Chapter 134

It was already very late.

Vanessa had been waiting at home the entire time.

Because of her pregnancy, she hadn’t gone with them. Margaret had insisted she stay behind.

But before leaving, Margaret had made one thing very clear—if they hadn’t returned by nightfall, and couldn’t be reached... then something had likely happened to them.

An hour ago, Vanessa had already lost contact with Patrick. His phone wouldn’t go through.

By now, she had a sinking feeling that Margaret and the others were in trouble.

She just didn’t know how bad it was.

The villa was far from Starlight Towers. Whatever had happened there, she had no way of confirming it.

Until she noticed the surveillance cameras.

Margaret had told her about them long ago. Clinging to a sliver of hope, Vanessa began fiddling with the system.

Maybe—just maybe.

But after waiting for a while, there was still no response.

She stared straight into the camera and repeated herself.

"You can see me, can’t you?"

Suzy’s finger hovered over the microphone button, hesitating.

"I know you can see me," Vanessa said again.

At last, Suzy made up her mind and pressed it. "What do you want?"

The moment her voice transmitted, Vanessa’s eyes lit up. She stepped closer, nearing the camera.

"I don’t know who you are," she said frankly, "but there’s no conflict of interest between us. I mean you no harm."

Suzy gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.

Vanessa continued, "I’m not here for anything else. I just want to ask... do you have any news about my parents?"

"Why would you think I do?" Suzy asked in return.

Vanessa lowered her gaze, falling silent for a moment. She couldn’t quite explain the feeling.

It was just a vague instinct—that whoever was behind the camera might know something.

And besides... Suzy was the only person she could reach right now.

"I don’t know," Vanessa admitted with a sigh, lifting her phone. "I can’t get in touch with them anymore... or Patrick."

"But there were six of them! And Wendy was alone! There’s no way they couldn’t handle her, right...?"

"No... not necessarily. Maybe Wendy wasn’t alone. Otherwise, they would’ve come back by now."

"But even if she had help, there’s no way six people couldn’t deal with it..."

"Unless the Kale family pulled something strange...?"

"That’s possible! I should’ve gone with them!"

Vanessa slipped into talking to herself.

It didn’t seem like she was trying to have a conversation anymore—she didn’t need Suzy at all. She could carry on entirely on her own.

By the end, she even slammed her fist against the sofa, clearly frustrated.

Through the monitor, Suzy watched everything.

On the screen, Vanessa paced back and forth, occasionally tugging at her hair, her expressions shifting rapidly.

It was as if she were truly having a conversation with another version of herself.

Suzy had reason to suspect something was wrong with her mentally.

Suddenly, Vanessa stopped.

She snapped her head up and stared directly into the camera.

"So," she asked, "do you have any news about them?"

Suzy didn’t answer right away. Her tone remained calm, unhurried.

"Didn’t they tell you when they’d be back?"

"They did. Tonight." Vanessa’s voice faltered. "But... it’s already so late, and I can’t reach them. Do you think something happened?"

"What do you think?" Suzy asked.

Vanessa lowered her eyes again and let out a faint sigh. In the empty villa, the sound seemed especially clear.

Suzy remained silent.

"They..." Vanessa lifted her head, her eyes slightly red, "they’re not coming back... are they?"

Suzy paused.

"...Yeah."

She didn’t want to spell it out too bluntly, but judging from what they had heard earlier, there was no way the Kale family and the Sanders family were coming back.

If she were in Wendy’s position, she wouldn’t have let them live either.

After all, they knew about the storage. They had even shouted it out loud.

The noise had been so clear that even Suzy and Leonard, standing in the stairwell, had heard it distinctly.

On the monitor, Vanessa’s body visibly stiffened.

She had likely already guessed the outcome, and she handled it with surprising composure.

When she looked back at the camera, the redness at the corners of her eyes had already faded, her expression calm once more.

"Alright. I understand. Thank you."

Her tone was sincere.

Suzy watched as Vanessa stepped closer to the camera, raising her hand until her fingers covered the lens.

"Still... I don’t like being watched," she said softly. "If we get the chance, we’ll meet again. I owe you one."

The screen went black.

One after another, alerts popped up—other cameras were malfunctioning too.

Vanessa had likely destroyed them all.

Suzy exited the app, not particularly bothered.

With the Kale family gone, there was no real point in monitoring the feeds anymore.

She wasn’t interested in Vanessa. Even if she continued living in the villa, Suzy had no intention of watching her.

"Done?" Leonard’s voice came from beside her.

"Yeah."

At that moment, Leonard was piloting the drone, guiding it toward Thomas Kim’s apartment.

They were already halfway there, and he handled the controls with care.

The drone’s night vision provided a clear view. Leonard quickly locked onto Thomas’s location and steered toward it.

Suzy leaned in for a closer look at the screen.

Through the night-vision feed, the building stood quietly in the curtain of rain, a few windows glowing faintly with light.

"Almost there," Leonard said, eyes fixed on the display, fingers moving deftly over the controller. "Another minute."

The drone descended steadily, landing on the railing of Thomas’s balcony.

Leonard released the mechanical claw. The waterproof package containing the medicine dropped gently onto the balcony floor.

A few seconds later, the balcony door cracked open. A hand reached out and swiftly pulled the package inside.

Delivery successful.

Leonard exhaled in relief and began guiding the drone back.

It lifted slowly. On the night-vision screen, the balcony door shut again, the scene receding as the drone pulled away.

Then suddenly—

"Wait," Suzy said.

Leonard’s fingers paused. "What is it?"

"Move left a bit," she said quietly, eyes fixed on the screen. "Is that... someone over there?"

Leonard adjusted the camera.

In the night-vision feed, several dark figures were moving near the entrance of the complex.

Not one or two.

Seven or eight... no, more.

They wore raincoats, and each of them seemed to be carrying something as they moved deeper along the main road.

Leonard’s pupils shrank slightly.

"That’s..." he murmured, quickly zooming in.

The image sharpened.

Under the green tint of night vision, their outlines became clearer.

They moved in formation—nothing like ordinary survivors.

Suzy narrowed her eyes, focusing on what the people at the front were holding—

Machetes.

Metal rods.

Before she could say anything more, one of them suddenly lifted his head and looked straight toward the drone.

Leonard’s heart lurched.

A blinding beam of light shot toward them.

"We’ve been spotted—move it, now!" Suzy urged.