Ch. 1841..1850

The hallway was silent, with no one in sight, which she had expected.

Usually, most working areas would be packed with people during the day and turned dead silent at night.

However, Lily noticed this place was the opposite after observing it for the last two days.

Midnight was when this place would be full of people and was its busiest time, while no one would be around during the day.

This place was the institute's rightful property and a legitimate place of business.

They could operate normally, but Lily wondered if they worked late at night because they were accustomed to doing things at night or could only do the experiments during that period.

Anyhow, this place worked the opposite way as the other working areas.

Since that was the case, Lily had to execute her plan during the day.

Nonetheless, the different working hours made it more convenient for her.

She did not need to stay up late, nor did she need to take extra precautionary steps.

Getting around during her regular working hours sufficed.

Besides those working in their solo laboratories, few were taking naps.

The hallway was so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Lily held her breath and entered the innermost area of the institute.

As Mike brought her here before, her iris and fingerprint scanning went smoothly.

Now, she wanted to find the top secrets of this research.

She had looked through the information given to her the other day and found it incomplete.

Lily had also expected that because the institute was wary of her, even though they needed her talent.

When she saw the giant, mutated wilfordi root the other day, she looked calm outside when she was, in fact, astonished.

It was not that she had not seen such a thing in movies before.

For instance, she would often see it in movies depicting the end of the world, terrible levels of pollution due to humans, or those revolving around scientific research, which would then fall upon the human race.

However, she never thought she would see such a thing in real life.

Besides the wilfordi root, she wondered if they had experimented on other poisonous plants, animals, or even humans.

After all, the plague happened previously, while Cameron, Austin, Edward, and maybe even other innocent people were victims of their experiments.

Lily knew she had to eradicate this institute.

Otherwise, they would bring irreversible destruction to the world.

She intended to start by looking into the wilfordi root.

First, she had to find out how harmful it was and if there were any changes to its poisonous properties.

Then it would be best if she could hack into their database and obtain firsthand information about the research.

She had been observing this place and knew where all the surveillance cameras and monitoring systems were.

As for the security system, she was an expert in that.

Managing all this was not a problem for her.

As for the other factors, such as hidden cameras and monitoring systems, she had no way to be sure about that.

However, time was not on her side, and she could no longer delay things.

By the time she gathered that information, the institute might have run out of patience.

It was strange how no one was in this research center now.

Only the machines were running, constantly creating beeping sounds.

To be safe, Lily headed to the working space first and pretended to organize the documents as she scanned her surroundings through her peripheral vision.

Some of the seats had pens and notebooks, which meant people were occupying them before this, and they might be back soon.

She could not miss this golden opportunity.

Even if she got caught, she could always just say she was there to look for some information.

With that, she bent her back and started to type away on the keyboard.

The "boss"

gave her the secret key and login access, but she realized there were minimal things she could view once she had logged into the system.

Besides keying in and checking information, she could do nothing else.

As for the top secrets, they were not on this computer.

Lily tried to key in Mike’s credentials, but it showed that she had entered the wrong details.

Frowning, she turned and headed toward the wilfordi root, deep in thought.

The plant was in a giant glass jar like a living thing.

She even felt like the plant was waving at her.

Unable to help herself, she walked over to it.

"1 wouldn’t do that if I were you."

Just as she was about to touch it, a voice sounded.

It was deep, but it still frightened her in this silent space.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1842-She was shocked as well.

The earlier feeling made her think she was under a curse.

As Lily had learned about herbal plants, she knew how poisonous the wilfordi root could be.

Moreover, this was a mutated plant before her, so she should not touch it.

However, she felt she was possessed earlier because she could not help but extend her hand toward it.

It was such a strange feeling.

When she snapped back to her senses, she looked toward the voice.

It was a man in a hazmat suit, and she could only see his eyes.

She did not know anyone here, but the man gave her a sense of familiarity.

"Who are you?"

she asked warily.

"You don’t need to know that, but I’d advise you to leave as quickly as possible."

With that, he turned and left the room.

Lily was puzzled.

She wondered if he had come here just to warn her.

Before she could react, the man exited through the door and turned at the corner, disappearing from her sight.

