Chapter 416

After a night of tipsy passion, Tuff and Kayla tangled up together until dawn. The next day, they didn’t wake up until the afternoon.

The snow out in the suburbs had mostly melted away, and tiny blades of grass poked through the corners of the yard. Even the bare branches were showing fresh buds. Spring was finally here.

Kayla asked the kitchen to simmer some soup, and then she and Tuff went to the hospital together to visit Maggie. Sometimes, Kayla couldn’t help but feel that Maggie was just so innocent. When they got to the hospital room, they were surprised to see Maggie moving around on her own, albeit slowly.

“Mom!” Tuff called out, startled, and in a heartbeat rushed over to steady her.

Maggie was practically glowing with excitement. “Look, Tuff! I can walk! My leg is all better!”

Kayla was speechless, just staring blankly. ‘Seriously? This is bad…’

‘Crap, there goes our secret,' Kayla thought, feeling a headache coming on.

“The doctors here are amazing! They fixed my leg in just a few days. I need to send them a thank–you banner!” Maggie exclaimed, still beaming.

Maggie was still blissfully unaware that her leg hadn’t actually been healed by the doctors.

Tuff let out a sigh of relief and played along. “Mom, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Maggie looked puzzled.

Tuff said, “The way they treated your leg is confidential. It’s not public knowledge yet.”

“Huh?” Maggie looked even more confused.

‘Since when is fixing a broken leg some kind of top–secret thing?’ Maggie thought, still baffled.

“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t get it. Anyway, it’s top secret stuff from our organization,” Tuff said.

When Maggie heard the word “organization,” her eyes went wide with fear. “What… what kind of organization?”

“The Flying Tiger Sect. I’m one of them, which is why you were able to get this special treatment. But once you walk out that door, not a single word about this, got it?” Tuff said, putting on his most serious face.

Maggie didn’t really understand what her son did, but she’d heard about the Flying Tiger Sect before.

“Tuff, are you… really with the Flying Tiger Sect?” Maggie asked, her voice trembling.

“Yeah,” Tuff said.

“Oh wow, my son is awesome…” Maggie said, practically glowing with pride.

Kayla could only sigh inwardly, rubbing her forehead.

‘Maggie is just too naive. Even at sixty, she still has no idea what her husband and son actually do,' Kayla thought.

But in a way, that was a kind of blessing.

Maggie could just live in the beautiful world her husband and son had woven for her, enjoying happiness without a care in the world.

With Tuff talking her into it, Maggie kept the cast on her leg and rolled out of the hospital in a wheelchair, acting like she was still hurt.

It was only when she was back in their room that Maggie excitedly showed off her leg to her husband. “The Flying Tiger Sect is incredible! They can fix anything, even the worst breaks. Normally it takes months to heal a broken bone, but I was back on my feet in less than a month…”

“Yeah, it’s unbelievable…” Prescott replied, still amazed.

He stared at Maggie’s leg, lost in thought.

The skin was flawless–no scars, no stitches, nothing.

‘When did our medical team get this good?’ he wondered.

He rubbed his own shoulder, where that old gunshot wound still twinged now and then.

“Don’t let anyone see your leg again, and try not to go out much these days,” Raymond reminded her sternly.

Maggie agreed right away. “I know, Tuff already told me…”

Maggie put Kayla in charge of everything at home.

With her “leg injury” keeping her from going out, Tuff was the one going with Kayla to every party, big or small.

Kayla was finally sitting pretty as the real lady of the house.

Landon and Amelia quietly watched, both feeling genuinely pleased.

After narrowly escaping Jonny’s clutches, Kayla was reborn in the fire that Joyce set.

From now on, she was a queen.

Edith was just a few days away from giving birth, and Landon had planned to stay by her side the whole time. But suddenly, he got a call from Norava. “Landon, Jeffrey’s missing…”

“What? How is that possible?” Amelia felt her heart leap into her throat.

Ever since Shelby exposed Jeffrey’s secret, he’d been living in a mental hospital with someone watching him around the clock. How could he possibly have vanished?

“Maybe he just wandered off. I’ll go check it out,” Landon said, cupping Amelia’s face with his hand. “You coming with me?”

“Edith’s about to have her baby any minute. I’ll stay here then!” Amelia said.

Landon wasn’t exactly comfortable leaving Amelia and Kimsey on their own. Kimsey being so different always seemed like a recipe for trouble.

But he couldn’t keep them under his watchful eye forever.

Amelia and Kimsey needed their freedom too.

After thinking it over for a while, Landon finally said, a bit unwillingly, “Just make sure to keep an eye on Kimsey. If anything comes up, call me right away.”

