After M calmed her racing thoughts, she returned to the hospital room.


    Pushing the door open, she paused in surprise. The room was bathed in moonlight, and there sat Julian on the bed, wearing his fuzzy roon pajamas, staring nkly. He only looked up when he heard the door.


    "Mom..."


    His voice choked with emotion, and he prepared to leap off the bed, barefoot.


    M quickly rushed over, gently keeping him on the bed. "It''s okay, it''s okay. What''s wrong?"


    "I thought you were gone," Julian''s voice trembled with fear.


    "No, sweetheart. I just stepped out for a bit. See, I''m back now..."


    M had never left in the middle of the night before. She hadn''t realized just how sensitive her son could be. After all, when she left, he was sound asleep.


    After soothing him for quite some time, Julian finally drifted back to sleep.


    But M couldn''t rest. She kept ncing at her phone, suppressing her worry as she waited for news.


    Time crept forward, and before dawn, the faint sound of cars could be heard from outside the hospital.


    It was past four in the morning.


    Just as M was about to lose her patience, her phone vibrated again. Not wanting to leave the room this time, she answered it by the window, using her body to block out the chilly air.


    "Hello?"


    "It''s me!" Miranda''s voice came through, tinged with excitement. "It''s done! I locked him in the basement!"


    M sighed in relief.


    The vi she purchased at Oakwood Estates had a basement, mostly used for storing old or valuable items. She had reced all the door locks with a central password system, which Miranda knew about.


    Miranda could easily use the vi''syout to her advantage and lock the person up, seizing control.


    But was it really going to be that straightforward?


    M was uneasy. She asked Miranda to recount the events, but couldn''t detect any ws. It seemed the person was injured and unable to resist.


    "Though, M, leaving him like that... what if something happens?" Miranda sounded worried. "If he bleeds to death down there, we''ll be in serious trouble!"


    M was taken aback. "Didn''t you leave any medicine with him when you locked him up?" Miranda knew perfectly well where M kept the medical supplies in the house.


    "You overestimate me! I was so focused on locking him up..." Miranda was exasperated. She certainly didn''t dare to open the door again now.


    M was frustrated.


    She only wanted to help Miranda gain the upper hand, not harm anyone. She definitely didn''t want to end up in a legal mess!


    And she didn''t want to take things too far.


    "Go to my bedroom, open theptop on the nightstand. The vi''s surveince is independent. Check if he''s conscious. If he is, put me on speaker, and I''ll talk to him."


    "Actually, let''s do a video call. Show me who it is, so I can find out more."


    Since they were already involved, she needed to know who they were dealing with, to avoid any future surprises.


    Mirandaplied with each instruction.


    Through her phone screen, M watched as a weak-looking man leaned against the wall in the surveince footage, silent.


    Rnd?


    How could it be him? What was going on?


    Well, at least she didn''t need to investigate further.


    As M wrestled with her confusion, the man in the footage slowly raised his


    head, eyes locking onto the camera. He coughed lightly, blood staining his lips, and despite his pallor, managed a faint, difficult smile.