Chapter 858 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

Chapter 858 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

Emery tossed him a dark look. “Is that all? Right. F*ck off.”

Hunter frowned, but he couldn’t say anything, so he stormed out. I looked in his direction, then I realized there was a sports car at the gates. “Can I borrow one of your cars?”

“I thought John took you here.” Emery gave John a weird look. “What are you guys doing?”

“Just tell me, yes or no,” I insisted.

Yep, I could imagine John’s smug look without even turning around, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to let him take me around anymore. We did meet some important people, but I could have met them some other day, and it would still be the same thing. Not Anthony though. I wouldn’t rest until I saw him safe and sound with my own two eyes.

Emery lent me the most expensive car she had. I quickly went to it, then John knocked on the window the moment I revved it up.

Dammit. “Take your jokes somewhere else, John. I don’t have time today.”

“I’m not stopping you, so easy with the attitude.” John leaned against the car languidly. “I wouldn’t have opened the firm if I knew you’d be working yourself to the bone. Just when I finally managed to take you on a day off, you just had to run off no matter what.”

Wait. What was that? Was he actually complaining? Gosh, men were getting weird. Where’d the stardust crusaders go? Well, I didn’t have time to fool around, so I floored the accelerator and dashed toward Thora’s hospital.

Unbeknownst to me, John made a call the moment I left.

I went to the same elevator and descended down the basement. Then I quickly went to the place I came the night before, but nobody was there to stop me. The corridor was mine to explore, so explore I did. My first stop—the room Anthony was in.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. I fumbled around for a switch, then I flicked it on. The lights shone brightly, but the room was empty. Well, that’s it then.

I went back up, feeling nothing but emptiness inside. Everything around me looked ethereal when I came back out. I couldn’t understand what happened. There was no need for Joseph and the bodyguards to guard that room if it was empty, and if it was, then why did he knock me out?

There was only one possibility. Someone moved everything in the room somewhere else. John was acting weird that morning too, so it was plausible.

I wasn’t looking where I was going, being deep in my thoughts. Eventually, I bumped into someone.

“Oh, sorry, sorry.” I moved aside to let him pass, but he backed me against the wall, then I looked up.

The moment I met Anthony’s gaze, I leaped to him, giving him the tightest hug I could. I was afraid he might leave me again if I didn’t.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony sounded husky, but also gentle.

“Nothing.” I tightened my hug. “What did you guys do in the hospital after I left?” I grumbled. “Are you doing something dangerous behind my back, Anthony?”

Before he could say anything, I continued, “I don’t care what the answer is, but remember to live. Survive. I won’t allow you to die before your time.” I almost screamed that out loud, praying that the Gods could grant my wish.

Anthony said nothing. He held the back of my head and pulled me closer so I could take in everything about him.

We quickly separated in case we were seen. Then he took me to the safety exit’s staircase. I gazed at him as I talked about the events the night ago. All I wanted was an explanation from him. A reasonable one, at least.

Instead of answering my question, he gazed at me for a few moments. “I don’t keep secrets from you. I’ll let you know about it as soon as I could.”

I did not expect him to agree so quickly, so I froze up for a second before nodding. “Thank you.”

Anthony kept to his promise. He picked me up in secret at the Stanhope residence and drove around the urban area a few times before going into a biotech company.

Joseph was already waiting when we arrived. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. “Hello, Mr. Featherstone, Mrs. Featherstone.” He bowed at us as usual.

“Hey,” Anthony answered curtly, but I pulled a long face. Yes, I was still salty about the chop. I could still feel the pain on my neck even then. That was a constant reminder of what Joseph did.

Anthony went in easily, and I followed. The place wasn’t as mysterious as the hospital’s basement. Once I got out of the elevator, I was greeted with a high-tech office.

The office looked cold, and glass canisters lined the whole place. A human-sized glass container stood in the middle of the office. It was filled with a clear liquid, while a green test tube was fixed in the middle. There seemed to be air going in from both ends, since the liquid was bubbling.

I fell into a trance looking at the container.

“You’re here, Mr. Featherstone.” A familiar voice snapped me out of it. When I looked in its direction, I saw a gray-haired, elderly man shaking hands with Anthony. He was probably the guy who reminded Anthony about the time that night.

