Jared was stunned. Tina’s master? Wasn’t he dead? After a moment, his eyes narrowed, and he picked up his phone to call Dexter. He had saved Dexter’s number when hest investigated Tina’s brothers. As soon as the call connected, Jared said, “Tina said she saw your master. Go find him!” He instantly understood what Tina meant. Although she didn’t explicitly ask Dexter to search for him, Jared knew the girl wanted to find her master.


    On the other end of the line, Dexter paused before quickly responding, “Got it.” After hanging up, Dexter sent a message in their group chat: “Everyone assemble. Serena saw the master. Search within Ashbury!” The group chat exploded with messages.


    James: “Is that old guy back from the dead?”


    Damian: “I just killed a white mouse and my eyes are blurry. Are you sure Serena saw the master?”


    Liam: “I get it now. That old guy is ying us! He didn’tmit suicide by poisoning himself; he was testing histest fake death drug and then disappeared!”


    Hayden: “That heartless old man! I cried so much when I heard he died! Master, give me back my tears!”


    Messages flooded in one after another.


    Dexter was speechless: “Stop talking and start searching! Serena didn’t call us herself; the old man must have run away.”


    Hayden immediately got excited: “Right! We can’t let him escape. We must catch him and get an exnation!”


    The nine of them sprang into action, working together to search for him.


    At the art gallery, Jared called Nathan Lehman to help Dexter with the search. Tina ran too fast; by the time Jared finished notifying everyone, she had already disappeared. He decided to wait there.


    About an hourter, Tina returned with a cold expression on her face. Jared asked, “Couldn’t catch up?”


    Tina shook her head, looking frustrated. “For someone his age, he’s surprisingly fit!” She prided herself on her tracking skills but found them useless against her master. She chased him through several streets before he vanished right in front of her eyes.


    Jared looked at her and asked, “You always knew he wasn’t dead?”


    Tina took out her phone and called Dexter to tell them to stop searching before answering Jared. “Yes.”


    Her master thought he had hidden well, but she had long suspected something was off. His grave was next to her mother’s, and when she visited her mother’s grave, she noticed that the soil on his grave looked disturbed. Master Tam was famous nationwide and had many enemies. Fearing someone might have tampered with his body, she dug up the grave only to find the coffin empty.


    The old man had pulled a fast one on her, leaving her with all his responsibilities while he went off to enjoy himself.


    “If he doesn’t want to see you, he must have something important to do. When he’s ready, he’lle out on his own,” Jared gently consoled.


    Tina paused for a moment before saying seriously, “Who wants to see him? I want my money back! He borrowed a thousand dors from me before ‘dying’ and never paid me back!”


    Jared was speechless. Tina! Can’t you be more generous? A thousand dors? I’ll give it to you!


    Tina seemed to know what he was thinking and suddenly became serious. “That thousand dors was my sry! The old man only gave me twenty dors a month! I saved for five years!”


    She had only started earning money herself in the past two years; before that, she rarely left the mountain except for essential exams or academic research.


    So that thousand dors was a significant amount!


    The old man was hical! He cheated her out of a thousand dors and then ‘died’!


    Jared coughed lightly. “Next time we see him, I’ll help you catch him and make him pay you back a hundred times over!”


    Master Tam: Kid, watch your mouth! Don’t forget who’s standing in front of you!


    Jared: …


    Tina smiled. “That sounds good!”


    It was almost time for dinner. Jared took Tina out for a meal before dropping her off at Whispering Pines.


    Although he wanted Tina to move in with him, they both had important matters to attend to right now, so their rtionship had to wait.


    After dropping Tina off at Whispering Pines, Jared went to his private apartment.


    Hugo and Jennie were staying there temporarily because they couldn’t be too conspicuous at the moment and rarely went out.


    Jared regrly visited them and helped Hugo with some work-rted matters.


    Hugo’spany was running smoothly now; however, since it wasn’t safe for him to appear publicly yet, Jared managed everything on the surface.


    They nned to set an official opening date after things settled down.


    Currently, their main focus was factory production and operations, which weren’t too demanding.


    At Whispering Pines, Tina entered to find Annabelle talking with Garrett and Luna in the living room.


    Seeing here in, Annabelle nced up. “You’re back?”


    Compared to before, Annabelle’s attitude towards Tina had be much colder.


    Garrett and Luna merely nodded at Tina.


    Tina looked at them briefly and responded indifferently before heading upstairs without saying much more.


    As she reached the staircase, she heard Annabelle say, “I understand; I’ll talk to her about it.”


    Tina paused momentarily but then continued upstairs without looking back and went straight to Zackary’s room.


    As she approached the door, she heardughter from inside-both Velma’s and Zackary’s voices mingling harmoniously.


    It seemed Velma made an excellent tutor for Zackary.


    After lingering for a moment longer, Tina turned away and went back to her room.


    Just as she entered, Cole came in through the window.


    Tina looked up at him and poured him a ss of water. “Any news?”


    Cole took a sip and nodded. “Yes, Wraith just arrived in Ashbury and went straight to Reed family’s private hospital.”


    He checked his watch. “They should have started treating Lily by now.”


    “Alright,” Tina said calmly as if she’d expected this oue all along.


    “Fat Seven followed Wraith back,” Cole added as he ced his ss on the table. “I intercepted him halfway. Serena, what do you want me to do with Fat Seven?”


    “Let him rest for now; I’ll handle itter,” Tina replied.


    “Okay.” Cole hesitated before asking another question. “With Wraith’s medical skills, he’ll definitely cure Lily. Should we just let him treat her?”Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Tina’s lips curled into a slight smile. “Let him treat her! Lily isn’t important; what’s important is that I’ve already got the answers I needed.”