Chapter 453

Percival felt an unshakable resolve to bring his father home. A new sense of purpose had awakened within him; for the first time in a long while, he saw a glimmer of hope. More than ever, he wanted to truly live and bring his father back.

Returning to his room, Percival lay in bed, weighed down by his worries. Meanwhile, Odalys, having just showered, stood by the large windows, opening the curtains. She dried her hair, her gaze drifting toward the old tree outside.

At that moment, a faint, ghostly figure appeared beneath the tree, sitting quietly and looking at Odalys. Though translucent—neither fully present nor completely gone—their gazes locked. After a brief moment, the figure vanished like a mirage.

“Don’t worry,” Odalys whispered, her voice soft yet firm. “You and the Stewart family’s ancestors saved Percival and me, and protected Callum. I won’t leave you behind. I’ll truly free you from that place.”

She hadn't expected the Stewart family spirits to be so powerful. When someone dies, their soul typically dissipates, but the Stewart ancestors—despite their physical tablets residing at the Stewart Villa—maintained a presence. Their tablets had been replicated and were objects of worship, a fact not lost on them. These spirits, deeply connected to Percival, even ensured the protection of his astrological signs.

Without their protection, Odalys feared the pressure on her astrological signs would have severely impacted her health. Even if she hadn't jumped (presumably referencing a prior event), her life would have quickly deteriorated. But now, with Percival's father unknowingly guarding her, both she and Percival were protected.

She hadn't told Percival, but suspected he sensed it. He was an adult, and sometimes, the heart knows what words cannot express.

When Odalys asked Percival to place the soil beneath the tree, it had a deeper meaning. As long as Percival's father's spirit longed to come home, the soil would act as a tether. With Percival's daily visits, his father's consciousness would eventually awaken, prompting a desire to return home.

“And if that desire is strong enough,” she thought, “it will find its way back.”

With that, Odalys closed the curtains, returned to bed, her mind swirling with plans and revelations. As she settled in, she noticed her phone was flooded with messages:

[Odalys, where have you been? No replies, are you okay?] [Odalys, are you sleeping?] [Odalys, where are you? Are you safe?] [We just finished shooting. Everything’s good, what about you?]

Freya, Selah, Stellan, and Francis had been checking on her, clearly concerned. Each had called, but she hadn't been able to answer, being in a place with no signal.

A warmth filled her chest as she scrolled through the messages and missed calls. It feels nice to be cared for, she thought, smiling.

She quickly sent a voice message to the group chat, and Freya immediately answered:

“Odalys, you’re finally back! You scared me! I thought something had happened to you!” Freya’s voice was filled with worry. “Are you okay? What happened!”

Selah and Freya’s voices were anxious; Odalys could hear them moving.

“I’m fine. Just had to take care of some things. There was no signal, so I didn’t see the messages,” Odalys reassured them.

It was strange. She used to have no friends, but now it felt wonderful to be missed, to know people cared.

“Odalys,” Stellan interrupted, “around midnight, my mom got a message from Hannah asking for help at the Bennett Villa. My mom yelled at her and blocked her number.”

Chapter 153

Odalys was caught off guard. “Hannah called your mom? I thought they didn’t get along—didn’t they have some kind of feud because of their similar names?”

Stellan laughed, typing furiously, his voice breathless. “Yeah, but my mom doesn’t mix with the high-society crowd. She’s a self-made businesswoman, so there’s little interaction with Hannah. I didn’t expect Hannah to ask my mom for help, though.”

“My mom also told me to remind you not to get involved with the Bennett family. She suspects there’s internal strife brewing,” Stellan continued, his voice more serious.

Odalys immediately opened WhatsApp. Sure enough, she saw a message from Sienna, sent two hours earlier. Sienna, seeing Odalys hadn’t replied, had asked Stellan to relay a message.

But then she noticed a new message from Percival—the only one sent in the middle of the night:

“Hannah called you for help? I told her to go die and blocked her number.”

Odalys blinked, stunned. She hadn’t expected such harshness, let alone the phrase “go die.” Her mind raced. She’d dozed off in the car, and so much had happened while she slept.

She checked her blacklist, confirming Percival had blocked Hannah. A laugh escaped her as she realized the gravity of his message. That’s one way to cut ties, she thought, amused.

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Freya chimed in, clearly offended on Odalys’ behalf. “One minute, she’s begging for help, the next she’s kicking you aside. The Bennett family really is disgusting.”

Selah, applying a face mask, passed one to Freya, who didn’t notice, still venting about Hannah.

Francis, having just showered, spoke from the living room, holding a beer bottle:

“Odalys, a snake crawled into my room. What should I do?”

“A snake?” Odalys replied, startled.

“What kind of snake?” Stellan, Freya, and Selah asked in unison, panicked.

They immediately rushed to the living room of their suite at the Film Capital Hotel. The door flew open as they burst in.

Francis, flustered, gestured to the sofa. A snake, coiled around the armrest, its head raised, stared curiously at the group.

Freya thoughtfully converted the voice message to a video, allowing Odalys to see clearly. Francis pointed to the snake. If you didn’t look closely, you might mistake it for a belt. Its head hovered in mid-air, watching them.

“Odalys, is this… the one?” Francis asked, embarrassed.

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