Chapter 266
Olivia’s POV
My mouth curled into an irritated sneer. It kept happening so persistently that the muscles in my face were always hurting.
What the hell was going on with Kane?
I could have sworn that by Evelyn being away, it would have been easier to slide back into his orbit and pick up where we had unfortunately left off. But no.
The stubborn man has proceeded to go about each day, spending countless hours locked away in his office. There were times in which I discovered that Kane had literally locked the door.
When I inquired about it, he merely shrugged off the matter, claiming that he didn’t want to be disturbed while sorting through pack business. But, back then, he would always allow me to remain in his office
while he worked.
This time felt different. Everything felt different
Kane’s disposition toward me had shifted. It burned like a searing blade in the center of my chest. It brought back a venomous taste in my mouth that I hadn’t experienced in years.
I didn’t know what Evelyn had done or said to make Kane-my Kane-block me out this way. But I wasn’t
having it.
I continued my work in the greenhouse; I spent most of my mornings mulling around the main hallway. Waiting. I waited for any and all incoming messages that were delivered from Evelyn.
I had recognized her handwriting and instantly knew when she was trying to communicate with Kane. I swiftly intercepted those letters and stowed them away in one of the dressers in my room.
The moment I saw a new one of Evelyn’s letters arrive in the mail that morning, I sweetly collected it from the maid with the empty promise of handing it over to Kane.
Evelyn’s POV
The personal interview had gone a lot better than I anticipated. Jennifer, Chery’s close friend and long- time journalist, was the epitome of professionalism when it came to conducting the interview.
She gave me ample time to answer each question and allowed me the chance to really dig deep into my father’s background. Because the way I saw it, it was just as guilty as my former stepmother.
By the time it was over, I was relieved that I hadn’t felt an ounce of guilt. But rather, a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Once Jennifer was gone, I was able to return to my study and begin sorting through some of my mother’s accounts.
Having assessed what the property lacked in terms of tools and supplies, I knew that the first thing that needed to be replaced was all the farming and harvesting equipment. And with that, I was able to
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confidently take on more staff.
Slowly but surely, my childhood home was coming back.
But in the meantime, I still hadn’t heard a word from Kane. I was beginning to gain the sense that he was ignoring me out of pure spite. Was he still upset that I was gone? Did he resent me for taking this path for myself?
I thought things were okay between us…
There again, if I had known that Kane and I were going to resolve some of our issues so swiftly, I wouldn’t have insisted that I leave immediately during my talk with the king.
Each time I allowed myself the chance to dwell on the idea, my stomach churned and this spot within my
chest ached.
I did my best to fill my time with distractions. Better yet, I chose to dedicate a majority of my time to picking up the research I had previously left off on. That damn journal and its countless twisted mysteries that I was determined to uncover.
I no longer had the archives in Kane’s estate; however, my mother always believed in owning a sizable library for all potential research purposes. I journeyed to the far end of the house, where the library was kept locked away.
Well, at least I had hoped that it remained untouched. It wasn’t as though either of my stepsiblings were avid readers. But that didn’t necessarily mean that my stepmother hadn’t tried to sell off a good portion
of our books.
I arrived at the library and slowly reached out for the door handles. With baited breath, I pulled the doors open and was gracious to find that nothing had been touched.
Knowing this room like the back of my hand, I headed straight to the plant and botany section and selected a decent pile of books to continue my search. I carried them back to the living room and settled into one of the more comfortable couches.
“What have you got there?” Angie asked. “Are you looking to start a greenhouse?”
The mere thought of a greenhouse made my mood turn sour. “Oh, no. I’m trying to identify the true plant properties of this one unique plant I found in this journal. But I’ve been struggling for weeks and haven’t been able to get very far.”
Angie hummed in thought. “Have you reached out to Brooke? Surely, you know that she’s the group- designated botanist.”
“Yes, Cheryl mentioned that back at the shorehouse.”
Angie called Brooke over. “Come take a look at this,” she said to her friend. “Evelyn says that she’s been trying to figure out this plant’s original components but keeps hitting a dead end.”
I showed Brooke the journal and pointed out the weird initials in the margins.
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Brooke hummed in deep thought. “The name is rather interesting,” she noted. “Angel Thorn.”
I nodded. “A close friend of my mind believes that it’s a hybrid of some kind.”
Brooke easily nodded. “Oh, that’s for sure. I’ve gone a great deal of traveling in my time, and I have never come across a plant like this. ‘Angel Thorn’ does not exist on its own in the wild.”
“What the hell could these initials stand for? I’ve spent hours searching through various plant books to see if any of these names fit. I mean, I know it’s not exactly an ideal system I have going here, but I don’t have extensive knowledge of this sort of thing,” I explained.
I knew that this was something I was going to have to change. Especially if I intended to continue my work in a lab, I needed to possess at least some basic understanding of the materials I could be working
with.
“I have to figure out what this plant is capable of doing,” I stressed. “Whatever it is, I know that it can’t be a good thing.”
“Where did this journal come from?” Brooke asked.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I uncovered it from an abandoned rogue campsite, where there was a bunch of illegal lab testing on innocent people.”
The room fell silent. Brooke and Angie shared a concerned look.
“Evelyn, is it even safe for you to be in possession of this journal?” Angie questioned.
“Probably not,” I answered frankly. “But it’s better off in my hands than its owners.”
At least on that note we could agree.
That night, when everyone else had gone to sleep, I heard the phone ring. I had awoken out of a dead sleep and raced to the nearest line. In the back of my mind, I had hoped that it was Kane.
However, just as I answered the phone, Diana’s shrilling voice broke through the air.
“Evelyn! Evelyn! You need to come back to the house; someone has tried to break into Michael’s room!”
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