At that thought, I could not suppress a bitter laugh. “They’ve thought things through, haven’t they? They even had the courtesy to keep my body in one piece.”
Ashton grimaced in anger. “Something like this will never happen again.”
I snuggled against him, confident that he would be investigating this thoroughly. “If you managed to find out who it was, I’d like to meet the person!”
Ashton grunted. His cold gaze resumed. “Take care of yourself and just leave the rest to me.”
I did not feel like going back to sleep now that I was up, maybe it was due to the fact that I had been sleeping so much I felt sick of it. “Not many people would hate me to the point of plotting my murder. The people who would actually dare to carry it out are even scarce.”
I couldn’t figure out who would be that bold to do such a thing.
Nora entered the ward. Her eyes looked swollen like she had been crying for a long time.
At the sight of me sitting up in bed, she paid no heed to Ashton and ran over to my other side and threw herself onto me. “You’re finally awake,” she sobbed. “You’ve been asleep for three whole days! I’d thought that you have left me behind and don’t want to take me to K City anymore.”
It hurt my still frail body to be embraced by two people at the same time.
It was a good thing that Armond arrived in time to pull Nora off of me. “She just woke up. Are you planning on knocking her out again?” he chided Nora.
“Don’t be preposterous!” Nora shoved Armond indignantly. “Scarlett is fine. She’ll always be.”
She wiped her tears at that. “I’m sorry, I did not know that you are allergic to sesame,” she said guiltily. “If I knew that the matcha cheese had that amount of sesame in it, I would rather die than to have caused you to have that reaction!”
I chuckled and patted her hand. “It’s not your fault, Nora. It was mine for not noticing in the first place. Anyway, it was an accident!”
Nora still felt to blame. “If you did not have that allergic reaction, we wouldn’t have come to the hospital, and you wouldn’t be abducted. It’s all my fault. If we ever caught the man who did this to you, I’ll kill him myself!”
“Have you caught him?” Armond turned to Ashton and asked.
Ashton pursed his lips and cast a meaningful look at Armond.
Nora did not understand. “Couldn’t you see what he looked like from the surveillance? Even if he had a mask on, you would have found him by now! It’s been three days!”
“There was a switch,” Ashton explained. “The man who took Scarlett into the morgue wasn’t the same man who had administered the sedative.” He frowned, deep in thought. “The man who made it into the morgue made every effort to avoid the cameras.”
Armond was silent for a while. “Does the trail of evidence end here, then?”
Ashton said nothing but patted my back gently.
“Forget it,” Nora said, in an attempt to keep the conversation positive. “Let’s eat before we do anything else. There’s still plenty to do in Lavelian Village. We would have to go back there after eating.”
I perked up. “Has the project in Lavelian Village commenced?”
“Yes, it has.” Armond nodded.
I was still doubtful but did not pursue the matter.
Nora brought some food for me, then she and Armond departed in a rush.
I did not have much of an appetite as I had just woken up. Nora’s cooking was delicious, but I could not force myself to eat much.
“Finish up!” Ashton chastised as he saw me giving up after several mouthfuls.
“I’m really not hungry, I don’t feel like eating,” I pleaded.
“I’ll feed you.”
I glared at him. “Did the doctor say when I could be discharged?” I asked, in an attempt to divert the subject.
“A few more days, as you’ve just regained consciousness.”
I could tell from his expression that he was determined to let me stay and rest for a couple more days. At the thought of Lavelian Village, I grew serious. “Ashton, any leads on the case on Lavelian Village?”
I recalled him mentioning that he considered withdrawing his involvement.
“Another obstacle. Don’t you think that I am fulfilling somebody else’s wish by giving up and walking away?”
His meaning slowly dawned on me. “Do you think it was done by the same person?” I asked, my eyes wide as saucers.
The robbery at the base, Nora’s fall, and the numerous attempts on my life. These events appeared unrelated at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they seemed to be interconnected to serve a larger purpose.
The robbery at the base would delay the press conference. Nora’s accident would halt the project at Lavelian Village.
If I did not make it out of the morgue alive, Ashton would bring my body back to K City and never step foot in A City ever again. Acceptance of the Lavelian Village project would definitely be out of the question.
Upon arrival at this conclusion, there was still something that I did not understand. “Was everything intended to harm the Murphys or the Fullers?”
Ashton was in no hurry to answer. His gaze fell onto the bowl of soup before me. “Shall I feed you?” he asked quietly.
I ate a few more spoonful. “Alright, I’ve eaten. Tell me more.”
