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Winnie followed Harold to his study while Harold kept Christopher and the others outside.
As it was her first time there, Winnie decided to survey her surroundings. Anyway, that was something
any ordinary person would do in an unfamiliar environment. It would be stranger if she wasn’t curious at
all.
Harold seemed patient the entire time. He waited for Winnie to finish surveying the entire study before
asking, “How is it? Ms. Vivian, do you like it here?”
Winnie retracted her gaze from the book-rack-filled wall and glanced at Harold.
“Are you thinking of giving this study to me if I say I like this place?”
Harold chuckled. “This is an old study. Ms. Vivian, if you like it, I’ll get someone to build a new one for
you. The old one doesn’t deserve you.”
“No need. I’m not interested in books. The moment I see those words, my head hurts, and I feel like
sleeping. So, where’s the thing you were going to show me, Mr. Horton? Is it here? Why are there no
traces of a computer around?”
“Of course it isn’t here,” Harold nonchalantly replied. “How can I put something so important out in the
open just like that?”
Winnie inhaled sharply before furrowing her brows. “So what are you trying to do, Mr. Horton? You took
my phone away and conducted a body search on me, but in the end, you’re just toying with me?”
A calm smile grew on Harold’s lips. “Ms. Vivian, aren’t you a little too short-tempered? I’m not done
speaking yet. I’d like to have you turn around. You’ll understand in a bit.”
If he says I have a short temper, I’ll show him what short-tempered means! “Harold Horton, what are
you trying to do?”
“Please stay calm, Ms. Vivian. Someone will eventually take advantage of that temper of yours one
day. Still, don’t worry. From now on, I’ll treat you as a part of my family. As long as I’m around, no one
will dare to lay a finger on you.”
Winnie narrowed her eyes. “Fine, I’ll listen to you one more time.”
With that, she turned around.
Frankly, she could guess what was going to happen next by then.
Someone like Harold had little interest in books, but he had a wall full of books in his study.
What could that mean?
That could only mean that there was something fishy about the wall—that there was a secret room
behind it.
Harold wanted her to turn around because he did not want her to see where the switch for the secret
room was.
Shortly after, Winnie’s speculation was proven right. After a creak, the wall full of books shifted to
reveal another room behind it.
“This way, please, Ms. Vivian.” Harold gestured at Winnie as he stood by the entrance.
Winnie ambled over and commented, “Mr. Horton, I didn’t know you had a secret room. How
unexpected.”
Harold smiled in silence.
Although the secret room was not huge, one of its walls was covered with screens. As it turned out,
they were all screens of surveillance cameras.
In the middle of the room was a table, and two computers were on it.
While Winnie was observing the room, Harold was observing her.
Then, he chuckled, his eyes still fixed on her side profile. “This is a safe place, but at the same time, it’s
dangerous to be here.”
Winnie knitted her brows and turned to Harold. “Oh? What do you mean by dangerous? You can’t have
planted a bomb here, right?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Of course not.” Harold’s lips curled. “There aren’t any bombs here, but I’m much more dangerous than
a bomb. These things you’re seeing have the capability of taking your life. If you dare to reveal
anything, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
Winnie arched a brow in response. “You have no need to worry about that, Mr. Horton. Coincidentally,
I’m terrified of dying, so I definitely won’t do that.”
As she spoke, she gave Harold an amused look. “You made your point clear, and I’m already in the
secret room. Do you still need me to turn around?”
“There’s no need for that.” Harold was confident, for even his computer’s password was ten digits, let
alone his intranet login identity and password.
Nevertheless, what he never imagined was that Winnie only needed to look at his hands once to
remember the position and order of the keys he pressed.
After that, Harold showed Winnie his past year’s shipment and revenue.
Still, he was quick, and most people would not remember the information after one look. Even if they
could remember the first few pieces of information, they would not be able to remember the rest.
However, Winnie was not like most people. She remembered everything.
At Winnie’s request, Harold showed her his development plans in Chanaea and the buyers’ list.
Those were important data, and Winnie memorized all of the addresses and names.
Still, there was something else she needed to learn—she needed to find out the location of Harold’s
other factories.
Alas, Harold refused to show her anything about that.
