Phoenix City was a historical city famous for its breathtaking scenery and simple way of life.
Charlotte fell in love with the city as soon as she got off the train, marveling at the fluffy clouds in the blue sky, the historical vibes, and the clean, fresh air.
Mrs. Berry scanned their surroundings and sighed in content. “I haven’t been here for nearly twenty years. When I was younger, I came here with Mr. Windt once.”
“My father?” Charlotte’s curiosity was piqued.
“Yes. Along with a three-year-old you.” Mrs. Berry’s voice turned emotional when she spoke again. “You were even younger than the triplets at that time. You were in poor health and fell ill very often, so Mr. Windt and I brought you here to seek treatment from Dr. Felch.
“Come to think of it, it’s rather miraculous. You didn’t get well even after seeing so many doctors in well-known hospitals, but after staying at Dr. Felch’s for two days and taking his medicine, you got well very soon.”
“Really? I don’t even remember.” Charlotte chuckled. “So this means visiting Dr. Felch is the right choice.”
“Of course.” Mrs. Berry nodded profusely. “Dr. Felch can definitely cure your illness. Don’t you worry.”
“Mm.” A glimmer of hope emerged in Charlotte’s heart. “Mrs. Berry, let’s take a taxi and go straight to Dr. Felch’s house then.”
“This place is still underdeveloped, so there aren’t any official taxi drivers. But I know how to differentiate between the locals and non-locals here. They’re simple people and won’t swindle money out of others. Come with me.”
Mrs. Berry tugged Charlotte along with one hand while dragging her suitcase with the other.
As Charlotte followed closely behind Mrs. Berry and weaved through the crowd, Charlotte couldn’t help but feel eyes boring into her, but when she looked over her shoulder, she didn’t discover anyone suspicious.
Due to passengers trickling in and out of the station, it was impossible to find anything out of the ordinary.
Thus, she assumed that she was being paranoid. Withdrawing her gaze, she followed Mrs. Berry out of the station.
Mrs. Berry spotted a dilapidated car by the road and negotiated a good price. Just when they were about to get into the car, a van suddenly charged straight for them. Several men in blacked hopped out of the vehicle and lunged at Charlotte.
Startled, Charlotte abandoned her suitcase and broke into a run while pulling Mrs. Berry with her.
However, the men were obviously skilled because they caught up to them soon. Just when they were about to have them surrounded, another group of people appeared and engaged in a fight.
Charlotte took the opportunity to escape with Mrs. Berry. The driver whom they had negotiated a price with earlier drove over right then and urged in a heavy southern accent, “Get in!”
The two of them wasted no time, sliding into the car to find that their suitcases were also inside.
The drive floored the accelerator and ditched the two groups of men behind.
Through the rearview mirror, Charlotte noticed that the other group of men who had arrived just in time were Zachary’s bodyguards. So it seems like Zachary sent them to keep me safe.
But who were those men from the van who tried to capture me?
“That scared me to death.” Mrs. Berry clutched her chest and shuddered in fear. “Miss, who were those people back there? They didn’t look like locals. Don’t tell me they followed us all the way from the city?”
“I think so.” Charlotte’s brows drew together. Could Zara have sent them?
“I thought they were trying to pull customers and wondered since when non-locals have become so tenacious in doing business,” the local driver jokingly said. “Later on, I noticed that they were all wearing expensive suits and realized that they weren’t here for business.”
“True. That vehicle looked quite expensive too.” Mrs. Berry racked her brain for an answer. “Just who were those people?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t wanna think about it right now. Let’s look for Dr. Felch first.”
Charlotte sighed inwardly. Thank goodness Zachary sent his men to protect me or something bad would’ve happened just now.
This local drive was very familiar with the traffic and had good driving skills as well. In spite of that, the latter half of their journey consisted of steep and winding mountain roads that made Charlotte feel as though she was on a never-ending roller coaster ride.
After three and a half hours on the road, she was so dizzy she had the urge to throw up more than once. Right then, she was leaning limply against Mrs. Berry with a pale complexion.
Mrs. Berry, on the other hand, was accustomed to it. After all, she grew up in the mountains. Not only was she not affected, she even felt at home.
