Chapter 70

Bruce suddenly shifted the topic and looked at Tristan with a serious tone. "But she's likely to face a few more trials. Once those are over, you two can finally be together for good."

"Trials?" Tristan frowned slightly.

Bruce nodded. "It depends on her fate."

Tristan stared at Megan's delicate side profile, lost in thought.

If he could take her place, he would gladly go through all the suffering just so she wouldn't have to.

Now that Mr. Reid had pulled through his own crisis,Bruce left the old Reid residence to continue his travels.

Nathan, on the other hand, had suffered a physical breakdown from anger and ended up hospitalized,leaving the place eerily quiet.

Originally, Tristan and Megan had planned to stay at the old house to keep Mr. Reid company.

But Mr. Reid was worried they'd feel out of place living there, and instead suggested moving together to Dreamscape Manor.

After giving it some thought, Tristan figured they'd be at work or class most of the time anyway, and Zeta Prime could keep Mr. Reid company at home-sounded like a pretty decent plan.

So yep, that very night, they moved back to Dreamscape Manor.

As soon as the car pulled in, Zeta Prime practically flew out the front door, like it had just chugged a gallon of energy drink.

They'd warned Mr. Reid in the car that there was a robot at Dreamscape Manor. Plus, he'd already met Nova Tech the robot dog, so he thought he was ready.

Turns out... not quite.

Well, more accurately-Zeta didn't just surprise him.It overwhelmed him.

Zeta Prime dashed over to the three like it hadn't seen a living being in centuries.

"Boss! Goddess! You're back! Zeta Prime missed you like crazy!"

Then it tilted its head theatrically. "Oh? And who's this handsome and energetic gentleman? Let me take a wild guess-could he be the legendary head of the Reid family? The one and only General Geoffrey Reid?"

Zeta looked so smugly confident it was ridiculous.

Tristan and Megan shot it a straight-up "you idiot"look and walked toward the house without a word.

Zeta gently took Mr. Reid's arm and led him inside.

Mr.Reid muttered, "...This little thing's kinda clever." Zeta cackled. "Excuse me! Zeta Prime is not a 'little thing'! Zeta's a warrior in armor! Zeta's number one!"

Then it just... kept going:

"Oh, sir, please don't sneak up to the middle room on the south end of the third floor tonight. If you hear any strange thudding, don't get the wrong idea.The boss and my Goddess aren't doing anything inappropriate. They're just... working on the next generation!"

Mr. Reid couldn't help but chuckle, clearly amused.Looks like he was starting to look forward to a great-grandchild.

Zeta Prime sneakily whispered, "Master and Goddess haven't done the naughty stuff yet."

Mr. Reid's steps froze. He turned to glare at Zeta Prime. "How do you know that?"

With a sneaky grin, Zeta Prime replied, "Cause I eavesdropped!"

Mr. Reid raised his cane and swung it toward Zeta Prime. "You damn robot, you're such a pest!"

Zeta Prime hugged its head and dashed off like a flash,yelling,"Old humans have wild tempers!"

Mr. Reid slammed the cane on the ground, tilted his head back, and stared at the moon, deep in thought.

Could it be that his grandson. isn't up to the task?

Thanks to Zeta Prime, that same night, just as Tristan was enjoying some cozy time with Megan , he got summoned to his grandfather's room.

Mr. Reid looked dead serious. "If something's wrong with your health, you'd better deal with it while you're still young."

Tristan was completely lost. Like, what the heck was going on?

Then he saw Zeta Prime standing next to Mr. Reid, all quiet with that fake zen look-no nose, no heart, but trying to act all pure. He instantly knew the robot must've stirred up some nonsense again.

And sure enough, when Tristan still looked confused,Mr. Reid just dropped the bomb: "Tomorrow, go see a doctor. Urology. Full check-up."

Tristan's face darkened like a thunderstorm was rolling in. His eyes narrowed as he locked his gaze on Zeta Prime.

But that tin can bailed faster than lightning, legs all but flying (though it had none).

There was no explaining this mess. Tristan just told his grandfather he was totally fine, only then did Mr. Reid ease up a bit.

But right as Tristan was heading out the door, the old man hit him with one more soul-piercing question.

"You sure you're... functional?"

Tristan forced a dry smile. "You bet."

As soon as he stepped out, that fake grin vanished. He made a beeline for the east wing, heading straight for Zeta Prime's usual spot.

No luck.

Annoyed, he returned to his own room.

The headlines lit up with two major stories: the deadly attack on police officers-with no survivors and a missing suspect-and an old case where the former Reid matriarch had been caught poisoning someone.Both pushed down the Empire Grand Hotel scandal from the trending list. Natalie ended up losing big after trying to pull a fast one-she got held at the police station for two days and fined two grand. Her mom,Nancy Martin,picked her up and took her home.

Natalie flat-out refused to. go back to school.She'd already become a laughingstock-both at school and in the upper social scene.

Meanwhile, her dad had a sudden stroke and got hospitalized, and their family business was hanging by a thread.

All this only fueled her hatred towards Megan. Natalie holed up in her room, crafted a creepy little doll with "Megan Shaw" scrawled across its chest, and began jabbing it with needles like she was trying to stick all that anger somewhere.

Nancy couldn't stand seeing her daughter like this-gone was the bubbly girl she used to know. She was furious. So,she decided to confront Megan at school.

Nancy found out Megan's classroom schedule and went straight there, waiting outside. When she spotted Megan and Rachel walking down the hall, laughing and chatting like life was perfect, her rage exploded. She stormed over and blocked their path.

"You two are all smiles while my daughter is miserable at home! Thanks to you, the Banks family is falling apart! Tell me, how are you gonna make this right?"

Students started to gather-it wasn't hard to recognize Nancy. People stopped in their tracks to watch.

Megan let out a soft laugh. "Seriously? The audio and video went viral-everyone in Verduria saw what really happened. You think any of this was my fault?

Your daughter tried to hurt people and only hurt herself. That's what we call karma."

"If you're hoping for compensation," she added, "then maybe check the sky-if it's still daylight, you're just dreaming."

Nancy's fists clenched in rage. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Megan gave her a sweet smile with a bite of sarcasm."It's not dark out, so it must be day. as in daytime dreaming.Heard of it?"

Nancy's anger boiled over. She pointed at Megan and Rachel, shouting, "None of this would've happened if it weren't for you both! Especially you!" She raised her handbag and aimed it right at Rachel's face."Youlittle tramp! Seducing my future son-in-law!"

Before the bag could land, Megan caught Nancy's wrist just in time.

"If you lay a hand on us again, I'm calling the cops,"Megan said with icy calm. "And I doubt you've got spare bail money lying around after what happened to your family."

Nancy shot daggers with her eyes. "It's all your fault!You ruined Natalie's life!"

Rachel let out a cold scoff. "What goes around comes around.If Natalie hadn't had such nasty intentions, she wouldn't be paying the price right now."

Megan released Nancy's wrist with a flick. "This is your warning, Mrs. Martin. Any more of this, and I'm taking you straight to the police."

With that, she grabbed Rachel's hand and walked right past her.

But just then, Nancy pulled a small bottle out of her bag, twisted the cap open-and aimed it, ready to throw.