"Whoa, hold up, hold up. Girl, have I seriously been supporting a killer?" he said, leaning back slightly. "What if you're some enemy of the underworld? What kind of secret is this? Tell me you're joking."
Dr. Felix didn't sound afraid. If anything, there was indulgence in his tone like an older brother humoring a troublesome little sister.
I shrugged casually. "Maybe your family will be the last one I kill."
I tilted my head slightly. "The more I dig into what really happened to me in M Country, the more dirt I uncover. Some of these 'clean and respectable' higher-ups are anything but clean."
I said it lightly, almost playfully, as I pulled out my little toy and began fiddling with it.
He shook his head with a foolish smile. "No matter what happens, you wouldn't touch my family. The reason is best known to me. When the time comes, you'll understand too."
Then he stepped closer and bent toward my ear.
"Tell me something," he whispered. "Did you have anything to do with the bankruptcy of the Wellington family in M Country two years ago?"
I met his gaze without blinking. "Yes."
He let out a low whistle. "Wow. You made it look easy. The underworld has been trying to bring them down for fifteen years. No one could pin a single dirty act on them. They always prepared for the worst, covered every trail, erased every trace."
He studied me carefully. "How did you pull that off? Don't tell me they hurt you and you went for revenge?"
I inhaled slowly, my chest rising and falling.
"You know," I said evenly, "you haven't given me a single hint about my mother's family, yet you've been asking a lot of questions."
I looked straight at him. "Be man enough to give me a clue about my mother's side."
I wasn't about to tell him what the Wellington family did to me. Some things stay buried until I choose otherwise.
But his reply made me stare at him like he'd just said something ridiculous.
"Try researching your necklace," he said calmly. "And check the envelope that was given to you, little sissy."
My brow lifted slightly. Little sissy? Since when did he stop calling me Lil Cathy?
"Did you check what was inside the envelope my mother gave me?" I asked, my voice low, eyes sharp with anger.
"I didn't," he replied smoothly. "But I know what's inside. I'd advise you to go check. It seems you haven't opened it."
Before he could say more, his phone rang.
Maybe that call saved him. Maybe it stopped him from revealing too much.
But I already knew one thing.
I would drop everything, even the mission I took. To investigate my mother's family, if it meant finding the truth myself.
I refuse to let an outsider feed me a polished story… a cooked-up version of my life that could lead me into making the wrong move.
After answering the call, we returned to his house.
The moment we entered, I slammed the door and stormed upstairs. I barely reached my room before Judy stopped me, hugging me tightly.
"Calm down. Did Dr. Felix offend you?" she asked softly.
I shook my head. "No. I'm just tired. I need to be alone."
I walked into my room, but I overheard Judy asking Felix what happened. He said he didn't know.
If only he understood that the fact he knew something so important about me, while I knew nothing was what angered me the most.
I took a long shower to calm down. Then I grabbed my special hacking laptop and some housework tools and headed straight to the hidden cave I had discovered earlier without Dr. Felix or his girlfriend knowing.
When I got there, I began transforming it into my own private space.
I leveled the ground. I ordered nails, planks, and a few decorations to make the cave feel less abandoned and more… mine.
When the materials arrived, I picked them up at the gate and carried everything back to the cave. I barely slept. Within twenty-four hours, I finished setting it up.
Yes, I had many missed calls. I ignored them. I needed solitude.
This would be my strategic base.
A place to plan my revenge.
To research.
To dig up the dirty secrets of powerful and wealthy families.
The only way they control people is through money, the bag. I refuse to be controlled by anyone because of money. So I will dig into their sins, use their secrets against them, and secure my own power.
No innocent person will suffer like Melissa did.
After working nonstop, I went to freshen up at the waterfall near the cave. It was a little far, but worth it. No one would ever know there was a hidden cave unless they were told.
When I returned to the apartment, no one was home. They had probably gone to work.
I cooked and left food for the lovey-dovey couple. Then I took some tools and my toys and installed hidden cameras around the house. I had noticed suspicious men trailing both me and the apartment since I arrived at Dr. Felix's place.
After installing cameras inside and on nearby trees, I carried the remaining equipment back to the cave and arranged everything properly.
Inside the cave, I put up forest-themed wallpaper.
There were two boards:
One for my designs, I love designing. I got that from my mother.
The other looked like a design board too… until you flipped it. Behind it were pictures of the people I plan to serve breakfast, hot and scalding.
There was a small bed for nights I might need to stay over. A table and chair for my laptop.
I connected all necessary networks, masked my location, and installed a virus trap. Anyone who tries to track me will have their device crash instantly.
Finally, I picked up the brown envelope my mother gave me through the nurse the day she "died."
My hands trembled slightly.
I took a deep breath.
And opened it.
Damn.