Ch. 1401..1410
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1401
Watching Her
Later that day, after Ambrose came downstairs, Sasha asked to have a rearrangement for Ian’s unit.
“Mr. Pence, Sebastian and I have discussed it, and we’ll try our best to be with the kid as often as possible. So, do you think it’ll be a good idea to let Ian have a unit of his own? That way, he doesn’t have to continue to disturb the two of you.”
“He’s not disturbing us, don’t worry. But since you’ll be with him the whole time, it’ll be better for you to have a unit on your own. It’s fine. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
Ambrose then swiftly found someone to work on it.
Later in the afternoon, the dormitory arrangements were completed.
Sasha was thrilled to hear about the good news. She instantly tidied up the new unit while her son was away, learning new things.
“Hello there, Sasha. I see that you’re tidying up the place. Really, was it not good to let him stay with us? Why did you have to trouble yourself?”
It was Leah again.
There was an apron on her, and she had a piece of rug in her hands. It looked like she was there to help her out.
Sasha could not reject her offer.
“It’s all right. I’ve done tidying up the place. Once the boy’s father is here, we can just move in right away. Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of his complaints.”
“Huh?”
The moment Sasha’s words left her mouth, the older woman, who was already helping out with the cleaning, halted in her tracks.
“Sebastian will be coming in the future?”
“Mm-hmm. We’ll probably stay by the boy’s side until he can live on his own. You know this too, don’t you? He’s a little different from the other children; that’s why we’re worried about him,” Sasha told her truthfully.
Leah fell silent after that.
That night, Sasha brought her son to the new unit. That night was the night that Ian had slept the best.
Sasha had just lied down on her bed when she spotted a message from someone with a familiar profile picture. Joy surged into her brain as she happily texted him back.
King of the Gods: Darling, are you asleep?
Sasha: Not yet.
Indeed, “King of the Gods” was none other than Sebastian.
As to why his nickname was that was because he had spotted his nickname on Sasha’s phone—Apron-Wearing-SAHD Seb. He had then told her to change it to something else, insisting that it was ruining his cool image.
King of the Gods: It’s already quite late. How do you find the base? How’s the boy?
Sasha narrowed her eyes.
He couldn’t have installed a surveillance camera on me, right? How did he know that I’m at the base?
Sasha: Pretty good overall. I even applied for a solo unit for Ian, and I’m now living in the same unit with him.
She texted back as she glanced at her son, who was sleeping on the opposite bed.
King of the Gods: He wasn’t in a solo unit?
Sasha: No. Did you not know about this?
Sebastian did not.
In the dozens of days when he had accompanied the boy, he had never let the boy return to the base. His priority was to let Ian recover, so they had been eating and playing non-stop.
No messages came from Sebastian’s side for a while.
Sasha: Sebby, what’s the matter? Are you asleep?
King of the Gods: No.
Sasha: Then are you busy with work? By the way, how’re things on your side? Are the clients easy to speak with? Are there any who are exceptionally emotional?
Sasha was concerned about the issue.
However, to Sebastian, those were just trivial matters. He could even gain control over national affairs, so why would Hayes Corporation pose an issue to him?
Sebastian was more concerned with his son.
Meanwhile, Karl, who was on the island, received a message.
Sebastian: Keep an eye on Leah Jesson. Also, find out what she has been doing while I wasn’t around. I want to know everything she has done down to the minute.
Karl: Understood, Mr. Hayes.
The relatively short message from Sebastian radiated a murderous aura.
It was something he had not felt for a long time. That feeling was only present when they were fighting on the battlefield.
That night, an expert SteelFort member sneaked into the base while Karl began looking into every detail about Leah.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1402
The Eye Of The Storm
When Sasha woke up the next morning, she realized the boy was nowhere to be found on the bed.
“Little Ian?”
She hurriedly crawled out of the bed and exited the bedroom.
The new unit was not far from Leah and Ambrose’s unit—they were in the same building but on different floors—so she guessed that they must have invited the boy to their place.
To her surprise, when she reached the old couple’s dorm, Leah was surprised to see her.
“I didn’t see him this morning. I was just about to ask if you want to come for breakfast too,” she said, a plate of toast in her hands.
Sasha frowned.
He’s not here?
Worry started to seep into her heart, and she quickly turned around to look for him.
Leah followed her.
However, when she returned to her dormitory unit, she spotted her son. He had a small paper bag in his hands as well as a loaf of bread. There were two glasses of hot milk on the dining table as well.
Sasha asked, “Little Ian, where did you go? What are these?”
“Mommy, I bought these downstairs. Come and eat!”
The boy excitedly waved at his mother, motioning her to enter the unit.
Sasha was dumbfounded.
So he went out to buy breakfast?
Why didn’t he tell about it? Moreover, he has bought a lot. How did he bring them all back?
Confused, Sasha took slow steps into the dorm as Leah followed her in.
“Little Ian, did you go to the cafeteria alone? How did you bring these back by yourself?” Leah wondered out loud once she was inside the dorm.
Almost immediately, the smile on Ian’s face dropped, and an emotionless look replaced it.
