The night passed peacefully without incident.
But early the next morning, Landon Hawthorne was in a furious rage.
While still upstairs, Aria Sterling heard him furiously berating Uncle Carter. "I don't care what you have to do, but get that woman out of here today! She has to go! If I come back tonight and she's still here, all of you can get the hell out!"
After his furious outburst, Landon Hawthorne looked up and saw Aria Sterling appear at the top of the stairs.
'Out of sight, out of mind. Just looking at this woman is infuriating!'
Skipping breakfast again, Landon Hawthorne stormed out the door.
Uncle Carter approached Aria Sterling and explained, "Please don't take it to heart, Ma'am. Mr. Landon just has a short fuse and a loud voice. He doesn't really mean he wants you gone."
Aria Sterling smiled but didn't reply.
'It must be hard for Uncle Carter, at his age, to have to lie like that.'
The breakfast was lavish and full of nourishing, restorative foods.
Between the looks the servants were giving her and Uncle Carter anxiously watching her every bite, Aria Sterling finally spoke up. "Last night, Landon Hawthorne fell after coming out of the bathroom and passed out."
"What?" Uncle Carter was stunned. "Then... you and Mr. Landon, Ma'am..."
Aria Sterling explained calmly, "He never woke up, and I couldn't move him. So he was on the floor the whole time."
Uncle Carter was speechless.
'Last night, when he'd gone in, he'd seen Landon Hawthorne's bedroom in disarray and the man himself asleep on the floor. He had assumed... it had happened. To think it was all just a big misunderstanding.'
After breakfast, Aria Sterling told Uncle Carter, "I have some errands to run. I need to go out."
"Ma'am, let Shane Porter drive you. It'll ensure your safety," Uncle Carter said, already beckoning the bodyguard, Shane Porter, to enter. "If you need to buy anything, he can pay and help you with your bags."
Aria Sterling nodded. "Alright."
'They're probably just afraid I'll run off. This is just their way of keeping an eye on me.'
She didn't mind.
She wasn't going to leave until she figured out what was inside Landon Hawthorne and how to get rid of it, and until she understood the Hawthorne family's situation.
Valerium was a bustling metropolis of towering skyscrapers and endless traffic.
Shane Porter drove Aria Sterling to the heart of Valerium's bustling central business district.
The Sovereign Imperial—Valerium's most extravagant hotel.
By the time Shane Porter parked the car and walked over, Aria Sterling was nowhere to be seen.
He inquired at the front desk and received a reply: "You must be Mr. Porter? Miss Sterling said she has something very important to discuss with a friend. She asked that you please wait for her in the lobby."
Just as Shane Porter was debating whether he should find out which private room Aria Sterling was in, he saw Landon Hawthorne enter the lobby.
He immediately hurried over. "Mr. Landon."
"What are you doing here?"
"It's your wi— Miss Sterling. She's here to meet a friend." Shane Porter knew Mr. Landon disliked his new wife, so he quickly corrected himself.
Before Landon Hawthorne could respond, his assistant, Bruce, spoke up from behind him. "This Aria Sterling certainly doesn't hold back. Already using the Hawthorne family name to enjoy places like this."
Landon Hawthorne ignored the comment. He just said to Shane Porter, "Keep her here. I have something to discuss with her."
With that, he headed for the elevators.
Meanwhile, inside a private room, Aria Sterling had already met with Jackson Ross.
Jackson Ross held a small syringe filled with a clear liquid.
He cautioned her, "Are you sure about this? There's no going back if you regret it."
"I've thought it through. If I'm going to sever all ties with them, I might as well make it a clean break," Aria Sterling said nonchalantly, reaching for the injection. "Besides, it's not like the Jennings family needs me."
"The Jennings family really did go too far. Aria, did you not tell them about your abilities? Is that why they..."
"They wouldn't believe me," Aria said. "Give it to me, Mr. Ross."
In the end, Jackson Ross handed the injection to Aria Sterling.
Without hesitation, Aria Sterling removed the protective cap from the needle and prepared to inject herself.
"Wait!"
Jackson Ross stopped her abruptly. "Let me draw two vials of your blood to keep for you. Just in case you need it someday."
"How long can you store it?" Aria asked.
'She didn't think it was necessary.'
"Storage technology is very advanced these days. Keeping it for fifty or sixty years won't be a problem. The main thing is to make sure the DNA remains intact." Jackson Ross took his kit out of his bag, approached Aria Sterling, and began to draw her blood.
He reminded her one last time, "Aria, this drug alters your genes. Once it's in your system, three to five of your gene loci will mutate. If the Jennings family ever tries to run a DNA test on you in the future, it won't match..."
"If you ever want your original genetic data, remember to contact me. I'll have it stored for you. Also, if you ever run into any difficult scientific or medical problems, remember to find me in the group chat. Our team is your partner. We're collaborators..."
While Jackson Ross was still rambling, Aria Sterling took the syringe and injected the contents into her arm.
She handed the empty syringe back to him. "You're even more long-winded than last time, Mr. Ross."
"You cheeky girl," Jackson Ross chuckled, not at all angry. "Other people beg me to be this thorough with them, and I refuse."
As he packed up his bag, Jackson Ross remembered something else. "Aria, how long will you be in Valerium?"
"I'm not sure. It could be a while," Aria admitted. The main problem was the tricky Fiend inside Landon Hawthorne.
Seeing Jackson Ross hesitate, Aria prompted, "If you have something to say, just say it."
"Well, a few years ago, our institute lost a batch of chemical agents. We recovered most of them, but one vial was missing. After years of searching, we've received word that it has surfaced here in Valerium. If it's not too much trouble, could you keep an eye out for us?"
Aria listened and then asked, "What kind of agent is it?"
"It's a poison," Jackson Ross explained. "Our jungle exploration team originally extracted the toxin from a few ancient species of carnivorous plants. We were using it to study the genetic secrets behind their survival. But then there was an accident..."
Fearing he was about to launch into another half-hour story, Aria quickly cut him off. "You don't have to explain. Just send me all the relevant data. I'll keep an eye out."
"Alright, thank you in advance." Jackson Ross was confident that wherever Aria went, she would quickly build her own network. That would make any investigation, whether overt or covert, much more convenient.
However, Jackson Ross suddenly added, "We have no experimental data for this poison. If someone were accidentally injected with it, we have no idea what the symptoms would be."
"So you want me to search for it blind?" Aria asked, stunned.
"Just keep an eye out! If nothing turns up, it's fine. It's been years, so it's not surprising we haven't found it. It's mainly the original jungle exploration team; they're worried it might cause trouble..." Several years had passed without any major incidents, so it probably wasn't a huge issue.
"I get it. But don't get your hopes up," Aria agreed, standing up to leave the private room with Jackson Ross.
The moment they stepped out of the room, Aria Sterling stopped dead in her tracks, her brow furrowed.
"What is it?" Jackson Ross asked.
"There's an aura of dark resentment," Aria said, then quickened her pace toward the elevator.
At the same time, Leo's voice echoed in her mind. 'Aria, hurry! It's in the lobby on the first floor.'
Leo lived in the 'Sea of Stars' and could communicate with Aria telepathically.