Not long after they returned to their rooms, Silas called Ethan."Wendy and I have searched every place that could hide a person just as Victoria has ordered us to do. We did not see anyone from the Summers family. We've looked around for a long time."There was evidence that someone stayed there not too long ago. They must have been transported elsewhere within the past few days."When Wendy returned to her room, she found a piece of paper. On it was a message saying the people inside had already been transported away, but they did not say where."Ethan quickly told Victoria everything Silas had told him.He frowned. "Does anyone in Maplewood Village know about your real identity and purpose? Is it one of the Summers family's spies? They must have quite a high position in the organization."If they knew the Summers family members were being transported away, why don't they tell us where they are? Whose side are they on? Do you know what they look like?""I don't know. I've been
Yvette and Colette were arrested under concrete evidence, especially Colette.Once Colette's crimes were brought to court, she might face the death penalty.Yvette had helped a criminal escape for the sake of money. She also had charges for Yvonne's life. Even if she did not serve a life sentence, she would not be freed in such a short amount of time.Sienna was able to release her. She was undoubtedly a capable woman.But if Benjamin had been there … no, it would be hard for her to pull the whole thing off even if only Yves was there."Sienna is Ethan's fiancée. She must have gone to Youngville for Ethan. She doesn't get along with Mrs. B. She must have ulterior motives by spending so much effort to free Yvette."Yves was furious.Although he was easily confused, he wasn't really dumb.He knew how much Benjamin cared for Victoria.If something had happened to Victoria, Benjamin would have torn Horkville apart and rushed straight to Yrinas.His ability to stay put in the host
Victoria thought of the matters that kept her up last night even while she washed up.When she headed outside, she looked at Ethan. The corners of his lips were upturned."You should act normal. Don't you know that it's very scary when you suddenly laugh out loud?"He ignored her and said firmly, "Once Ashton sees us, he'll only think that I've successfully brought home a beauty. He wouldn't think much of it."She was speechless."I don't want people to speculate about me. Forget about it. Do as you please.""Ashton is suspicious by nature. He's submissive now and acts as if he's absolutely obedient to you. But he's probably never lowered his guard around us."The woman jumping off the building last night was his way of feeling us out. He'll definitely become more wary of us if we take action."Victoria had done nothing. Firstly, she thought that the woman and child viewed death as an escape. Another point was that she had been aware of Ashton's presence before he appeared.Th
After Ethan entered the lab, he put all the tools and ingredients he needed onto the table.Because the amount of samples needed this time was larger, he chose instruments that could hold a larger volume.Once he had chosen everything, he quickly entered work mode.Victoria was dressed in lab gear. She was seated at the side.Sharon's gaze constantly remained on him. It was as if her gaze was glued on to him and was thus immovable. Her gaze was too obvious.Ashton felt extremely anxious as he looked in from the window. He was afraid that Ethan would lose his temper. His one billion would be for nothing.Thankfully, everything went smoothly.Four hours later, Ethan took off his gas mask.His face was pale due to over four hours of intense work that required high concentration. He looked extremely tired. He was also sweaty and looked like he was about to collapse.Sharon was concerned. She rushed to the front to support him. Just as she touched him, he exploded.He pushed her h
The dumb, narcissistic smile on Ethan's face quickly faded. His face became gloomy, and his mood had soured.Victoria poured him a glass of water. "If the person you missed suddenly appeared before you one day, could you accept it?"He thought about it deeply as he looked at her. His eyes held a spark of hope. "What do you mean? They're still alive?" She did not deny it. She asked hypothetically, "If someone you cared about did something you couldn't accept and crossed the line? Would you forgive her?"He knitted his brows. "What are you trying to say? Are you hiding something from me? What unacceptable thing are you talking about? Your question depends on the person involved. If it's you, I have no lines. Although you picked Benjamin over me, I will still do as you say. We're doing something that may cost us our lives, but I've never once had any doubts," he said. She felt that she was speaking to a wall. "I have something to do tonight, so I'll be going out. Follow m
Ethan was confused. "What's wrong?"Victoria looked around and released his hand. She pointed at the mobile house and said softly, "I'll give you an explanation later. Let's go take a look.""Why can't you explain it to me before we go inside?"She looked at him and explained her speculation. "I've heard that two cars arrived at the factory two days ago. Look at that mobile house. It's new and hidden halfway up the mountain. The location is covert, too. I suspect that the Summers could be inside. I'd like to confirm it."Her eyes were bright and eager. Upon hearing her words, Ethan was slightly taken aback."I'll accompany you inside then. Let's handle this quickly," he said. He took the opportunity to hold her hand again.She glanced at him but did not shake his hand off. She led while he followed. Under the dim light, the crease between his brows portrayed his restlessness.He had an inkling regarding Sharon. He wanted to know the truth, but he was scared to know it.Th
Victoria looked at Timothy, whose pupils suddenly dilated, and reached out to touch his arm.She could feel his temperature rapidly rising. His pulse was beating rapidly, too.She was familiar with this reaction. She held him still and turned her head sharply to look at Steven.Steven and Leon helped to hold him down.Steven's brows were knitted, and his whole body was shivering. He dejectedly and helplessly said, "Tim and I were injected with drugs. They said it's a new product that they've invented …" Timothy's eyes were wide open. His expression was pained. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain.He was conscious at first and could handle the pain. But gradually, his sense of reason was chipped away by the pain. He started begging. "Give, give me … Give me the drugs."Victoria tensed. Her brows knitted, and her heart welled with regret.She never thought that the product created by Ethan would be used on Timothy and Steven.Timothy's drug addiction became harder to b
