Vivienne lifted a hand and gently tilted Mara's chin upward, her expression icy, "Do I need to remind you of the way your grandmother treated my mother-in-law? My mother-in-law was nothing but kind and generous to the Boyd family. What reason did she have to be ashamed in front of your grandma?"
Mara bit her lip hard, clearly struggling with resentment, "But you can't just take people! I admit I did wrong, and you used me as a guinea pig—that punishment I accept. But what did Huxley do? He was minding his own business at home, and you took him prisoner. How is that fair?"
Vivienne's face remained expressionless as she released Mara's chin and wiped her hands with a tissue. With a calm voice, she commanded, "Thomas, bring it in."
In no time, Thomas entered the room, carrying over his shoulder an android that was the spitting image of Huxley.
With a thud, the robot was unceremoniously dumped on the floor, landing right next to Mara's feet.
The android's lifeless eyes stared directly at the siblings, sending Mara into a shriek of fear as she turned and buried herself in Huxley's embrace.
Huxley's face paled, his anger from days of captivity dissipating under Vivienne's icy gaze.
It was as if he suddenly became aware of the gravity of his situation.
His face was ashen, and with trembling hands, he shielded Mara behind him. "What is this thing? Why does it look exactly like me?"
Vivienne locked eyes with him. "What? You don't recognize this 'thing'?"
"How could I?" Huxley retorted immediately, "Is this an android? Why would you make one that looks like me? Vivienne, look at me. I'm nothing compared to my sister; I have no chance against you-why can't you just leave me alone?"
The confusion and helplessness on his face did not seem feigned.
Anna believed she had encountered countless smooth-talking criminals and could often tell when they were lying-not always, but at least four times out of five.
facing Huxley, she couldn't tell
with a stern face, pulled out a news clipping that had been suppressed by the higher-ups. "Mr. Boyd, even if you haven't seen this android, you should recognize this news story. You don't know about the
Huxley hesitated, "Should I?"
android was found in my mother-in-law's hospital room. Huxley,
realized Percival seemed convinced the
as he scrambled to think of a way to
to look in
clutched Huxley's clothes tightly, her eyes flickering with nervousness and
Damn it!
hell were they
could he
looking for an excuse to get rid of
let
He was kidnapped and taken to M State before—who knows what they did with him there? Percival, Vivienne, we're family, after all. Huxley doesn't even know what Vivienne's mother looks like. How could
as if they were actually considering Mara's argument, nodding for
gestures
to hope as he straightened
step in front of him again, "You've seen what he's like so timid he wouldn't even harm a chicken. Besides, if he really wanted to harm your mother, why would he send an android that looks just like
didn't notice the fleeting stiffness in Huxley's body as she
dark glint flashed in her
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