"..."’
After dropping that, silence engulfed around. Mara didn’t dare to talk. She just stared at Gray, who beca frozen in place from what he had heard.
"One of the old workers?" Gray’s forehead creased as he repeated it again. He wanted to think that he had just heard it wrong. However, with Mara’s silence, he knew that it was really the reality.
"Shit..." he could only mutter a curse.
Slowly, anger rose in his chest. Those old workers were the sa kind of people who hurt Eli! What the fuck is the foundation even doing?
Gray slowly sat back against the couch. His hands rested on his knees, fingers curled tightly. His face looked calm, but he was definitely not calm on the inside.
"Really? An adoption paper?" Gray closed his eyes for a brief mont. He took a slow breath, forcing himself to relax.
"Yeah. I know you would be angry. That’s..." Mara paused for a second to watch his face carefully. "That’s why I didn’t say anything earlier or yesterday. I didn’t want to spoil the mont. But after today, after seeing Eli again... I couldn’t keep it to myself."
"Oh well, you did the right thing," he said quietly. Gray knew that if he had learned it before eting Eli, then today wouldn’t be as fun as it should have.
Mara let out a small breath of relief at that. She was lightly scared that Gray would be mad at it, too.
"But," Gray continued, "I still didn’t like that you kept that from ."
"I know. I’m sorry." Mara sighed.
"Well, anyway. We gotta look at this. There might be more to it."
"Yes," Mara nodded. "That’s what scares ."
Before Gray could say sothing more...
[Ding!]
Gray stiffened at the sudden chi.
A blue panel appeared in front of his eyes.
Mara noticed his sudden stillness. "Gray?" she asked. "What’s wrong?"
Instead of answering, Gray just stared straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the glowing words only he could see.
[New Mission Detected!]
The system text continued to appear after that.
[Mission: Protect Eli and uncover the truth behind his adoption process.]
[Description: Eli is at risk of being transferred under false guardianship. Intervene, investigate, and ensure the child’s safety.]
[Reward: $50,000 bonus]
[Additional Reward: 50% boost in sales.]
Gray’s eyes widened slightly.
’That big?’ he muttered under his breath.
’50 thousand. And a boost in sales for my second store too?’
For a mont, he almost laughed, not because it was funny, but because of how absurd it felt. The system rarely gave rewards as big as that unless the situation was truly serious.
Gray straightened a little. His forehead creased as he stared at the floating panel in front of him.
"What the hell is going on here..." he whispered.
Mara watched him closely. She could tell sothing was up with Gray, but she couldn’t point out what is.
"Gray?" she called softly. "Is there sothing wrong? Why are you not speaking?"
"Uh," Gray scratched the back of his head. "There’s nothing. I just rembered sothing."
"I see..." Mara replied, but she wasn’t convinced at all.
[Warning.]
[This new mission and your old mission are now connected to each other."
Gray’s eyes turned back to the screen when he heard the system speak again.
[Failure to complete this mission will result in an incomplete understanding of the target.]
[Current linked mission progress will be affected.]
Gray frowned.
[Mission: Talk to the boy and get to know him.]
[Progress: 75%]
Gray’s eyes narrowed.
’75 percent...’ he repeated in his mind slowly.
’Right... I still haven’t accomplished that mission!’ Gray let out a secret sigh at that.
’So if I don’t solve this,’ he thought, ’I’ll never really understand him.’
However, what made him worried was the fact that the reward was this big... It only ant one thing: the truth behind Eli must be even bigger.
Mara watched his expression darken. Sohow, she thought that Gray was planning sothing in his head, which is why he was quiet.
"Gray," she said carefully, "whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it alone."
Gray finally looked at her. He smiled. He knew Mara was thinking wrong, but he just let her. After all, he can’t also explain what was on his mind right now.
"Yeah, don’t worry." Gray chuckled.
In his mind, he ntally closed the glowing screen. The blue panel faded imdiately. He looked back at Mara and straightened his posture. The calm expression returned to his face.
"Alright, Mara," Gray said. "Let’s take the first step."
Mara lifted her head slightly. "First step?"
Gray nodded. "Contact the mayor’s assistant. Tell him I want a eting again with the Mayor."
"A eting?" Mara’s brows slowly drew together. "About the foundation?"
"Yes," Gray replied. "But don’t tell anything about the foundation." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"I don’t think the head of the foundation is as innocent as we thought," he continued. "Maybe everything was just an act or a plot."
"That’s a serious accusation." Mara swallowed.
"I know," Gray said calmly. "But that’s the only plausible reason why the adoption paper was allowed. That’s why you have to set up a eting with the Mayor."
He looked straight at her. "If the foundation is involved, then so is he."
Mara’s eyes widened, "You an...?"
"Yes," Gray said. "If they want money, then I’ll put my money on the table. I’ll use my position as leverage. I’ll say whatever they are hoping to gain." His eyes hardened just a little.
"You really think Mayor Alistair knows?"Mara nodded slowly.
"I don’t know," Gray replied honestly. "And that’s exactly what I want to find out."
He stood up and walked toward the window. He looked outside, appreciating the view.
"I want to see how they react when I ask about the adoption process directly," Gray said.
Selina hesitated for a mont before speaking again. "Gray... if this goes deeper than we think, it could get ssy."
Gray turned back to her and gave her a small and confident smile.
"I know," he said. "But I’m already involved. And Eli is already involved. There’s no clean way out anymore for all of us, Mara."
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