He was right when he told her that he had already shown enough of his sincerity. If she were to keep
asking for more, she would simply be stepping over the line.
Not wanting to raise Harold’s suspicion, Winnie dismissed her plan to ask for the addresses of the
other factories.
Almost without missing a beat, Harold turned off his computer.
“How is it, Ms. Vivian?” he asked. “Are you satisfied?”
Winnie nodded as a sated smile appeared on her face.
“So my instincts were right. The one I wanted to work with the most from the start was you, Mr. Horton.
Now, it looks like you really do have the capability of becoming my partner.”
As she spoke, she stepped forward to hug Harold. “I’m sure this place will be our playground from the
moment we start working together. No one will be a match for us.”
“Indeed.” Harold reciprocated the hug tightly. “I’m certain we will have a good time working together.”
“Of course!” A thrilled look crept onto Winnie’s face. “Once I’m out of here, I’ll send you my account
number so that you can send me one-third of the deposit. Then, I’ll be able to start making the
products.”
“No problems. From now on, you can see me as your own brother, and I’ll see you as my sister!”
“Okay, I’ll call you Hal, then.”
“Why, hello, Vivian, my dear sister.”
The two of them were putting on a show as they called each other their siblings, and neither made a
move to stop the show.
However, just as the two of them were about to exit the room while wearing fake smiles, they abruptly
noticed a man in a vest outside the study.
The man was hunched over and seemed to be sneakily looking for something.
Winnie had no idea what was going on, and she did not have a gun on her. Thus, she promptly hid
behind Harold.
Even if a fight were to break out, she would still have Harold as her human shield.
Still, Winnie was confused. Christopher and the others were still guarding outside, so how did this
person enter the room?
By the time those thoughts crossed her mind, Harold had already whipped out his gun.
The man in a vest made no move to defend himself either. The second he saw Harold, he raised his
arms.
With terror written across his face, the man in a vest cried out, “M-Mr. Horton, don’t kill me! I’m here to
look for the dog. The dog accidentally ran into your study. I’m scared that it’ll ruin your stuff, so I was
waiting outside. I never thought of coming in.”
As the man spoke, he pointed at the bottom of the study table. “Look, the dog’s over there.”
Both Harold and Winnie turned toward the spot the man pointed. Indeed, a dog was sprawled under
the desk, playing with a mouse.
A quiet chuckle left Winnie’s mouth. “Hal, you have a mouse in your study.”
Harold glanced at the dog before glancing back at his subordinate by the entrance. As he narrowed his
eyes, he said, “Is that really so? Your dog ran into my study to catch a mouse?”
“No, no, no,” the man quickly said. “The dog was chasing the mouse outside, but the mouse suddenly
ran into your study. That’s why the dog came in. The guys outside can prove that I’m not lying.”
“Oh?” Harold smiled and kept his gun. “So that’s what happened. Okay, then. Bring your dog out.”
“Okay.” The man fervently nodded and went over to call for the dog.
Harold watched the man for a while before turning to Winnie. “False alarm. Let’s go.”
Winnie nodded and stuck by Harold’s side.
After exiting the room, Winnie deliberately glanced to the side. Indeed, Christopher was not around;
two unfamiliar people were guarding the doorway instead.
Yet, it seemed like Harold did not notice that. He smiled and asked the guards, “Did you see the dog
running after the mouse into my study?”
“Yes.”
“Were you also the ones who allowed the dog trainer in here?”
This time, the guards did not answer as quickly. That was because even though Harold was smiling, he
was beginning to exude an intimidating aura.
Just as one of them was about to answer him, Harold shot him.
As he fired his gun, he cursed loudly like a madman, behaving completely differently from how he was
a moment ago, friendly and all smiles.
“How dare you let anyone into my study? Don’t you know that my study is a place of importance in the
Horton residence? What did I hire you for? You useless pieces of trash! You deserve nothing but
death!”
Every time Harold screamed at them, he fired a round.
Once he emptied the clip, he changed to a new one. Then, he pointed his gun at the other guard by the
doorway.
With his trademark smile back on his face, he asked, “Any other excuses you want to say?”
