Chapter 469

It turned out that Dexter stole the map from Stephan’s subordinate under some strange circumstances!
When Felicia first learned about it, she had kindly warned the Fuller couple to return the map immediately. She thought doing so might save the Fuller family from bankruptcy
But what did they do?
The Fuller couple decided to play tricks, pretending they knew nothing. They feigned ignorance and even sent the map to an auction house, allowing all interested parties to fight over it.
They had assumed this would confuse Stephan, making him think the map had been acquired through pure chance. Thus, he would spare the Fuller family.
But what they didn’t realize was that, to Stephan , their clumsy antics only made them look like clowns! And to make matters worse, the map they sent to the auction house was a fake.
The Fuller couple’s clever ploy backfired spectacularly. Not only did they fail to deceive anyone, but they also turned themselves into targets for all the interested parties.
It was an indescribable disaster
with things escalated to this point, various factions were convinced that the Fuller couple still possessed the real map. Countless eyes were on them, and they were ready to use any means necessary to find out the map’s whereabouts.
Felicia tumed to Stephan and asked, “Have you found the real map?
“No? Then how do you know if the place you’re going is correct or not? What if it’s a mistake, or worse, a trap?
“That’s why I need to investigate it.” Stephan’s voice remained calm, but Felicia could hear the hidden menace in his tone. “Nobody else can leam the contents of that map
“What is it?” Felicia felt she had asked an inappropriate question, so she quickly added, “You don’t have to
She wanted to avoid suspicion. After all, the rumored treasure was too tempting.
Before she could say more, she felt a sudden sting on her lips: Stephan had bitten her lightly in dissatisfaction. Before she could retaliate , he chuckled and said,” When it comes to you, I have no secrets to hide. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Oh, go ahead, then . ” Felima straightened up, adopting a posture of keen interest. She wasn’t after the treasure. She was just curious.
Stephan began speaking at a leisurely pace , recounting an old story.
Once upon a time, a sailor was caught in a storm during a distant voyage and swept onto an unknown island. There, he discovered an isolated kingdom .
The kingdom was said to be filled with treasures–mountains of gold and countless rare wonders that the outside world had never seen.
After recovering from his injuries, the sailor was sent back to sea by the kingdom’s inhabitants.
Before he left, they made him swear to keep their existence a secret. But like the tropes we had all read, the sailor secretly recorded the island’s coordinates as he departed
The coordinates were eventually leaked. Many people became obsessed with finding the kingdom, desperate to claim its gold and treasures.
Wave after wave of expeditions set out, yet no one ever found the isolated kingdom. They either returned empty–handed or perished in the storms on the sea
That was how the story ended.
However, the
map, with its astral coordinates , remained. The sailor had written them himself on the day he left the island.
Stephan lightly tapped Felicia’s forehead and asked with a smile , “What do you think?”
She rested her chin on her hands, clearly enjoying the story. Without thinking, she replied, “It’s a great bedtime story. I’ll remember it and tell it to my daughter
someday.”
What a perfect tale to lull a child to sleep.
Felicia swore she had only said it as a casual remark, a lighthearted joke with no other intentions!
However, the room seemed to have fallen into a deathly silence.
Slowly, she looked up and found herself locked in Stephan’s dark, profound gaze. His eyes seemed like an enigmatic, bottomless abyss. Shadows flickered in them with some unspoken emotions, ready to break free at any moment.
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