She chased behind him, only to see a figure leaving in hurried steps.

Although he wore a hazmat suit, he looked familiar to her.

Frowning, she followed behind the man, but he was no longer in sight after leaving the room and turning the corner.

The hallway was empty, including all its other paths to the left and right.

Lily saw no one as if the man had not appeared earlier.

It was as if she just imagined things.

‘That’s impossible! He’s real, and I’m sure of it"

It should have been easy for Lily to sense someone’s presence with her combat skills.

Earlier, she could say she missed it because she was fixated on the wilfordi root, but what about later? What about when she ran out of the room? Why could she not sense his presence anymore? ‘There are only two possibilities.

Either I just saw things earlier, or the man is skilled, too!' It was unsurprising for any kind of talent to exist in this organization.

What was strange to Lily was that the man appeared to warn her, and she could even say he had saved her life.

Still, she wondered why he left after warning her.

It was as if he appeared just to save her.

Lily pondered and searched for the man for some time but still could not find him anywhere.

‘How weird was that?’ Then she returned to the lab and saw that some people had already returned.

However, they simply continued with their work, and no one spared her a glance when she walked through the door.

She observed them and found no one was identical to the man earlier.

‘Who was he?’ Lily stood before the wilfordi root once again.

This time, she stared at it but did not get any closer.

Now, she seemed to understand why they placed it in such a manner, with a circular layer of protection surrounding it.

When one got closer to it, they seemed to be attracted uncontrollably.

She wondered what kind of powers the mutated wilfordi root had.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1843-She concluded it would be challenging to discover the truth about this place.

Hence, she began to concentrate on the experiments.

They were already halfway through.

The main problem was that they could not blend the two types of materials and find the perfect ratio for the product.

Lily found a problem in the provided data.

Those previously in charge of this experiment had been using the ratio she previously provided, which was the one from the successful experiment.

After seeing the data, she knew past researchers did not understand fragrances.

To be exact, they did not understand the tricks of blending fragrances and herbs.

The data from her successful experiment was accurate, but that was just a single success case.

How could they use it for all the other experiments as well? After all, the ratio for different mixes of fragrances and herbs would vary, and the material that would need to be added to blend those two ingredients would also be different.

It finally made sense to her why the organization desperately wanted her to join them.

Perhaps no one could do better than her in this, or even if there were someone, they probably could not complete the experiment on time.

This experiment required long hours of commitment from its researcher, from investigating to familiarizing themselves with it.

Plus, due to the unique nature of this experiment, no one else could do it other than Lily.

After familiarizing herself with all the data, Lily threw them away because they were useless.

She started to make adjustments from her own ratio and repeatedly tried as she created many samples along the way.

By doing so, she could find the differences between the combinations immediately, then make further adjustments according to the results.

She would eventually succeed in the end after trying things out many times.

However, there was one thing Lily found interesting in this experiment.

Although she was experimenting on poisons, it was not the one from the wilfordi root.

In other words, it was not the poison from the giant, mutated wilfordi root that intrigued her that they were using in the experiment.

After working for an entire day in the lab, Lily was sore all over.

During the day, her unborn twins seemed to notice she was doing something that was not good and would kick her occasionally.

Lily could only caress her belly to comfort her twins for now.

When she was tired from standing, she would rest before diving into the experiments again.

She told her child silently, "I’m not doing this to harm other people, but I’m trying to save them.

I hope you can understand why I’m doing this.

I don’t have a choice either."

Mike came in the evening and checked on the experiment’s progress before approaching Lily.

"The boss wants to meet you."

"Great.

I want to speak to him as well,"

Lily turned around to say as she put down the things in her hands.

Mike just stared at her intensely.

It seerned like he was hesitating to tell her something, but he ultimately looked left and right again before saying, "Let’s go."

There was quite a distance between this laboratory building and the admin block.

Lily removed her hazmat suit and felt fresh all over.

The sun was already setting, with the warm orange light shining on all the plants.

The faint, golden color of the sun would make anyone feel they had a bright life ahead.

"How’s the progress with the experiments?"

Mike glanced around before he slowed his steps and asked.

