At this, Olivia let out a chuckle. “After that, I found out that those three children lived all by themselves and got worried, so I went out of my way to send them home at night and reminded them not to bring any strangers back with them. But because I went right into their house without waiting for them to turn off the traps, I was even captured by the traps they designed.”
Upon hearing her explanation, George asked in disbelief, “What kind of trap would be able to capture you?”
In response, Olivia laughed and said, “It wasn’t really that complicated. I just wasn’t expecting traps inside the house. When I first walked in, I accidentally stepped on a floor switch, causing a large amount of lime powder to fall from the ceiling. I tried to avoid it, but I suddenly realized that Terry was behind me. I think he was trying to hold me back and ended up following me.
Hence, I stayed still and hid under the lime powder, then we were both caught in a huge fishing net. I hugged Terry and told him to lower his head and close his eyes, and soon after, steel beads were coming at us from all directions.
Despite how little they were, they hurt when they hit us. We both stayed still without budging an inch for around five minutes before the steel beads stopped hitting us, and we were all covered in white back then like we had gone mad.”
George couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “You really are stupid. How could you walk straight into such a simple trap?”
On the contrary, there was a look of concern and pain in Eugene’s eyes. Olivia had never told him any of this, but he suddenly realized why the three children liked her so much-she genuinely cared for them.
He said worriedly, “Those steel beads could’ve been fatal if they hit a vital spot, and they definitely hurt. Why didn’t you tell me? Where did they hit you? Does it still hurt?”
He subconsciously looked her up and down, as if he would’ve thoroughly examined her himself if it weren’t for George’s presence.
Olivia sent him a glare and huffed to herself. They were still in the middle of an argument then, so how would she tell him? In fact, if they hadn’t been at odds with each other at the time, she would’ve definitely let him know as it really did hurt. “It’s fine, it was a long time ago. Besides, Jewel took most of the hits for me.”
George looked at Eugene in slight surprise, his smile slightly fading from the corners of his lips. In fact, he knew Olivia must have been in pain as well, but he never thought of asking her.
Part of it was because he felt that she would’ve gotten better after all this time, and it was also because he disliked any form of superficial concern. However, Eugene had posed the question so naturally, and there was not a trace of pretense or courtesy in his worry-filled eyes or his concerned questions.
It was then that George realized with a jolt that this was most likely what love truly looked like. Suddenly, he was hit with a crushing sense of defeat. So what if he had taken care of her for seven years? Besides, putting the fact that they had a biological son to tie them together aside, there might be a problem in the very fundamentals of his relationship with Olivia.
He always talked to her like he was her older brother or parent, so it was natural that she could only think of him as family. Perhaps Eugene was right; Olivia felt indebted and grateful to him, and while she could trust him and rely on him, she did not love him.
He inhaled deeply. “All right. I’ll go back to the clinic tomorrow to wait for our main doctor.” Olivia asked in surprise, “You’re leaving so soon?”
George glanced at Eugene and said, “I’ll go back and take a look. I don’t know when he’s going back either. He seemed to be in a hurry, so he might come back in the next few days.”
All of a sudden, Olivia felt a twinge of discomfort. She felt as if she were driving George away, just like how he had left sadly the previous time. “How about we take Carter and the others back with us?”
However, Eugene shook his head. “That won’t do. Carter and the others don’t know that they were created at the research institute, and even if they did, we would easily expose ourselves if all of us go there, and it’ll put the children and the research institute in danger.”
Olivia nodded. “You have a point. More importantly, they might not agree either.” George replied, “It’s all right. I’ll go back first.”
