----
“Sure enough, less talking, more action. Thankfully, there
were only three of them to deal with. If there had been
eight, she’d probably be dizzy from all the back-and-forth.
“Are we... here now?" Xavier asked, sounding a little out of
“Howard also hadn’t fully processed what had just
happened when Danielle brought Xavier back.
"Seeing both of them still in shock, Vivian asked, "Are you
two alright?"
“Yeah, yeah, we’re fine. Are you okay, sweetie?” Howard
rushed to check on Danielle.
“Danielle shook her head. Seeing how rattled her dad and
brother looked, she said, "I’m fine. Let’s take a break
before we move on."
----
“How can you be fine? You’re just a delicatedy who
carried us both back, one by one. Those marks on your
arm from the rope are brutal. It breaks my heart,” Vivian
said, feeling terrible. "Honey, you should put some ointment
on that."
"Danielle pulled out a little bottle, dabbed some ointment
on her arm, and rubbed it in. Howard and Xavier looked at
the red marks on her arm, both feeling guilty.
“Xavier felt especially bad. As the older brother, he hadn’t
done anything while Danielle had carried them both. She
was hurt, and they were fine.
“I’m so sorry, Danielle," he said, guilt written all over his
face.
----
Danielle, used to hearing apologies since they entered the
cave, cut him off quickly. "Alright, no more of that. We need
to keep going."
“The cave was dangerous, but things weren’t any better
outside.
“Back at Hillside Manor, after their failed attempt to get into
Nathor Pce where they couldn’t even get through the
main gate Polly and Geoffrey were left uncertain about
Linda’s fate.
“Polly made her daily stop at Charrington Manor, hoping to
get her father-inw to finally do something about the
situation.
----
“Sir, Madam, Mrs. Polly Charrington is here again," the
butler said. Lately, Polly had made it a point toe every
day, trying to push for some kind of action.
“The elderly couple didn’t even look up from their chess
game, simply waving the butler away. It was pointless to
beg them anyway; they couldn’t sway their grandson.
“Are you two ying chess?" Polly asked with a bright
smile.
“After a long pause, Polly finally spoke again. “Alice, I
brought your favorite pastries. I made them this morning.
Try them, I think you’ll like them."
“Alice stopped her game and gave Polly a quick look,
clearly not impressed. She never understood why Geoffrey
married Polly in the first ce.
----
“At first, Alice thought she would try to be nice, but the
more they interacted, the more Polly came off as fake and
self-serving.
“Just leave the pastries. Thanks, but I’m not in the mood for
sweets right now," Alice said, her tone cold.
"Polly bit her tangue, doing her best
not to let herrustration show. She
worked sq Nar rd to please them, but
they remained distant. Once her son
took Charrington Group, she’ d
makesSure they felt the }S
equences of treating Ker like
this.
----
“Suppressing her irritation, Polly smiled faintly. "No problem
at all. I’ll make sugar-free ones next time."
"She paused and added, "I know
David doesn’tget me. I just want to
get along wth him, but he won’t give
me a chance. And my sister... she’s’
still at Nathor Pce. I heard abeut
Mrs-danice Marker, her limbswere
chapped off, stabbed over ten times.
Ifthe end, the Locke family got her
out. She’s dying now."
----
"Polly’s wee were loaded with
meaning; shéwing David’s cruelty
and how the Locke family had the> ~~
power tddact, while they couldn’t
even get past the front gate. A gan
ike Davia who wouldn’t help-his
ows family, wasn’t fit to lead the
GAarrington family.
“Alice and her husband, old enough to have seen it all,
understood exactly what Polly was getting at.