{It’s going fine.

I’m making consistent progress,"

Lily replied lightly.

She strolled while holding her belly, looking calm and slightly relaxed.

Anxiety went unnoticed in her appearance.

In contrast, Mike appeared to be more nervous than she was.

Suddenly, he stopped and said thoughtfully, "We can talk here privately.

Tell me honestly.

Can this experiment succeed? What are the chances, and how long will it take to get there?"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1844-"Did your boss tell you to ask me that?"

Lily asked with a raised brow.

Mike said nothing momentarily before he replied, "You're still wary of me even now, aren’t you?"

"Yes,"

Lily answered unapologetically.

The things Mike did and what he kept from them in the past made it impossible for Lily to trust him completely.

After all, it was hard to rebuild broken trust, especially not with a few words exchanged.

They were no longer friends, but Mike was not her enemy either.

"Is there anyone I now working in this lab?"

Lily asked out of the blue.

Mike was stunned and pondered momentarily before answering, "

A few people here have worked with you before.

Why? Did you meet them?"

"It’s not them,"

Lily said with determination as she shook her head.

There might be those people who Mike mentioned here, but Lily only had vague memories of them.

Lily was not one to socialize much or put in the effort to build relationships with her colleagues, so she would not remember them much.

She would only remember those who she had a close relationship with.

It only took her a glance at the man to find him familiar, which meant he was different from the rest.

Hence, Lily was sure he was someone she knew well and might even be someone she was close to.

It was just that she could not pinpoint who he was for the time being.

After some silence, she suddenly said, "Turn around."

Mike was puzzled.

Although doubtful, he did as Lily told him under her determined gaze.

Lily observed how Mike looked from the back carefully.

Then she took a few steps back and tried to find the right angle, but in the end, she still shook her head because it was not him earlier.

She had a feeling it was not Mike since the beginning, but to be sure, she wanted to look at him carefully before concluding.

However, who else could it be if it was not Mike? "What is it? Who did you meet?"

Mike turned around and saw her wrinkled brows.

He asked, "You met a friend?"

"I can’t be sure,"

Lily said lightly.

This organization was mysterious, and it had complicated relationships with its branches.

It was hard to tell who they would recruit into this organization.

Above all, Lily and Alexander had no idea that Mike was part of this before he exposed himself.

Now that Lily was here, it was tough for her to tell who else she could meet.

"Lily, it’s not entirely impossible for you to meet a friend here.

Even if I’ve been part of this organization for a long time, I can tell you I haven’t learned about them completely.

They’ re too secretive and cunning."

Mike stopped and took a deep breath as he scanned their surroundings.

The two stood in an empty area, so it was easy to know if anyone was hiding at a glance.

When Mike ensured they were alone, he said in a lower voice, "But the boss should have all the secrets and key information about the organization."

"Oh?"

Lily raised her brow and gave him a direct response.

Mike was not bothered by her attitude and continued, "The organization had moved its headquarters twice, but I haven’t seen anything particularly protected during the move.

There seemed to be no safes or computers either, so think it might be something the boss carries around."

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1845 -"But you’ve said it yourself that the boss is just like a front desk and that there's still someone else he has to answer to,"

Lily said.

"That’s right, but I’m sure he also has important information and secrets on his hands."

After pondering for along time, Mike believed the boss should have something to keep himself safe, even if he was technically working for someone else.

Although he was a madman, he also had his own beliefs: this so - called plan and research.

Before they completed it, Mike was sure the boss would not allow himself to be in danger.

"So, what you’re trying to say is..."

A moment of silence later, Lily raised her brow and looked at Mike.

"We should work hand-in-hand and find the secrets together."

Mike knew Lily was not here to serve the boss solely.

She was just like him.

He had been trying to free himself from their control and leave the organization for the longest time.

However, he needed to stay to find Nick, but he still had no idea where Nick was until now.

Now that Lily was here, he considered her an extra help to him.

Although risks were associated with that, it made no difference because he believed he would also be at risk even if he were not doing anything.

He could not care so much anymore and needed to save his son.

"What’s your plan?"

Lily inquired.

