The tile was already sharp-pointed from Charlene’s repeated sharpening over the days. Charlene held the tile in her hand and ignored the bleeding from her hand. Her full attention was fixed on the unconscious Deirdre. She wanted to carve the word ‘b*tch’ on Deirdre’s face! She wanted to carve the word on Deirdre’s face even if Deirdre was already dead so the people would learn of this woman’s end!Charlene crawled her way to Deirdre and stared at her exquisite face. Her pupils dilated, and she was breathing heavily from jealousy and eagerness. She clutched the tile tightly, aimed the pointy end, and jabbed it into Deirdre’s face. The tile stabbed into Deirdre’s flesh with great effort. Charlene was about to guide the tile downward with a distorted expression when she was caught off guard when Deirdre opened her eyes and slapped away the tile.Deirdre’s entire body was shaking. She had lost consciousness but was awakened by the immense pain.Blood was flowing down her face. She

“To the mansion? However, your injury…”“It’s not a big deal. I’ll just clean the wound briefly. It’s not necessary to go to the hospital.”Shea felt extremely guilty, and Deirdre knew about it. Before getting out of the car, she said, “Shea, I know what you’re thinking now. Don’t tell Brendan about my injury, and don’t punish yourself over it either.”Shea was momentarily stunned before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Miss McKinnon. I’m sorry I didn’t manage to protect you. It’s my fault for neglecting my duty. If I choose to hide from Mr. Brighthall, I will do him a disservice. I’m sorry, Miss McKinnon. I will not only tell Mr. Brighthall about it, but I will also accept my punishment.”Deirdre was frustrated by Shea’s stubbornness. “I’m asking you not to tell Brendan, not because I want you to do us a disservice but because Brendan’s health is very poor now. He will surely be worried if you tell him about my accident. However, he’s still in the hospital. Do you want him to get o

Charlene was dead? The person who held secrets about her father… was dead!?“She died from rat poisoning. Her cell mates claimed that she had become so hungry that she would pick up things from the floor to eat. She accidentally ingested some rat poison this way, and by the time her cell mates returned, she was gone.Deirdre clutched the edge of her blanket tightly. Her mind blanked. ‘How did this happen? She just… died like that, so suddenly.’Deirdre had been under the impression she could afford to wait a little longer before prying information from Charlene’s lips, but the latter ended up being more short-lived than expected.“Miss McKinnon?”Deirdre snapped out of her daze. “Did you check? Are you sure it really is her?”“I looked. No one else in that prison bore the same disfigured face.”“I… see.”The call ended, and Deirdre fell into a daze on her bed. Any clarity she had was replaced with genuine confusion. It was not that she was unwilling to believe it—it was just

“It doesn’t matter now that Charlene is dead.” Deirdre hung her head, sighing. “The fact that I didn’t manage to get any information about my father upsets me. I should have known Charlene had a target painted on her back! If only… If only I stayed there and waited for her answer right there and then instead of giving her a few days to mull it over!”“Nobody would have known someone would silence her. Not even me,” replied Brendan, his fingers gently smoothing the creases in Deirdre’s frown. “Don’t blame yourself. You did brilliantly. At least now we know there’s a mole among us. We can use her.”“I know.” Deirdre nodded tiredly. She wished it was all just groundless conspiratorial thoughts in her head. The last thing she wanted was for it to become real. After calming her nerves down, Deirdre thought about her conversation with Charlene before a thought hit her. “Speaking of which… Brendan, do you know a place called Southedge?”“Southedge?” Brendan frowned. “If I recall correctl

Brendan smiled and pulled Deirdre into his arms. He leaned his head on her shoulder, but a shadow shrouded his mien. “Do you remember when I told you that Southedge lags behind Eastgene?”“Yes?”“Looks like things have changed.”Deirdre froze and shot him an aside glance. “What do you mean?”“Southedge is an island, so its development echoes that of a small country. It’s completely different from metropolises like Neve, especially when its geography and resources could not compare to that of a large country. Southedge was, at most, a second-class city… until now. According to the information Sam gave me back in the car, Southedge is developing at a pace that could possibly eclipse Neve.”Deirdre was bewildered. Neve was the nation’s most prioritized first-class metropolis. Southedge, in comparison, was just a remote island. How could the latter somehow match the first?“But how?”Brendan’s expression darkened. “This is what puzzled me. Maybe local authorities have been working t