"...I didn''t get his call," Mirabe replied, her face devoid of emotion.


    She wasn''t worried about Cassie getting lost. In fact, the guy seemed to have the luck of the devil himself; worrying about him was less of a priority than worrying about her own finances.


    They were at odds.


    "Oh, keep an eye on your phone. That silly boy has only been out in the world once, hasn''t seen much. It''d be embarrassing to lose him," Paul said.


    Mirabe pinched the bridge of her nose, responding in a rather perfunctory manner, "If there''s nothing else...Paul, I''m going to hang up now."


    Paul opened his mouth to say something but ended up just saying, "Okay."


    He ended the call and stood silently in the garden for several minutes before putting down his watering can and walking out of the garden.


    Paul went to the family head''s main house but didn''t find anyone there. After a moment''s thought, he went to the chapel behind the main house.


    Inside the chapel, there were quesmemorating the ancestors of their family, and the incense burner on the altar still had three sticks of incense burning, clearly just lit.


    Paul walked up to the altar, reached out to touch the incense burner, and suddenly, a door in the stone wall to his right slowly opened. He stepped through.


    After descending a long flight of stone steps, not knowing how long he''d been walking, he suddenly emerged into arge stone chamber.


    There wasn''t much in the chamber except for a stone table in the center. Standing at the table was a person with long hair simply tied up, their figure slender.


    Paul nced at the figure, then walked over.


    Nellie''s gaze was fixed on the stone table, and as Paul approached, she pressed a button on the table''s surface. Suddenly, the entire chamber seemed to undergo a transformation.


    The ceiling was enveloped by a starry sky, as if they had entered a virtual world.


    Nellie, looking at the realistic stars suddenly pulled up a self-mocking smile and said, "Morgan, what do


    you th


    about me destroying this


    ce?"


    Paul looked up at her in astonishment. "Why?"


    Nellie''s young yet weathered face was almost numbly expressionless. "Tired."


    Paul knew that ever since she


    returned years ago, covered in wounds, she had be much


    more silent and withdrawn, neven et


    leaving the house. Though he


    dn''t


    know what had happened, it must have been a bad memory_


    "You decided to let Cassie leave, thinking you had made up your mind then," Paul


    said softly, his fingers resting on the stone table.


    Nellie was silent for a long while, not picking up on Paul''s words. Instead, she turned to look at him and asked, "What did youe to find me for?"


    "Rea just contacted me, asking about your health."


    Nellie''s expression finally changed slightly, her gaze softening. "That child has suffered a lot. I just hope things will get better for her."


    Paul nodded. "They will. But it''s odd she suddenly asked about your health condition, wondering what she''s probing for."


    "Probing?" Nellie was puzzled. "What did she say?"


    "Not much. She''s always been hard to read. Maybe she''s just worried about your health," Paul replied.


    Nellie''s gaze became pensive, silent, lost in thought.


    **


    After hanging up the call, Mirabe returned to her room to continue working on her thesis.


    Just as she opened a new document, her phone''s Messenger pinged again.


    ncing at the screen, she saw it was a message from the guy next door. Picking up her phone, she tapped open the message to find a business card being shared.