Under the Heiress' Facade

The three of them suddenly felt a chill down their spines. When they turned around, they saw Hera, who had come downstairs at some point, staring at them emotionlessly. "Do I really look that unhappy?" Hera asked.

Lilith and Gino nodded repeatedly. "No." Then, they realized what was wrong and shook their heads vigorously. "Yes."

Both Gideon and Hera were rendered speechless.

Hera smiled slightly. "You guys are overthinking it. I'm alright." After saying that, she poured herself a glass of water and went back upstairs.

Gideon and Gino didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Lilith said, "It looks like things are pretty serious, right?"

...

Upstairs, Hera went back to her room and looked at her WhatsApp message list. Bernard's profile picture was at the top, and the red dot in the corner indicated that she had muted him.

She tapped on it, and the latest message was from three days ago.

"Sweetie, your new profile picture looks good, but it would be perfect if you changed it to this one."

The message included a photo of the two of them. She was squatting on the beach, looking up at Bernard, and they were staring into each other's eyes. Douglas was the one who took that photo of them. After sending that photo, Bernard didn't send any more messages. He also hadn't called her in the past two days.

Hera thought Bernard must have sensed that she was deliberately distancing herself from him, so he stopped reaching out to her.

She tapped on the photo of the two of them and gazed at it for a while before quietly saving it to her phone's gallery. After locking her phone screen, she opened her data records from that week's pharmaceutical work and started to summarize them.

Not long after, Hera suddenly recalled that the last time Bernard vanished without a word and didn't respond to her messages, he had gotten into trouble by the time she heard from him. She wondered if the same thing was happening again.

Recalling the last time she saw Bernard lying in the operating room, pale and lifeless, her heart suddenly ached.

Hera couldn't hold back and picked up her phone, intending to call him directly. However, she was worried it might be too abrupt. In the end, she clicked into their WhatsApp conversation.

She typed and deleted multiple times, unable to decide what to send that would simply come across as a normal greeting. After pondering for over ten minutes, she finally sent three words: "Are you asleep?" To her surprise, Bernard replied instantly: "Working overtime. What's up? Miss me?"

Seeing his reply, Hera was speechless. She immediately tossed her phone aside. It appeared she had been mistaken. Bernard just didn't want to initiate contact with her anymore!

The next day, Hera arrived at Cavenridge's laboratory and spent another day experimenting. Eventually, she managed to concoct the medication for Bernard.

With the leftover medicinal ingredients, she also researched some special remedies and brought them back to the Everett family to distribute among her relatives for trials. That night happened to be Christmas Eve.

Lilith hadn't expected Hera to prepare Christmas gifts for everyone. It appeared she had been mistaken yesterday. She said, "Hera, thank you. I'll make sure to take it." Holding the small bottle under the chandelier, Gideon admired the tiny black pills inside. "This is the most special Christmas gift I've ever received. Thank you, Hera!" Mildred remarked, "I don't know if these pills are poisonous or not." Yet, she turned and placed the velvet box containing the pills into the safe in her room. James put a pill straight into his mouth, swallowed it, and then said, "I feel a warm sensation in my stomach."

Judy, the housekeeper, held the velvet box in her hands and felt pleasantly surprised. "Do I also have a share? Thank you, Ms. Hera."