“Alright, be careful.”
Avril nodded before sneaking out on her toes, but she bumped into somebody as soon as she got out.
“What are you doing here, Levant?”
Levant looked at Avril before shifting his focus to the courtyard. “I could ask you the same.”
Avril’s heart was beating so fast that she could almost hear it. If Levant goes in, he’s bound to discover that Stephen is hiding somebody inside. Then, they’ll both be in trouble.
Sighing, Avril then raised her voice purposely, “The Wicked Palace is my home! Wherever I go here is none of your business, Levant!”
She deliberately shouted Levant’s name louder so that the two inside could hear it.
“You don’t usually talk like this. Is there a reason why you’re shouting?” Levant got suspicious of Avril’s unusual behavior.
“I don’t need a reason to shout! I’ll shout whenever I feel like it!” replied Avril with an even louder voice. If the two didn’t hear me before, they should now.
Levant shifted his focus away from Avril and started walking into the courtyard.
He could see Stephen calmly enjoying his tea in the living room from far away.
“Why did Avril come to visit you?” asked Levant after scanning around the living room.
“She had some questions,” replied Stephen as he glanced at the man.
“About what?”
“About the grudge between Murphy and me,” Stephen answered calmly before taking a sip of his tea.
Levant looked at the Duke suspiciously and wondered why Avril would care about the past.
“That’s it?”
Stephen lifted his head to look at Levant with a sharp gaze. “What else would there be?”
Levant gulped as he realized that he would not be getting anything from Stephen, so he scanned every inch of the room with his sharp eyes. Something’s not right here.
“Search the room!”
“Yes, sir!”
Stephen’s face darkened as he watched the guards carry out their order.
When Levant and his men found nothing, they finally left Stephen alone. Just then, Evan crawled down from the roof and went back into the room.
“Levant’s getting suspicious. We’d better get out of here soon.”
Evan nodded in agreement.
Tossing and turning, Nicole had trouble falling asleep for she had not heard back from the secret informant she hired to find out if Evan was in the Wicked Palace. The people at Wicked Palace sure are tight-lipped. Would Levant kill Evan if he’s really here?
Although she hated Evan, she didn’t want to see him dead. After all, he was the kids’ father, and his death would definitely break their little hearts.
It wasn’t until past midnight that Nicole finally fell asleep, but she had not slept for long before she jolted awake from a nightmare.
She dreamed that Levant had imprisoned Evan and used a gleaming knife to cut the man’s flesh.
In contrast to Evan’s look of pain and horror, Levant looked absolutely deranged with a sadistic grin on his face.
As he continued to torture Evan, the unhinged man merely laughed menacingly as Evan wailed in pain.
Even after waking up from the nightmare, Nicole could still hear both the wail and laughter echoing inside her head.
“Evan… ” She sat up abruptly, her forehead was drenched with sweat, and her heart was pounding frantically. Could it be real? Could Levant really be hurting Evan?
Feeling helpless, Nicole held her head with both hands. None of this would have happened if Evan had listened to me. That idiot should have stayed away from the Wicked Palace!