"IT know he usually takes a break from work and rests in the afternoon, from about 12 p.m.

to 2 p.m.

every day, when the sun would be the brightest.

I spied on him and learned he appeared weakest in those two hours.

He had never met anyone in that period, but he did for all the other hours."

Sometimes, the boss would even summon his people at night and give them his orders.

Mike carefully counted and concluded that the boss had never met anyone from 12 p.m.

to 2 p.m.

He never did.

That meant he needed to be entirely alone for rest during those two hours.

No matter what he would do, or that he did not want to meet anyone at that time, or if it was because of other reasons, Mike found that the two hours was the best and safest time to strike.

"Then?"

Lily continued to ask.

She knew Mike must have had his rough plan, perhaps even a complete one, for him to tell her all this.

Otherwise, he would not say anything to her just yet.

"We'll split up.

You’ll head to the office to find information while I keep watch for you to prevent others from finding out what we're doing."

Mike went straight to the point.

Lily chuckled.

"Why can’t you be the one to find information while T keep watch, then?"

"That works too."

She did not expect Mike to agree to her suggestion so quickly without hesitation.

"T think it'll be more effective if we collaborate.

It doesn’t matter who goes into the boss’s office or who keeps watch outside.

The most important thing we must remember is that we’re running out of time."

Mike had been saying they were running out of time, and upon hearing it once more, Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"What time are you talking about? It seems that this experiment has been on countdown the entire time."

‘Why is it on a countdown, and what is it for? Or rather, who was it for?’ Mike just pursed his lips and said nothing.

He seemed hesitant, which was interesting to Lily.

He would tell her everything she asked before this, and it appeared that he hid nothing from her.

After all, there was no point hiding things from her now that she was here.

However, Mike had always been hesitant regarding time.

‘It’s fine if you can’t tell me,"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1846-“It’s not that I can’t tell you. I just... I'm not so sure either,” Mike said and pondered momentarily. After some time, he seemed to have decided something as he turned to look at Lily and continued,

“You've seen the core of this research. Other research is ongoing at the same time as well.

“However, all the research is stuck in this same phase, which means you must complete not just one but a couple. Still, the boss said we should prioritize R10 if we can’t make it in time.”

After listening to him for so long, Lily finally heard the most critical thing. She instantly felt energetic again. “Rio?”

“Yeah. All the research here is in numerical order. I'm sure you’ve noticed that from the documents you've browsed through. R10 is the most crucial research out of all of them.”

“Is Rio the one I'm doing now?” Lily asked after some thought.

“No.” Unexpectedly, Mike shook his head. “The one you’re working on right now is R13.”

Lily was even more surprised. “R13? Wait, aren't they in numerical order? How did R13 start when R10 is still incomplete?”

Mike just nodded. He was as stunned as Lily when he first heard about this. From what I know, there are R16, R17, and R18. I heard it’s already well over 20. It’s just that most experiments failed.”

“Most of them failed, so that means some were successful?” Lily caught the keyword and asked.

“Yes, but they're slightly different from the experiments you're doing.” Mike paused and looked at his watch. “We can’t delay this anymore. I'll talk to you about this again when I find another opportunity. We're only relatively safer out here because of the surveillance cameras and audio monitoring systems installed in the building.”

“I know that,” Lily said simply, “I even know where they are.”

Mike was stunned but soon remembered that Lily and Alexander were experts in this field. However, he still worriedly reminded her, “Even so, there might still be some you've missed. It’s still better to be careful.”

“Yeah.” Mike was right, so Lily nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go then.”

Fabian could not get what he wanted from Cameron, so he returned home disappointedly. Upon entering the house, he saw

Maria sitting and eating leisurely in the dining room.

She cut a piece of chicken and placed it into her mouth as she chewed. She appeared calm, a contrast from a few days ago when she would scream and cry nonstop.

Fabian threw Maria a glance. Seeing her in this state did not make him much happier, but it was better than seeing her cry all the time.

“I’m hungry!” He sat and said habitually while a maid hurried to bring him his cutlery.

On the other hand, Maria did not react at all and just stared at the two dishes before her. Although she looked calm, she was so overly calm that it started to seem strange.