The other guard instantly went down on his knees before Harold. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare to come up
with any excuses. He was only standing by the doorway. He never went in. He never did.”
“So he didn’t go in?” The smile on Harold’s face grew wider. “Even so, you still have to die. Did you not
understand what I said? No one’s allowed to go into my study, not even a rat! No one’s allowed inside!
No one!”
Another round of gunshot sounds echoed.
Blood was all over the floor, and even Winnie, who was standing at the side, had her shoes stained
red.
She snapped her brows together. That was the first time she witnessed Harold’s depravity.
Even while doing such a cruel thing, the lunatic wore a smile on his face.
As Winnie suppressed the disgust she felt toward the insane man, she grabbed the man’s gun-wielding
hand.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Hal,” she started with a faint smile. “He’s already dead. There’s no need to waste your bullets
anymore. Even my shoes are stained. How am I going to enter the lab later?”
“Right.” Harold lowered his head to peek at Winnie’s feet. “We’ll dirty the lab, but this isn’t over. The
study is an important place for me. Anyone who saw my study without my permission will have to die. It
doesn’t matter even if it’s a dog!”
With that said, he lifted his gun to aim at the man in the vest.
Not too surprisingly, no bullets were fired, for he had emptied his clip earlier.
At that moment, the man in the vest let out a sigh of relief as Winnie held her breath as well.
After a moment of contemplation, she tried to persuade Harold, “It looks like fate wants this man to live.
Let’s go, Hal, let’s not waste our time here anymore.”
“Okay.” Harold chuckled. “He’s a lucky one. Let’s go.”
Realizing that he had been spared, the man in a vest quickly kneeled before Harold.
Alas, no one expected Harold to suddenly pick up a sharp rock from the fountain when he walked past
the other man.
With the same frenzied motions as earlier, he swung his arm and smashed the rock against the man
and the dog. In seconds, they were both dead.
Yet, it seemed like he was still not satisfied. He only stopped when his sight was blurred by the blood.
When he turned to Winnie, he still had the same smile on his face.
“Vivian, do you understand it now? I have my own principles. They’ve seen what they shouldn’t have,
so they deserve to die. If you ever reveal anything you shouldn’t, it’ll be the same for you. They’ve
gotten off easy with me using just that stone.”
Winnie’s face was pale after she witnessed the cruel scene, but still, she tamped down the discomfort
she felt and pretended to fearfully nod.
She knew that Harold was doing that to deter her from betraying him.
He was telling her that a tragic death was what awaited her if she were to reveal what she had seen in
the study.
“That’s my good sister.” Harold patted Winnie’s head with his bloody hand. “Go back and wash up first.
I’ll take you to the lab later.”
Winnie nodded in silence.
While they were walking, Christopher suddenly appeared and started jogging toward them.
When he saw the blood all over Harold, he frowned and asked, “Hal, are you okay? I heard gunshots.
Are you fine?”
“Do I look like I’m not fine?” Harold chuckled and wiped his face. Then, he asked Christopher, “Where
did you go earlier?”
“Something happened at the warehouse earlier,” Christopher calmly started explaining. “They said
there were mice in there, so they let a few dogs in to catch them. Some accident happened during that,
but they’re all resolved now.”
“I see.” Harold nodded with a smile. “It seems like the mice really did exist. I thought those people were
lying to me. It’s fine now, though. Ms. Vivian’s a little shaken up, so bring her back and let her recover
first.”
Winnie was silent for a long time during their journey back to her room.
Worried that she would be traumatized by Harold’s killing and that her mental state would worsen if she
were to keep everything to herself, Christopher tried to console her.
“Forget about what you saw earlier. Just think of it as a nightmare.”
“How can I?” Winnie’s gaze drifted toward the blood on her shoes. “My memory is impeccable. I will
never forget this moment until the time of my death. Still, he’s going to pay for this soon. I’ve already
gotten what you wanted, so contact your department and report to them right away. It’s time for us to
wrap this up. We’re saving Professor White today, and we’re going to leave.”
“What about the Big Black Bear that you’re looking for? They haven’t shown up until now.”
“There’s no time for us to think about that now. If we can’t deal with both at the same time, we’ll do one
at a time.”
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