He had no intention to reply her at all.
Leah was speechless, and Sasha hastily answered on his behalf, “Maybe the staff at the cafeteria helped him bring them up. Mrs. Pence, my apologies to have disturbed you early in the morning.”
It was only then Leah glanced at the other woman and the boy before retreating from the room.
A while later, Ian said, “Mommy, ignore her from now on.”
“What?”
Sasha, who had just sat down, was taken aback by her son’s sudden request.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you like her? She told me you’ve always had meals in her house and that she has always taken good care of you. Why are you asking me to ignore her all of a sudden?”
Sasha could not wrap her mind around the matter.
Although the boy was not as good-tempered as Matteo and Vivian, his father had taught him to be well-mannered. Thus, Ian rarely expressed his dislike for someone so honestly.
Sasha wondered what Leah had done.
However, just as her question was out of her mouth, the boy fell silent again.
Perhaps he had sensed that it was inappropriate of him to voice his thought. Despite not wanting his mother to speak to the other older woman, he did not elaborate it to Sasha.
Sasha quietly watched him instead of forcing him to continue.
Even after Ian was brought to the base—she stayed in the dorm—she was still ruminating about his words.
“Sasha, the boy has gone to the base, hasn’t he? Let’s go grocery shopping.”
Just as she was deep in her thoughts, a familiar voice sounded outside. It was Leah, inviting her to a grocery shopping trip.
Sasha cocked her head to the side, contemplating.
In the end, she agreed to it and went to grab a bag. “All right, Mrs. Pence. Give me a second.”
Half an hour later, in a mini mart.
As the researchers were the only ones who lived long-term in the base, the supply and demand in the area were low. Therefore, they only had a small mart that sold groceries and daily necessities.
Sasha and Leah stepped into the mart.
“Oh my, the vegetables are quite fresh today. Look at the variety. Sasha, why don’t you buy these fresh shrimps? Your boy loves to eat shrimp rolls.”
“Is that so?”
Sasha walked over to Leah.
Indeed, the shrimps in the seafood section were fresh.
“The spinach is fresh too. So are the pumpkins. Maybe you can get a pumpkin to make pumpkin pie for him.”
Leah seemed excited as she happily pointed at all the fresh vegetables to Sasha.
At the start, Sasha thought nothing of her enthusiastic introductions. However, as time went by, her expression darkened. Nearing the end, when Leah suggested for her to buy the tomatoes, she shot a glare at her.
“Mrs. Pence, is this what you used to make for Little Ian?”
“Yes. He’s a kid, so it’s not surprising that he’ll like these, especially shrimp rolls. He always eats a huge portion of that dish when he comes over, so I’ll always prepare a large amount for him,” Leah said, beaming.
At that, the last trace of friendliness in Sasha’s eyes disappeared.
“Mrs. Pence, what research do you do at the research institute?” Sasha suddenly asked.
Leah tensed up for a second.
“Me? I’m not as great as Ambrose. I only research basic things.”
“Then you must be good at chemistry and biology, right? I heard that the researchers at the institute are all science students. For you to work here, I’m sure you must be great in either subject,” Sasha mentioned as a look of admiration crept over her face.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1403
The True Nature
Leah felt embarrassed to hear that from Sasha.
“No, no, I’m not a science student. We didn’t have categorization like those during my time. I’m sort of all right in them. It’s mere luck that I could join the research institute,” she humbly denied, and yet Sasha could hear the tinge of pride in her words.
After all, her entry into the research institute had been an achievement of hers back then.
Right as she was feeling gleeful about her achievement, the younger woman picked up the tomato she had suggested to her to buy earlier.
“Well, if you’re well in both chemistry and biology, how would you not know that the combination of protein and tannic acid is destructive toward the human body?”
“What?”
The smile on Leah’s face froze.
Sasha continued, “Look. The tomato is rich in vitamin C. When it’s mixed with shrimps, it will form arsenic trioxide. I don’t think I need to tell you what kind of harmful effects it has on the human body, right?”
Without missing a beat, Sasha added, “Also, the spinach you were talking about earlier contains a high amount of nutrition. If you cook it with shrimp, not only will it produce potassium, but various kinds of chemical reactions will also occur. In fact, it can also create irreversible harm to the stomach. Mrs. Pence, are you doing this on purpose?”
By the time she reached her last sentence, her words were already of an icy tone and Leah’s face had turned ashen.
When she heard Sasha question her intentions, her hands began to shake.
“W-What do you mean? How could I have done this intentionally? I… I never thought of this. I only wanted to make the boy a few dishes that he would like. I never thought of this!” she snapped, furious.
Sasha glanced at her, but she did not reply to her.
Instead, she walked toward the eggs and picked two to put on her hands. Then she began talking about the shrimp rolls that Leah had kept talking about earlier.
“Wendy told us a while ago that Little Ian has been refusing to eat his meals. He only ate a little when he went to your place, and his favorite is your shrimp rolls.”
“And?”
“Shrimp rolls by themselves are fine, but what if you marinated the shrimps in something else? Perhaps a mixture of spinach juice?” Sasha enunciated each word, almost gritting the words out.
