Leopold and Matthew had just finished loading the Abernathy family into the van, including Cormac, when the stench inside hit them like a wave, almost driving them back out the door. But seeing Vivienne and the others frozen by the bedside, Leopold steeled himself and stepped inside.
The woman on the bed was a shadow of her former self, her hair tangled and matted like weeds upon the pillow. Her face was streaked with dirt, and it looked like the Abernathys hadn't bothered to clean her in ages. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, Leopold might have mistaken her for a corpse.
Wait a minute!
Those features...
How come she looked a bit like Percival?
Realizing this, Leopold's pupils dilated, his finger pointing shakily at the woman on the bed.
Then he glanced at Percival, whose stony face was unreadable, and noticed the air around him growing colder and heavier. Leopold took a step back, feeling as if his throat had been seized. He couldn't manage to utter a complete sentence.
Finally, it was Vivienne who broke the silence. "Mr. Wolf, let's get her out of here first."
She was genuinely shocked. They had only come to fetch a witness back to Rivenwood, and here they were, stumbling upon the very person Percival had spent years searching for.
Mr. Wolf's aunt, the Ellington heiress-Holly Ellington!
"Gavin Abernathy!"
of headlights that flickered before Vivienne's eyes. Percival, with lips pressed together and eyes as cold as ice, stared into the abyss
seemed to crawl
heaved a sigh of relief as she said, "Mr. Wolf, trust me, I will heal your aunt." Percival's grim expression softened slightly. He shifted, leaning his head against Vivienne's shoulder. "Vivienne, I do trust you.
couldn't control the hatred bubbling up inside him
the Ellington heiress, she would be placed in an unknown hospital with professional care to at least keep her
moment Percival had pulled back the covers, even
stench lingering around the
soiled and stained blanket was Holly's
moment, Percival
shred of his sanity reminded him that those people were still useful. But the agony he felt for Holly and the hatred for the Abernathys
Vivienne's stomach, his clenched eyes hiding the torrent of
through the thin fabric, Vivienne swallowed hard, her hand gently caressing his hair as a chill flashed in her eyes. "Mr. Wolf, the
recall the last time he had seen such a chilling expression
warrior lineage was
about, they couldn't just hand their life
at the caller
"Hand it over."
passed the phone to
voice, cool yet tinged with anger,
the Abernathy family done now?" Vivienne didn't need to guess; she knew Gavin must have stirred
Draven, "Ms. Vivienne, Gavin had people dig up Mrs. Littleton's parents' graves. They've taken the ashes and are threatening that if we don't hand over the secret recipe within three days, they'll scatter her parents' ashes
the phone tightened as she
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