"Can't say for sure." Vivienne shook her head, "Mr. Wolf, don't you think their attack this time was way too abrupt? Feels like they're going all in, a do-or-die move."
Percival's eyes flickered with a sly gleam, "Vivienne, you should realize that it was never the Abernathy family who wanted that secret recipe; it was the Grimshaws behind them."
"You mean to say the Grimshaws have issued an ultimatum to the Abernathys this time?"
Vivienne withdrew her gaze, the unease in her heart refusing to settle.
It was a strange feeling. She wasn't particularly worried about the Abernathys doing anything to her, per se.
Her only real vulnerability was Dorian and his lot, but at this point, the Hawthorn family were already under the protection of the Nine Mystics Society, so that vulnerability wasn’t much of one.
Still, why did it feel like something was about to happen?
Percival's gaze remained on her, easily noticing her disquiet. His eyes, filled with affection, began to speak, but just as he opened his mouth, Vivienne's phone started buzzing. It was a call from Matthew.
"Vivienne, I found the family that claimed the medicine caused a death years ago!"
Matthew's voice wasn't overly excited through the phone, which echoed through the living room, tinged with hesitance.
With the sofa taken over by Vivienne and the rest, Leopold had no choice but to sit cross-legged on the carpet, "Well, bring them in then. We can talk money, no need to get all worked up."
Matthew replied, "The situation's a bit complicated, Vivienne. The person from back then, they might not be dead!"
"What did you see?!"
Matthew's words struck like a bolt from the blue!
As the revelation exploded in everyone's mind, Kaitlyn's grip on her handkerchief tightened, "Matthew, are you sure you didn't mistake something? My father personally checked on that person back then, and he was gone. There couldn't have been a mistake."
Leopold was skeptical too, "Matthew, don't tell me you're seeing things or, worse, seeing ghosts. That person's grave must be overgrown with weeds by now, how could they not be dead?!"
But Vivienne countered, "It's not impossible."
Percival raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "Go on?"
Jerry, who was sorting through files, tossed his laptop aside and pulled out his phone to call Finnian.
"Years ago, my mom developed a drug that could mimic death. Anyone who took it wouldn't breathe or have a pulse for seven days. Their body would even turn stiff and cold, just like they were really dead." Vivienne rested her hand on Percival's knee and looked at him, "My mom told me, before she started suspecting a traitor in the organization, that she sold it to make money. One buyer bought an entire bottle at an auction. I suspect that it was the Abernathys, or rather, the Grimshaws, who were the buyers back then."
Kaitlyn asked, "So, you're saying that our medicine wasn't at fault back then. It was because that person took the death-mimicking drug, and that's why..."
"It's very likely!" Vivienne nodded affirmatively.
At that moment, Kaitlyn felt as if she were in the depths of winter, the chill piercing to the bone!
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