Indeed, she had finally come to realize that the boy must not be interested in food because of a lack of an appetite. Most of the time, a lack of an appetite would be due to a weak stomach.
A weak stomach was something that would happen if one consumed spinach with shrimps.
Right then, trembles began wracking Leah’s body.
Her entire face was bright red as a look of hatred and anger took over the friendly and enthusiastic demeanor she had earlier.
Glaring at Sasha, she snarled, “Sasha Wand, you’re an ingrate. Your son is here to learn from others. He has no one taking care of him, so I fed him! Yet, you’re now telling me that I’m trying to poison him? Where’s your heart?”
“I’m sure you know well whether or not I’m right.”
Leah did not answer to that.
“Also, have you forgotten about something important? Although I’m not as educated as you are, and even though I can’t get into a place like this, I’m a doctor. In fact, I’m a famous TCM doctor.”
Finally, Leah fell silent.
Once those words left Sasha’s mouth, the older woman stood transfixed, silent, with a colorless face.
At that, Sasha’s calmness fled her. The thought of how her eleven-year-old son had been getting poisoned by the woman infuriated her.
Instantly, she threw her bag in front of her and hissed out, “You’ll pay for this!”
Those were her last words to her before she turned and left.
Even if she were to be hurt, she would not let her son come to harm. She was not going to let anyone hurt him anymore, for he was her everything.
With that thought in mind, Sasha ran all the way to the base.
She was prepared to take her son out of the base and bring him back to Avenport.
Beep… Beep…
“Hello, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.”
While she was on her way to the base, she tried to call Sebastian, who was overseas. Unfortunately, she could not reach him.
What’s going on?
Has he switched off his phone to focus on negotiating with the clients?
Sasha panicked. If I want to bring the boy back immediately, I’ll need someone to make arrangements for the helicopter. Hence, she clicked into the group chat.
Sasha: Devin, respond to me ASAP. Something happened at the base!
Sabrina: What happened? Devin just headed off to the military base. I don’t think he has the time to look at his phone now.
Sasha: Then call him quickly! I just realized there’s something wrong with Leah. She’s been feeding Little Ian poisonous food. I have to take him away from the base right away. I’m scared that he might be in danger.
Old Mr. Jadeson: What?
The elderly man suddenly showed up in the chat.
However, that short message was the only message he had sent out in the group chat as he quickly called his granddaughter-in-law shortly after.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1404
The Battle Between The Geniuses
Unfortunately, the reception got cut off at that moment. All Jonathan heard was a pre-recorded message informing him that his call could not connect to the receiver.
In a moment of rage, he slammed the phone into the hands of the commander in charge of the White House’s internal affairs.
“What the heck! Find out what happened at the base. If anything happens to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I will hold you responsible.”
The old general, who had not killed in years, widened his eyes, emitting a murderous aura.
Despite so, it was too late.
When the commander tried to get hold of the base, he realized they could no longer receive any messages.
In other words, they had blocked the signal.
“Damn it! What the hell is Ambrose trying to do?”
Once again, the White House was in chaos because of the mother and son’s disappearance.
Little to everyone’s knowledge, the elite fighters Sebastian had sent to the base were getting massacred by the high-tech weapons at that time.
It was an irony.
Supposedly, this place created ideas to improve the lives of humans and help the country progress. However, it was now a hell on earth. The activation at the main gate had resulted in numerous laser beams shooting across it, and within seconds, they took down several engineers who had toiled there for half of their lives.
As though they were tofu, the moving red beams easily sliced through them, and they ended up in pieces.
Indeed, the scale of destruction was terrifying, especially with technology.
“Leah! Are you crazy? What the hell are you trying to do?”
Ambrose rushed over from the control room after seeing the tragic scene unfold. He roared at the woman who was sitting silently outside the base with a child in her arms.
There was no mistake that it was Leah, his wife.
He could no longer recognize her as she seemed more like a devil now.
“Ambrose, look at him. Doesn’t he look like our son, Shawn? He is smart and has a great talent for the things we have studied. I’m sure he is our son,” she murmured while hugging the child.
As soon as Ambrose heard what she said, his eyes turned red with anger.
What a crazy psycho!
He quickly staggered over. However, as he was about to leave, a woman covered in blood grabbed onto the bottom of his trousers.
She pleaded, “M-Mr. Pence, I’m begging you to save Little Ian. You are powerful… I’m sure you can control her.”
It turned out to be Sasha. She had suffered many injuries on her body because of the laser beams.
If the men from Steelford, lying dead beside her, had not protected her, she would have been in pieces by now.
Tears welled up in Ambrose’s bloodshot eyes.
He did not tell her that Leah was more powerful than him, and the only exception was when she suffered a devastating blow because of their son’s death.
Subsequently, she ended up in The Substratum.
Ambrose cautiously approached her.
“Leah, listen to me. Give me the child first, please? And switch off the laser beams. Have you forgotten that you used to play a part here too? Can you bear to see everything get destroyed here? Besides, those people were once your colleagues.”
He tried to knock some senses into the woman as he took a few steps forward.
