"I''ll think about it some more."


    "It''s been a while since we visited your uncle and aunt. Since we have some time today, Adrian, do you want toe along?"


    Adrian nced at his father and nodded.


    Giselle was thrilled.


    She dropped the topic of leaving the country, took Adrian''s hand, and, chatting andughing with Lysander, headed downstairs. As for M, she didn''t mention her at all.


    She never expected M to make it back alive.


    The people she''d hired before were utterly useless-how could they fail to deal with a woman who was all alone? And now, she''d lost all contact with that group. Worried something had gone wrong, she didn''t dare reach out again.


    Today, she''d onlye by to see if Lysander had noticed anything, wanting to test the waters. Seeing him act as cordial as ever, she finally rxed a little-but notpletely. As long as M was around, she could never truly rest easy.


    Especially now, with M living right here in Kingsford.


    Soon, they arrived at the Harvey home.


    At dinner, everyone kept the conversation light and cheerful, sticking to small talk.


    In the end, Lysander and his son stayed over for the night.


    Later, Charles Harvey called Giselle into his study.


    "What''s going on with Lysandertely? He suddenly left Kingsford the other day, and M showed up right after. Are you sure he doesn''t have feelings for her? And how is she even back? Did you mess up?"


    “I''m sure,” Giselle answered firmly. “I can''t reach those people anymore, so I don''t know what went wrong."


    "You''ve lost contact?"


    Charles fell silent for a moment, then said, "Don''t try to reach them again. Wipe every trace of yourmunication-consider it never happened."


    "I understand."


    "If you''re so sure Lysander doesn''t care about that woman, then why hasn''t he


    filed for divorce? What''s he waiting for?" Charles pressed.


    "Dad, the paperwork''s already been filed. In thirty days, it''ll be official."


    "Can you guarantee that?"


    Charles still looked uneasy.


    Giselle fell quiet.


    In truth, she couldn''t promise anything. Lysander''s attitude toward M was aplete mystery to her now. She tried to reassure her father, but deep down, she was anything but certain.


    After a moment, her eyes sharpened with resolve. "Don''t worry, Dad. I still have other ways."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Thirty days is too long," Giselle said. "I''ll find a way to force M out of the country in the next few days. Once she''s gone, no one will be able to help her."


    Charles stared at her, then frowned as he realized what she was implying. "You''re nning to use... Are you sure it won''t backfire?"


    Giselle smiled.


    "Dad, it''s not as if we''re getting our hands dirty ourselves. It has nothing to do with us. If we''d thought of this sooner, things would''ve been much simpler."


    Charles finally grinned too.


    Just outside the study, Charlotte Brown was crouched at the door, straining to catch bits and pieces of their conversation. The soundproofing was too good; she only managed to gather the general idea.


    Something about... hurting M?


    And they''d already tried once before?


    Charlotte looked around to make sure the hallway was empty, then slipped quietly back to her room. As soon as she closed the door, panic clouded her face.


    She''d been nted here by M herself.


    Her job was simple: whenever Lysander visited the Harvey family, she was supposed to snap incriminating photos of him and Giselle-ideally in apromising situation—and send them to M. Charlotte had guessed M would use them in a divorce case.


    In return, M covered all her mother''s medical bills and found a doctor to treat her.


    Only now, she hadn''t gotten the photos-but had overheard this instead.


    If Giselle and her father really managed to get rid of M, what would happen to her mother''s treatment? How would she ever save her?


    She was the Harvey family''s illegitimate child. Aside from a roof over her head and a couple of meals a day, the family offered her nothing.


    And even less for her mother.


    Heartless to thest.


    "No, I have to find a way to warn M. She needs to be careful." Charlotte gnawed her fingernail, racking her brain for a solution.


    M was always cautious.


    Their contact was strictly one-way-unless M reached out, there was no way to get in touch.


    There had to be a way to meet her in person.


    M couldn''te to harm; Charlotte and her mother were counting on her. She couldn''t let anything happen to her. But what could she do?


    Meanwhile, at the hospital-


    Julian finally woke up.


    It was hard to say whether this was a good thing or not. The boy seemed so traumatized that he remembered nothing of what had happened in the restaurant. When he saw M, he rushed into her arms, beaming.


    "Mom!"


    Seeing he had no memory of the restaurant, and realizing he also hadn''t recalled witnessing his birth mother kill his father as a child, M and Nathaniel both breathed a sigh of relief.


    It was better if he never remembered any of that.


    Too horrifying to bear.


    They stayed at the hospital for a few more hours, just to be safe. That afternoon, Nathaniel drove them back to Bamboo Grove, dropped the boy off, and left.


    "All settled?" Miranda came out to greet them.


    After the incident at the restaurantst night, M had called her and asked her to go to Lillian''s Manor ahead of time, tidy up, and not wait around for her.


    Once she was sure everyone was okay, Miranda grumbled, "I swear, you and the Montgomerys are just a disaster waiting to happen whenever you''re in the same room. Something always goes wrong. Maybe we should just avoid them from now on."


    M gave a wry smile.


    She hadn''t nned for any of this, just her luck.


    Miranda perked up when she saw Julian, pulling out the small toy she''d bought for him, trying to coax a smile from the shy boy. He hid behind M, barely daring to look at her, but Miranda seemed to enjoy the challenge.


    After a while, she remembered something and pointed to arge envelope on the dining table.


    "Oh, almost forgot!"


    "The Harveys are up to something again. Out of nowhere, they''ve decided to


    throw a family dinner and sent a formal invitation over this morning. They want us to attend."


    She frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."