Vivienne and Percival exchanged a glance, a mutual skepticism reflected in their eyes.
Was it any wonder that Griffin and Leopold seemed to have such chemistry? Godfrey was sick, and their first instinct was to shoot a video and snap pictures?
How had the Martinez family not throttled them yet?
But alas, Vivienne hadn't managed to watch the video.
Before she could even click play, her phone—juiced up from Leopold's car charger—began to buzz.
Brody's voice came through the call, tinged with utter despair, "Specter Healer! Where on earth did you get that medicine? She’s been hopping around her room for half an hour! It took a heavy-duty sedative to knock her out, and she’s still hopping in her sleep! My spotless lab is a mess now!"
Brian's laughter boomed, "Hahaha, Vivienne, where did you score that prank potion? That woman, she's like a marionette straight out of a movie, absolutely hilarious!"
...
At the Martinez Mansion.
Griffin’s parents, Stellan and Penelope, stood guard outside the patriarch's room.
To better observe Godfrey, they had gouged a peephole into the solid wooden door. The Martinez family circled around it, three layers deep.
They peered inside at Godfrey with a mix of emotions as if viewing a rare specimen.
"When's Griffin getting back? If he keeps this up, he’ll bleed out."
Stellan was practically glued to the peephole, almost sticking his head through.
His wife, Penelope, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, mirroring his posture, her face etched with worry. "Who could have snuck into our home undetected in the middle of the night?"
Behind them, Godfrey's only daughter, Audrey Martinez, snorted, "That's not all. Dad was once a renowned master among the noble families. How could he be taken down so easily? If word gets out, it'll be the laughingstock of the elite."
"Audrey!" Her brother Lancelot Martinez scolded, "That's still our father you're talking about! Can't you see what state he’s in? Don’t you feel any pity?"
Audrey scoffed, "Pity him? Who's going to pity me? If it weren’t for his insistence that I marry into the Grimshaws, would I be like this now?"
Pointing at the scar on her face, her gaze towards the room was filled with resentment.
She wasn’t here out of concern for Godfrey.
She feared that if he died, her brothers wouldn’t even tell her, denying her a share of the inheritance.
Lancelot glared at her. "You're beyond reason!"
"Enough!" Stellan, the eldest, couldn't take the bickering any longer and shouted, "What's with all the fighting? Lancelot, call Griffin. See where they are. If we delay any further, it might be too late for Dad!"
Through the peephole, they saw Godfrey hopping around just as Griffin had described to Vivienne, using hands and feet alike.
Even for someone trained in martial arts, the high difficulty of his movements made Stellan shake his head in disbelief.
The pale face, coupled with dark circles under his eyes, looked especially ghastly!
A closer look revealed fresh blood slowly trickling from the corners of Godfrey's mouth, his nostrils, even his ears!
Stellan was frantic! He had been in charge of the Martinez family's biochemical weapons project and prided himself on his comprehensive understanding of various viruses.
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