Despite so, she did not seem to understand the concept of sympathy.
Hearing what Ambrose had to say, she cackled with laughter.
“I’m not doing anything. Ambrose, isn’t the switch at the place where you came from?”
“Leah!” Ambrose yelled in exasperation.
He knew that the woman had replaced all the switches he had designed in this place behind his back and had taken all control.
“If you don’t come to your senses now, I’ll die right here!”
Suddenly, the old scientist who had contributed his whole life to the nation stood up.
Shocked, Sasha painfully shrieked from behind him, “Mr. Pence, you can’t do that! Those laser beams will cut you.”
The place where Ambrose stood was the area where most laser beams would pass through. He would turn into a pile of minced meat in seconds if the laser beams reached him.
However, the man acted as though he heard nothing.
With a click, a fiery red laser moved toward him.
“Ambrose, do you think I will give in if you do this? Well, I’m sorry to tell you that I stopped caring about you a long time ago when you did nothing but watch Sebastian kill our son.”
Unexpectedly, the lady did not move an inch nor comply with his request.
Sasha was taken aback.
Buzz.
When she heard the odd sound above her head, Sasha did not hesitate to stand up as she pulled the older man down onto the floor.
Leah stammered, “W-What happened to my lasers?”
She anxiously stood up.
Sasha realized that the sound she had heard earlier was the sound of the laser beams disappearing.
What is going on?
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1405
Sebastian Is The Culprit
Huh? Why did the laser beams disappear all of a sudden?
Staring at the empty base, Sasha was equally baffled.
Right then, they heard a loud buzzing sound above them, and they watched as the dust from the ground was swept up into the sky like a hurricane.
A fighter jet landed near them at top speed after passing by a tower destroyed by the laser beams earlier.
Oh my gosh!
Sasha was dumbfounded by what she saw.
Similarly, Leah widened her eyes in confusion. With the child still in her arms, she tried to figure out what was happening.
Seconds later, a few figures stepped out from the fighter jet.
Buzz.
Leah froze.
At the same time, Sasha looked back.
Before they knew it, they saw a thin silver object shooting through the dust and smoke.
Slash! It was the sound of human flesh sliced apart.
Leah could only stare in disbelief when it sliced off her hand around the child.
Sasha and Ambrose were startled.
Before they could react, a dark shadow appeared behind the woman and took the child away from her.
It was a terrifying scene that seemed like it came right out of a sci-fi movie.
Everyone was stupefied, including Leah.
Only when blood started spurting out from her wrist like a tap did she clutch onto it in pain. She screamed hysterically before collapsing onto the ground.
Right on the dot, the man hidden by the smoke appeared.
He had a toned build, and he came with a rifle in his hands. Dressed in a suit and dress shoes, he looked like he had traveled here from a business meeting.
Sebastian? I can’t believe it’s him! How is that possible? I’ve blocked all of his phone signals, so how on earth would he know what happened? On top of that, how did he manage to rush here in time?
Leah recognized him at first sight. Ignoring the searing pain from her wrist, she screeched, “When did you return? No… This is not possible. No!”
“Is that so hard to believe? Didn’t you doubt my son for bringing so much breakfast back this morning? Well, I arranged for my men to send him up.”
Sebastian approached her and gave her a death glare.
Noticing the severed hand on the ground, he let out a disgusted snort before kicking it away.
“However, your craziness did surprise me. I can’t believe that my first miscalculation in life happened because of you.”
Although Sebastian had no intentions to kill anymore, he still gave off a murderous aura when he made eye contact with the woman on the ground. Leah’s face was pale and covered in blood.
At once, he raised his hand and pointed a laser gun at her.
“No!” Ambrose screamed from afar when he saw that.
He begged, “Please don’t do it, Sebastian. Please let her off. She is doing this only because we lost our son that year. If you want to deem her guilty of how things turned out, then I will bear the consequences on her behalf!”
Sebastian was about to slice Leah’s head into two with his gun, like how a lapidary would cut a stone.
However, Ambrose’s words stopped him.
“Ambrose, do you know what you are saying? Why are you pleading on her behalf?”
Sebastian turned to Ambrose with a look of disbelief. He could not fathom why a sensible man like Ambrose would say such things.
“Ambrose, look around you. Count the number of corpses that are lying behind you. Think about how much of your research she has destroyed. Why are you defending her?” he spat in frustration while pointing at the corpses.
Ambrose’s face, which was covered with blood, turned as white as a sheet of paper.
Despite so, his expression quickly changed. As though he had a new idea, he argued, “Leah did this because she’s not right in the head.”
“Not right in the head?” Sebastian growled, feeling even more agitated than before. “If she cannot think straight, how did she manage to change all the control switches here? How did she manage to draw up such a sophisticated plan to target an eleven-year-old child? I don’t think she meant to implement this only when she came to the island. She probably started plotting this since both of you came to our house.”
Realizing that Sebastian’s assumptions did not seem unrealistic, Ambrose kept mum, unsure how to respond.
When he received the message that someone had intercepted their communication in the area, his wife had reminded him of the address of the Hayes Residence.