The more Victoria spoke, the more heinous and atrocious she found Ashton's crimes. She was so angry she could not help but want to rush over and kill him."They're in a very bad position right now. We need to speed things up."She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. She then looked at Ethan. She asked, "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask? Ask, and I'll answer."Her thoughts were rather chaotic. She could not think of a good idea at the moment, so she planned to reply to his questions first.He sat by her side.He stayed silent for some time, then he said very quietly, "I saw her face. Is it true? When did you know about this?""The first day we arrived at the lab, I felt that something was off. She kept staring at you.""Ashton placed her in the lab to steal my formula. She stared at me because she wanted to learn it secretly. What's off about that?"She replied, "But she wasn't looking at your hands. She was looking at your face instead. Though I found it odd
Victoria saw that Benjamin wasn't looking like he was kidding at all. She placed both of her hands on his chest and turned her head away when he leaned in to kiss her.She then pushed him away hard and changed the topic by saying, "I heard that Solomon was beaten up in his own house last night."Benjamin chuckled lowly and said, "There's no use changing the topic."As he was talking, he arched his neck and pressed his lips near Victoria's ear.Victoria's ears, especially her helix, were extremely sensitive. She subconsciously pulled her hands back and covered her ears with her palms.Benjamin took the chance to wrap his arms around Victoria's waist and pulled her close to him. His face was close to hers.Victoria could feel Benjamin's burning desire as she was pressed down onto his lap. She now knew better than to struggle.This was just shooting herself in the foot!It wasn't that she didn't know what he was like, but she just had to stir him up.Victoria felt uneasy when she
Victoria used her other hand to support her cheek as she blinked.She said, "How could someone who dislikes wasting words and unnecessary chatter nag endlessly over just a small wound?"Benjamin coldly asked, "Are you complaining that I'm long-winded and annoying now?"He looked aggrieved, as if he would be angry if Victoria were to answer "yes".Victoria laughed out loud again and replied, "I'm not!"She used her finger to poke at Benjamin's cheek.She was smiling when she asked, "Are you madly in love with me, Benjamin?"Benjamin looked at Victoria seriously as he crouched by her legs.If it was before this, he would've nodded and replied "of course" without hesitation. But now …Benjamin couldn't be as confident and sure when he recalled Wendy's previous words.Victoria didn't think much of it and took Benjamin's silence as affirmation.She continued, "I'm thinking that you're definitely madly in love with me. That is why you're so heartbroken and reacted abnormally even
"Where are we heading to now, Ben and Mrs. B? Why are the people here so weird? Why are they dressed up as if they're in a period drama?"What is this place? Why are the both of you here?"Yves was back to his lively self as soon as he got into the carriage. He started asking endless questions."You regained your memories now, Ben? I knew you'd never forget about Mrs. B no matter what. Even if you did, you'd definitely remember everything as soon as you saw Mrs. B!"Yves gushed on. It took him a good while to realize that Benjamin's expression had changed. Even the atmosphere in the carriage became strange.He asked, "Did I say something wrong?"Wendy laughed dryly and replied, "He's not as deeply in love with Victoria as you think he is. He didn't remember anything."Yves laughed awkwardly before pursing his lips.He started to butter Victoria up."How did you know Ben is here, Mrs. B? How did you find—"Victoria pursed her lips and glanced at Gwen who was driving in the fro
Yves stared at Anna. She started out mumbling, and her voice grew louder toward the end.He looked confused. "Ben, Mrs. B, what is she talking about?"He was sure she was speaking the same language but couldn't, for the life of him, understand what she meant.Upon listening to Anna, Wendy immediately felt she was too quick to agree to Yves' request because of the money. She wanted to push him aside.However, he was in a sorry state with his limp. His face was visibly thinner than before, and his eyes weren't as bright as they used to be. She found herself sympathizing with him.Victoria pressed her lips together, and her brows creased further.Benjamin turned to Silas. "Go and get Asher!"Anna didn't dial back on her arrogance. "Great idea. I'm looking for him, too."There was a horse race today, yet he locked me up in that cabin! I have a score to settle with him!"Victoria recalled Asher leaving the stables urgently during the day and had a hunch about what happened."If yo
Yves looked up with teary eyes and could vaguely make out Benjamin's sour face.He rubbed his eyes with all his might. Benjamin's face slowly became clear to him as his vision cleared."It's really you, Ben! Oh, Ben!"He was pleasantly surprised, as though he finally had someone to rely on. He teared up in excitement.The next moment, he became aggrieved again. He was just like a three-year-old who was bullied by a stray cat.He cried, "You're here, Ben. Why didn't you ask someone to look for me? You've no idea what I've experienced."I've been locked away in that shabby cabin and almost lost it. I miss you so freaking much!"Benjamin looked less sour now. He took out his handkerchief that he brought along wherever he went.He passed it to Yves, who had tears and snot all over his face. "Clean up. You're a grownup man, you know. Look at you."With one hand taking the handkerchief, Yves clung onto Victoria with the other.Benjamin stared at his hand that was holding onto her.
