Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Isabella opened her phone and sent Oscar a screenshot: [Search for 'marine research' companies registered in Frost City, registration timeframe fifteen to twenty years ago. Focus on entities with ties to medical equipment.]

Oscar replied instantly: [Got it. I'll have results before landing.]

She turned off her phone and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.

She squeezed back.

When they landed in Seabreeze City, two messages were waiting on her phone.

The first was from Oscar, saying he'd found three entities in Frost City matching the criteria. One of them, "Arctic Circle Biotech Institute," had a registered address that aligned almost perfectly with the coordinates in Theodore's letter—less than a five-hundred-meter margin of error.

The second was from Harold: [I found Theodore. He's at a care facility in a northern town. Working with the local embassy to get involved. He's alive!]

The photo had been taken with a phone—the quality was a bit grainy. In the frame sat a gaunt middle-aged man in a wheelchair, a pale green wall behind him. He looked older than she'd imagined, but his eyes still held light. He was looking toward the camera, a faint curve at the corner of his mouth.

Isabella stared at that photo for a long time. She stood at the arrivals exit of Seabreeze City airport, her suitcase at her feet, travelers rushing past on all sides. Alexander stood beside her, watching her fixate on her phone without speaking. He glanced down at the photo.

When he finished looking, he said nothing. Just stood there quietly, waiting for her to finish.

When Isabella finally put her phone away, she said only, "He's alive."

Alexander nodded. "Yeah."

Raymond's father was alive. The significance of this went beyond Theodore's personal survival—he was the origin point of the entire technical chain. His testimony and experimental records were the original proof of all the crimes committed by the Kitayama Biotech Institute. As long as he lived, the thread wouldn't break.

"Harold said he's coordinating with the embassy," Isabella said, pulling her suitcase forward. "The care facility where Theodore's being held—it might be in the same general area as the coordinates we're looking for. Different facilities, same region."

Alexander walked beside her, pace neither hurried nor slow. "Then we'll hit both."

"Yeah."

As they walked toward the parking lot, Isabella sent Raymond a message: [Your father is alive. In the north. Harold's already found him.]

A few seconds later, a reply popped up: [Send me the address.]

After Isabella sent Raymond the address, she got a call from him on the way to the archives.

His voice was lower than usual, the pace faster, like he was pushing words out through some kind of barrier. "I approached you to find my dad. That molecular pathway in your paper—only he could have developed it. When I saw that paper, I thought you knew him, or at least knew where he was."

Isabella leaned against the car window, watching the maple trees along Seabreeze City's streets slip past one by one. "You knew from the beginning that pathway was connected to your father's work."

"I knew. That pathway has a signature marker—he left an asymmetric modification site on the third carbon atom of the main chain. It's a personal habit of his. Only his experiments would show that characteristic. Nowhere else in the world." Raymond's voice paused on the other end. "He would've noticed you if he saw you'd replicated his pathway in that paper. That's what I thought."

"You wanted to use me to find him."

"Yes." Raymond didn't deny it. A long silence followed. "But while we were working together, I realized you really were taking a different path. You were solving things he never got the chance to solve back then."

Hearing this, Isabella's fingers tapped unconsciously against the window edge. "Does your mother know you were looking for me?"

The breathing on the other end lightened for a moment. "She's in the north. When Harold found my dad, he found her too. She's been near there all along. Never left."

"Then go find them." Isabella's voice was steady. "Harold will handle your father's situation, but you should go get your mother yourself. I've sent you the address."

Before Raymond hung up, he said, "Isabella. Thank you."

"Your experimental record was excellent," Isabella said flatly. "When you get back, if you still want to continue research, there'll be a spot for you in the lab."

After hanging up, Isabella returned to Imperial City first.

Lavinia had completed three rounds of antidote injections, the last one two days ago.

When she arrived at the Radcliffe Estate, the butler said she was in good spirits today—had been sitting in the garden all morning, getting some sun.

She sat in a wicker chair beneath the old locust tree, a thin blanket over her legs, gazing into the distance for a while.

Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows across her shoulders.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head. "Isabella's here."

Isabella sat with Lavinia in the sun for a while.

Lavinia looked into the distance, then after a moment spoke. "I've been remembering a lot of things from before. Some of them are fragments from when I was unconscious."

Isabella waited quietly.

"When Brock handed me that bowl of soup, I actually smelled something off." Lavinia lowered her head, fingers unconsciously worrying the edge of the blanket. "The scent was faint. Alexander's father used to do toxicology research—he told me once that some colorless, odorless substances can't be detected by smell, but when you swallow them, your tongue goes numb."

Isabella asked, "Did you drink it then?"

"I did." Lavinia's eyes stayed down. "Because by then I was already suspicious of him. I wanted to know what he was really trying to do. If he poisoned me, I'd know he didn't want me to speak. If he didn't, it would prove my suspicions were wrong."

She smiled faintly. "So the result was correct."

Isabella nodded, sitting with her until the sun moved from the top of the locust tree to the western eaves.

When she rose to leave, Alexander was waiting for her at the parlor door, his gaze following her as it shifted from the garden to settle on her face.

"How's Grandma's recovery?"

"Better than expected." Isabella paused as she passed him. "Flying north tonight. Can you get away?"

Alexander turned his head to look at her. "I can." A pause. "She told me to see this through."

Before heading to the airport, Isabella went to the place where Brock was being held.

Temporary detention in an Imperial City safe house, under specialized guard.

Before Lavinia woke up, he'd stayed silent. But after she regained consciousness, she directly identified him as the one who'd brought her the soup.

Police evidence collection was complete.

When Isabella arrived, he sat in a hard wooden chair in the room, expressionless.

Isabella placed the transcript of testimony Old Mrs. Lavinia had given after waking on the table in front of him.

Brock stared at that stack of papers for a long while before finally raising his head.

His gaze landed on Isabella's face, eyes dim and murky.

"Have you seen my brother? What did you say to him?" His voice came out hoarse.

Isabella looked at him. "Haven't seen him yet."

Brock's fingers curled against his knee. He said nothing more.

Isabella turned and left, seeing Alexander standing at the end of the corridor.

Seeing her emerge, he reached out a hand toward her. "Let's go. We've got a flight to catch."

"Yeah."

As they walked out, Alexander didn't ask what Brock had said. Isabella didn't mention it either.

On the flight north, Isabella went through the materials on the three northern registered entities Oscar had found, reviewing them again.

Arctic Circle Biotech Institute was the most suspicious.