Chapter 354 Trying Every Possible Way to Return to Novaria
Hayden sat on the couch for quite a while before getting up to pull out his phone that he'd been hiding for so long.
Back then, worried about debt collectors, he and Isabella had turned off their phones and hadn't touched them for two years.
But now they'd reached a dead end and couldn't stay here anymore. Even if they wanted to return to Novaria, they probably couldn't scrape together enough money for plane tickets.
He had to figure something out. Those people would track them down sooner or later.
Isabella looked at him in confusion, not knowing what he was up to.
Soon, she noticed Hayden's expression change dramatically. "Dad, what's wrong?"
Hayden said nothing and just handed her the phone.
"What? Benjamin's back?"
Two years ago, the news of Benjamin's death at sea had made headlines in Celestria, causing quite a stir.
Benjamin was young and accomplished, and the White Group's products were very popular in Celestria, so many people knew him and even idolized him.
So when Isabella saw that news back then, she'd felt a bit of schadenfreude.
She thought that fate wasn't always on Sophia's side, and until the very end, who could say who would win or lose?
Wasn't Benjamin already dead?
Why would he suddenly come back?
Countless questions swirled in Isabella's mind, impossible to shake off.
After a long silence, Hayden suddenly jumped up from the couch, his face full of anger and hatred.
"Why? Why do they get to be so happy?"
"Dad, I want to go back to Novaria," Isabella said with a vicious look in her eyes.
Hayden lowered his gaze and thought for a long time, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "I know who can help us."
Two years ago when the Brown Group went bankrupt, the shareholders somehow found out about him transferring the money and reported him to the police.
So he and Isabella hadn't come to Celestria on a regular flight—they'd been smuggled in.
That's why they'd been struggling here all this time, barely surviving.
To get back home, besides being smuggled again, they'd need to get passports, but the people who could make passports... had to be powerful and influential.
Hayden happened to know someone like that.
He opened his phone's contact list and dialed a number.
Soon, someone answered. Hayden breathed a huge sigh of relief.
He'd saved this number many years ago and hadn't held much hope, but it actually went through.
After the call connected, the other person didn't speak.
Hayden said eagerly, "Bodhi, do you remember me? We met twenty-one years ago."
The person on the other end suddenly spoke, his tone cold. "Who are you?"
"Bodhi, I have something very important to tell you. Can we meet in person?"
"Don't waste my time." Bodhi's voice was full of impatience.
Hayden's heart jumped, and he said hastily, "Wait, don't hang up. Twenty-one years ago, Southwest Mountainous Area, the laboratory."
After those few words, Bodhi on the other end suddenly went silent.
"Where are you now?"
Hayden's heart leaped with joy, and he immediately told Bodhi his address.
Before hanging up, he made a point of saying, "I have something very important to tell you. This is a huge matter. Of course, even if you want to silence me, I've already set up an email. If anything happens to me, that email will definitely be sent back to Novaria."
Bodhi laughed mockingly. "Wait there. I'll send someone to pick you up right away."
Celestria, a warehouse in the suburbs.
Elijah looked at the newly completed data report and threw the file right in his subordinate's face.
"I've waited this long, provided you with the best resources, and this is what you show me?"
Standing before Elijah was a man in a white lab coat wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
The man's hair was gray, about the same age as Elijah. He hung his head, his face full of embarrassment.
Hearing Elijah's scolding and criticism, the man protested quietly, "I told you before, there's nothing unusual in Finnley's blood, no components that could be used as an antidote. Testing it ten thousand more times would give the same result."
For the past two years, he'd been studying Finnley's blood.
But he'd found nothing.
He was starting to doubt whether Finnley's blood really contained what they needed.
Why couldn't he detect anything at all?
Elijah sneered and slammed the table. "If it really had no effect, Sophia would never have brought it up. You're just incompetent—don't blame others."
Just then, the laboratory door was suddenly pushed open from outside, and a man in a black suit with a cold expression walked in.
Elijah's anger subsided a bit, and he said to the person in front of him, "Get out of here. If you fail again next time, you know the consequences!"
The man picked up the scattered documents from the floor, turned around, and left the laboratory.
After he left, Elijah looked at the person who'd just entered. "What's going on?"
Bodhi walked up to him and said, "Elijah, someone called today and mentioned the Southwest Mountainous Area laboratory in Novaria from twenty-one years ago."
"Who is this person? Did you check?" Elijah's heart immediately went on high alert, his expression darkening like ink about to drip.
Bodhi said, "I checked. The man's name is Hayden. He's Sophia's biological father."
Elijah looked up in surprise. "What? How does Hayden have your contact information?"
Bodhi shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
He had two phones total—one was his personal phone for daily use, and the other was for handling some gray-area business.
Hayden had called the second phone.
That's what he found strangest.
And over the years he'd changed phones many times, but the number had always stayed the same.
Elijah thought for a moment, then said quietly, "Go meet with him. Feel him out and see what he's really after."
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."
Over an hour later, Hayden and Isabella were picked up by a black business car and taken to a private club.
Ever since getting in the car, Isabella had been anxious.
She followed closely behind Hayden, walking inside nervously.
When they entered the club, a man in black clothes and sunglasses came out to greet them.
"Mr. Brown, Ms. Brown, come with me." His tone was cold, without a trace of warmth.
Hayden had changed clothes, but all his money had gone to gambling, so he couldn't find a single decent outfit.
Standing in the club's lobby now, Hayden felt completely out of place.
When they entered the club's private room, Hayden and Isabella saw a man sitting inside with a cold and powerful presence.
"Mr. Brown, Ms. Brown."
"Bodhi, hello, hello." Hayden enthusiastically approached, his face wearing a flattering smile.
Bodhi glanced coolly at his outstretched hand but didn't respond.
"Speak. What did you mean on the phone?"
Hayden awkwardly withdrew his hand. Though scared to death inside, he still tried to straighten his back and put on a brave front.
"I want to see your superior."
Bodhi laughed mockingly. "Whatever you have to say, you can say to me. If you won't talk, then I don't need to waste my time here."
With that, Bodhi stood up from the couch, preparing to leave.
Hayden panicked. "Wait, I'll talk! Bodhi, you probably don't remember me, do you? Twenty-one years ago, we made a deal."