Fabian felt suffocated at the sight of Maria. He only felt slightly better after loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his dress shirt. With a hoarse voice, he said, “Cameron is awake.”

“Oh.” Maria finally responded, but it was a monotonous reply.

Fabian felt genuinely uncomfortable due to her one-word reply and frowned. “He chased me out right after waking up and was back to how he used to be toward us in the past! He was distant and hostile again!”

Just thinking about it riled Fabian up. He wondered how Cameron could turn against them so quickly.

What he had forgotten was that this was Cameron in his normal state. It was just that Cameron had changed recently and treated him slightly better.

“Okay.” It was another one-word reply, making Maria seem to have nothing to do with this.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1847-“You...” Fabian wanted to raise his voice at Maria but held back upon seeing her complexion. After all, Maria looked the best today compared to the previous days.

“Are you listening to what I'm saying?” Fabian tried to be patient and asked her nicely.

“I heard you. Cameron is awake.” Maria placed her cutlery down and wiped her mouth with a napkin before looking at Fabian. “ What about it?”

“He wouldn't obey us anymore, and he is the same as he was in the past again!” As Fabian had gotten a reply from Maria, he sat down with one arm on his knee, appearing to be in distress as he continued, “It’s game over for us if he goes back on his words and takes the project back from us!” If it were in the past, Maria would have been wailing already. However, she was exceptionally calm today, comforting him faintly, “No, he won’t.”

“How can you be sure of that?” Surprised by her words, Fabian asked doubtfully.

“Are you an idiot? This project isn’t playing house, so how could.He goes back on his words so easily and make changes? You’ve taken over the project, and you're already halfway through. Why would

he take it back now? He had raised quite a controversy back then

Maria disdainfully said as she walked over to the couch to

‘I pick up her handbag.

“Where are you going?” Fabian got up when he noticed that she was leaving.

“Shopping.” With that, she headed to the door.

Fabian did not sense anything before this, but now, he realized that Maria was acting strangely. She was being too unusual.

‘what is going on today? Cameron is acting so weird, and so is my wife. Do they both have problems or is it just me?’ Fabian thought.

“Shopping? With who? Where are you going? How do you have the mood for that now?” He chased over and blocked her path as he shot her a series of questions.

Maria stopped and stared at him as her lips curved into a smile, one he could not be sure of what it meant. “Are you crazy? Why are you asking so many questions? Why can’t I go shopping? I used to do that all the time.”

“That was last time, but now you're...” Fabian trailed off, hesitant to continue.

Maria had been in unbearable pain after Rhea’s passing. At one point, she would go crazy whenever she heard her daughter's name. Hence, Fabian tried not to bring Rhea up as much as possible and got the servant to do the same.

He even locked Rhea’s room up and moved all the furniture in the house.

‘Why does she seem fine now, like nothing had ever happened? Is she finally over her pain, or is this the calm before the storm?’

“what's with me now?” Maria grinned and took two steps closer to Fabian, forcing him to move back a little.

His look made Maria smile indifferently, but her words that followed astonished him to his core. “Are you trying to say that now that Rhea has died, I should just stay home and cry all day?”

Fabian stared at her in bewilderment, not knowing what to say for a moment. “You...”

“What? Did you think I’ve gone mad?” Maria was still smiling.

Then she held her bag and took a seat on the couch. Sighing, she said, “I’m not crazy! I’m just over it now! Although Ree had left us suddenly, I must accept reality since it has already happened.”

Maria's gaze landed on the floor before her, appearing dazed before she continued, “There’s no point for me to keep holding on to it, crying all day long. Life continues, and we can never know how it will turn out, right?”

 

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1848-Fabian did not know what to say. He became speechless when Maria threw him a sideways glance.

Maria was right, and her words made sense. It appeared that she had thought things through and gotten over the pain, but Fabian still felt something off about her.

‘Just two days ago, she was still crying about ending her life, so… how could her mood have changed so drastically in such a short time?’

Seeing her staring at him, he quickly said, “It’s best if you can get over it, but why did it happen so suddenly?”

