Leopold and Matthew had just finished loading the Abernathy family into the van, including Cormac, when the stench inside hit them like a wave, almost driving them back out the door. But seeing Vivienne and the others frozen by the bedside, Leopold steeled himself and stepped inside.

The woman on the bed was a shadow of her former self, her hair tangled and matted like weeds upon the pillow. Her face was streaked with dirt, and it looked like the Abernathys hadn't bothered to clean her in ages. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, Leopold might have mistaken her for a corpse.

Wait a minute!

Those features...

How come she looked a bit like Percival?

Realizing this, Leopold's pupils dilated, his finger pointing shakily at the woman on the bed.

Then he glanced at Percival, whose stony face was unreadable, and noticed the air around him growing colder and heavier. Leopold took a step back, feeling as if his throat had been seized. He couldn't manage to utter a complete sentence.

Finally, it was Vivienne who broke the silence. "Mr. Wolf, let's get her out of here first."

She was genuinely shocked. They had only come to fetch a witness back to Rivenwood, and here they were, stumbling upon the very person Percival had spent years searching for.

Mr. Wolf's aunt, the Ellington heiress-Holly Ellington!

"Gavin Abernathy!"

The torrential rain outside devoured any trace of light, leaving their car in the darkness, save for the occasional flash of headlights that flickered before Vivienne's eyes. Percival, with lips pressed together and eyes as cold as ice, stared into the abyss beyond the window.

Time seemed to crawl by.

a sigh of relief as she said, "Mr. Wolf, trust me, I will heal your aunt." Percival's grim expression softened slightly. He shifted, leaning his head against Vivienne's shoulder. "Vivienne, I do trust you. It's just... I

inside him toward Gavin and the entire

out of respect for her status as the Ellington heiress, she would be placed in an

even he couldn't suppress the rising bile

where that foul stench lingering

blanket was Holly's

moment, Percival

his sanity reminded him that those people were still useful. But the agony

allowed himself to bury his head deeper into Vivienne's

her eyes. "Mr. Wolf, the dead do not deserve our hatred." Matthew glanced up through the rear-view mirror at Vivienne

the last time he had

was

cared about, they couldn't just hand their life over to the Grim Reaper without her

phone rang then, and he glanced at

"Hand it over."

passed the phone

cool yet tinged with

done now?" Vivienne didn't need to guess; she knew Gavin must have stirred

having calmed Kaitlyn, joined Draven, "Ms. Vivienne, Gavin had people dig up Mrs. Littleton's parents' graves. They've taken the ashes and are threatening that

phone tightened as she inhaled deeply. "How

expression bordering on hysterical, and shook her head. "Not well. She's been muttering about running out of time. She's probably been triggered by the Abernathys. Ms. Vivienne, what do

light flickered in Vivienne's eyes. "Stay at the villa. We'll

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