The housekeeper was a little surprised, then sneered, "Are you insane? If her child were still alive, your good days would be over a long time ago."

"What do you mean?" Agnes looked aggressive now.

​​

"In order to marry Adolph, you trapped your own younger sister. If your younger sister's son were still alive, he would revenge his mother on you without a doubt." The housekeeper put his clown mask on.

Agnes thought for a while, then abruptly raised her head. "Do you mean Stephen abducts me to pay me back for his mother?"

Before the housekeeper could reply, she laughed. "I think you're insane. He's a doctor, and his job is to save other people's lives. He won't kill."

"Exactly because I'm a doctor, I know how to remove a person's kidney without killing her." Stephen showed up at the door at short notice. He was wearing a pair of medical gloves along with a scalpel in his hand.

Agnes's face turned pale in a second. She moved backward, trying to escape, but the cold iron cabinet behind her stood in her way.

She shook her head with great force, and her teeth were trembling in fear. She could barely utter a word now.

Seeing Stephen moving near to her step by step, a stinky smell flowed from the bottom of Agnes's body all of a sudden.

Stephen stopped for a second and slightly shook his head. "It's more convenient to remove a kidney without urine."

"No!" Agnes finally yelled it out. She knelt and lay down on the ground, keeping begging Stephen. "Please let me go, please. I-I'm just the beneficiary of the organ. I'm innocent."

"You're innocent?" Stephen squatted and laid the cold scalpel on Agnes's face. "Did you ask my mother whether she was willing to donate her organ?"

"She was willing. She would be willing to do that!" Agnes raised her voice.

Stephen turned the scalpel and rubbed it against Agnes face with another side. "Well, please help me ask my mother that question after you're dead too."

Seeing that the sharp blade was about to fall, Agnes shouted, "Stephen, if you dare hurt me, Adolph won't let you get away with it!"

Hearing that, Stephen stopped.

Agnes thought she caught Stephen's weak spot, so she approached him with pride on her face. "Come on, do it if you really hate me."

Stephen squinted at her. 

"Although you're the executive of Empire Hotel now, you're just a puppet. Do you have any connections or support?"

"Can you leave Seattle being alive if you kill me?" Agnes was very proud.

Although Adolph never had an interest in her, he wouldn't let her die since she found his biological son now.

Stephen was just a doctor. His adopted son. 

Even though he had several close friends, Dinah was absent, and Ethan wouldn't help him for the sake of Adolph.

Thinking of that, Agnes guffawed, but she soon stopped, because a syringe replaced the scalpel in Stephen's hand now.

"This is the new medicine I just made, and you can be the laboratory mouse," Stephen said and caught Agnes's arm.

Agnes struggled with violence, and the housekeeper walked ahead to catch her other arm.

"Seth! You're just a dog! Don't forget you're a cheap servant in the Cecil family!" Agnes shouted at him.

The housekeeper snorted, "Yeah, you're right. I'm just a dog, a cheap servant in your eyes, but Lord Stephen is my lifesaver."

"He has carried me back from piles of dead bodies without caring that he might be infected."

"If I were a dog, I would only be Lord Stephen's loyal dog!"

Agnes gradually lost her energy, and she couldn't hear a word seeing the housekeeper's lips moving in her sight. Once Stephen loosened his hand, Agnes sank down on the ground. 

"Bring her back," Stephen said. "Yes, Lord Stephen." The housekeeper pulled Agnes's ankle dragging her outside.

"Guard her," Stephen added.

"Lord Stephen!" The housekeeper dumped Agnes and got annoyed. "It's the key moment right now. You should let me do the dangerous part!"

Stephen patted the housekeeper's shoulder with a faint smile on his face. "Exactly because it's the key moment right now, we must save some effort and be well prepared."

"But..." The housekeeper still wanted to say something, but Stephen shook his hand and put on the clown mask, walking away.

Although Adolph and Agnes were a married couple, they seldom lived together, so there were only the housekeeper and Agnes in the house now.

Agnes looked like a normal person after she woke up again, except her dull, sluggish eyes.

She called her lawyer without delay and transferred her shares of the Empire Hotel to Stephen. Her immovable property was sent to Stephen too.

***

At the Finch family's house.

Ethan gazed into the sky at dusk with a burning cigarette in his fingers. He was trying to use his telepathy power to search for Stephen, but he suddenly stopped when he heard sounds of slippers moving near behind but didn't turn around. Instead, he raised his hand and put out the cigarette on the marble railing.

"Smoke one if you want." Kylie hugged his waist from his back and pressed her head on his strong body, which could always make her feel safe.

However, she could help him feel safe this time.

After knowing the truth, Ethan had stood alone on the terrace for long participation until now.

It was freezing today, but Ethan looked colder.

Her heart ached when he remained silent.

"Please, don't blame your mother. It's not something she could tell you." Kylie twisted her fingers with his. It was the first time that his fingers had been so cooler than hers. "When I met Adolph the first time, I just thought he looked familiar, but I didn't think further."

"I didn't start to be suspicious of Agnes until I saw the photo of your mother when she was young, but I don't have any proof."

Ethan turned around, looking at Kylie, who was blaming herself, then pulled her hands into his clothing to warm them up. "Honey, it's not your fault. I will figure things out, and one day, I will tell you everything,"

"That's exactly the reason why I feel so terrible now! Those secrets you've been hiding from me brings anxiety to me," Kylie whimpered. "You can beat me if it can help you feel better."

"Can I?" Ethan asked her all of a sudden.

Kylie was struck dumb for a second, then said, "Can you hit my ass? I need to work in a few days. Please don't slap my face."

Ethan smiled and hugged her with one arm. "Do you want to hear a story?"

Kylie nodded and followed Ethan walking into the room.

The central air conditioner was on in the house, so Kylie's cold face soon turned pink.