Already aware of Nina's identity, Abelin chuckled at her remark. "What did you just call me?""Bro?""Say it in full."Unaware of their true relationship, Nina was perplexed. Nonetheless, she complied and called him, "Brother?"Abeline's face lit up with joy as he stared at Nina's adorable and playful demeanor. He never knew that having a biological sister could feel so amazing.Nina disregarded his odd reaction and continued, "Anyway, my brother and Holly are very much in love. Could you stop meddling and stay out of their relationship?"Abelin replied honestly, "I have no intention of meddling or confessing my feelings to Holly. I just wanted to protect her silently. Rest assured, I'll leave as soon as I'm discharged.""Oh, so you're secretly in love with my sister-in-law?""You could say that.""It must be quite an agony to love someone who doesn't love you back, huh?""Not really. You don't feel agony when you're truly in love with someone."Nina scrutinized Abelin from
As Bryce stepped into the room, he found Holly standing by the window motionlessly, like a dormant tree. After years of marriage, he could sense her profound sadness even without seeing her face.Approaching her from the back, Bryce gently placed his hands on her slender waist and asked, "What's wrong?"Turning her head, Holly forced a smile on her pale expression. "Abelin left. He hasn't recovered from his injuries yet, but he left anyway." Her tone was filled with concern.Lowering his eyes, Bryce examined her pale face and inquired, "Do you think he left because of me?"Holly shook her head. "No. If you wanted him to leave, you wouldn't have sent someone to rescue him to begin with." Bryce gently gazed at her. "Merope threatened to expose the fire and drunken incident from years ago unless we let you go with them. Maybe Abelin didn't want you caught in this mess, so he left early."Holly offered a faint smile, though a pang of pain gripped her heart. She felt sorry for Abel
Something seemed fishy. Although Bryce didn't ask who had inquired about the case, he was convinced that Abelin and Sherry were two of them.After meticulously studying the files, Bryce couldn't find any clues, which dampened his spirit. After all, even Abelin, who had worked in the special forces overseas and had a strong investigative skill set, couldn't find anything. How could ordinary police officers stand a chance?After completing all the formalities, Bryce and Holly headed to Winston's house. They went next door to Michelle's house to take a look. After the renovation, they could no longer find any traces of the fire."Do you know who did the renovation?" Bryce asked Holly.Pondering for a moment, Holly answered, "I think Granny Michelle asked my grandfather to do it."Bryce rubbed his temples, believing the clues were lost for good with the renovation.…That night, after dinner, the two sat under the pear tree in the yard. The autumn wind swept through the yard with
Before Holly could get up from the bed, Bryce stopped her. "Stay here and don't go out." She obediently sat on the bed.When Bryce stepped out of the room, he noticed one of the bodyguards had left to pursue the intruder on the roof. He asked the remaining bodyguard, "What's going on?""Mr. Gabelman, someone seems to be peeking into the yard from the roof just now."Bryce frowned. "How many of them? Did you get a good look at them?""We only saw one. It was a man in black, about six feet tall, with a medium build. His face was covered under a black mask. He was quick in his steps, even on the roof. I think he's here to gather information and might have accomplices."Bryce narrowed his eyes as he pondered. He ruled out burglary, as no one usually lived here. When Winona passed away, he and Holly had stayed here for a couple of days, but they hadn't encountered such a situation.It appeared that their visit to the police station to investigate the fire had attracted someone's a
Holly gave Annie a disparaging look. "Next time, leave your phone outside the room.""Got it," Annie said as she went out to answer the phone call. When she returned, she brought a man with her.Holly came downstairs and appraised the man. He was tall and wore a black sweater and jeans. His hair was cropped short, and he had what one might consider to be conventionally attractive features. His gaze was feral and dark.Although he was dressed casually, he still looked handsome and put-together. There was a rugged, dangerous, and elusive charm about him.Holly remembered him. He was Annie's biological brother, Tristan.Tristan was carrying a black lockbox in his hands. Inside the black lockbox was a small ornamental tower measuring about 20 inches in height and eight inches in width.The ornamental tower was crafted from sandalwood and gilded, inlaid with quartz, crystals, glass fragments, lapis lazuli, and an assortment of other gemstones.The body of the ornamental tower was a
Holly placated, "Tristan will be sleeping here tonight. Why don't you stay the night, too?"Bryce wasn't as grouchy anymore after Holly invited him to stay the night, and the scowl on his face waned. Most of the time, Holly wouldn't let him sleep over.He raised a hand and addressed Tristan pleasantly, "I thought you were a decent person when I first met you, Mr. Qualls. I suppose you could stay here for a night since we have all these rooms to spare.""Thanks," Tristan replied impassively, neither smiling nor trying to be gracious. He didn't look like he would get along with anyone.Bryce's eyes darkened at Tristan's dismissive attitude.Bryce was used to having everyone fear or fawn over him. And yet, here was another man even more stoic and withdrawn than him.Annie sensed the tension between the two men and quickly interjected, "Thank you, Mr. Gabelman. We really appreciate this."As such, Tristan slept on the couch in the living room that night, while Bryce and Holly took t
The security team wasted no time in escorting Samantha out of Bryce's office.Although Samantha kept a straight face and tried to seem unaffected, she was confused. Not to mention, her pride and dignity were shattered.As the security led Samantha down the corridor, they ran into Arthur, who had just come out of the main conference room.When Arthur spied Samantha being escorted out by security, he stopped and asked, "What in the world is going on here?"Samantha halted her steps and pursed her lips. Tears welled up in her eyes as she mumbled dejectedly, "Uncle Arthur, I…"The rest of her words died on her tongue. She couldn't very well admit to Arthur that she had tried to stir up strife between Bryce and Holly.Arthur was worn out enough to know Samantha's intentions for Bryce. He dismissed the security team and said with a sigh, "Samantha, do yourself a favor and forget about Bryce. You know there's no coming back from that incident with Levi."Samantha's eyes were red and
"I know a bit of Xandorian ancient texts, but I need time to study them.""Alright." Tristan then told Holly that she could only use her phone to take pictures and that she could only take photos of the texts.Holly realized that he was too careful around her.After making sure that the Tower of Vesper was empty, Holly began to restore the hole at the bottom.She put the powder she had collected into a special tool. The tool compressed the powder. Then, she used the Miraculous Glue to glue it back. After that, she refined the surface, ensuring that no one could detect the tampering even with an instrument.Although it seemed easy, it was difficult to implement.The tiny hole took Holly two days to fill.After filling the hole, she needed to refine the gilded surface.When Holly had finished the restoration, the sky was already dark.She handed the Tower of Vesper to Tristan.Tristan took it and inspected it repeatedly. He used the magnifying glass and an instrument to check