Chapter 242

Luis stood in stillness, his eyes dark as a moonless night,fixed on Simon with a glacial intensity.

That stare carried such weight it felt like it could strip Simon bare, reaching into the very core of him.

When the tension grew unbearable, Luis finally spoke,his words cutting through the silence like shards of broken ice. "I'll move against Isaac if that's what you want. But hear me well-my sister remains unharmed.The moment I find she's been touched, I'll make sure you pay for it in ways you can't even imagine."

His fingers tightened once more around Simon's throat before he flung him aside, the impact sending Simon crashing to the ground.

The air itself seemed to vibrate with the raw violence radiating from Luis.

Lowering his gaze, he spared Simon one last look,filled with contempt, before stiding toward the waiting car.

The driver's door swung open, the engine roared to life, and in seconds the garage was filled with nothing but the echo of tires screeching against the ground.

Simon remained sprawled on the ground, his body wracked with coughing fits as he clutched his bruised neck.

A twisted grin tugged at his lips,but beneath it lay the tremor of fear he couldn't quite conceal,sweat soaking through the back of his shirt.

It struck him then that he had completely stirred up Luis' anger.

Isaac and Luis were each powerful in their own right,and Simon knew the only path to victory was to set them against one another until one destroyed the other.

And that was his chance. If he played it right,he would come out on top.

Before Luis uncovered the whole truth, Simon planned to use him as a weapon to strike Isaac down.

Once Isaac was gone, Verena would finally belong to him.

The thought grew like wildfire, feeding his obsession and sending a rush of madness through his veins. In the aftermath of Luis' disturbance, Verena retreated to the lounge, her nerves too unsettled to return to her work.

She leaned against the pale wall, her lashes lowered,her face solemn and still.

The memory of Luis confronting her played over and over in her mind, refusing to fade. His towering stance,the sharp edge of his words... But for what reason?

He had caused a storm, yet left without so much as lifting a finger, like a shadow drifting through only to unsettle her.

The more she turned it over, the more puzzling it became.What exactly was he after?

Could it have been some petty retaliation because she had refused him her contact information before?

Impossible. A man like Luis Sampson wouldn't stoop to something so childish.

Her thoughts shifted, recalling another detail from earlier-the way Simon had rushed to her side.

He had grabbed her arms so firmly, his face stricken with panic, asking over and over if she had been harmed. That wasn't the behavior of a casual colleague offering polite concern.

The look in his eyes had carried years of buried affection, the sort of desperate protectiveness one reserved only for someone deeply cherished.

Her brow creased slightly as she pieced the fragments together.

After sitting with the thought, her mind cleared,and a sharper idea began to take shape.

Maybe this was the perfect moment to test Simon for herself.

If he truly was Carl, then everything,the panic,the protectiveness,would make perfect sense.

With resolve settling in, Verena rose and stepped outside.

Her white coat trailed lightly as she walked toward the psychology department, where the staff were immersed in charts and patient notes.

Her eyes scanned the busy office, but Simon was nowhere to be seen.

Just as she was about to inquire, a weary-looking doctor stretched and yawned before catching sight of her.

At once, the doctor straightened, suppressing his yawn and preparing to greet her formally.

Waving him off quickly,Verena kept her voice low,unwilling to draw any attention. "No need to stop what you're doing. I just need to know-where did Dr.Moss go?"

The doctor gave a faint hum of acknowledgment,lazily lifting a hand toward the door at the far end of the hall. "He just headed into the archive room. Said he needed to look something over."

Verena inclined her head with a polite smile. "Got it.Thanks for letting me know."

Without another word, she turned and made her way down the corridor, her steps steady, the sterile light bouncing off the polished white walls.

The brightness of the hallway only deepened the chill in her eyes, eyes that now held none of the softness she had shown seconds earlier.

At the archive room, she pressed a hand to the door and nudged it open, greeted by the faint musty scent of aging paper.

Inside, the narrow room was crowded with shelves,each crammed with heavy files and thick medical texts.

Many of the volumes had clearly been shipped in from Clokron.

Pale sunlight streamed through the slanted blinds,breaking into stripes of gold and shadow across the floor. Dust drifted lazily in the beams, some rising,some sinking, as though time itself had slowed.

By the shelves stood Simon, a thick psychology book resting in his hands, his entire focus buried in the words before him.

Verena leaned casually against the shelf opposite,arms folded, watching him with sharp interest.

The crisp white coat hung neatly over his frame,paired with tailored dark trousers. Gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, and his short,well-kept hair revealed a broad, polished forehead above deep, self-assured eyes.

He stood like a man sculpted to draw attention, the kind of figure countless women would find impossible to ignore.

The Carl she remembered,disheveled and forgettable,had completely vanished. His har had once grown out in all directions, long bangs hanging over his eyes and hiding the shape of his face,leaving behind only a blurry, unremarkable impression. Now, even trying to picture that old version of him felt like trying to remember a shadow.

The transformation was so drastic, it was hard to believe they'd ever been the same person.

Verena's brows drew together as she examined him closely, searching for any signs of cosmetic alteration -but nothing stood out.

With questions still swirling in her mind, she pulled herself together, straightened her posture, and let out a deliberate cough to catch his attention, pretending the encounter was accidental. "Dr. Moss, what a surprise! Are you here looking through the archived files too?"

Her head angled slightly, the curve of her lips carrying the trace of a playful smile.

When Simon lifted his eyes and spotted her, surprise flickered across his face before it quickly gave way to a glimmer of happiness.

Had she really chosen to start a conversation with him first?

Could it mean that his outburst of concern earlier hadn't driven her away after all?

A rush of warmth filled his chest, though he buried it swiftly, answering with steady composure, "Yes...quite the coincidence indeed."

Verena's smile deepened. "I noticed you as soon as l walked in. I thought about greeting you,but you were so focused on your book that I decided not to interrupt. You seem to take your work very seriously."

Her curious gaze lifted toward him, soft but probing.

The moment their eyes met, Simon felt himself falter.

Her stare was so clear, so luminous, it felt like light piercing straight through him.

It was the same look she'd once given him long ago -during the chaos of the Dragon Quarter riot, when her hand had reached for his like salvation descending from the heavens.

His heart hammered wildly in his chest, loud as a drum he couldn't silence.

Was she truly interested in him?

Did she actually want to know more about who he was?

The thought consumed him, filling him with a restless yearning for her to step into his world, to unravel the pieces of him he kept hidden. Drawn to her as if by gravity itself, Simon finally nodded, his lips curling into a gentle smile. "I first fell in love with studying psychology in high school."

The word "high school" lingered in the air.

Verena lowered her lashes, her voice quiet. "I see."