"Agnes, don't move!" Isabella shivered uncontrollably under the cold spray, pushing Agnes's hand away and tilting her head back to face the icy water. "You're right. I have to use their pity for me to stay in this family!"
She was going to make herself sick to gain their sympathy.
As long as she got sick.
The sicker, the better.
Her mother would definitely feel sorry for her.
Her grandparents would feel sorry for her too.
Then, she could seize the opportunity to act cute and spoiled and stay in the Lancaster family!
"But... but you don't have to actually make yourself sick!" Agnes said, her heart aching as she looked at Isabella's pale face and lips that were already turning blue. "If you keep this up, you'll really get sick!"
Isabella filled the bathtub with cold water and lay down in it, while the shower continued to pour over her head.
She was freezing and trembling, but her eyes held a do-or-die determination. "Just faking it... will never fool that little brat. She's a doctor; she'll see right through it! If I don't get really sick, it's... useless!"
She gritted her teeth and slowly submerged herself in the icy water.
Suddenly, an alluring, slender figure appeared outside the French doors of Isabella's
room.
The curtains swayed in the wind, stretching the figure's shadow long across the floor.
But in the bathroom, one person was soaking in cold water and the other was consumed with worry, neither of them noticing.
Clad in a tight-fitting black leather outfit, with her hair pulled back high to reveal her captivatingly cold face, Black Jack was perched lazily on Isabella's balcony railing.
She narrowed her eyes, watching Isabella shiver in the cold water, and pursed her lips.
"Psycho."
Demon's fake heiress was probably seriously ill in the head.
Who takes a cold bath in this weather?
Was she a masochist?
Black Jack scoffed, no longer bothering with the lunatic. With a graceful leap, she landed soundlessly in the garden below from the second floor.
In a few bounds, her figure moved like a snake winding through the night, disappearing instantly from the garden.
On the second floor, Julian stood by his French doors, dressed in silk pajamas.
The warm light from inside illuminated his gentle and refined face, making him appear even more mild-mannered.
Serena hadn't returned right after leaving the party, and he had been a little worried.
He wasn't sure if the group of assassins they had encountered at the Blackwood estate had been completely dealt with.
Would his little sister be ambushed while out alone so late at night?
The more he thought about it, the less he could sleep.
It wasn't until he heard Serena return that he felt a little relieved.
After the main hall finally fell silent Julian was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when his gaze suddenly landed on a spot in the garden.
Wasn't... that his sister's friend, Hazel?
What was she doing so late at night?
Why not use the main gate?
What was she doing sneaking out through the garden?
He watched as the alluring, figure scaled the garden's
der
two-meter-high walk in the blink of
an eye, her movements agile,
Cand
then vanished from sight.
A glint appeared in the man's dark eyes behind his glasses.
The corners of his lips slowly curved into an amused smile.
His sister's friend had some impressive skills.
To be able to bypass the Lancaster family's security system and come and go without a sound.
She was really something else.
No wonder she was the one who grew up with his sister.
***
The Blackwood Estate.
All the guests had departed.
Nicholas finished up the last of duties in the banquet hall. As he walked toward
walked to
the main resident
he picked up his phone intending to video call Serena.
But when he saw the time, his finger paused, and he decided to send a text message instead.