"I'm almost there, Doctor Liam," Jania said as she turned the wheel and veered the car into the entrance of Newark Liberty International Airport.
"Okay, you can wait outside. I just have to get my luggage, and I'll be out in a minute," Doctor Liam's voice came through the earpod before the call was cut off.
Jania parked near the arrival gate before picking up her phone. Immediately, it lit up and showed the time: 5:17 am, with a dark wallpaper in the background.
She dropped it and leaned against the seat as her mind wandered back to her interrogation with Rico.
'I will ask you one more time… who sent you to kill Ephyra Allen?' With a dangerously low voice, a seated Jania questioned the barely alive figure chained in front of her.
A cough rattled through the room as Rico struggled to lift his head, his swollen eyes barely able to focus on her. Blood stained his lips as he gasped for breath, his body trembling under the strain. But he still held onto his silence, and Jania was getting tired of this.
Her patience snapped, and she stood up, her heels clicking against the cold floor as she approached Rico once more. Kneeling down to his level, she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her, her voice icy.
'Listen, I'm getting tired of all this shit, alright? It's been a long fucking day for me, and the last thing I need is your pathetic ass trying to act all tough. Now, you are going to tell me everything I want to know, or so help me, I will make sure you regret ever crossing paths with us.'
Rico's breath came in ragged gasps, and for the first time, a flicker of fear crossed his battered face. He licked his cracked lips, struggling to form words.
'I swear… I don't know the full details. It was just a favor I—'
'Ah...' She threw her head back. 'Marcellus, Marcellus...'
'Okay, okay! It was her stepmother, okay? It was her fucking stepmother!'
Jania's grip tightened for a moment as her mind processed Rico's words. Her stepmother?
She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. *'Her stepmother? What's her name?'
Rico's voice trembled as he croaked, 'Marianna. Marianna Allen.'
Jania's lips curled into a cold smile. *Marianna Allen.* So, it was closer to home than she had thought. Ephyra's own family wanted her dead.
'Why?' she pressed.
Rico groaned in pain, trying to shift his weight. 'I don't know... I swear, I only got the orders from Marcellus. She paid well, but the details... they weren't clear. Just to make sure the girl never reached home yesterday.'
Jania stood, her mind already moving on to the next steps. The pieces were starting to fall into place, but there were still so many unanswered questions. Why did Ephyra's stepmother want her dead? And who the hell was Ephyra Allen?
Stepping away from Rico, Jania looked at one of the guards. 'Get rid of him. Clean up everything.'
The guard nodded as Jania turned on her heel and walked out. She had work to do—a lot of work.
As she reached her car, her phone buzzed. It was Han.
'I have done the background check. I have all her information,' he said, his tone sharp.
Jania nodded, starting the car as the engine roared to life. 'Good. Send it to me and report back when you're done. And Han, make sure there's no trace of this left behind.'
'Understood.'
Jania hung up and sped off, her mind racing. If her stepmother wanted her dead, then there were some serious problems with her family.
But one thing was for certain: if Ephyra was Master Lyle's cure, she was far more important than anything or anyone, and nothing must happen to her.
Back in the present, Jania's focus snapped back as she saw Doctor Liam approaching the car, dragging his luggage behind him. As he approached, dressed in a dark-fitted, short-sleeved, ribbed, crew-neck t-shirt and high-waisted trousers secured with a belt that had a prominent silver-toned buckle, he was holding a black coat, and on his left wrist, he wore a watch with a silver band.
Liam opened the passenger door, greeting her with a tired smile. "Good morning. Thanks for picking me up, Jania."
"No problem," she nodded, her usual mask of composure slipping back into place. "Long flight?"
Liam gave a tired smile as he settled himself into the car. "Too long."
Jania turned the car onto the road, the early morning light spilling into the vehicle. "Well, we have a lot to discuss."
"Definitely, but that will be after we get to Lyle's. I'll just get some shut-eye for a bit," he replied, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.
Jania glanced at him, noting the shadows under his eyes. She understood the strain he was under, being one of the best neurological surgeons and neuroscientists in the world.
Doctor Liam was always in high demand, constantly shuttling between cities for surgeries and consultations. It wasn't surprising that he needed rest, especially after going to Germany to perform surgery and catching a flight back to New York within hours, without proper rest.
As the car hummed along the quiet highway, her phone buzzed again, pulling her out of her reverie. It was Han.
'I've sent the files. You'll want to review them as soon as you can,' his voice came through, clipped as always.
"Thanks, Han. I'll take a look," Jania replied before hanging up. She glanced at Liam, who was already dozing in the passenger seat, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She reached for her tablet, pulling up the files Han had sent over.
The screen illuminated with detailed background information on Ephyra Allen.
As Jania scrolled through the background files on Ephyra Allen, she skimmed past the basic birth details, focusing instead on the significant turning point in Ephyra's life—the death of her mother. Ephyra had been only two years old when her mother passed away, and just a year later, her father remarried. Her stepmother, Marianna, entered the family with her own two-year-old daughter, Myra. What followed was a steady decline in Ephyra's status within her own family
Despite being the legitimate daughter of the Allen family, Ephyra was soon treated as an outcast. It wasn't long before she was labeled a "bastard," shunned by nearly everyone, and overshadowed by her stepsister, Myra. The wealth and status the Allen family enjoyed were all thanks to Ephyra's late mother. The only reason Ephyra hadn't been cast aside entirely was that her mother's substantial inheritance was locked away until she turned eighteen.
