Chapter 582
"Ahem, ahem..." Litzy Livingston coughed heavily twice. She seemed to have aged considerably recently.
They had thought that once Camilla Mendoza entered the Mendoza household, she could gather some information for them.
Unexpectedly, not only did she fail to find out anything, but she also nearly dragged them down with her.
Fortunately, their innocence had been proven.
Although they had arranged for Camilla to enter the Mendoza residence, at the very least, they hadn't instructed her to harm Adeline Hensley.
Anyway, the Mendoza family was already ignoring them; adding one more charge probably didn't matter much now.
Moreover, their most urgent desire was to find their son quickly; they weren't in the mood to dwell on it too much.
"The wind is picking up," Fletcher Livingston said, his voice hoarse. "Let's go home first."
But Litzy Livingston stood rooted to the spot.
She covered her face, crying and saying in agony, "If only we had disciplined Pedro Livingston properly before... If only we had noticed his issues earlier..."
"There's no use talking about that now," Fletcher Livingston took a deep breath. "We can only keep looking. Judging by the Mendoza family's attitude, they won't help us. We'd better not try any more underhanded tricks, to avoid causing more trouble for ourselves."
Tearfully, Litzy said, "We've searched everywhere we can think of! How else can we look? Do you think Pedro Livingston might already be..."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Fletcher Livingston said coldly. "Pedro Livingston will be fine."
In truth, he wasn't sure either.
But now, they could only cling to this faint hope.
What they didn't know was that Pedro Livingston was currently being driven to the brink of madness by Benjamin Tillman.
All these days, Benjamin had kept him
locked in a water dungeon.
At regular intervals, just when he felt he couldn't take it anymore, on the verge of starving or dying of thirst, they would take him out and let him eat and drink his fill.
Once he was satisfied, they would throw him back into the water dungeon.
This cycle repeated over and over.
Pedro Livingston truly didn't understand what Benjamin Tillman wanted.
And gradually, his mindset began to change.
Whenever Benjamin had him released and treated him to good food and drink, he actually felt a sense of gratitude.
When facing Benjamin, if Benjamin so much as raised a hand, he would feel afraid.
He felt as if he was being broken by Benjamin Tillman.
Yes, broken.
He didn't know what Benjamin Tillman
ultimately wanted, nor did he know when this torment would end.
He was filled with immense regret.
He never should have harbored ill intentions towards Adeline Hensley in the first place, and he certainly never should have agreed to work with Benjamin Tillman...
Adeline Hensley knew that Georgia Palmer had been leading a team to protect Lacey Hensley's family.
Previously, that organization had even dared to kidnap her mother; it was no surprise they would target her aunt. They must have already thoroughly investigated her background and connections in Orianto.
Harrison Thomson was on the same page as her.
So he had dispatched Georgia Palmer and her team to protect them covertly.
With Georgia Palmer there, Adeline naturally felt reassured.
Furthermore, she had also sent a group of people from the Mendoza family to Orianto to assist Georgia Palmer.
Because she was mentally prepared, when she received Georgia Palmer's call saying that a group of foreigners had tried to target her aunt, she wasn't particularly surprised.
The important thing was that her aunt and her family were safe.
After speaking with Georgia Palmer, Adeline called Bianca Hudson.
As soon as Bianca answered, she asked urgently, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," Adeline said.
Bianca breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tell the family not to be nervous. I won't let anything happen to you."
"Got it," Bianca said. "Even if we don't trust others, how could we not trust you?"
"Mm. And there's one more thing I need your held with."
"What is it?" Bianca asked immediately.
Adeline Hensley and Harrison Thomson had helped their family so much before.
Now that Adeline needed them, of course they would do their utmost.
"Actually, it's not difficult,' Adeline chuckled.
"Just have Aunt pretend to be sick."
Bianca was stunned: "Pretend to be sick?"
"Yes. Aunt just had surgery not long ago, so pretending to be sick now won't raise suspicion," Adeline explained. "Tell Georgia Palmer to make a bit of a scene about it."
The organization that failed to capture her aunt would surely still have people watching the Hensley house.
If they made a noticeable commotion, the organization's watchers would know.
And then, they would report it to Killer.
Their plan to use Sonia Blackburn to impersonate Adeline and lure Killer out had one crucial problem.
Adeline had been staying inside the Mendoza estate the whole time. Why would she suddenly leave?
Without a convincing reason, Killer would definitely be suspicious.
Now, Lacey Hensley's situation provided that plausible reason.
Since Killer had investigated Adeline's background in Orianto, he naturally would know that Adeline was very close to her aunt.
Moreover, Lacey Hensley had just had surgery; a sudden relapse of her condition was entirely possible.
If Lacey Hensley fell seriously ill, it would be perfectly logical for Adeline to leave the Mendoza estate and return to Orianto to visit her.
At that point, Sonia Blackburn, disguised as Adeline, leaving the Mendoza gates wouldn't
seem too suspicious to Killer.
Recently, Killer's operatives had suffered repeated failures.
Once "Adeline" showed herself, the likelihood of him taking action personally was high.
Even if he was hesitant at first, if his subordinates continued to fail, he would soon lose patience.
The fact that he sent people to Orianto to try and kidnap Lacey Hensley showed that he was getting desperate, yet unwilling to give up on targeting Adeline.
Therefore, this plan had a high chance of success.
"I understand," Bianca said, accepting the task without further questions.
Lacey Hensley had been genuinely sick before.
Having her pretend now would be simple enough.
After chatting a bit more, Bianca couldn't help but ask, "When will you be able to come back to Orianto? We... Mom misses you a lot."
Having grown up bickering with Adeline, even though they were both adults now and past that stage, Bianca still found it hard to say outright that she missed Adeline very much.
"Soon," Adeline said. "Once things are resolved here, I'll come back."
"Okay. Be careful."
Just after Adeline finished her call with Bianca and hung up, she felt someone approach from behind. Immediately, she was enveloped in a familiar, warm embrace.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Bianca Hudson."
Harrison Thomson gave a noncommittal "Hmm."
Adeline turned her head to look at him. "Who did you think I was talking to?"
Harrison Thomson snorted lightly. "What if it was one of my love rivals?"
Hearing this, Adeline laughed. "How many love rivals do you have?"
"Too many to count."
"Harrison Thomson, were you pickled in a vat of vinegar?"
Harrison Thomson had just been teasing her, but he didn't refute her comment about him being pickled in vinegar.
"Just got word," he said, his tone shifting slightly.
"Russell Hunter has also arrived in Yewhaina."
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