Chapter 199


    "What is it? Do you have something you need to do?" Abigail asked as she looked at Greg inquisitively.


    "I need to take this callpany matters. Get some rest."


    "Okay." She didn''t press any further and closed her eyes.


    Greg left the room with his phone, and when he was sure that he was out of earshot, he put the call


    through and said, "Speak."


    "Mr. Buckley, Hugh was dropped off at Dock Number Three and loaded onto a ship. As of now, he''s


    already left Harrion," Benjamin informed on the other line.


    Greg''s gaze darkened as he asked, "Whose men were behind this?"


    "I''m not sure. They came out of nowhere, and they weren''t from Harrion. These men are trained in


    combat ording to the reports I''ve received, so I''m assuming they belong to a gang, though I don''t


    know which. That said, we''re sure that they don''t work for Hugh because the way they treated him was


    rough and borderline disrespectful," Benjamin replied, having paid close attention to the men at the


    dock.


    "Got it. Keep an eye on this, and as for the other thing I had you look into, have you found anything of


    substance?"


    Benjamin paused when he heard Greg''s grave tone, and as sudden realization dawned upon him, he


    said in hushed tones, "Yes, I have. Hugh''s forces have been traced back to Seaferon; he''s been an


    orphan for most of his life, but he was adopted alongside three other children by someone who went by


    the name Old Mr. Cautel. Now, these four kids are each in charge of different territories throughout


    Seaferon. Apparently, Hugh has recently gotten into a dispute with his second brother. Things got ugly


    between them, and the ambush today as well as Hugh''s defeat and subsequent escape from Rorea


    were presumably his brother''s doing."


    After Benjamin ryed all the information that he had dug up on Hugh, Greg''s lips curled up in a smile.


    An enemy of an enemy is a friend, Greg thought deviously. "Run a background check on this second


    brother and let me know the details. I n on working together with him."


    "Yes, Mr. Buckley," Benjamin agreed readily.


    Then, Greg looked in the direction of the bedroom where Abigail was supposedly resting and felt a


    twinge of guilt. He didn''t want to let her know of the things he had nned on doing to Hugh just yet.


    "Come over to Allie''s Garden and keep an eye on my girlfriend while I go out," he said to Benjamin


    over the phone.


    Benjamin was admittedly stunned by the request at first, but he dared not question his superior and


    immediately drove over to the house.


    It was only after Benjamin had arrived that Greg grabbed his keys and left.


    Meanwhile, Abigail had nned on pretending to fall asleep at first, but the softness of the bed or


    perhaps her exhaustion eventually pulled her into slumber.


    By the time she stirred from sleep, she noticed that Greg had left the house.


    At that moment, she received a text from her subordinate informing her that Hugh had officially left


    Harrion, and it was only then that her heart felt as if it had been cut free of its suspension.


    Now that one of her problems had been solved, relief washed over her. She straightened her clothes


    and got out of bed, whereupon she realized that her ankle was feeling much better. In fact, she could


    even put her weight on that foot without wincing in pain.


    As such, she tentatively took a couple of steps, and when she was sure that she could manage


    walking, she crossed over to the door and opened it.


    Just then, she was suddenly reminded of the fact that she had a pet feline at home.


    I bet Snowdrop is starving to death after missing out on meals for the past few days.


    She made her way into the living room with that in mind, but when she saw Benjamin sitting there with


    a newspaper in hand, she narrowed her eyes in askance.


    "Good day, Ma''am," Benjamin greeted immediately as he stood up.


    She waved her hand dismissively and said, "There''s no need for formalities. I''m going back to my ce


    next door to feed my cat. Are youing along?"


    "Mr. Buckley has ordered me to keep an eye on you," he pointed out.


    She nodded when she heard this. Greg seemed truly worried about her, and she didn''t want to refuse


    his gesture. "Here, you''re going to have to help me cross thewn because I can''t really walk on my


    own just yet."


    "Okay." Benjamin hurried up to Abigail and grabbed her arm to steady her while she walked.


    With that, they slowly made their way over to Abigail''s house next door. When Snowdrop registered her


    return, it meowed and burrowed into her arms, nuzzling against her lovingly.


    Abigail smiled as she crooned, "Hungry? Come on, let''s get you something to eat."


    She went into the cat room with Snowdrop in her arms, only to see that both Snowdrop''s food and


    water dish had already been filled up. When she remembered that Hugh was thest person to have


    stayed here, she figured that he had been the one to help feed Snowdrop, though the idea of it made


    her uneasy.


    "Benjamin," she called out suddenly. "Find a locksmith and get him to change the smart door''s lock for


    the house."


    Her request startled Benjamin, so he asked skeptically, "Ma''am, is the lock broken or something?"


    "A good assistant will not question the orders given to him by his superior, got it?" Abigail said curtly.


    He blinked at her in surprise at first, but he quickly nodded and called up a locksmith.


    Abigail didn''t have much to say about Benjamin as a person, but she found herself suddenly thinking


    about Troy. Then, she recalled what Cody had said to her earlier that morning at the hospital. What


    could have possibly made Greg so devastated that he would go out to drink away his problems during


    the day?


    Curiosity got the better of her. "Benjamin, do you know where Troy is right now?" she asked casually


    when she saw that Benjamin had hung up the call.


    He answered, "I think Mr. Buckley has put him in a different territory."


    "Why is that so?" Abigail pressed as she gazed at the assistant steadily.


    He shook his head, looking somewhat bewildered as he replied, "I don''t know. I heard that he made a


    mistake and Mr. Buckley transferred him out as punishment."


    A mistake? Troy has been by Greg''s side for ages, and he''s way past making mistakes. Unless, of


    course, his mistake has something to do with me!


    She lowered her voice and asked, "Can you track him down or get in touch with him?"


