Surprisingly, Manny was smart enough to suspect there would be a trap and avoid stepping inside.
Once Manny led his men away, the hounds that had been lying lifelessly on the ground began to move, scrambling back to their feet.
The large dogs trotted over to the gates, staring out into the darkness in the direction Manny had fled.
Was their acting not good enough?
How on earth did he see through them?
Their master had given strict orders that no matter what happened tonight, they were not allowed to bark. They had to play dead, and they absolutely could not eat any treats tossed in from the outside. Otherwise, they really would end up dead.
Standing just behind Laurence, Noelle watched as he lowered his binoculars.
"Manny left?" she asked.
"Yeah, he didn't take the bait."
"He's not as clever or ruthless as his old man, but he's not entirely brainless. I told you they wouldn't fall for this."
Laurence chuckled softly. "Well, since they didn't take the bait, we can finally get some peaceful sleep. Let's head downstairs and rest. We don't have to wake up too early tomorrow. Just get a good night's sleep. With Master and Mom around, they'll be able to deal with things themselves."
"At least Master got to satisfy her urge to break some bones earlier."
Noelle was speechless.
"Let's go."
With that, Laurence turned and headed downstairs.
Noelle had no choice but to follow him.
There was not a single sound coming from the herb garden. Lilian and Jane had likely anticipated that exact outcome, which was why they had drifted off to sleep without a single care in the world.
Everything grew quiet on Laurence's end.
Meanwhile, Manny brought his men back to the estate. He went straight upstairs to Tony's study and knocked softly on the door.
He knew the old man would definitely be waiting up for his good news.
Tony was getting up there in years and could not pull all-nighters anymore. He had dozed off in his armchair when the faint knocking woke him.
He checked the time and realized that it was still in the dead of night. At the thought that Manny might have returned, he was instantly wide awake and was so nervous that his hands were shaking.
Had Manny managed to take the family token back?
Or had he failed yet again?
He rushed to open the door. Moving far too quickly, he knocked over a stool, but he did not even bother to pick it up, prioritizing unlocking the door first.
"Pops," Manny called out.
"Come in."
Tony ushered Manny inside, hurriedly closing and locking the door behind them.
Turning around, he asked anxiously, "You're back so soon? Did you fail again? Or did you get it?"
Manny shook his head. "I didn't even catch a glimpse of the token, but I wouldn't call it a complete failure either."
He explained everything that had transpired to his father. "Pops, it was definitely a trap. I was too afraid to go inside, fearing they would lock the gates and trap us like rats in a cage, so I just brought everyone back."
Tony was stunned.
Manny had made it all the way to Laurence's doorstep and had even successfully poisoned the hounds, yet he was too afraid to set foot inside out of paranoia.
“Pops, Laurence is an incredibly cunning man. How could he possibly let us slip in so easily? It had to be a trap. I didn't want to fall headfirst into his scheme."
Tony remained silent. A sense of disappointment washed over him.