Asher felt his heart shatter. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I've already gifted it to someone else!"The person in charge felt his heart ache, too. "I wanted to inform you when you arrived, but you told me to talk to you after the race."You've always said that horse has a character and that you like it, no? I never expected you to give it away."Who did you give it to? Could you, perhaps, buy it back from him?"Asher was dispirited. "I can't."He waved it off and continued, "Forget about it. It belongs to someone else now."I'd been obliging to its every wish for all the time it had been here. Still, it never obeyed me."It's intelligent and chooses its own master. I can't tame it. It's no better than an average horse to me."Tell those who witnessed that incident that they shouldn't talk about it to anyone. You may leave."The person in charge glanced at him. Bowing, he acknowledged the instruction he received and left.Asher looked toward Sebastian and sighed dejectedly
Silas and Wendy immediately hurried over in excitement when they heard they were going to split the winnings.Wendy, who wasn't the best in maths, counted gleefully, "We bet one thousand gold coins. As the odds are at one to 246, we'll get … ten thousand, 200 thousand … 244600 gold coins. Am I right?"She surprised herself when she said that out loud. She and Silas exchanged glances and started hopping about in delight.That was a lot of gold coins! They were rich!"Ten percent of 244600 gold coins would amount to roughly 24 thousand gold coins, so 20 percent would make it about 50 thousand. Victoria—"Silas and Wendy were already dizzy. Turning to them, Victoria instructed, "Give us a moment, and take Onyx with you.""You …" Silas looked at her suspiciously. Was she planning to keep all the money to herself?She gave him a warning glare, and he and Wendy obediently led Onyx away.They shouldn't offend their moneybag right now.Victoria looked at Asher. "That's over 240 thousa
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. It was a teenager who was around 15 years old. Not bothering to keep up his image, he sat on the floor and clung to Sebastian's leg.Besides him, many others were standing around Sebastian. They all looked at Sebastian pitifully.Asher loudly asked the one kneeling, "Just look at you, Troy Lancaster! What happened to your enthusiasm?"It's only a meager sum. Do you really have to react this way?"Troy Lancaster? He was the Lancaster family's youngest son, Sebastian's younger maternal cousin.Victoria had a photographic memory. She saw his name when she skimmed through the log book earlier.He had bet 500 silver coins, which wasn't the least of all. It wasn't a hefty sum either, considering who he was.The Lancasters had very conflicting approaches in his upbringing. His mother pampered him, while his father was very strict toward him because he thought he was spoiled.Judging from his reaction, he must've been greedy and impulsivel
Once Roxy left, several women with ill intentions who criticized Victoria earlier became uneasy. They came up with excuses and left one after another.As the drama ended, everyone calmed down. Some were listless, while some were feeling down.There were also a few who approached Victoria, among whom were mainly men. They earnestly introduced themselves.Benjamin scanned the men who surrounded Victoria and somehow felt betrayed. Glowering, he seemed about to fly off the handle.His glare was too harsh, and many retreated after a short exchange with Victoria. She studied those who resolutely remained beside her.Compared to people from the outside world, the clan members had less desire for material possessions.Those who stood their ground didn't feel displeased at losing a hefty sum in the bet. They also withstood the pressure Benjamin's glare exuded.It was fair to say they were the best among the best.They were from decent families and had been receiving proper education sin