Chapter 16

As he glanced at her, Benjamin's gaze deepened slightly. Although he was a bit suspicious of how she knew the Shaw family, he ultimately didn't ask any further questions. With a wave of his hand, he instructed the chauffeur to drive to Shannon's destination. Before long, they arrived at an upscale villa neighborhood on the southern side of Seastone. With Benjamin's car paving the way, they made it to the Shaw residence unimpeded. If Shannon had been by herself, she probably wouldn't have even gotten through the gates of the upscale neighborhood. After dropping her off at the entrance, Benjamin showed no intention of accompanying her inside. As soon as she got out of the car, he drove off. When the Shaws were informed of the arrival of the head of the Cooper family, they hurriedly went downstairs to welcome their guest. Yet, they were met not by him but by an unfamiliar young lady cradling a fox in her arms instead. "And who might this young lady be?" As she recalled the Jensens' previous attitude, Shannon opted not to associate herself with them and only introduced herself as "Ms. Gray." At the same time, she didn't explicitly mention her intention to restore Emily's intelligence, as they would have found it incredulous. She took out a protective talisman from Windsong Monastery from her bag and said, "Well, you see, I happened to come across Mrs. Shaw Senior the other day and noticed that she had dropped this, so I thought I'd return it to her." According to Emilio Shaw's social media account, he had accompanied Tilly Thompson to Windsong Monastery last month to obtain a protective amulet, which Shannon conveniently used as a cover story. As for the woman speaking to Shannon earlier, she was Helen Earle, a slightly plump, beautiful woman with a gentle and kind expression. When she noticed Shannon, a sweet-natured and gentle young woman, cradling a pet fox in her arms, Helen didn't suspect anything unusual. "Oh, so that's how it is." As someone holding onto old-fashioned beliefs, Tilly had always believed that Emily's head injury and lack of recovery were due to the house's poor geomancy. She initially tried rearranging the furniture in the house, but in the past year, she turned to Mysticism. A while back, she even insisted on bringing Emilio to a monastery to obtain talismans, a request her family indulged. At that moment, she was surprised that someone would go out of their way to return a mere protective talisman. "Thank you for going out of your way to return this, Ms. Gray. May I know how you came to know my mother-in-law though? Although she was known for her amiable nature, Helen still maintained a degree of vigilance around strangers. After being questioned, Shannon remained unfazed. As she was about to explain herself, she discreetly squeezed Marshmallow's belly. In fact, Shannon had planned this with Marshmallow beforehand. As soon as she made the move, Marshmallow immediately jumped out of her embrace and dashed toward the second floor. When Helen was taken aback by the fox's sudden move, Shannon feigned surprise as well and acted as if she wanted to chase after it. "Marshmallow! Get back here!" Although she said that, she was inwardly cheering Marshmallow on, encouraging it to seek out Emily. Within two minutes, a girlish shriek could be heard from upstairs. After hearing that, Helen and the maid's face immediately fell, and they quickly went upstairs. At that moment, Shannon followed closely behind Helen. As soon as they got to the second floor, they saw a young lady wearing a princess dress crouching at the end of the hallway. She was smiling happily as she watched the chubby fox sitting obediently before her. She even tried to reach out and pet it. "Emmie!" Helen cried out in alarm. After that, she rushed to her daughter and shielded her behind her. Although the fox appeared tame, there was no telling if it might suddenly bite someone. It was only then that Helen regretted allowing Shannon to come in with her pet. How could she have allowed such a thing? "Look, Mommy! It's a doggy!" Although Emily—appearing to be about 15 or 16 years old—still retained a touch of baby fat on her face, it did nothing to hide her beauty and spirited nature. Moreover, her dark, luminous eyes shone with unadulterated innocence. Yet, when she spoke, the childlike innocence and simple-mindedness in her voice, reminiscent of a toddler, plainly revealed her shortcomings. As Shannon glanced over, her gaze was drawn to the cluster of black fog between Emily's eyebrows, prompting her to furrow her brow slightly. When she noticed the subtle change in Shannon's face, assuming it was because she had noticed something wrong with her daughter, Helen immediately felt dissatisfied. As a result, she spoke coldly, "If there's nothing else, Ms. Gray, please take your pet and leave. Also, I won't bother seeing you off." "Wait a minute." As Shannon called out to Helen, she gestured for Marshmallow to return to her. She then looked at Emily with a clear and earnest gaze and presented her with another protective talisman. "I'm so sorry for startling Ms. Shaw earlier. As an apology, I'd like to give this talisman to Ms. Shaw. It can safeguard her from danger once." Shannon continued, "Ms. Shaw's brows suggest a life destined for good fortune. People with this kind of fate usually have a cinnabar mole on their chest to attract fortune. However, her fate was altered due to a childhood incident, causing the mole to lose its vibrancy. "I foresee that she will face calamity in the next two days. You should keep her at home and not let her go out." While Shannon initially intended to inform Helen about the wisdom-swapping incident, the matter of the black fog between Emily's eyebrows was clearly more urgent. As someone who was already on edge about her daughter's matter, Helen was incensed by Shannon's sudden and seemingly nonsensical claims. She immediately lost her previous gentle demeanor and retorted, "What kind of con artist are you? Why are you suddenly speaking ill of my daughter? "And here I was, wondering how you're acquainted with my mother-in-law. It turns out you had such ulterior motives! I'll be lenient toward you because you're still a young lass, so grab your fox and leave my house this instant. Otherwise, I'll call the cops on you!" Given her reaction, it was obvious that any attempt at rational discussion would be futile. As someone who was accustomed to such a situation, Shannon calmly scooped up Marshmallow into her embrace, left the protective talisman on a cabinet in the hallway, and took her leave. As the fox was taken away, Emily looked on wistfully, wanting to go with it. "Mommy! Doggy! Doggy go bye-bye." When she heard Emily's childish voice, Helen felt a pang of sorrow. She could only comfort her, saying, "Oh, Emmie. It's not a doggy, it's a fox. It can scratch people, okay? If you want a doggy, I'll get you one, okay?" "Yay! Mommy's the best! I want a doggy!" Emily's earlier longing for the fox vanished in a flash, replaced by pure excitement as if she were about to burst with happiness. As she gazed at her lovely daughter, Helen's eyes glistened with tears. Yet, her expression turned grim when she spotted the talisman Shannon had placed on the cabinet. She murmured to the maid standing beside her, "Get rid of that thing." She was determined to protect Emily from anything that might be potentially harmful to her. As for Shannon's claims about the cinnabar mole and altered fate, she didn't believe a word of it. Yet, as she looked at Emily, her gaze involuntarily drifted toward her chest, hidden beneath the fabric of her lace blouse. She recalled that Emily did indeed have a small, barely noticeable cinnabar mole on her chest. Nonetheless, Helen dismissed such superstitious notions. She suspected that the maid in charge of Emily's care had discreetly divulged such information to Shannon instead. What was their motive? As she thought more about it, the more unsettled Helen became. After instructing someone to escort Emily back to her room, Helen immediately called Donald and Emilio. With someone seemingly targeting Emily, she couldn't feel at ease without getting to the bottom of it. Unbeknownst to Helen, as soon as she left, Emily stealthily peeked her head out of her room, slipped out cautiously, and scurried downstairs.