Chapter 778
Kaitlyn stared in bewilderment at the ancient-looking sheet of paper in Vivienne’s hands.
It was filled with neatly penned recipes for potions, some familiar and some utterly foreign to her.
The ink script was delicate and refined as if it could only have been penned by a character straight
out of a period drama. The paper itself looked like something from a bygone era, rough around the
edges as if it was crafted with antiquated methods.
Blinking back her confusion, her mind whirred back to life. Suddenly, it clicked. “You mean to say we
swap this fake recipe for my parents’ ashes?”
Vivienne nodded while Anna flipped through the recipes, puzzled. “But will this really work, Ms.
Vivienne? What’s this recipe even for?”
“It’s something I got from Brody. It’s not highly toxic; at worst, it’ll give someone the runs if they take
it over a long period.”
Vivienne guided Kaitlyn back to the living room, massaging her temples that throbbed with the day’s
tension. “Gavin might not even know what the real recipe is. Oliver Grimshaw would nevere to
collect it himself. This decoy is the perfect bait.”
She paused, a sly glimmer in her eye. “Besides, we don’t have to rely solely on this ‘recipe.’ I’ve got
a backup n.”
“A backup n?” Percival settled beside her. He caught the cunning in Vivienne’s gaze and knew
instantly what she was nning. “Are you sure she’s trustworthy?”
He had not a shred of fondness for anyone from the Abernathy family, even if the person in question
was his aunt’s daughter!
Vivienne patted his hand soothingly. “There’s only one way to find out, right?”
She pulled out her phone, quickly found Victoria’s number, and without hesitation, sent a text that
read: [Your mother’s with me. Meet at Aurora Mountain Vi in one hour.]
“That’s that. Now, we wait.” Closing her phone with a snap, Vivienne stood up, linking arms with
Percival. “Let’s catch some Z’s for an hour. Anna, give us a shout when Victoria shows.”
Anna nodded. “Will do.”
“I need to crash, too. What a night!” Leopold yawned contagiously, his fatigue spreading to Matthew.
As his physical exhaustion took hold, all he could think about was how ufortable he felt.
“Draven, you’re in charge of our guests in the car.”
“Vivienne’s medicated them. If they give you any trouble, just knock them around a bit,” Matthew
said with a stretch, heading off to bed.
The door closed behind him with a thud.
Anna looked around at the others, clueless. “They’re not actually going to mine coal, are they?”
“Mining coal would be a picpared to what they’re up to,” Jerry said, watching the others
disappear behind a door. He shook his head, deciding not to burden Percival with the details just
yet.
Leading the way out, he ignored Anna’s probing stare that screamed, ‘You definitely know
something.’
“Let Vivienne fill you inter. For now, let’s offload the cargo.”
Kaitlyn sat in the living room, restless. She nced around, her anxiety subsiding only when
Vivienne returned.This content is ? N?velDrama.Org.
Despite remaining worried, Kaitlyn found herself instinctively trusting in Vivienne’s confident and
serene gaze. Her tense muscles rxed at the thought. She didn’t know why Vivienne would trust
Victoria, but if Vivienne believed in her, there must be a reason...
Kaitlyn twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands, lost in thought.
As time ticked away, the doorbell of Aurora Mountain Vi rang insistently.
Anna had just taken a bite of her sandwich. Her eyes sparkled as she heard themotion, quickly
standing up with one hand on the weapon concealed at her back, inching toward the door.
Outside, an impatient voice shouted, “Vivienne! Come out here! What the hell does your text mean,
Vivienne?”
The frenzied voice was coupled with a rapid thud on the door. Amid it, Thomas’s voice tried to
soothe, but Anna and the others in the living room froze.
Kaitlyn was the first to snap to action. “It''s Victoria. I''ll go wake Vivienne.”
Victoria?
Despite the banging, Anna didn’t let her guard down. Peering through the digital peephole, she
confirmed it was only Victoria and Thomas before opening the door, “What took you so long,
Thomas?”
“Vivienne! Get out here! I want to know what the hell your cryptic message means!”
Victoria’s slender figure barged in, her gaze darting around the room.
Thomas followed, gently closing the door. “Got held up with Richard. The old man wanted me to tell
Percival toe home for a visit. Once we got chatting, time just got away from us.”
“What’s all this?” He gestured toward themotion in the living room.
Anna’s eyelid twitched. “Ms. Vivienne said she needed her help. Beyond that, I''m clueless.”
Victoria, blocked by Draven and Jerry, spun around the room like a headless chicken. “Why are you
stopping me? Vivienne called me here. Where is she now?”
“Quiet!”
Jerry was about to reveal that Vivienne was still asleep when her voice, heavy with slumber,
suddenly filled the room.
Jerry and Draven exchanged a look and stepped aside to let Vivienne through.
Vivienne shuffled downstairs, still in her slippers, yawning away thest of her drowsiness.
Victoria charged toward her, oblivious to tripping over something soft on the ground. Without
looking, she marched straight up to Vivienne. “What’s the meaning of your text?”
Vivienne looked down, a smirk ying on her lips as she nced at Emrys lying on the floor. His
five fingers still bore the imprint of Victoria''s shoe, and his eyes,rge as lima beans, were bulging
out as he howled in pain, though every sound was muffled back into his mouth by the duct tape.
Pitiful, huh?
Shaking her head, Vivienne gestured to Draven. "Come take a look, and you''ll understand."
"If I''m not mistaken, your mother is the Ellington family''s young miss, Mr. Wolf''s aunt, Richard''s
biological daughter, Holly, right?"
Victoria nodded, her gaze following Draven''s movements. The white curtain hung slowly as the
man''s fingers worked on theputer.
The white screen soon disyed the projections of surveince footage.
Vivienne motioned for Victoria to keep up. "We took a trip to Emerald City yesterday, aiming to
capture the so-called victim of an old Littleton family miscarriage of justice. Instead, we stumbled
upon her in some nameless little vige."
"A vige?" Victoria gasped in disbelief. "How is that possible? She''s in a vegetative state; how
could she survive in a tiny vige without advanced medical equipment?"
Vivienne''s eyes were frosty. "For that, you''d have to ask Gavin."
Pointing a finger, she prodded Victoria''s cheek and turned her head. "Gavin never intended to take
proper care of your mom. For years, she clung to life by a thread, sustained only by poison and a
fierce will to live. Her condition was dire; had we not found her, she probably wouldn''t havested
much longer in that little vige."