Chapter 438
A troubled note crept into his voice. “Part of me doesn’t want to drag Rylie into this, but something about the whole thing just feels wrong.”
Felix, ever the sharp observer, paused to weigh the evidence before responding, “You’re not imagining it. The real red flag is Lochlan’s involvement—he’s joined forces with Brad. And you know he wouldn’t play along unless there was a payoff waiting for him. The timing’s no coincidence, either. Right after being treated by the ‘Healing Hand,’ he jumps on Brad’s plan, fabricates a perfect ‘donor,’ and suddenly there’s hundreds of millions in the pot to tempt Ronan.
Since when does your gang have that kind of cash lying around?”
Felix’s calm and clear explanation snapped Deandre out of his thoughts. His face shifted again, now showing a mix of confusion and disbelief. “That leaves just one possibility. And it’s the wildest one of all,” he muttered.
Their little sister might actually be the most talked-about mystery figure on the dark web—’Healing Hand,’ the genius doctor who never showed her face. Her skills were so legendary that dying billionaires would fight for a single consultation.
“Beneath that pretty, youthful face of hers?” Marcus’ tone was quiet, almost soft. “Let’s not forget—she’s only twenty. Does any of this sound normal to you?”
Felix chimed in, “Grandpa said she’s already prepping for grad school. She skipped grades in college, and even published a medical paper that shocked her professors.”
Deandre cut in again. “In the past couple of days, news about Ronan’s death has been sparse, but what I did find out is that pirates were involved. And I highly doubt it’s just a coincidence that they’d suddenly target some beat-up old ship that looked like it wasn’t worth a dime.”
What he was really saying was that their sister might have a hidden link to the pirates. Yet, strangely, her name never came up—not once—in the official reports.
That was the catch. Brad had wiped everything too clean. Suspiciously clean. Marcus caught his brother’s meaning. He let out a quiet sigh. His voice was low, heavy as he spoke. “I know geniuses exist. But this… This is something else entirely.”
This wasn’t genius. This was something extraordinary, almost surreal.
Felix said firmly, “She’s still our sister. If she doesn’t want to tell us the truth, then we’ll act like we don’t know. After everything she’s been through, it’s only fair she’s still guarded. All we can do now is love her harder.” None of them argued with that.
“I’ll be back for her homecoming banquet. Make it big. She mustn’t feel overlooked,” Marcus said, after which he ended the call. And just like that, the brothers’ secret talk came to an end.
Meanwhile, in her room, Rylie was scrolling through Brightwood High’s school forum. She’d been checking it now and then since she got off the ship. Today was exam ranking day.
Normally, the forum was buzzing with posts like “Top School Beauties,” “Tips for Getting into Honors,” or “Guess Next Week’s Test Questions.”
.
.
.