Therefore, it was possible that Sebastian was right.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1406
Fearful The Whole Time
He finally collapsed onto the ground.
At that sight, Sebastian raised the gun in his hands again.
“Haha, Sebastian. You are a joke. Yes, I am responsible for everything. But who are you to judge me? Clearly, you are the real culprit here.”
Seeing that her husband remained silent, Leah, who was lying on the ground, started to laugh hysterically.
Sebastian’s expression changed instantly.
“What did you say?”
“Don’t you remember? I only did all of this because my son died in your hands years ago. If he did not pass on, I would not have gone crazy. Things would not have escalated to this point either. Therefore, you are the person to be blamed for it all!”
She is a psycho. I can’t believe she made it seem as though that’s the conclusion of our conversation. How cunning!
Sasha, who had been listening from behind, blanched.
“Nonsense! How could you—”
Boom!
Before she could finish, they heard a terrifying sound. It turned out that Leah had blown herself up with an explosive.
Sasha was dumbstruck.
Luckily, Karl had arrived at that moment. He took one look at the situation before running over to his boss to drag him away.
This matter had already taken a huge toll on Sebastian.
If he got the blood splatters or pieces of human flesh on him, he would go crazy.
The entire area was silent for about four to five minutes. Finally, Sasha climbed up from the ground, and she noticed the dumbfounded look on Sebastian’s face.
In a panic, she grabbed his hands and cried out his name, “Sebby?”
To her relief, after she shouted a few times, his stupefied expression faded a little, and his blank gaze slowly landed on her.
“Are you okay?”
He managed to croak out a few words, seeing her face covered with dirt and blood.
Sasha nodded fervently and replied, “I’m okay. Don’t worry. We’re all okay. Little Ian is okay too.”
She tried to comfort him while keeping eye contact with him, afraid that she might witness something terrifying in his eyes again.
“Oh, that’s good to hear. This happened because of my negligence. I did not expect that Leah was capable enough to take control of the entire base. Even when I grew suspicious, I assumed it wouldn’t end up being something of this scale,” Sebastian explained.
His voice sounded calm. While his face was paler than usual, he did not show any other emotions.
It was then that Sasha could finally relax a little.
There was no way she could blame him for all this.
Not only him, but she did not expect this situation to occur either. After all, that madwoman had looked like any other retired housewife.
Therefore, even after uncovering her ploy at the supermarket, they did not keep their guard up. They only thought of leaving with their child before they left it to the research institute to handle the matter.
Taking that route like others would usually go without a hitch.
Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the woman was worse than a terrorist. Like those two-faced villains who would act innocent, she seemed harmless on the outside. If she did not uncover herself, no one would notice her role in it.
After the incident, the couple left with their child.
Jonathan came to the island two hours later.
“I heard that the crazy b*tch said something that she should not have to Sebastian. How is he doing? Is he all right?”
He came to the island after he went to the base and interrogated Sasha immediately once he arrived.
Glancing upstairs, Sasha wondered what was going on too. She could only hold her finger to her mouth and tell him to keep his voice down.
“He seems all right for now, but I will continue to keep tabs on him.”
Jonathan’s expression dimmed.
Suddenly, he felt as though the burden of the past had come back to haunt him again. It felt like a nightmare, and it was so suffocating that he could not breathe.
He chose to leave the island in the end. Meanwhile, Sasha and Sebastian prepared to return to Avenport after Ian had recovered from the shock.
“Little Ian, are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable?”
“No, Mommy. Sorry for not telling you that I saw those bodyguards in the morning. If I did, you would not have gotten injured,” Ian muttered guiltily.
On their way back, he scanned the number of wounds on his mother’s body, and his eyes began to well up with tears.
It was actually Sebastian’s arrangement.
As he could not figure out what Leah had done to the child, he had ordered a few bodyguards to protect Sasha and Ian without their knowledge.
Gently stroking her son’s head, Sasha assured him, “It’s okay. These aren’t serious injuries. There is no need for you to feel bad.”
Then she abruptly turned to Sebastian. “Sebby, after we get to Avenport, do we return to Frontier Bay first? Or should we head to the hospital for Ian to have a check-up first?”
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1407
What Is A Setup
She realized that he was silent for the longest time while he stared out of the helicopter, seemingly occupied with his thoughts.
“Huh?”
Sebastian looked at her in confusion.
“What did you say?”
For no reason, Sasha’s heart sank.
She secretly clenched her fists to calm herself down before she repeated, “I said, what should we do when we go back. Should we get Ian to do a check-up first?”
“Sure, though I’m afraid I can’t accompany you there. I have to make a trip to Jadeborough.”
“What?”
Sasha looked at him suspiciously.
Jadeborough? Why is he going there? Does he have anything to do there? Is he going there to look for Grayson?
Blood drained from her face.
“Darling…”
“Yes?”
Snapping out of his daze, the man finally looked more clear-headed when he heard her use an unusual term of endearment for him.
It took him some time to realize that her face was pale, and she had fixated her beautiful eyes on him. They had a mix of fear and panic in them.
What is this silly girl thinking? Did she think I’m going to go crazy again?
