As James leaned in a little too close, Mirabe instinctively lifted her head. When her eyes met his deep gaze, her heart skipped a beat. "I don''t recognize you," she said.


    "You deny it awfully fast," James remarked with a raised eyebrow.


    Mirabe maintained a poker face, boldly repeating, "I really don''t recognize you." James chuckled. "You''ve got quite a few little secrets, don''t you?"


    Mirabe shot him a re, starting to wonder if this guy had too much time on his hands, poking his nose into everything.


    Seeing her reaction, James just ruffled Mirabe''s hair, realizing she wasn''t going to spill the beans. He decided to let it go for now.


    There''s always tomorrow.


    Plenty of time ahead.


    *


    Meanwhile, when David came to, he found Devon still sitting by his bedside.


    Devon was holding the bottle of medicine Grant had brought back.


    "You''re awake, professor," Devon said, noticing David''s eyes open. "How are you feeling?"


    David shook his head, slowly propping himself up on the bed. "How long was I out? When did you get here?"


    "Not even two hours," Devon replied, cing a pillow behind David''s back. "Oh, and Mirabe stopped by."


    "Mirabe?" David looked surprised. "Why didn''t she wake me? Where''s she now?"


    "She saw you were resting and didn''t want to disturb you. She stayed for a bit, then said she''de by tomorrow to try some acupuncture," Devon exined softly.


    "Why did she drop by out of the blue? Did you ask her toe?" David asked, puzzled.


    Devon took a moment, then filled him in about Grant calling Mirabe to the association and Presley''s motives.


    David frowned, surprised that his assistant had reached out to Mirabe, and even more so that Presley was after her medicine recipe.


    It must have been because of thest assessment at the association; the medicine Mirabe had concocted had certainly piqued Presley''s interest.


    Then, Devon opened his hand to show David the bottle of medicine, sighing, "Grant probably called Mirabe to see Presley to get his hands on this."


    But the medicine Grant brought back was dangerous.


    It was uncertain whether Grant knew or was pretending to be ignorant.


    David''s eyes settled on the bottle in Devon''s hand, and after a pause, he let out a weary smile. "That must have been hard on him."


    Seeing this, Devon felt he had to


    rify. "But... this medicine might be


    doing you more harm than good. Mirabe mentioned you''ve got chronic toxins in your body because of it."


    David was taken aback once more.


    "But the real danger isn''t this medicine, it''s the other drugs that activate the toxins in your body. So, professor, have you been taking anything elsetely?" Devon @sked directly, his gaze fixed on David.