Chapter 544

Carmen’s expression twitched as she shot back, “It’s a bit early to be saying all that. Aubree, you might be born with real talent, but you’d better watch out–don’t end up capsizing in the gutter and losing more than you gain. It’s not worth the risk.”

With that, she led her people toward the village, determined to get in before Aubree.

Just as she took a couple of steps, a big yellow dog that had been lying by the roadside suddenly arched its back, hackles raised, and started barking furiously at her.

"Ah!" Carmen cried out as she saw the dog lunge at her right before her eyes, stumbling backward in panic.

The village roads were nothing but muddy tracks. They were narrow, slippery, and treacherous. What looked like a patch of grass could easily be hiding a nasty pit underneath, and right next to it ran a little ditch full of filthy, stinking water that reeked to high heaven.

Stepping right into a pit of foul, sludgy mud was already enough to make Carmen scream in frustration. But when luck’s not on one’s side, even the smallest thing turns into a disaster. What followed was a chain of disasters that left her completely overwhelmed.

Carmen lost her balance and tumbled backward, and instinctively reached out to grab onto something.

To make matters even worse, the only thing within reach was a locust tree that was jutting out by the embankment, its branches bristling with sharp thorns.

Carmen’s hand landed right on those thorns, the pain so sharp she almost let out a curse. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Her grip slipped, and she went falling backward.

As expected, she landed smack dab in the stinking ditch by the side of the road.

Aubree couldn’t help but laugh as she thought, ‘Are those who have lousy character always this unlucky?’

“Careful, don’t end up capsizing in the gutter. I’m just returning your words to you,” she shot back with a grin.

Barely holding back his laughter, Vincent chuckled, “Ms. Miller..."

“Yeah, looks like a total wipeout to me,” Bowen quietly chimed in.

“Hasn’t Ms. Wilson already capsized?”

The scene in front of Aubree made it worse. Furious, Carmen let out a sharp scream, completely dropping her aloof facade. It was bad enough to make a fool of herself, but for it to happen in front of Aubree… She shrieked, “Aubree, why didn’t you catch me just now? She was the closest to me. If she’d just reached out, she could’ve stopped me from falling!”

Aubree shot her a look like she was out of her mind before sneering, “If there’s something wrong with you, go get checked out. I don’t owe you anything.”

Even the people Carmen brought along looked a little embarrassed. After all, who’s ever seen a competitor lend a hand instead of kicking you when you’re down? They sure hadn’t, that’s for sure.

“Well, well, looks like the village entrance is buzzing today!” A burly guy in a tank top came striding over, his words rolling out with a thick local accent.

Aubree did a double take and inwardly gasped, ‘Wait, wasn’t that Ethan?’

Ethan shot her a wink, and Aubree instantly knew it was definitely him.

She shot Bowen a look, as if to ask, “What’s going on?”

Bowen just blinked at her, as if to say, “I just had him come check things out in advance, that’s all.”

Ethan looked somewhat familiar to Carmen, but she couldn’t recall where she had seen him before. After all, she hadn’t encountered him often. Furthermore, Ethan and Samson were Bowen’s bodyguards, and they usually stayed out of sight. None of the others made the connection between him and Bowen either, and they all just assumed he was from the village.

At this point, Carmen had already been dragged out of the stinky ditch.

Bowen stepped forward, going along with the misunderstanding, and asked, “Hey, are you a local?”

“No, I am from another village. I am doing some odd jobs for Mr. David Molina. He’s the biggest fruit grower in this village,” Ethan replied.

Well, there’s a reason good assistants are sharp as a tack.

Vincent immediately picked up the cue and commented, “You’re a helper from fruit farms? That’s perfect. Not gonna lie, brother–we came to Mistmere looking to source some fruit. We’ve heard that the fruit from Ridgehaven Town was top quality, so we figured we’d stop by and take a look."

“You said you work for the biggest fruit grower around. Any chance you could introduce us?”