The Ex and Her Riches

Nico belatedly looked up, only to find a pair of bloodstained hands with slender fingers tightly gripping his wrist.

Maverick had woken up.

That was not all. He had also recovered most of his strength after receiving the 023 antidote injection earlier.

He lay on the chaise lounge and turned his head to look at Nico. A faint smile curled on his bloodstained lips as he chuckled and said, “I’m not going down so easily, so pull yourself together.”

“Boss!” Nico’s eyes flashed with shock and delight, but then he continued to cry, “You scared me to death! I really thought you were gone!”

Swain, who was considerably younger than Nico, had been scared witless, too.

At that moment, the two men burst into tears in front of Maverick, completely dispensing with their image. After a while, they started laughing with relief as tears continued to stream down their faces, making for a rather comical sight.

Maverick gently patted Nico’s shoulder, comforting him, “I was just exhausted. The S404 RNA virus caused my heart and pulse to go into temporary cessation, but I heard everything you said.”

“Then why didn’t you answer me?” Nico was furious and angrily pounded on Maverick’s arm.

Stupid boss! He made me cry like a baby! I completely humiliated myself!

Maverick furrowed his brows and let out a pained grunt.

“Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you!” Nico looked distressed. To punish himself, he hit his own right arm with his left fist.

Maverick sat up and said, “All right, tell me what’s the deal with this suppressant.”

Nico wiped the tears from his face and turned to look at Swain.

Swain nodded, sniffed, and reported earnestly, “Professor Yancey was shocked to learn that you were infected with the S404 RNA virus. This suppressant cannot cure the disease, but it can temporarily inhibit the virus, thereby allowing the body to recover for a short period of time. The effects of the medication can last up to a week at most…”

One week. Maverick considered this. That means I can stay in Fairlake for another seven days at most.

Nico chimed in, “Boss, you must go back for treatment this time. Professor Yancey has already started working on the antidote, and they need you to return for blood tests. Don’t you want to recover and have a long and happy future with Ms. Shalders?”

Maverick pursed his lips and made no reply.

He had promised Gwendolyn to disappear from her world after a year, and she still had evidence of this in her phone. To stay by her side forever was no easy endeavor, and it required some forethought.

pondered on this and remembered the plan Swain had come

on his

are you doing?”

any hospital dispensary. Professor Yancey has provided a healing ointment for S404 burns. The least you could do is let me apply it on your wound,”

That makes sense.

not hesitate to unbutton his shirt. He elegantly removed his dark suit jacket, then proceeded to shrug off his blouse

the defining lines of his muscular

ghastly shade of red even though it had been three days since the viral infection. At this point, the wound had already festered, and the surrounding skin and flesh had begun to peel away. It

ruthless as Nico could not help inhaling sharply at

a towel, he first wiped the bloodstains off Maverick’s back, then used tweezers to remove the rotting flesh

sweat, his veins bulging and his

and remembered the tranquilizer gun they had brought with them. “Boss, should I give you a sedative? This can

working. I can handle this

no choice but to grit his teeth

either, and seized the opportunity to clean up the bloodstains

his eye, he caught a glimpse of several figures outside the villa

eyes widened as he hastily cried, “Ms. Shalders is back! Ezra and Justin are

Maverick frowned. “So soon?”

window again. “She came back here on

had no choice but to speed up

step through the iron gates of

remembered something. “Oh, no! The bodyguards are still

ran all the way back from Bay Hill, her

stopped hating Maverick ever since he rescued her at Crane Bridge, and he no longer

divorced, it was best for them to be estranged in the future. She would never consider remarrying him, let

that did not mean she

way into the garden, only to stumble upon

and Justin

the villa

scene, and through his keen observation, he noticed that all three of the

knocked

two put their guards down and lure them out of their hiding spots, thereafter knocking out all

Find a way to wake them up, then ask them what happened,” Gwendolyn

headed up to the

was

buttons at his collar and asked,

She was a little worn out from running all the way back