“I’ll need you to explain it to my wife,” he commanded calmly.

“Yes.” The old man smiled and came to me. “I’m the project manager, George Sanchez. I’m a certified microbiology professor, and the suppressants you have been taking are made by my team.”

“Hello, Professor Sanchez.” I forced a smile, though I felt more at ease than when I first came in.

“Look, Mrs. Featherstone.” George pointed at the green test tube smugly. “This is the antidote we just made last night. We’ll switch locations every time one antidote is made for safety purposes. In case the enemies find out about it. We were doing inventory last night and getting ready for the transfer. You know, when your condition acted up.”

“My condition?” I didn’t remember that happening. “Impossible.” I was confused. “I took my suppressants before coming out last night.” I looked at Anthony subconsciously. Are they trying to gloss this over with that cheap trick?

“That’s what suppressants do. They suppress. The toxins have mutated,” Anthony said. “You can’t stay out of contact for more than three hours from now on.”

I pursed my lips and thought about the veracity of his reply. Anthony seemed to see through what I was thinking, so he asked, “What? Do you really think Joseph was the one who knocked you out?”

I saw it with my own eyes. I didn’t just think he did it. I knew the man did it! I looked at Joseph, but he was standing behind Anthony calmly, as if he didn’t do anything.

Well, maybe he didn’t, but how would I know that? Joseph worked for Anthony long enough, so he was an expert in hiding his emotions. I wasn’t sure if he was actually innocent or putting up an act.

I racked my brains and calmed down. “Where’s the volunteer?” I asked Anthony. I wouldn’t believe he didn’t have anything to do with it until I saw the volunteer.

Anthony knew that was coming, so he looked to the mechanical door on his right. “Open the door,” he instructed coldly.

The door opened. I gave Anthony another glance before going into the room. I had to go through another couple of rooms before finally seeing the volunteers who were taking the risk for me.

It was a room that measured a hundred meters square, and it was divided into four equal parts. The volunteers were kept inside the glass walls. There was nothing but beds and desks inside. The volunteers were wearing patient attire and living their lives inside as if they were merchandises on a shelf. It made it easy for the researchers to observe the medicine’s effect.

“They’ll go back safe and sound after the experiment. And they’ll be paid a million as thanks. Also, the Featherstones will take care of them for the rest of their lives,” Anthony said coolly as if he was just listing his grocery list.

I knew he was doing it for me, but I couldn’t accept that someone else had to be sacrificed for it. It didn’t even take one minute before I wanted to leave.

Anthony sent his men away and came up to me. “Just pretend you’ve never seen this. I did this, so it has nothing to do with you. If someone’s gonna get bitten in the *ss, it’s me.”

It was the law of equivalent exchange. Anthony made it sound so easy, but what he did was controlling someone else’s life with money so nobody else needed to take the risk. It was insane. People should be equal, but I couldn’t tell him that when I saw the resolve on his face.

That was what we’d do for love. I did the same thing for Summer back then. Anthony was making the same choice for the same reason. Telling them to stop at that point would mean death for those volunteers. They had no choice but to wait for the antidote.

“I want to leave.” I didn’t know what else to say, though I was relieved Anthony didn’t risk himself for me.

I was immersed in my own thoughts on the way out. My questions were answered, but I still had that feeling of unease. Did I miss something?

I glanced at Anthony as I went into the car, but he didn’t seem different. I wondered if I was being paranoid.

Anthony buckled himself calmly. He didn’t even look at me, but he said, “I know what you’re thinking.”

A pause later, he stared at me coldly, but his anger was directed at something else. “I’ll risk my life for you, but we have to live until we get our vengeance. I won’t do anything that’ll hurt us. Do you think that’s selfish of me?”

He was a heroic man, but at the same time, he looked so melancholic. I was seized by an urge to hug him, to tell him everything was okay.

Then I felt more at ease. As long as he was safe, nothing else mattered. I smiled and held his hand. “I’m glad that you know what you’re doing. Professor Sanchez said that the toxin has mutated, so we don’t really know how long I can hold out. We’re just delaying the inevitable. If you had risked yourself for me and died, who’d fend for baby and me?”

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