    "I can''t. After all, I don''t really know him that well."


    Benjamin could either be telling the truth or trying to hide it from Abigail, but right now, she couldn''t be


    bothered by it. Even more so, she could sense the wariness from his somewhat evasive demeanor. It


    looks like Troy really does know something.


    She carried Snowdrop in her arms and was about to bring it back to Greg''s, but she decided against it


    upon remembering that he wasn''t a fan of felines.


    "I''m going upstairs to go through some files. Make yourselffortable while you''re here."


    "Yes, Ma''am," Benjamin replied with a nod, but he did not follow her up the staircase.


    Greg had asked him to keep an eye on Abigail and to make sure she was safe at all times. However,


    seeing as they were at her ce and coupled with the fact that he was a man, he knew better than to


    infringe her privacy.


    Abigail thought this was a rather courteous—if not chivalrous—move on Benjamin''s part, and it made


    him a better assistant than Troy in some ways.


    She rose from her seat and headed into the study. After turning on herptop, she quickly sent Carter a


    message. ''Hey, help me look into someone and give me all his contact details.''


    On the other side of the screen, Carter livened up considerably when he saw King''s message. ''King,''


    he typed out in earnest. ''Where are you? Let''s meet up over a meal—it''ll be my treat. I have to tell you


    that this part-time job you rmended to me is awesome. All I do is keep an eye on cyber security,


    and the job pays a hundred thousand a month! Moreover, it doesn''te with any risks either. You are


    literally my lifesaver and my mentor, so I have to buy you a meal.''


    Carter was enthusiastic to have finally received a message from Abigail after her long absence, and


    while he was keeping up the conversation, he tried to search and track her IP address as well.


    However, Abigail brushed off his enthusiasm with trademark indifference and turned down his offer to


    buy her a meal. ''I''m not interested in having a meal with you, and don''t even bother trying to track my


    IP address. Do you really think you can find me if I won''t let you?''


    This sent a wave of frustration crushing over him. True enough, he had tracked her IP address to some


    foreign server, which meant she had likely used a sock puppet.


    ''King, we''ve known each other for a while now, so I don''t see why we can''t meet up in person. I


    wouldn''t mind if you''re hideous or something,'' he reassured, thinking that King only refused his


    invitation because they weren''t confident with their appearance.


    However, Abigail chortled as she replied, ''You''re overthinking this—I''m actually prettier than you.''


    ''Really? Let''s meet up and we''ll see for real!''


    She rolled her eyes and quickly sent him Troy''s profile before typing, ''Can you stop with all that crap


    and help me look up the contact details for this person?''


    Carter browsed through the profile and asked in confusion, ''Isn''t something like this child''s y to you?


    Why do you need me to do it?''


    N?velDrama.Org content.


    ''You''re working for the Buckley Group now, aren''t you?''


    He wasn''t sure why she was asking such a strange question, but he answered nheless, ''Yeah, all


    thanks to your rmendation.''


    She smiled. ''Good, because I need thepany''s IP address to reflect in their log, not mine.''


    ''King, you''re setting me up for trouble. If Mr. Buckley finds out about this, I''ll get the pink slip!'' he


    protested.


    However, she was unbothered by this as she said, ''It''s fine, just let him know that King put you up to


    this and you''ll be fine.''


    ''Aren''t you worried he''s going to give you crap for this?''


    ''That is none of your concern. Okay, I''m going off now.'' With a decisive click of the mouse, she ended


    her conversation with Carter.


    If she had to be honest, Carter had more skills than what she gave him credit for. In fact, he was so


    close to tracking her IP address.


    After she ended the conversation, she leaned back into the office chair insouciantly. It wasn''t long


    before Carter sent him all the information she asked for.


    ''Thanks,'' she typed. She went offline immediately after that.


    On the other end, Carter grew exasperated. He had known King for years, but he never got to meet


    them in person. He didn''t even know if King was male or female, and the mystery was killing him.


    That said, Abigail couldn''t care less about how her secret identity bothered Carter. At present, she


    quickly gave Troy a call upon going through the contact details she had just obtained.


    Having grown ustomed to being respected and living infort as Greg''s assistant all these years,


    Troy was extremely grumpy now that he had been demoted to doing work at some unimportant


    territory, which was inevitably a far cry from the life he previously had in Harrion.


    Upon receiving a call from an unknown number, he rejected it immediately. When his phone buzzed


    with a call from the same number again, he was starting to get very irritated.


    "I don''t care who the hell you are, but I am not in a good mood right now. Don''t get on my freaking


    nerves!" he snapped as soon as he put the call through.


    Abigail was nearly convinced that she had called the wrong number. Freaking? He''s certainly picking


    up Greg''s vocabry now. She bristled at his tone, but she kept her tone neutral as she said, "It''s me,


    Abigail."


    Troy froze when he heard the name.


    She was the reason he had ended up like this, and the thought of this enraged him. However, he knew


    that she was precious to Greg, and it would do him no good now to get into a conflict with her. As such,


    he swallowed his anger and bit out through gritted teeth, "Is there something I can help you with, Dr.


    Kain?"


    "I need to ask you something, so I was wondering if we could meet up somewhere?"


    The wheels in his mind began to turn when he heard this. Is she doing this on her own ord, or did


    Mr. Buckley put her up to this? If it''s the former, perhaps I can get back at her fornding me in this


    hellhole.


    At the thought of this, he asked, "Does Mr. Buckley know about this, Dr. Kain? You know as well as I do


    that he is a jealous one; I don''t want him to get pissed off by our meeting and send me off to some


    forsakennd in South Africa."


    Upon sensing his resentment, Abigail frowned. She was sure that she hadn''t offended Troy in any way


    before this, and his condescending tone was baffling, to say the least.