Chapter 360 Let Him Come and Never Return
The next morning, Sophia was woken up by a ringing sound.
The ringing echoed in her ears, making her head hurt. Annoyed, she buried her face in Finnley's chest and nuzzled against him.
Finnley opened his eyes, covered Sophia's ear with one hand, and reached for his phone on the nightstand with the other to answer it.
"Hello?" His voice still carried a trace of hoarse, deep grogginess from just waking up, with an indescribable magnetic quality.
The person on the other end paused for a few seconds, then asked in surprise, "You're still sleeping? That's not like you at all."
"Get to the point." Finnley lowered his gaze, saw Sophia frowning restlessly, and interrupted the small talk.
M's lips twitched, and suddenly guessing something, he deliberately lowered his voice and said, "I've already found out the identities of those two people. They have some connection to you."
"Who are they?" Finnley frowned, searching through his mind but couldn't find a suitable candidate.
Suddenly, his eyelid twitched hard, and a person came to mind.
"Is it Hayden?"
Come to think of it, he had never actually met Hayden, but Chase had mentioned this person.
He was Sophia's father, yet had never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father, and had even used Sophia as a bargaining chip for his own benefit.
Thinking about how Sophia had suffered so much unfair treatment, Finnley's heart ached with a dense, spreading pain.
M's answer confirmed his guess. "That's right, it's Hayden. Two years ago, he smuggled himself and his illegitimate daughter Isabella to Celestria. I've already sent the detailed information to your email."
"Okay, let me take a look."
Finnley carefully got out of bed, opened his email, and checked the information M had sent.
Two years ago, Hayden had left Novaria with a large sum of money and enjoyed a period of lavish living.
Later, someone introduced him to a casino, and after that, things spiraled out of control. He lost all that money.
The most recent incident was a few days ago when Hayden was caught cheating at the casino and was chased by their people, with nowhere to run.
Right after that, he took Isabella to meet Bodhi.
Finnley pondered for a long while before asking, "Does Hayden's gambling addiction have something to do with me?"
M chuckled softly. "To be precise, it has to do with you before you lost your memory. Hayden treated Sophia like she was nothing and caused her such deep harm. I'm guessing you probably wanted to get back at him for her."
Finnley leaned back on the sofa, a mocking smile crossing his lips. "A scumbag like that deserves to die. Just making him lose some money is letting him off easy."
Still, this did fit his style of doing things.
What Hayden cared about most was nothing more than money and women.
His first love was already dead, so that left only money. For money, he could even abandon his original wife and three sons.
Losing what he cared about most—that was a fate worse than death.
"So why did Hayden go to see Bodhi? What's the connection between them?"
"You've finally asked the key question. I found out that this Hayden contacted Bodhi as far back as 21 years ago."
Something seemed to explode in Finnley's mind, and he instinctively looked toward Sophia, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.
21 years ago... wasn't that when Sophia went missing?
And Bodhi was one of the key members of the GeneCipher Society, specifically responsible for finding suitable children of the right age for the organization's experiments.
Then everything made sense.
Sophia didn't get lost on her own—this was all planned by her biological father, Hayden. It was absolutely absurd.
How could there be such a cruel father in this world?
He moved his lips and asked in a low voice, "Is this information reliable?"
"Reliable. The email I sent you also includes an audio recording. You can listen to it."
Finnley had spent two years in the organization. Although he rarely interacted with people, it wasn't like he had no contact at all.
During missions, he had saved quite a few people, and those people owed him favors.
Plus, living on the edge every day in the organization, many people had developed thoughts of escaping.
So those people were basically Finnley's informants now, though their ranks weren't high enough to find out where the organization's new headquarters was located.
Yes, even before meeting Sophia, he had already thought about leaving the GeneCipher Society.
The GeneCipher Society taught him to follow orders, that to survive he had to do whatever it took, but the rebellious spirit ingrained in his bones told him that for him to submit, they needed to have strong enough power.
Unfortunately... the GeneCipher Society didn't have that kind of strength.
At first, he just wanted to take his time and find the most suitable opportunity to break away from the GeneCipher Society, but fate was just that unpredictable.
He met Sophia and learned his true identity.
Standing from an outsider's perspective, he could more clearly see some issues he had never thought about before.
M was silent for a while before speaking again. "Bodhi has already arranged passports for them. They're probably already on a flight back to Novaria by now."
Finnley clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, murderous intent rising in his eyes.
He sneered coldly. "If he dares to come, I'll make sure he never leaves."
After hanging up, Finnley sent Chase a message: "Send people to the airport. If you see Hayden and Isabella, observe them secretly first. Don't act rashly."
He wanted to see what exactly Hayden and Isabella were coming back to do.
Silverlight City Airport.
Hayden and Isabella walked out of the airport surrounded by several burly men.
Isabella looked at the familiar airport and the crowds coming and going, almost unable to hold back her tears.
God knows how much she had suffered during those two years in Celestria. Every time she woke up in the middle of the night, she missed her life in Novaria.
"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for?" Seeing Isabella standing still, the man who had been by her side to prevent her from escaping suddenly pushed her.
Isabella stumbled from the push and nearly fell to the ground.
Her eyes reddened, and she bit her lower lip in grievance, feeling an indescribable sense of humiliation.
"What right do you have to treat me like this? I'm Bodhi's woman!"
The man paused, his mocking gaze sweeping over her. "Bodhi has plenty of women. You think you're that important?"
To them, women were just tools for release. He didn't expect Isabella to actually take herself so seriously.
"You!"
Isabella felt a tightness in her chest and nearly choked with anger, but still insisted, "I suggest you be more polite to me, or I'll tell Bodhi!"
"Go ahead and tell him. You weren't the only one who slept with Bodhi that night—I was there too. So does that make you my woman too?"
As the man spoke, he clenched his fist, and Isabella immediately panicked.
Seeing this, Hayden quickly stepped forward, shielding Isabella behind him, and said obsequiously, "She's young and doesn't know any better. Please don't hold it against her. We'll leave right away."
Only then did the man withdraw his cold gaze and stride forward.
Isabella stared intently at the man's retreating back, her eyes full of venom.
Just wait. Sooner or later, she would become someone important again.
And when that time came, she wouldn't let any of these people who had bullied her get away with it.