09:29 Wed, Dec 18

Chapter 377: What Is He Hiding? +5 Free Coins

Harlan pointed at Zoey and said, “It’s her fault for insisting on coming to your house. Then she started complaining about being hungry, demanding pasta and fried eggs. Since you guys don’t have a maid, I ended up making them myself.”

Carter and I looked at the kitchen ceiling and the greasy splatters around it. Carter was close to laughing out of frustration. These two acted like they were at their own house. The owner wasn’t around, yet they just walked in and started cooking.

Carter rubbed his temples, probably regretting that he’d forgotten to change the password that morning. He pointed at the half-cooked fried egg stuck to the ceiling, the runny yolk dripping down.

“Are you trying to make some bread?”

Harlan looked a little embarrassed. “Ahem, I just wanted to try tossing the pan, and, well, it kind of… ended up like this.”

Carter couldn’t resist. “Why not toss it into your head instead?”

Though he was complaining, his actions told a different story. Carter poured some oil, cleaned the pan, and patiently began teaching Harlan how to cook the eggs properly.

Zoey pulled me aside, her eyes full of admiration. “Carter is amazing! He can do it all—go to fancy parties, cook, and enjoy a passionate sex life every night. Tell me, does he not suffer from any… man problems?”

I poked her forehead. “Stop worrying about grown-up stuff. Tell me, did you learn anything useful today?”

Zoey quickly glanced back at the busy men in the kitchen, pulling me into the living room and whispering, “I saw Whitney.”

“Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

“Taylor’s keeping a close eye on her. He used her poor health as an excuse to take her back to her room, but I managed to sneak her a phone.”

I widened my eyes. “Sis, you’re brave!” Before this, I’d left Whitney a phone number, but it would have been useless if she had no way to contact the outside world.

Zoey looked pleased with herself. “She probably wants to escape from Taylor, too. She was a bit surprised at first but immediately hid the phone. Now we just have to wait for her to find a chance to contact me.”

“Well done.” I patted her head and pointed at the kitchen. “What’s going on with Harlan?”

“What’s going on with him?”

“What else could it be? He’s just being really cheap, insisting on following me. When I said I was hungry, he had to show off. You saw it, right? He almost set your kitchen on fire. Dad always said, ‘A man who can’t cook is useless!’”

I chuckled. Bill had mastered cooking recently; not long ago, he didn’t even know how to fry an egg.

Just then, Harlan overheard Zoey’s comment. “Your dad’s been dead for years—how would he know?”

“Why do you care? Doesn’t everyone have a few dads?” Zoey shot back, showing no mercy.

“I told you before, stop staying up late playing games and getting involved with bad people.” Harlan set the plate on the table. “Eat up, heiress.”

Carter and I exchanged a glance. It seemed like Harlan had changed a lot, and fast.

Zoey glanced at him. “I’m staying here tonight. If you’ve nothing to do, just go home.”

Harlan muttered, “You ungrateful little thing. Carter, I’m staying here, too.”

Carter had given up, deciding it wasn’t worth engaging with them. “We’re going upstairs.”

Zoey looked at me pitifully as she ate her pasta. “Sis, I’m thinking…”

I interrupted. “You think of nothing. Eat this, then go to bed. Don’t disturb us tonight.”

Zoey just stared at me, speechless.

Once we were back in the room, Carter locked the door behind us, muttering to himself. “I’m changing the password first thing tomorrow. It has to be done!”

I laughed lightly. “Okay, okay. Change it.”

“Chloe, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Alright.”

Once he was in the bathroom, my smile faded. I took the Soul-Stabilizing Pendant around my neck and inspected it closely. What was so strange about this stone?

Soon, I noticed something was off. When Carter first gave it to me, there were streaks of red inside, like blood. But now, the blood-red threads had disappeared! It wasn’t just that they had vanished; they had merged with the stone, turning its pale color slightly pinkish.

I remembered the faint scar on Carter’s hand when he came down the mountain. He’d said it was from an accidental cut while climbing. So, the red threads I’d seen earlier were Carter’s blood!

Wasn’t this the Soul-Stabilizing Pendant? It only needed the Gardners’ blood, so why did Carter have to add his own? And if there wasn’t a problem, why hadn’t he told me? He must have hidden something crucial.

I placed the stone on a piece of white paper and traced its shape with a pencil. It was a teardrop shape—what if I flipped it over? It formed a circle. This was a Celtic knot. This was the light side of the Celtic knot. It matched the description of the two stones Amber had mentioned. The other stone, the black teardrop, must be the dark side of the Celtic knot. Carter had the dark stone. What secrets was he hiding?