Helplessly, he stretched out his hand to grab her slender wrist resting on the table.
Like he had guessed, she had clenched her hands tightly into fists.
“You dummy, what are you thinking? Your husband is fine. I did not turn into someone else after such a big event. Come on, could you have some faith in me?”
“Huh?”
Overwhelmed by terror, Sasha looked perplexed when she heard what he said.
“D-Didn’t you?”
“Of course not. I need to go to Jadeborough to look for the family members of those engineers and offer them some compensation. After all, Shawn died because of me. I should bear the consequences of this event. But that madwoman’s words don’t make sense. It’s like a case of rape, where the offender argues that the woman has dressed skimpily to seduce him and force him into committing the crime. Do you think that adds up?”
The example did not seem appropriate at that time, especially in the presence of Ian.
Regardless, after hearing his words, Sasha could finally let go of her worries.
Well, what else can go wrong if he can use such an example?
She breathed out a sigh of relief.
Later on, when the family returned to Avenport, Sasha headed to the hospital with Ian while Sebastian headed straight to Jadeborough.
Other than the reason he explained to Sasha, he also wanted to see the damage at the base. After all, the country was now in turmoil, so they did not have much power.
That night, the family group chat also exploded because of the matter.
Mr. Wand: Are you telling me that Little Ian went over because of that woman’s scheme?
Sabrina: What the hell? I’m furious! Too bad we can’t retrieve her corpse. Otherwise, I will whip her corpse to make sure she can’t rest in peace.
Ichika: Me too!
Devin: I’m not asking…
Everyone was livid.
At the thought of Sasha being in danger, and Ian, who was barely eleven years old, being that close to dying in Leah’s hands, they shook with anger.
However, after that night, they discovered that Sebastian had made a shocking decision.
Jonathan exclaimed, “Are you sure you still want to send Little Ian to the research institute? Also, are you going to fund the reconstruction of the base by yourself? Let me remind you that it’s not a small cost.”
The old man was more agitated. From his perspective, whatever his grandson had said did not make sense. They were illogical, no matter how hard he thought about it.
Besides, Ian had almost lost his life there.
And now, he was sent back there again.
The investment made even less sense for him. Although Leah had mentioned it, what did it have to do with him? Any sound individual would not have come up with such an idea.
That night, the young man stayed in his study. He stared at a painting of a green pine hanging on the wall and had no reservations about his plan.
“The incident killed almost two-thirds of the top engineers at the research institute. You might have an army, but without the high-tech weapons, how long do you think you could hold it out against your opponents? Also, Ian is my son. If we don’t use his talents, what is the point of having them in the first place? As one of the nation’s leaders, I don’t think you should worry about all that. You should think about how we can employ more people like Ian instead.”
Sebastian ended up reverting a question to Jonathan.
The man, nearing his eighties, stood behind Sebastian and had nothing to say.
All he felt was shame and guilt.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1408
Deal With This Girl
In the end, things were decided according to Sebastian’s will.
Ian would return to the research institute. And as there was massive destruction to the base, resulting in severe losses, Sebastian had to fork out almost two-thirds of his savings to rebuild it.
His share was not small either.
When Solomon, who was still in the hospital in Jadeborough, found out about it, he called the company immediately.
“How much money can we use?”
“Mr. George, due to the recent financial crisis, Mr. Hayes has closed several businesses overseas. His revenue has fallen, and he doesn’t have much cash left in the account. There’s roughly about a few hundred billion left.”
“Well then, transfer a hundred billion to the research institute,” Solomon instructed.
While peeling the fruits beside him, Ichika overheard the conversation, and her eyes widened as though he had dropped a bombshell.
She had never seen a few hundred billion in her life.
Once the phone call ended, she finished peeling the fruits and approached her husband.
“Darling, I have a question. Sebastian is no longer with Hayes Corporation. So how is he going to earn money? If he pays such a large sum this time, how is he going to survive in the future?”
Ichika sounded concerned.
Solomon remained silent.
It would have been easy to answer her if she had asked this question in the past.
As one of the kings of the business industry, how could he be short of money? However, he had been busy helping the Jadesons with many things in the past two years, so he did not have the time to manage his finances. It did not help that he was unwell after.
As such, he was not as affluent as before.
Solomon picked up the phone again. Shortly after, the finance department of Hayes Corporation received another order to give the previous boss half of the bonus received by the current president.
Two days later, after finishing his work at Jadeborough, Sebastian was ready to return to Avenport.
Jonathan asked, “Are you not going to visit him?”
What is this man thinking? I’ve left the family. Yet, he nags and complains about me all the time.
Ignoring him, Sebastian continued to walk out.
To his surprise, he saw Ichika in a yellow princess dress and laced shoes when he stepped out of Oceanic Estate.
Seeing that Sebastian was finally out, Ichika felt overjoyed. She ran over to him but did not say anything more, as his intimidating presence alone made her lower her head. ”S-Sebastian, are you heading back?”
Sebastian frowned at her.
“What’s the matter?”
