just over ten dollars. "Go now. As I've always said, anyone can l
Aria's question made Orion freeze right away. The scholarship program was his secret lifeline. He simply couldn't figure out how she knew so many details about everything! "You've been setting me up in the stock market all this time. How did you also find out about the scholarship program?" Orion felt genuinely scared now—everyone had really underestimated Aria. When had she done all this research? She'd dug deeper than he ever imagined. The scariest part was that neither he nor that person had noticed anything. They all thought she was just helping the Carver family restore their former glory. Keeping the Chamber of Commerce out of the Carver family's hands was that person's strict order. That was why the Draycotts had climbed so quickly within the organization over the years. They all assumed Aria had come to Ludwiten to target the Chamber. But now... Orion looked up again. "The scholarship program is weird business. I only handled recruitment. I don't know where those peop
Orion said, "I don't know much, honestly." He looked at Aria with hesitation, as if he was afraid to name that person. He made a gesture instead. "That person is the lieutenant governor of Ludwiten, who has many achievements to his name. "If you're brave enough to investigate, I can tell you about the deals I handled. But I don't know about the rest." Aria raised an eyebrow. Her expression said everything—she had already kidnapped him, so did he seriously think she would be afraid to investigate this further? Orion took a deep breath. "I just handle the money. That person wants something bigger—he wants to make history, but he's been in poor health lately. He needs me to keep certain people in line, but I can't give you details since I really don't have proof." "Which people does he control? And how does he do it?" Aria asked casually. Orion glanced upward, his eyes slowly losing focus. "I have no idea which people." "Mr. Draycott, I thought you would have learned by now.
"Who the hell are you?" Orion shouted as he couldn't hold back anymore. He gripped the armrests hard, almost jumping out of his chair. But Aria barely glanced his way. "I brought you here, didn't I? Who do you think I am?""Y-You're..." Orion remembered a rumor from a business dinner about a Special Missions Unit that operated outside normal chains of command. They could investigate anyone without going through regular channels.Their authority even topped the Regular Missions Unit. Orion had laughed it off back then. Every group had to answer to someone higher up, so there couldn't be a unit with that kind of freedom. In Ludwiten, everyone answered to that one big shot. But now he realized such a thing actually existed!Orion's face turned ghostly pale. "Are you… a part of the Special Missions Unit?"Only that could explain everything! With all her digging and investigating, that person would have noticed what she had been doing. But Orion did not understand something. "