“I don’t know either. Perhaps God didn’t want me to be sad for too long!” Maria raised her head and looked toward the ceiling as a strange smile appeared on her face. “Hey, why are you asking so much about that? Isn’t it good now that I’ve gotten over it? Do you want me to die with Ree too? Is that what you want?”

Maria’s reprimand rendered Fabian speechless again, but it made him feel like they were back to normal—just a little.

“what nonsense is that?” He questioned back but was not feeling any better about it.

“Well, that's it then. I’m heading out now!” With that, Maria picked up her bag and exited through the door.

This time, Fabian did not stop her. Instead, he followed her and watched her enter the car their driver drove. She was too calm, and it made him suspicious.

On the other hand, Maria could not conceal her joy anymore after getting into the car. She took out her phone and looked at it as she texted someone. “I just left home, and I’ll be there soon.”

The receiver just replied with an emoji, which translated into an “Okay,” but it made Maria feel overjoyed as if she had just heard the best news.

She placed her phone close to her chest like a precious treasure.

After smiling momentarily, she said, “Rowan, drive faster.”

The car sped to a poker house. Rowan stopped at the entrance and turned back to ask Maria, ‘Mrs. Moore, is this the place?”

Maria looked out the window, then at her phone before finally nodding. “Yes, it’s here! I’m going to play poker now. Just pick me up later. I'll give you a call when I’m done.”

“Yes, Mrs. Moore,” Rowan replied, watching Maria eagerly exit the car and enter the place.

He was puzzled as it was his first time coming to this place.

Fortunately, Maria gave him the address. Otherwise, he would have no idea where this was.

Still, it was strange. Everyone in Moore’s residence knew that Maria had been in distress for the past weeks and had not stepped out of the house for a long time. However, she had a drastic change today.

She went out for a poker game, smiling happily and even grinning at her phone earlier. Rowan could not help but think, “Is Mrs. Moore having an affair?”

As soon as that thought came into his mind, he shook his head and continued to convince himself, “No, that can be. Mrs. Moore’s daughter passed away not long ago, so she'd not have the mood for that. She must’ve been too upset that she’s in shock.”

Meanwhile, as Maria entered the poker house, she did not know what was happening in Rowan's mind. She tried her best to act naturally but could not conceal her happiness. Even her gaze looked lively. She was joyful and eager to meet someone important to her.

The poker house was silent. Although it was a place for entertainment, it had great soundproof walls. One could hear nothing much in the hallways.

Maria strode to a private room at the end of the hallway. She first looked at the room number, then at the text on her phone to ensure she would enter the correct room. As calm as she could be, she pushed the door open with trembling hands.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1849 -The door easily opened when Maria turned the doorknob.Her heart skipped a beat in excitement, but it dropped to her stomach upon entering the room.

There was no one in there without a soul in sight.

Confused, she walked around the room to ensure there were no secret rooms before tapping away on her phone.She sent a text to someone.

"I’m here.Where are you?"

The other end replied promptly, "There’s a bag on the table.Open it."

Maria was speechless.She looked around, and sure enough, she saw a black bag on the table in the corner.She walked over and opened it to find a sealed bag in it.

Two tiny bottles were in the sealed bag, and Maria was unsure what they were.

Just as she was about to open them, her phone buzzed.

After placing down the bag, she picked up her phone and saw a text.

"Don't open the bottles in the bag.Bring it home for me and keep it well.Don’t let anyone know about this."

Maria looked at the things in the bag suspiciously.

Fortunately, she did not open the bottles, but she was still curious about what it was.

While debating whether to give in to her curiosity or obey the other person’s words, she received another text.

"Stop being curious about it, and don’t touch my things!"

This one sentence made Maria emotional.

Back then, that was what Rhea used to say to her impatiently.

Every time, Rhea was impatient and cold toward Maria, but her voice was something Maria could never hear anymore.

Tears flooded her eyes instantly, and she suppressed her curiosity.

Once again, she picked up her phone and asked, "Ree, is it you?"

The person on the other end usually replied fast, but not this time.

Maria was anxious and sent another text.

"You're still alive, aren't you? Could you come and meet me?"

A moment later, she sent another text.

"Please!"