“W-Well, could you visit my husband? He has been making a fuss about going back, especially after hearing about what happened to your family. For the last two days, Dr. Wallen was the one who got him back,” Ichika requested cautiously.
Indeed, she was scared of him.
Moreover, she had secretly caused trouble in the past.
Fortunately, after she made her request, Sebastian agreed without making things difficult for her.
“Is he a kid? Why is he running away all the time?” he complained.
Ichika shrugged, afraid to say more.
Following that, the two of them headed to the hospital.
Solomon would never have thought that the woman by his side all the time would find someone to teach him a lesson because of his disobedience.
At this moment, he was using his phone to buy air tickets when he heard a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he muttered without even lifting his head.
When the door opened, cold air gushed in, causing him to shiver. Turning his head to see his visitors, he saw an older man in a white coat with another familiar-looking man.
“Solomon, how are you feeling today? Have you taken your medicine?”
“Yes, I have,” Solomon replied in a daze. He forgot what he was doing a minute ago.
Grayson looked at the man behind him and explained, “It isn’t as exaggerated as his wife described it to be. He wanted to run away from here, but after I talked to him, he’s been taking his medicine obediently. He is still recovering, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Are you sure we don’t have to send him to The Fourth Hospital?”
Sebastian remained expressionless.
Hearing that, Solomon finally regained his senses.
“Ichika, what are you trying to do? Why did you bring him here?”
“I—”
The lady hiding behind the two males could not explain herself when Solomon questioned her.
Sebastian’s handsome facial features morphed into an angry expression. He growled, “Why are you shouting? She is only worried about you. Anyway, Grayson said you have to stay for another two weeks. You better listen to him. Otherwise, The Fourth Hospital is awaiting you.”
Sebastian did not forget to threaten him as he finished.
Solomon felt so riled up that his knuckles creaked as he balled them into a fist.
However, he suppressed the ball of fury in his chest when the other man left and ignored Ichika.
Ichika was rendered speechless. She felt aggrieved but decided not to provoke him in the next few days.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1409
Indignant
Ichika: Grandpa, Dad, Mom, I have good news for you. My husband no longer requires hypnosis and will recover soon.
Mom: Is that true? That’s great news! When will he be discharged? Should we visit him?
Dad: Why should we go?
After Ichika saw the Hayeses’ group chat, she had created one for her family as well.
Noticing that her father was getting angry, she quickly sent another message.
Ichika: It’s fine, Dad. We would be glad if you could join us.
Dad: I’m not going. Your mother brought your sister there some time ago and embarrassed themselves. I’m not planning to do that to myself.
Grandpa: Yes, and don’t forget that’s the reason why Himari married into the Nogita family.
The middle-aged man with a traditional mindset thought about the previous incident and could not bring himself to face Solomon anymore.
Aoi did not dare to speak out after those messages.
It was an unspoken rule in the country. If the man did not allow for something, the woman should not go against his wishes.
Ichika pouted as she switched off her phone.
It was not until nighttime that Solomon realized something was off about Ichika.
“Ichika? What are you doing?”
He came out from the ward and saw her sitting on a chair by the corridor. Usually, she would love to pester him and stay close to him. Yet, she decided to hide outside this time.
He furrowed his brows.
“Oh? It’s nothing, Darling. I just wanted to sit here for a while.”
As soon as she heard his voice, Ichika quickly stood up and kept her phone away.
In fact, she had been chatting with her mother.
Regardless of what had happened, Aoi loved her daughter. Knowing that her daughter was hurt after the family had turned down her invitation, she wanted to comfort her.
However, when she mentioned her other daughter’s tragic situation in the Nogita family, it only made her feel worse.
Even though Himari had married into that family, she still represented the Minamoto family, no matter how her life was.
And although she had committed her fair share of shameful deeds, the Minamoto family had paid a lot of money so she could seem like a decent lady.
Even so, she was getting more out of hand during this period.
“All is good, Darling. I was on the phone with my mother,” Ichika lied to cover up the embarrassing matter from him.
Solomon stared at Ichika’s teary eyes quietly for some time, but the young woman remained silent. Thus, they headed back to the ward.
The night went by peacefully.
The next day, a nurse woke Solomon up, and he learned that Ichika had left early in the morning.
“Mr. George, your wife left early this morning. She seemed anxious. Perhaps she went out to get you some hot soup for breakfast.” The nurse chuckled.
It was not the first time they had teased Ichika for waking up early to buy delicious food for her husband.
She was someone everyone found likeable.
Hearing that, Solomon did not think much of it. He gave a small smile and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Initially, he had thought that she had gone to buy breakfast for him and would be back within half an hour. However, she was nowhere to be seen even after an hour.
Where did Ichika go?
Losing his patience, he took his phone and stormed out of the ward.
But as soon as his phone call connected, he saw a petite lady, dressed in pink and purple, standing at the end of the corridor. She looked out of breath.
“Darling, I-I’m here. I’m b-back,” she shouted, ignoring the presence of the doctors and nurses around her.
Hurriedly, she ran over to him, holding a bag in her hand.
Solomon waited until she reached his side before he looked down at things inside the bag.
“Where were you?”
