He slipped to the ground, thest flicker of life leaving him.


    The next morning.


    Sophie had been out cold for a whole day after her surgery. When she finally blinked awake, the first thing she saw was Colby, snoozing right beside her.


    She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in her shoulder kept her pinned down. Colby must''ve sensed she was awake because he opened his eyes almost immediately. Seeing Sophie awake brought an undeniable joy to Colby''s face. "Are you alright? Do you need me to get the doctor?"


    Sophie gently shook her head. "I''m okay."


    "The anesthesia should have worn off by now. Does it hurt?"


    "No, it doesn''t."


    "I''ll grab you some water."


    Colby started to get up, but Sophie held his hand. "I''m not thirsty yet."


    She just wanted to sit there and chat with him.


    "Alright, I''ll stay right here with you. I''m not going anywhere."


    Colby settled back beside her.


    Sophie asked, "How''s Mr. Gordon and everyone else? What happened?"


    The mention of Gordon made Colby''s eyes cloud over for a second.


    Sophie didn''t catch the change in his expression. Just then, Adler and Jenna burst into the room, tears streaming down their faces. "Sophie, how are you? Feeling any better? This jerk Colby wouldn''t let us visit!" Jenna eximed as she rushed to Sophie''s side. Sophie smiled. "See, I''m fine. No need to worry, Jenna."


    "How can you say that? It was so dangerous! If we hadn''t shown up when we did, who knows what could''ve happened to you two!"


    Adler chimed in, "Yeah, Colby was in a real state. He had a bad feeling about something. Good thing Harold got in touch with us, so we headed back early. But we couldn''t find you at first Luckily, Harold''s guys had already taken care of Odie''s Crew, and Colt, that stubborn guy, won''t talk. We''ve still got him locked up!"


    "So... how did you end up finding me?"


    "Well, there was the elevator on the underground second floor we hadn''t checked. Without the passcode, Colby had to shoot the door open."


    Hearing this, Sophie''s eyes darkened. So, those gunshots in her dream had been real.


    Sophie asked, "What happened to Mr. Gordon? And James, Joseph, Kiran?"This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    "Mr. Gordon, he..."


    Adler coughed awkwardly. "Joseph is dead. We don''t know where James went. When we got there, you were all on the ground. After we got you to the hospital, Kiran took off in the middle of the night. We''re worried he might be after the treasure again."


    Sophie''s brow furrowed. "So what about Mr. Gordon?"


    They kept dodging her question about Gordon, which only made her more suspicious.


    The three of them exchanged nces, none of them speaking up.


    Just then, Harold stepped in. He walked over to Sophie and handed her a medallion-the insignia of Aldridge Global''s head. "This is from my brother."


    Jenna chided, "Harold! Couldn''t you have waited..."


    Sophie could tell something was off. She quickly asked, "What does this mean? What happened?"