Chapter 254 Mutual Probing with the Other Party
"This necklace is for you, as payment for treating my dad this time!"
Daniel came downstairs quickly, holding a box in his hand.
Soon, he took out a necklace from the box. At the bottom of the necklace was a heart-shaped diamond.
Emily was a bit surprised.
Countless thoughts had just flashed through her mind, but she never guessed he would give her a necklace.
Daniel looked at her with a smile.
As if waiting for her to accept it.
Emily wanted to refuse.
But Daniel had already assumed her decision and even walked over to her with the necklace, "Can I help you put it on?"
"That's not necessary!"
This was way too intimate.
She quickly took the necklace and put it on herself.
Emily seemed to have forgotten that she hadn't agreed to accept the necklace yet, but now it was like she had actively accepted it.
And she had put it on herself.
Fortunately, Daniel was a reliable person, and there was a reason why he suddenly gave her a necklace in this situation.
"This necklace was specially developed by someone I hired. It has a satellite positioning system inside. Cliff Village is too remote, so just to be safe, wear it when you go out."
Emily really couldn't handle this kind of intimacy.
Now hearing Daniel's explanation, she felt less burdened and breathed a sigh of relief, saying gratefully, "Okay, I will!"
Later, she was truly grateful for this necklace—it played a big role.
But that's for later. Before Emily left, she met with York. After the two discussed the specific arrangements for going to Cliff Village the next day, Emily finally left.
The next day.
When Emily went out, she saw Daniel in the car.
"Didn't you promise you wouldn't go?"
Emily immediately frowned, thinking Daniel had deliberately used delaying tactics yesterday.
"There's a project in Oceancrest City that ran into some problems, so I'm going to handle it. Also, what I promised was not to go to Cliff Village."
Daniel explained calmly.
Fine!
He tricked her again!
Emily looked at him suspiciously, unsure if he really had a project issue in Oceancrest City.
However, given how widespread the Smith Group's projects were, even if there wasn't a project, one could appear immediately.
Emily simply didn't bother to dwell on it anymore.
She thought about it—as long as he didn't go to Cliff Village, there probably wouldn't be any danger.
So, the three of them got on a plane to Oceancrest City.
The hotel there had already been arranged.
So when Emily and the others arrived in Oceancrest City, the car drove directly to a hotel in the town closest to Cliff Village.
Emily saw this scene.
She knew Daniel hadn't told the truth.
Actually, deep down, she was still touched—he was still worried about her, so he found an excuse to come along.
This time Emily didn't call Daniel out. She went to Cliff Village with York.
There was only one road from the village to the outside world.
And except for the main road from the outside to the town, which had only been built in recent years.
Going deeper inside, the mountain road had eighteen bends and the path was quite rough.
Emily and York took a passenger bus there.
From what she understood, they were lucky today—this bus happened to pass by, and basically after noon, the bus stopped running.
Emily was beautiful. Even though she was bare-faced today, wearing just a simple T-shirt and casual pants, she still couldn't hide her youth and beauty.
As soon as Emily got on the bus, she vaguely noticed people on the bus sizing her up.
York instinctively tried to block others' gazes and protect Emily.
He even lowered his voice to remind Emily, "Ms. Johnson, I think these people's eyes look off."
Both being specially trained people, Emily naturally noticed something unusual too.
"Okay, let's be careful."
Emily responded quietly.
After half an hour of bumpy riding, the bus stopped.
Going further inside, the bus wouldn't continue.
The other people all got off the bus, carrying baskets on their backs and walking further in.
A "helpful" villager saw Emily and York standing by the roadside, looking a bit lost. Plus, seeing their unfamiliar faces, they guessed they were from outside.
Someone came forward and asked, "You two, where are you from? Who are you looking for here?"
When the person smiled, there were wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.
York spoke first, instinctively positioning himself in front of Emily, then gave an address, "We're here to visit relatives. Can we ask you for directions?"
He gave out Atticus's family's specific address.
But as soon as this address was mentioned, Emily and York clearly felt the air turn cold.
The way the person looked at them was momentarily like looking at dead people.
But it was only for a moment, then everything returned to normal.
They even smiled extra warmly, "Why didn't you say earlier you were looking for someone? What a coincidence, I'm from that village. Which family are you related to?"
Emily became more alert and spoke first, "Rhett's relatives."
She didn't mention Atticus's name, unsure if they were safe and whether these fellow villagers knew anything.
Rhett was from the village anyway. Mentioning his name would make her seem closer to Rhett.
"Rhett! I watched Rhett grow up. Don't be shy, I'll take you there together. What's your relationship with Rhett?"
The person seemed more sincere now when speaking.
But still probed with questions.
Emily didn't say she was his niece, because she wasn't sure how much the village knew about Rhett and Violette's current relationship.
Even, given Rhett's dislike of her, if this person was Rhett's relative or something, they might have heard of her—and she was sure it wouldn't be anything good.
Emily smiled shyly, "I'm Rhett's sister. I heard the scenery here is nice, and I happened to be sketching in the area, so I wanted to check it out. By the way, I heard Rhett has two children and a mother—are they all home now?"
Emily asked casually.
Her gaze occasionally surveyed the surrounding "scenery," her eyes full of amazement and appreciation.
She really looked like a simple girl who loved beautiful scenery and sketching.
In reality, Emily was studying the surrounding environment, memorizing every road, so that if she encountered a special situation and wanted to escape, she wouldn't be running around like a headless fly.
Emily had also heard that once someone was trafficked into the deep mountains, there was no way to escape.
Because there were mountains and forests everywhere, and you didn't even know which way to run.
The old man saw Emily's innocence and relaxed his guard considerably.
He even actively introduced Emily to the fun things in the village.
But he just wouldn't mention anything about Atticus.
Emily and York exchanged glances, knowing that something might have really happened on Atticus's side.
After half an hour's journey.
They first walked a stretch of dirt and stone road, then passed through a small path in the mountains, then went downhill on a narrow stone path.
Finally, their view opened up and they saw houses.
If you weren't familiar with the route, this kind of place would be hard to find, let alone escape from in a panic.
Actually, escaping would be difficult because this was the only road leading outside. Just one person guarding it would block the road.
If you wanted to survive, you had to run up the mountain.
But the dangers of the mountain forests weren't something that people trafficked from outside could avoid.