“I-I went out to get breakfast for you. You mentioned that you liked perogies the last time, so I bought them.” She raised the bag in her hand to show him. “But there were so many people, and I had to wait in the queue for a long time.”
She looked at him endearingly, hoping to appease him.
Solomon pressed his lips together, wanting to nag at her.
However, under the expectant gaze of the lady before him, he ended up helping her with the bag.
“All right, let’s eat inside.”
“Okay!”
They then headed into the ward after their blatant public display of affection.
Mr. George is so lucky to have such a caring wife.
After that small episode, Solomon told Ichika not to travel so far to get breakfast for him anymore as they could always have food from the hospital cafeteria.
Ichika obediently obliged.
Two days went by peacefully.
Yet on the third day, Ichika disappeared without reason again. To Solomon’s surprise, when he went downstairs to look for her, he saw her sitting under a tree in the garden, wiping her tears.
His Secret Lover Returning from the Dead Chapter 1410
Screaming Excitedly
What?
At once, his expression darkened, and his gaze turned cold.
By the time he returned to his ward a few minutes later, he had received information on Ichika’s messages over the past few days.
Himari: If you don’t want me to cause trouble for the family, you can always give me money to stop me. It’s basic knowledge, you know. Thanks to your husband, I am stuck in this state, and my life sucks. If I don’t sing and dance at the bar, how else am I supposed to earn a living?
Ichika: Ugh! How much do you want?
Himari: Of course, the more, the better. Hey, you have money to spare as the wife of the president of Hayes Corporation. A few million sounds good to me.
Ichika: That’s too much, Himari! You need to stop.
This conversation between Ichika and Himari happened in the morning when the former had disappeared for a long time to get breakfast.
Solomon looked gloomy.
However, the issue was still bearable. As Solomon continued scrolling through their messages, he realized that Himari had threatened Ichika again after the latter had transferred her a few hundred thousand.
Himari: Ichika, this is only one hundred and seventy thousand! That’s peanuts!
Ichika: That’s all I have. Besides, it’s a few million after converting it.
Even through the screen, one could feel how cornered Ichika felt.
Despite so, Himari did not care as she continued to use nasty words to degrade her biological sister.
Himari: A few million? Are you crazy? Don’t you know where you stand now? Whose fault was it that I ended up in this predicament?
Ichika did not reply.
Himari: Well, it’s your husband! He exposed all my dirty laundry and ruined my reputation in Terrandya. I was forced to marry into the Nogita family because of him.
For a long time, no more messages followed between them after that.
Solomon, who was usually calm and controlled, felt his heart tighten at that moment.
For the first time, he could not suppress his emotions.
At that time, he did not tell Ichika because he did not think that it mattered.
However, after he saw the messages, he started to worry. He wondered if Ichika would be angry after hearing Himari badmouth him.
Would she ignore me?
He continued to scroll through the text.
Ichika: You deserved that punishment. My husband did nothing wrong.
Ichika finally replied to her sister’s message the next day, and her first reaction was to take Solomon’s side.
That reaction made Solomon freeze.
At that moment, he felt a ball of warmth in his chest. He had forgotten how it felt like to be cared for by others. It was something he had stopped feeling since he was eighteen.
The only time he felt this way was during the ten years when the Wand family took him in, and now he felt it again.
Although Heather could not officially bring him into the Wand family, she had treated him with a lot of care and love.
She would wash and iron his clothes when he went to school and after school, she would visit him in the house she had rented for him and cook him delicious food. On top of that, she would also instruct the housemaid to report his wellbeing to her at all times.
Whenever he got into trouble in school, she would be the first one to defend him like how Ichika did.
Gripping his phone tightly, his knuckles turned white.
After ten minutes, Ichika finally came back to the ward. She had calmed herself down and washed her face in the restroom as she did not want Solomon to notice her tears.
“Darling, I’m back.”
She plastered a smile on her face and pretended as though everything was fine.
Solomon turned to look at her and stood up.
“Wanna eat?”
“Huh?” Ichika was dumbfounded.
Wanna eat? I thought he never wanted to go downstairs to eat me. That’s why I’ve been bringing food for him.
“Darling, why—”
“Dr. Wallen said that I should move around and get some exercise, didn’t he?” Solomon looked away and changed his shoes.
Those words made Ichika snap out of her trance.
Momentarily, she saw a burst of light before her, and she readily agreed. It felt like a miracle.
“Sure, let’s go.”
Excitedly, she ran to the closet and took out two containers to pack the food. However, the man took them away from her.
“There is no need to pack them. We’ll eat there.”
“Oh? Okay!”
Ichika’s eyes lit up.
The patients here were not physically impaired. Therefore, many patients and their family members would eat together at the cafeteria for every meal.
The man had no idea how much Ichika envied them.
Besides, she had been packing him food so often that the workers at the cafeteria had been questioning her.
Gleefully, Ichika stuck by her husband’s side. She lowered her head and looked at his arm longingly, wanting to hold it. However, she was afraid that he would not like it.
To her astonishment, the man had taken the initiative to hold her hand, enveloping it with warmth.
Ichika was shocked beyond words.