“Relax, I’ll be watching Kimsey closely. No way I’m letting him near any patients,” Amelia teased with a sly smile. “And with all this going on, you still want a second or third kid?”

Even though Kimsey got a good scare from time to time, he was still just a kid. There was no way to guarantee he’d always remember those warnings.

The best way was to keep him away from any patients and just take him to the amusement park as often as possible, let him have his fun, and keep him out of trouble.

But while they could keep Kimsey away from outsiders, what about their own family?

They couldn’t just stand by and watch their loved ones teeter on the edge between life and death.

Right now, Kimsey was still little, so they could decide who to let him help.

‘What about when he got older?’ Landon thought.

He couldn’t help but worry, and the urge to have another kid just got even stronger.

Meanwhile, in Srodonville, Brian followed the address Dally had given him and drove to the Wiggin family.

The Wiggin family lived in a detached villa, but the whole area was so old and deserted that most of the houses had been abandoned. Only a handful of families were still sticking it out.

Their place was so secluded, it honestly felt like living deep in the mountains.

Thick woods surrounded the house, with not a single neighbor for miles.

Shouts and curses echoed from inside the house.

“You bitch! You ruined Dawson, and now you’ve got the nerve to talk about getting remarried?

“I knew you couldn’t keep it together! Always running around like some hussy! Dawson’s only been gone a few years, and you’re already desperate for company?

“My brother must’ve been out of his mind to marry a woman like you…”

All kinds of nasty shouting and the crash of things being smashed made Brian wince and frown.

Just as Brian was debating whether to go in and check things out, the villa’s door swung open, and Night Owl was roughly shoved out.

The weeds outside tripped her up, and she fell right on her butt.

The whole time, she didn’t fight back or say a single word of protest.

She just endured it all, and it made your heart ache just looking at her.

Brian stepped forward and offered her a hand. “Careful, the ground’s cold,” he said gently.

“Dr. Shawn?” Night Owl was mortified. She hadn’t expected anyone to see her like this.

She gripped Brian’s hand for support as she got to her feet, brushing the weeds and dirt off her clothes.

“How come you’re here, Dr. Shawn?” Night Owl asked, still embarrassed that someone had seen her in such a state.

“I’m here to ask for your help,” Brian replied, his gentle smile like a breath of fresh air.

After she had endured so much hostility at the Wiggin family, Brian’s gentle manner was a breath of fresh air for Night Owl. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to compose herself, and asked, “Are you here for hypnosis?”

“Yeah, but…” Brian hesitated, his brow furrowing as he looked Night Owl up and down.

Last time they’d met, she’d seemed so much better. But now, she was pale as a ghost–almost like she’d gone back to how she was when Landon invited her back to the country.

“Where’s Aiden? Why isn’t he with you?” Brian asked.

“He had something to take care of, so I told him to go back to Dreicean ahead of me,” Night Owl replied.

“So why are you still here?” Brian frowned, puzzled.

Night Owl let out a weary sigh, glancing back at the Wiggin house. “We’re planning to get married, but my marriage license is still here.”

“Did you two get married?” Brian asked, clearly surprised.

“Yeah.” Night Owl nodded. “Dawson and I got a marriage license. If it hadn’t been for… that, we would’ve actually gotten married and had kids.”

Brian had looked into Night Owl’s past before coming here.

She was an orphan who ended up taking the renowned hypnotist Jack as her mentor.

When she was seventeen, she met Dawson and the two fell deeply in love. She even became an unofficial member of the Flying Tiger Sect because of him.

Back then, the Wiggin family adored Night Owl.

Once they learned she was an orphan, Dawson’s parents treated her just like their own daughter.

But then, Dawson was gone.

He lost his life out in the desert.

The two of them went out on a mission, but only Night Owl made it back alive. The Wiggin family completely broke down, turning all their grief and rage on her, blaming her for his death.

The agony of losing her husband was like being flayed alive, and on top of that, she had to endure their relentless accusations and curses, day in and day out… It was during that time that Night Owl’s health truly collapsed.

There were moments when she genuinely wanted to end it all, but thankfully, Landon arrived just in time and pulled her out of the Wiggin family’s hell.

It took years of slow recovery before she could finally let go of those dark, suicidal thoughts.

But even then, she was still just going through the motions, barely alive.

It wasn’t until Aiden came into her life and truly touched her heart that she finally felt alive again.

Talk about a tragic life… Night Owl just couldn’t catch a break.

Brian had thought she was finally out of the woods, but turns out, there was still this whole marriage license.