Olivia was confused. "Why?" she asked. She noticed Lily's unusual phrasing and pressed further, "Wait a minute. What do you mean by 'the situation outside'? Are you inside somewhere? Where are you?"

Lily sighed. "You shouldn't ask so many questions. It's a long story. I know what I'm doing, so just listen."

Olivia remained silent for a moment. Just as Lily was about to continue, Olivia said, "Okay. I understand. Lily, I trust you."

Olivia's previous conflict with Lily, stemming from Edward's situation, had been resolved. She now trusted Lily implicitly, understanding that Lily's actions were for Olivia's best interests, even if difficult to discuss.

"Liv, Edward's situation has affected you deeply, but things will get better. At the very least, he's not acting intentionally malicious. Think of him as a patient who will recover."

Lily knew her words were inadequate, that she couldn't fully comprehend Olivia's distress, but she offered what comfort she could. Olivia replied, "I know, but I'm worried because I haven't heard from him recently. I'm fine, though. And I know he's not himself right now. He's been kind to me, and I'm prepared to face this with him."

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Well, we can't delay our work. I'll tell them they can contact you directly. If it's inconvenient, you can postpone it. They'll understand; they really like your products."

"Okay," Lily said. She still didn't know the identity of the supposed royal and could only proceed cautiously, assessing the feasibility of Nick's rescue.

After ending the call, she sighed, surprised to see it was already ten minutes past her appointment time. She quickly drank some water. Despite the difficulties, she believed that a slow, methodical approach would yield solutions.

Arriving at the office building, she found Mike waiting. He was impeccably dressed in his usual black blazer, but his pacing and bright eyes betrayed his nervousness. He started to approach, then hesitated, seeming to remember something, and simply waved.

Lily nodded and walked toward him. "You can drop the act. Those watching the security footage can see right through it. You know I disabled all the surveillance cameras and monitoring devices an hour ago."

Mike was startled. "That's amazing!" He glanced toward a camera, skeptical.

"Don't bother! It won't last, and the time discrepancy will be noticed. Time isn't on our side." Lily took his arm and pulled him along. Mike stumbled, still looking around curiously, "Are the cameras really down?"