Chapter 26

Over the next few days, Elodie visited frequently. Falcon didn't stop her again, but more people were secretly watching her.

Elodie didn't notice. She thought these people had become less guarded around her, so she became bolder in what she said and did.

"When is your husband coming back? I'm so curious. What kind of man could be with a beautiful woman like you? I really need to see if he's good enough for you."

Elodie brought up Damien again.

"I don't know either. He'll come back when he's done with work," Sophia inserted a trimmed baby's breath stem into the vase.

"So what does he do for work? To live in a place like this and hire so many bodyguards, he must be someone important, right? Those bodyguards clearly aren't ordinary people."

Elodie put down the flower stem in her hand, leaned closer, and asked in a gossipy tone.

Sophia's brow furrowed slightly. She was a bit unhappy.

"I don't really pay attention to his work stuff. By the way, what do you want for lunch? I'll have someone prepare it."

Sophia put down the scissors, picked up the arranged flowers and placed them on the living room table, smoothly changing the subject.

Elodie didn't press further.

Although Faye didn't go out, teachers still came to the house every day for lessons. Today, because Elodie kept mentioning Damien, Faye was a bit unhappy too.

"Mommy, when is Daddy coming back?" Faye asked with a pout.

"When you've practiced your new piece well, Daddy will come back," Sophia knew she missed Damien and hugged her to comfort her.

Faye wasn't satisfied, "But that will take so long."

She counted on her little fingers how many days it would take, and as she counted, she jumped down from Sophia's arms.

"I'll go practice right now, then Daddy can come back sooner," Faye said as she ran off.

Sophia shook her head with a helpless smile.

Meanwhile, Damien, whom Faye was thinking about, was leading Ironclaw toward Ghosthand's hideout.

When they arrived, the situation was worse than imagined. Those people had already broken into Ghosthand's hideout. The two groups were in close combat, and Ghosthand and a few of his men had been forced to defend a final small building while waiting for rescue.

A light machine gun was mounted at the building's window, bullets pouring out like a rain, temporarily holding back the attackers' advance.

But they were already surrounded. Taking down Ghosthand was just a matter of time.

What seemed like a sure thing suddenly changed in an instant.

"Save them!"

At Damien's command, Ironclaw led his men into the battle. Bullets shot from behind, catching these people off guard.

"Reinforcements! Take cover!" The other side reacted quickly, each finding cover.

Ironclaw held a shotgun, aimed at their hiding spots, and fired several shots. The exploding pellets pierced through wooden boards and thin walls, and enemies fell one by one.

"Ghosthand, you're not doing so well. Almost got your hideout taken over," Ironclaw chatted while shooting.

"You think I'm a brute like you? I'm technical talent!"

Ghosthand fired a couple of shots. Days of fighting had left him exhausted, but now that the battle had turned around, his heart, which had been tight for days, relaxed, and he became excited instead.

Ghosthand didn't notice a person lying on the ground, barely alive, struggling to raise the gun in his hand toward him.

Two gunshots rang out simultaneously. Damien's shot knocked the gun in the man's hand off target. The bullet grazed past Ghosthand's face and hit the wall behind him. The exploding debris cut his face.

Ghosthand's heart nearly stopped from fright. He immediately shot the man dead.

With Damien and his team joining in, taking the enemies' lives, the battle ended quickly.

Damien entered the small building. Only a few trusted men remained by Ghosthand's side. This time could be called a heavy loss.

"What exactly happened?"

Ghosthand was puzzled too, "I don't know either. This group appeared very strangely and directly launched a surprise attack that took down my intelligence network."

"I'm really unlucky this time. When I find out who did this, I'll kill them," Ghosthand's eyes were sharp and sinister.

"Lord, no survivors," at this moment, Ironclaw came in from outside, his expression grim.

"Could it be Celestial Temple or the Assassin Alliance?" Ghosthand guessed. Only they had this capability.

"It won't be the Assassin Alliance. They just suffered heavy damage," Damien frowned.

Ghosthand spat, "Then it can only be Celestial Temple, those bastards."

Damien's eyes rolled, then he took out his communication phone and called Falcon.

"Strengthen security around Sophia. I suspect this is Celestial Temple's trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain. I'm heading back right away."

"Yes, Lord."

After receiving instructions, Falcon quickly made arrangements.

At this moment, Elodie was playing with Faye in the garden.

In front of Faye were an easel and paints. She was painting the flowers in the garden. Though her style was childish, it was full of life.

Elodie handed her paint brushes while praising her painting, and as she praised, she brought up something else.

"The weather is nice today. Faye, do you want to go out and fly a kite?"

Her tone was full of temptation.

"We can fly kites at home too."

Faye was very obedient. Remembering what Damien said before he left, she firmly refused to go out.

"The yard is too small. The kite won't fly high, and there are many children outside to play with."

Elodie held Faye's hand and coaxed her softly.

Their conversation was overheard by Sophia, who was bringing out fruit. Her brow furrowed.

"Let's forget it. We just moved here, and Faye isn't familiar with the kids here."

She put down the fruit and fed Faye a piece of pineapple, not looking at Elodie.

But Elodie didn't give up. She remembered Sophia mentioning wanting to go out to work before, so she spoke up.

"Alright then, kids who don't know each other really can't play together well."

"But didn't you say before that you wanted to go out to work? Why not go out and check out the local market? Then no matter where you want to work later, you'll have enough understanding."

Her gaze swept over Faye again, then she continued, "And you can take Faye out to see some things too. You can't keep the child locked up at home all the time, right?"

Elodie's words seemed earnest and well-meaning.

Sophia thought of Faye's disappointed look yesterday, thought it over, and finally agreed.

However, she wasn't in a rush about work. She simply wanted to take Faye out for a walk. So Elodie suggested they could go shopping.

After Falcon found out, he arranged for Panther to provide close protection, with six Shadow Sect members following hidden in the shadows.

Faye was very excited about being able to go out.

"Faye, stay close to me later. I'll buy you toys, pick whatever you want. Consider it my gift for meeting you."

In the car, Elodie said to Faye with a smile.

"Really?"

"Of course it's real."

Faye looked at Sophia, and only after Sophia nodded did she jump up happily.

Sophia felt even more guilty. These past few days had indeed been hard on Faye.