Chapter 446

Theo stomped his feet. "I'm not pinching!"

"Mom, can you take another look at Theo? He touched your wrist just now. He might have found something," Will worried. Maeve's heart skipped a beat at their serious expressions. She sat back down and offered her hand to Theo.

Theo held her arm with one chubby hand and took her pulse with the other.

After two minutes, Theo's little face turned green and angry. "Mommy, you've been poisoned. Although it's a small amount, this poison will damage your vocal cords over time!" He added, "The toxin was too faint; that's why I didn't discover it until now."

Will stood up abruptly. His long, curly eyelashes trembled angrily, barely concealing his anger.

Maeve was shocked. When did I get poisoned? I didn't feel anything at all.

She turned and saw that Will, who rarely showed emotion, seemed about to explode. Theo's eyes were also red.

Maeve, ignoring her own anger, hugged the children and coaxed them. "Mommy's fine. It's just a small amount of poison. It's not serious now."

"Mommy, quickly take the antidote," Theo said, his voice lower than usual, holding out a pill. "You have to take another pill tomorrow, just in case. The person who poisoned you might harm you again."

"Don't worry, I'll remember. Don't worry too much. I'll be careful from tomorrow onwards," Maeve comforted them.

Will pursed her lips and buried her head in Maeve's neck without speaking.

Maeve pondered.

Ever since Maeve came to Erancia, she had encountered such dangerous situations more than once. The first time was kidnapping; now, it was poisoning. Each time, it was non-fatal, as if deliberately leaving some leeway. The person behind it didn't want to kill her; they just wanted to inflict irreversible damage on her body or mind. Each attempt was so difficult to guard against; the methods were endless.

Will couldn't help but suspect that, having failed twice, the other party would try a third time. They must have wanted their mother to stay home and avoid danger. But Maeve couldn't agree.

Late at night, the two children sat cross-legged on the bed, each holding a thin, small computer—gifts from Byron, demanded on his first day of work. Will, however, found the originals too large and heavy. After disassembling and modifying them, he'd made them smaller than tablets without affecting performance. They were watching security footage from Trazir's headquarters.

Maeve couldn't have been poisoned at home. She spent her days at headquarters and was most likely poisoned there.

The two children checked the surveillance footage while Maeve and Byron were on a video call. It wasn't easy for any of them. The problems in Creynia were too complex to resolve quickly, requiring Byron to stay for another two days.

Maeve, not wanting to interfere with his work, pretended to be asleep, only to be woken by him. She assured him, even rubbing her eyes red and messing her hair.

"You can sleep by yourself now?" Byron raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you wouldn't be able to sleep without me."

Maeve couldn't fall asleep. Pretending to be sleepy, she said softly, "I can sleep even faster without you," trying to maintain her pride, though her complaint was obvious.

Byron chuckled. "Alright, time's up. You can sleep."

"My phone's almost out of battery," Maeve said, pretending to look at the phone's top-right corner. "Why don't you call me tomorrow morning? Go to bed early after you finish today."

"Okay, hang up then."

Maeve looked at Byron, still at his desk handling documents late at night. The floor-to-ceiling window behind him reflected the night and the city lights, making him seem a little lonely working late in a foreign country. It was just her opinion, of course; a workaholic like Byron probably enjoyed the busyness, even when hospitalized. But her heart softened.

She switched the video call to audio and placed the phone on her pillow. "The power consumption should be slower this way. I'll hang up the voice call."

Byron's light chuckle was audible. "You can't bear to part with me?"

Maeve's ears heated up. She denied it instantly. "It's pitiful to see you alone! Just do your thing. I'm going to sleep!"

"Good night. Don't dream about me," Byron replied.

"What?" Maeve rolled over, hugging her blanket and staring at the ceiling, preparing to sleep. How narcissistic!

A long, melodious piano piece suddenly played through the phone.

"Are you playing the piano now?" Maeve asked curiously.

"No," Byron said. "I met Herrera this afternoon and asked him to compose a lullaby. Listen to it and see if it's useful."

His plane left in the morning, arriving in Creynia by evening at the latest. Instead of working, he'd found a musician to compose a lullaby for her immediately.

Maeve's heart pounded uncontrollably, the feeling spreading to her hands, face, and ears. She moved closer to the phone and finally whispered, "Byron, why are you so good to me?"

Byron seemed overly kind lately. Frankly, Maeve even felt like she was on a honeymoon, but worried it was wishful thinking, a product of her affection for him, so she dismissed the thought.

Byron paused, seemingly puzzled. "Isn't it good to be good to you?"

"It's good. But why?" Maeve waited for an answer.

"There's no reason," Byron said, his voice low. "It's like a habit. Hard to explain."

Was he just being nice because I'm used to being around him? Maeve's mood sank after receiving that answer. She wanted to ask more but knew she wouldn't get the answer she wanted.

At that moment, a long-neglected question struck Maeve. Byron had never admitted to liking her. Her self-satisfaction of the past few days felt like a self-woven dream—a self-deception.

Without hearing Maeve's voice, Byron assumed she'd fallen asleep. He turned up the phone's volume, placing it to his ear, listening to her soft breathing while working. He thought of her question, his hand stopping mid-stroke. Why am I so good to her? He pressed his hand to his forehead, his gaze settling on a photo frame in the upper left corner of his desk. He was lost in thought. Was she a…