Chapter 404
Shermaine stepped out of the lab close to 10 PM. By the time she returned to her hotel room, a video call from Joshua was already ringing.
She grabbed the bottled water from the table, poured it into the kettle to boil, then turned on her laptop. “I heard Dad was hospitalized for hypertension?”
Joshua hummed in response, but he seemed to have mixed feelings about it. Shermaine noticed and asked, “What’s with that look?”
“He woke up only to completely forget about going home,” Joshua said.
Hearing this, Shermaine raised an eyebrow, lost in thought. Ever since Stephen’s return, Joshua had sensed something was off about him. Shermaine herself shared the same concern, worried that something bad might happen to him.
But their investigation didn’t turn up anything suspicious, so they decided not to tip off the suspect. But after spending some time with him, Stephen didn’t seem to harbor any ill intentions toward them.
At times, his forced acting was so bad it was downright comical.
“Could he be faking it?” Shermaine asked.
Joshua shook his head. “No, that’s not it,” he replied, then briefly explained the situation.
No matter how many years had passed, Joshua would still recognize his own father. There was no way he could ever mistake someone else for him.
Shermaine listened, finding it rather unbelievable. “Maybe Dad has schizophrenia,” she suggested.
With two personalities, he’d naturally be like two completely different people, which would explain why he had been giving off such an eerie vibe before. Yet, Shermaine wasn’t buying her own explanation.
Of course, just because she was a doctor didn’t mean she was an expert in every field, and psychiatry wasn’t exactly her specialty.
Besides, even a psychiatrist wouldn’t be able to diagnose schizophrenia at first glance without directly observing both the primary and secondary personalities.
“I’ve called in a psychiatric specialist,” Joshua said.
The kettle whistled as the water reached a boil, and Shermaine poured herself a cup.
Joshua called, “Sheary.”
Shermaine replied, “Hmm?”
“Since you know about Dad fainting,” Joshua said slowly, “you must know someone broke into our house too.”
“I do.” With the security system at Riverswood Villa, someone managing to bypass it meant they were not a random burglar. “What’s the story?”
“The intruder was Kylie,” Joshua said gravely.
That afternoon, Bradley reviewed the nearby surveillance footage and identified Kylie from footage from a convenience store. She hadn’t tried to hide her face. It was almost as if she wanted to be seen and to declare that she was back.
Of course, Joshua found such behavior utterly unnecessary. He thought, ‘If she really wanted revenge, she should’ve kept a low profile. I crushed her once, and doing it again would be effortless.’
Her rapid recovery didn’t surprise him either.
After all, Madeline had undergone a brain transplant and assumed a new identity through a cloned body. So if that same organization was behind Kylie’s survival, it made perfect sense that she came back from the dead.
Clearly, Kylie’s first move upon returning was targeting Shermaine. She was most likely acting on orders from the mysterious organization that had rescued her.
Surprised, Shermaine thought, ‘Kylie? I get why my man’s looking so grim now.’
“Sheary, think carefully. When you were overseas, did you ever come into contact with any shady organizations? And do you possess something they might want?” Joshua asked.
“Let me think,” Shermaine said as she rifled through her memories. After a brief pause, she replied, “No.”
During her time abroad, she operated under the name Dr. Jean. Whether it was the underworld or official circles, everyone treated her with utmost respect. If anything, they all just wanted to curry favor with her in hopes she’d save their lives someday.
‘Besides GPS, what else could they possibly want from me?’ Shermaine thought. Then, it hit her. She narrowed her eyes and said, “The crystal sarcophagus.”
“Last year, when it was stolen, there was a group I couldn’t identify. Maybe it’s related to them,” Shermaine said, finding this possibility quite likely.
After all, while the crystal sarcophagus was taken away, all those precious books from the tomb had been removed by Bianca and delivered straight to her.
‘Maybe that’s what they were really after–something hidden in those books. Trust me to figure it out,’ Shermaine thought.
Then, she smirked. “The books are with me now, so they’re mine. If they want them, sneaky tactics just won’t do.”
Without needing to say a word, both already knew what their next move would be. Honestly, Shermaine was curious why they had stolen the crystal sarcophagus in the first place.
Until now, they had no leads. But Kylie’s reappearance changed the game. If they followed this thread, they might finally trace it back to whoever’s pulling the strings.
Just then, one of the three remaining drones captured Natalie’s movements; she appeared to be near the reservoir. Almost instantly, Shermaine realized exactly why Natalie headed there.
Her blood had contaminated the water source.