Her tears trickled down her cheeks uncontrollably the moment she typed this word.

Pitter-patter was the sound of her tears falling on her phone’s screen.

The tiny device seemed to be her last hope, and she stared at it unblinkingly.

Ever since Rhea passed away, Maria felt that her world had collapsed.

At one point, she did not want to live anymore.

Rhea’s face would fill her mind, from when she was still an adorable little girl until her cold, hostile expression when she had grown up.

No matter how Rhea treated her mother, Rhea was still her baby daughter.

Maria would take Rhea’s clothes and hug them in her embrace before putting them back carefully, afraid her daughter would be mad when she came home and saw that her room was in a mess.

Fabian kept telling Maria that she should let the past go and that they would live a good life ahead of them even if their daughter were no longer around.

But how could Maria get over it? She was no longer happy without her daughter, so how could she have a good life in the future? However, a text pulled her out of the abyss of darkness last night.

The familiar tone and the secrets that only Maria and Rhea shared made Maria strongly believe that the text sender was her daughter.

She was sure that Rhea was not dead and that she had returned.

The texter told Maria that she could only fake her death for some reason and that she was safe now but could not appear anywhere.

Also, she said she needed Maria to help her do something, and once it was settled, she could return home.

Maria trusted every word the sender said.

That was because she was sure that the sender of the texts was Rhea.

Hence, no matter what the sender said, she would believe those words.

After speculating that her daughter was still alive, Maria felt better and calmer.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1850-The texter said not to tell Fabian about this, so Maria would not tell him.She said no one should know about this, so Maria would keep it from everyone.

Now, Maria would obey anything the texter said as long as her baby daughter could finally come home.

Maria came to this poker house with the texter’s directions, thinking she could see her daughter, who she had missed dearly.

However, the place was empty, and only a bag was there waiting for her to pick it up.

While she was immersed in pain and sadness again, her phone buzzed.It was another text.

"Keep those things well.Wait for me to come home."

There were only two simple sentences, but they seemed to have given Maria endless strength to live again.

‘Wait for me to come home, she said.That must be Ree!' Maria thought.

She was so emotional that her heart was beating wildly.She held her phone tightly and pressed it to her chest like a treasure.

At this time, she received two more messages.

"I booked the room for four hours.You can rest before leaving to avoid raising any suspicions.Hide those things well when you go home.Also, delete all the texts from your phone."

Maria nodded and replied, "When can you meet me then?"

She waited for a while, but no reply came.

Initially, she wanted to send another text.

However, she deleted her draft when she had already typed halfway.

That was because she knew how Rhea was.

Once Rhea finished saying what she needed, she would not say another word.

Although Maria was still disappointed that she did not see Rhea or hear her voice, knowing Rhea was still alive was enough for her.

It gave her hope and made her feel that life was worth living again.

‘As long as Rheais still alive, nothing else matters to me.I would do anything for Rhea, even at the expense of my life"

With that thought in mind, she zipped up the black bag and put it into her handbag, hiding it carefully.

After walking around the room momentarily, she lay on the couch and napped.She had been too exhausted recently.

Every day, she cried and could not eat or sleep well.

Today, she finally felt more at ease.

As she was calmer now, she fell asleep in no time.

Upon entering the office, Lily walked over to the man’s desk and casually sat opposite him.

Then she picked up a soft cushion, placed it behind her waist, and adjusted her position to sit comfortably.

She was relaxed, unbothered by the man before her.

The man’s cold gaze, revealed by the mask, just stared at her and her every move.

He sneered when she finally settled down, "You're really not afraid of me, huh?"

"Afraid? Why would I be?" Lily chuckled.

"Should I fear you or the poisons you're experimenting with?"

She raised her hands and continued indifferently, "I’ve handled more poisons than you know."

She dusted her hands as if she got any dirt on them.It rendered Mike, standing on the sidelines, speechless.

The man did not mind her actions at all.

"You've worked here fora couple of days now.Can you tell me about your progress?"

"you said I’ve only been here for a few days, so what progress are you expecting? How long have you guys been working on this research?"

Lily asked mockingly in return, "What? Do you think I'm God?"