Jania's fingers paused briefly over the next section. *And then came the accident.*
The accident had been life-altering for Ephyra in more ways than one. What appeared at first to be a tragic misfortune marked the beginning of drastic changes in her personality. Ephyra went from being a quiet, withdrawn girl who had learned to keep her head down to someone colder, more detached—and, in many ways, stronger. Those around her chalked it up to trauma. But Jania didn't think that was the reason.
Jania continued reading, piecing together Ephyra's life as her thoughts churned. The tension in the Allen family must have escalated when Marianna realized that Ephyra was on the verge of regaining control, along with her mother's inheritance. And now, it was clear why Marianna had wanted her dead.
Jania's lips pressed into a thin line as she closed the file. Fucking family dramas.
——
The car drove into the estate grounds, the long, winding driveway lined with tall trees casting early morning shadows across the path. Jania's fingers tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel, her mind still processing what she'd just read.
Lyle's estate loomed ahead, an imposing structure nestled among carefully manicured gardens. As Jania brought the car to a halt in front of the grand entrance, she glanced over at Doctor Liam, who was still asleep. She hesitated before reaching over and gently shaking his shoulder.
"We're here," she said softly.
Liam stirred, blinking his eyes open groggily. He straightened up, rubbing his face as he glanced out the window. "Already? That was quick," he muttered, stretching his arms.
Jania offered him a faint smile. "You needed the rest."
Liam nodded, stepping out of the car and grabbing his luggage from the backseat. Jania followed, her heels clicking against the cobblestone as they made their way to the front door.
The estate's large wooden doors swung open, revealing a butler who greeted them with a curt nod. "Welcome, Miss Jania, Doctor Liam."
"Is Master Lyle awake?"
The butler shook his head, stepping aside to allow them entry. "No. He's also not in his room. I believe he slept in the girl's room."
Jania raised a brow. "Really?"
"What?" Liam raised an eyebrow at the butler's words, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. "Lyle? In a girl's room?"
Jania nodded slowly, her mind racing with possibilities. Lyle was never one to be swayed easily by emotions or attachments, and yet here he was, acting completely out of character.
She shook her head, filing the thought away for later. "Let's go," she said, leading the way inside the estate.
Liam followed closely behind, his brows furrowed in thought as they made their way to one of the guest rooms.
They arrived at the guest room, where Jania stopped and looked back at Liam. "Take a shower and come down when you're done. I will be In the living room."
"Okay, I will join you shortly," Liam responded, running a hand through his hair as he walked into the guest room.
Once in the living room, Jania sat down on one of the large sofas, her phone in hand as she composed a message to Han.
{Keep digging into Marianna Allen. I want to know everything about her connections and past.}
She hit send and leaned back, closing her eyes for a moment.
Minutes later, footsteps echoed through the hall, signaling Liam's arrival. He entered the living room looking refreshed, though his expression remained serious. He sat across from Jania, his hands clasped together.
"So, who is the girl?" Liam asked, cutting straight to the point.
Jania met his gaze, her voice steady. "Ephyra Allen, the girl who had gotten into a car accident and was your patient."
"What? Ephyra?" Liam's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief. "Wait, Ephyra Allen, the girl from the accident?"
Jania nodded and stood up, "I knew you would react this way, which was why I prepared the CCTV footage of what happened when we met her."
She took out a laptop, opened it, and placed it in front of Liam. "Watch, you'd said from the experiment you did, if Master Lyle smelled the scent of all the flowers combined, he would become a completely different person, like a different personality of himself and that was exactly how he acted before he even saw her."
Liam's eyes widened as Jania played the footage. The screen showed a distant shot of Lyle hugging Ephyra in the alleyway, his face buried in her neck, breathing in her scent. The usually composed and controlled Lyle Aelion appeared almost possessive, unhinged even, as if he were under some kind of spell. It showed everything that happened there, from the beginning till when he carried her bridal style to his car.
This is crazy. Was the first thought Liam had after he finished watching the video.
Liam leaned back, narrowing his eyes. "That's... not possible. I only speculated about the effect the floral scents would have on him in theory. But it's like she triggered the exact reaction I hypothesized and more. I was also never sure if someone could possess such a scent. It's not… natural."
"But you said it could not be artificially created which was why you couldn't make it and someone could maybe possess such a scent."
Liam nodded slowly, processing Jania's words. "True, I did theorize that someone might naturally have such a scent. But the chances of that were so slim, I dismissed it as purely hypothetical. Now, seeing Lyle react this way…" His voice trailed off, his mind racing with possibilities. "If Ephyra possesses the exact combination of scents, then she's not just important—she's critical. But this reaction… it's far more intense than anything I could have predicted."
Jania frowned, her expression hardening. "Critical or not, this kind of attachment can only mean that she is his cure. But you're right, his reaction to her is a bit concerning."
Liam rubbed his temple, feeling the weight of the situation settle over him. "That's exactly what worries me. This isn't just a biological reaction anymore; it's psychological. His connection to her could become obsessive, and that's when things spiral out of control."
Then he frowned, deep in thought. "If Ephyra is really connected to Lyle's condition, it could mean two things. One, she might be the cure we've been searching for. Or two..." He trailed off, his voice low.
Jania finished for him, "She could make him worse."
I'm so sorry for not updating for so long! Something happened and I just couldn't think to write. And I know y'all are tired of not seeing the main character but I promise they will come back from the next chapter. Please don't give up and continue to support this book please!
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