Chapter 726
Cassian couldn’t sleep, so he opened the off-duty members group chat for the State Security Bureau to see if there was any
news.
Cassian: [We’re about to get a new member soon.]
Lyric: [What do you mean? It’s not recruitment time yet.]
Cassian: [Tessa invited a woman to join the Arressto Investigation Agency, but she turned it down. Tessa met her while on vacation in Mandino City and then invited her to join the State Security Bureau instead.]
Gideon: [If Tessa invited her, she must be someone special. Who is she?]
Cassian: [Her name’s Aria. She’s a shareholder at Stars Group and a grad advisor at Mandino University.]
Bennett: [We’ve worked so hard just to be off-duty members. It’s gonna be a while before we get in officially. Getting personally invited by an elder official? That’s amazing. I’m so jealous.]
Someone took a screenshot and sent it to Tessa: [Tessa, Cassian said there’s a new member and that you personally invited her. Is that true?]
Tessa didn’t expect Cassian to post that in the group. She smiled knowingly and replied: [Cassian acted on his own, stalked someone, and hurt someone at school. He’s no longer an off-duty member. The notice will be sent soon.]
[He should leave the group.] The group admin sent that message.
She understood what Tessa meant. After the notice went out, it was shared in the group with a tag to Cassian: [You’re no longer an off-duty member.]
Shortly after, she kicked Cassian out of the group. Others asked: [What happened?]
After being kicked out, Cassian couldn’t see any messages. Furious, he kicked over his chair. “Tessa’s playing favorites. I’ve gotta catch Margery.”
Angry, Cassian applied for a review. He explained he stalked to catch Margery. Aria was protecting her. Tessa misunderstood him and invited Aria to the State Security Bureau.
He publicly shared Margery’s location: [Margery killed an investigator from Arressto. She must pay for justice!]
Cathy had just gotten back to her dorm when she saw the message. Her eyes fixed on a name. She muttered, “Aria.”
That name sounded familiar. After thinking for a bit, Cathy called Luther. “What’s the name of the girl Owen likes?”
Luther was annoyed. “You woke me up in the middle of the night just to ask that?”
Cathy said, “Just tell me.”
“She’s Aria. From Mandino City.”
Hearing that, Cathy asked, “She’s a grad advisor at Mandino University?”
Luther said, “Yeah.”
Cathy thought, ‘That’s definitely her. How does she know Margery?’
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She then said, “Got it. Go back to sleep.”
Luther asked, “When are you coming back?”
“Just finished a mission. I’ll be back tomorrow. But I’m not going home. I’m heading to Mandino City.” Cathy hadn’t planned to return, but after seeing Cassian’s message, she got curious about Aria and decided to go to Mandino City.
There was nothing waiting for her back in Kanit City, just complicated relatives. Going home would be a hassle. Luther said, “Cathy, are you going to see Aiden?”
“Going to check on Owen’s girl and maybe see Aiden too. Heard he has a great-granddaughter now.”
“I don’t have much going on lately. I’ll go with you.” Cathy and Luther were siblings, the youngest generation in their family. Before Logan’s family left Kanit City, they were the closest.
At the gate of Mayen Garden, Evan’s car was stopped by security. “Mr. Derek Fletcher, visiting your sister so early?” The guard recognized Derek in the passenger seat.
Derek rolled down the window. “Yes, sir.”
The guard glanced inside. “Ms. Saxon probably isn’t up yet.”
He looked at Evan carefully. “Mr. Derek Fletcher may come in, but these two gentlemen…”
“Sir, I’ll go in alone,” Derek said as he tried to get out of the car. Evan stopped him.
“It’s too early,” Evan said, checking his watch. “Avery’s stable now. Let’s wait until six. Nikolas, can we rest at the hotel first?”
Nikolas yawned. “I’m tired anyway. Yeah, that’s fine.”
At exactly six o’clock, the three of them left the hotel. Derek called Aria. From the other end, Aria’s sleepy voice asked, “Is this about Avery? How’s she doing?”
Evan’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected her to ask about his daughter first. “Aria, Evan wants you to check on Avery,” Derek said, sounding sorry. “Sorry to bother you.”
Aria replied, “No problem. When?”
Derek asked, “Can you come now?”
Aria answered, “Yeah.” There was some rustling before the call ended.
Owen sat up and asked, “Heading to the hospital now?”
Aria nodded. “Yeah.”
Owen said, “I’ll make some breakfast real quick.”
“Okay,” Aria agreed.
At six-thirty, Aria drove out of the neighborhood. Derek recognized his sister’s car and said, “Evan, that’s my sister’s car. Let’s
follow her.”
Evan started his car and drove alongside Aria. He rolled down his window while Derek waved, “Aria, we’re here.”
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Chapter 726
Aria glanced over and asked, “Have you been waiting long?”
Derek said, “Not really.”
Nikolas waved too and said, “Aria, long time no see.”
Aria asked, “How’s Master doing lately?”
Nikolas smiled, “He doesn’t have insomnia anymore and sleeps well.”
Aria kept driving, glancing in the rearview mirror. She called Pearl, but Margery answered. “The Arressto Investigation Agency sent a lot of people. Be careful.”
Margery asked, “Are they after you?”
Aria said, “Yeah. You still have to deal with this. You need to get in touch with Calla.” She added, “I’ll ask Wilson to help out.”
Margery said, “Okay.”
When they got to the hospital, Aria parked the car. Evan quickly went up to her. “Ms. Saxon, thanks for coming.”
Aria said, “No problem. My brother likes Avery. When he asked, I couldn’t say no.”
Derek almost puffed out his chest with pride after hearing that. Aria was backing him up, and he was deeply touched. Evan soon understood Aria’s meaning. She came because of Derek, not because of the Fletcher family.
Everyone knew about Lennox and Derek’s bad relationship. Since his younger brother and sister-in-law didn’t care, Evan hadn’t disciplined his son and thought it was just minor trouble.
But because of Avery’s situation, he realized his son had seriously gone off track. Evan said, “Thanks to Derek, too.”
He looked at Nikolas. “And especially thanks to Nikolas.”.
Nikolas smiled warmly, “I didn’t do much.”
They reached the VIP ward and saw Susan with red, tired eyes. When she saw Aria, she stood up and clasped her hands. “Ms. Saxon, please take a look at my daughter.”
Aria nodded and went inside. The others followed. Lennox grabbed his mom’s arm. “Mom, do you trust Aria?”
Susan hesitated. “She’s Mr. Todd’s apprentice. Her skills should be good.”
Lennox looked doubtful. “But Aria grew up in the countryside. How did she meet Mr. Todd?”
Susan didn’t want to argue. “Let’s just wait and see. Nikolas says she’s good.”
After checking Avery, Aria said, “She can be treated, but it’ll take some time.”
Lennox wanted to say more, but saw the relief on his parents’ faces and stayed quiet. He left the room and called his grandfather. “Grandpa, it’s not that I don’t trust Aria, but she said she could treat Avery. I’m worried she’s bluffing.
“I’m scared something might happen to Avery, but I don’t have a say. I can only ask for your help.”
The old man’s voice came through the phone. “I’m on my way to the hospital now!”
