Chapter 654

“Where is she?” Lydia asked, her voice edged with confusion.

Her eyes kept searching for the girl she had just been talking to. As she stepped out of the restroom area, her pace slowed, her breath still slightly uneven-as if she had left something behind in there. Not an object. Not a sound.

A feeling.

One she couldn’t quite shake.

What unsettled her most was the image of Naomi-soaked, head lowered, silently enduring. It clung to her thoughts, refusing

to fade.

“What if she gets sick?” Lydia murmured, worry creeping into her voice. “And… right. Her wrist. She was hurt. Did she fall or something?”

Before she could find any answers, someone approached her in a hurry, slightly out of breath.

“Mrs. Miller.”

Lydia turned, forcing a polite smile.

“Are you alright, ma’am?” the guide asked again, his tone more cautious this time. There was a hint of concern in his voice- and curiosity at the subtle shift in her demeanor.

Lydia gave a small nod, though the response felt automatic. “Yes. I just… needed a moment.”

“Is something bothering you?” he pressed gently.

For a second, Lydia hesitated. She could say it all-about Naomi, about how the girl had been treated, about the discomfort still lingering in her chest after witnessing something that shouldn’t have happened.

But the words caught in her throat. Something in her instinct told her-this wasn’t the place to trust just anyone.

“The girl working near the restroom earlier… I think her name is Naomi,” Lydia said at last, testing the waters rather than asking outright.

The guide frowned slightly, then offered a faint smile-far too casual for the topic. “That clumsy employee?”

Lydia held his gaze a second longer than necessary.

Clumsy?

If that was what they called it… then what exactly had she just witnessed?

His tone was light. Too light. As if labeling Naomi that way was something he was already used to.

“Did she do something to you?” he continued. “If you’re uncomfortable, I can reprimand her immediately.”

Lydia shook her head. “No. She didn’t do anything.”

“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about,” he said quickly. “She tends to cause small problems.”

Small problems. The words echoed in Lydia’s mind, feeling off-completely out of place with what she had just seen. Before she could dwell on it further, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.

“Ma’am!”

Andrew.

He looked slightly tense, his breathing uneven as he tried to steady it. “I’ve been looking for you. Mr. Cale has arrived.”

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Chapter 654

+25 Bonus

Lydia glanced briefly at the guide, then back at Andrew. “Alright. Let’s go.”

She didn’t wait for a response. Lydia moved again, her steps steady-but just before she could fully leave the area, something made her pause.

Not a sound. Not a voice.

Just a quiet pull-something instinctive-that made her glance to the side.

And there was Naomi.

The girl stood in the corner of the corridor, slightly hunched, her hands moving quickly as she scrubbed the floor-somehow dirty again. In front of her stood the same older woman-Milly-her impatience obvious even from a distance.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” the woman snapped sharply. “It’s a simple task! Even a child could do it properly!”

Naomi didn’t respond. She only lowered her head further, taking every word without resistance.

Lydia stopped.

Her body went still, tension tightening through her limbs. There was a strong urge rising inside her-to step forward, to stop it, to say something-anything-that might make it end. At the very least, to stop the girl from being humiliated like that.

For a moment-she almost moved.

Almost. But that step never came.

“Love.”

The voice came from behind her-calm, familiar, grounding her back into a different reality.

She turned.

Cale stood there, composed as always, his gaze fixed on her. He hadn’t noticed what was happening just a few meters away.

“Have you finished your tour?” he asked.

Lydia looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yes.”

She didn’t look back at Naomi. Not because she didn’t care-but because she cared too much. Because she knew, if Cale saw that scene, she wouldn’t be given the chance to return.

And it confirmed something else.

Cale hadn’t met Naomi today.

If he had, he would’ve known she was here.

“So,” Cale continued, extending his hand toward her, “shall we head back?”