Who worried about her walking down a dark road alone.
Who worried about her standing in the eye of the storm.
Serena lowered her gaze, the corners of her lips pulling up into the faintest of smiles.
"Honestly..."
"Every single one of them is so disobedient."
She picked up a candy from the table, slowly tearing off the wrapper.
She popped it into her mouth.
It was sweet.
She rarely enjoyed things this sugary.
But she really loved the way this sweetness settled right into her soul.
The better they treated her, the more resolved she was to never let the Obsidian Dark Web lay a finger on them.
So, she would let them believe she had fallen for their tricks and was sleeping soundly.
And by the time they inhaled the incense in their own rooms and woke up from a deep sleep...
She would have completely eradicated the threat lurking on that ship!
...
Meanwhile, just outside the perimeter of the Lancaster estate.
Nicholas sat in his car, gazing through the window toward the direction of Serena's bedroom.
The lights in her room were still glowing brightly.
His gaze was dark and unreadable as his thumb gently stroked the edge of a black boarding pass.
Through his earpiece, a respectful voice spoke. "The Sterling Sovereign, it's scheduled for 2:00 AM at Vaelion Pier 9. We expect you to board promptly."
Nicholas gave a low hum of acknowledgment.
Cutting the connection, he looked down at the message flashing across his screen.
The three Lancaster men had sequentially visited Serena's room.
His eyes flickered slightly.
He hadn't bothered going over to give Serena anything like those brothers had. Because he knew those three... would never actually let Serena get on that ship. They were bound to make a move.
So, there was no need for him to do anything extra and risk making her suspicious.
All he had to do was board that ghost ship and wipe out every single threat in her path.
Nicholas looked up just in time to see the lights in Serena's room finally go out.
His eyes darkened, deepening into an abyssal black.
His mind flashed to the image of the girl grabbing his tie and pulling him in for a kiss.
Nicholas's grip tightened crushingly around the boarding pass. "Wait for me, Serena."
He slammed his foot on the gas.
The car tore off into the night, speeding toward his destination.
...
The night grew deeper.
A heavy silence fell over the Lancaster estate.
The lights in the main house flicked off one by one. The sprawling manor seemed entirely swallowed by the. darkness, rendering even the sound of the wind rustling through the trees exceptionally loud.
To any outside observer, everyone had gone to bed.
But in reality, every single person's attention was hyper-focused on Serena's room. Seeing her lights go out...
They each let out a collective sigh of relief, though a nagging worry remained that Serena might be tricking them.
After all, their sister could play the obedient angel perfectly.
And she was terrifyingly smart.
They couldn't be one hundred percent sure their little tricks had actually fooled her.
One after another-by sheer
coincidence managing to
completely avoid each other-the brothers sneaked around the side
corridor.
FindNovel.net
Sticking to the camera blind spots, they crept onto her terrace and
Inét
peered through the finge
floor-to-ceiling windows.
The room was bathed in the dim, shadowy glow of a single bedside lamp.
On the bed, a slender silhouette was faintly visible beneath the covers.
The breathing was steady.
It genuinely looked like she was fast asleep.
To be absolutely sure, each of them whipped out a miniature thermal imaging device
and scanned the room.
Body temperature: normal.
Breathing rate: normal.
Heart rate: normal.
No anomalies whatsoever.
Perfect. She was definitely knocked out by the stuff he had given her.
Every single one of them walked away convinced that their individual plan had succeeded.
What they didn't know...
Was that it was a flawless illusion deliberately crafted by Serena.
The real Serena had already donned a master disguise and slipped out of the Lancaster estate.