Mr. Hawthorne, Your Wife Wants a Divorce Again-Chapter 1096: A Wave Approaches

Upon reconsidering, Ann Vaughn felt relieved. In the entire base, besides Josiah Keaton, who else would help her this recklessly?

She just didn’t know if such a significant alteration of the report would bring any trouble to him.

It didn’t matter if she was exposed, but if Josiah Keaton was exposed, not only would he be unable to stay at the base, but the base might even harm him to silence him...

"Summer’s assistant, done talking with the professor?" As soon as Ann Vaughn stepped out of the elevator, Dean Master Moore approached with a smile, "Come on, I’ll take you back to Dr. Locke’s place, easy to get lost on your own."

The fear of her getting lost was false, real-time surveillance was likely the truth.

"Thank you," Ann Vaughn nodded, flattered.

Her face remained pale, with tears still glistening on her long lashes, and her reddened eyes gave her a pitiful look, evoking sympathy.

Dean Master Moore observed her, contemplating.

If the substitute is as beautiful as this, what kind of absolute beauty must the real person be for Josiah Keaton to still remember them?

Thinking it over, Dean Master Moore spoke, "The professor may seem stern, but he means no harm. In part, he’s trying to help confirm your identity. Since everything’s been clarified, I don’t see the need to let Josiah know, to avoid him being prejudiced against the professor and affecting their collaboration, wouldn’t you agree?"

The subtext was that despite all grievances, if Josiah Keaton were to find out about this matter, causing a rift between him and Stephen, then she’d be the sinner.

"Yes." Ann Vaughn timidly responded, her head hanging low.

"Don’t hold a grudge in your heart either, I’m advising you not to tell Josiah for your own good."

Ann Vaughn raised her eyes, looking confusedly at Dean Master Moore.

"You bear some resemblance to Josiah’s beloved, but you must understand, a substitute is after all a substitute, and cannot surpass the original. If you become arrogant due to favor, it will only anger Josiah, which would not benefit you."

"Are you saying... Dr. Keaton sees me as someone else’s stand-in?!" Ann Vaughn’s pupils contracted, staring incredulously at Dean Master Moore, "That’s impossible..."

"What? You didn’t know?" Dean Master Moore expressed surprise, realizing that this wasn’t quite what he had thought.

Tears shimmered in Ann Vaughn’s eyes as she shook her head and stepped back, "You must be lying to me! Dr. Keaton has been so good to me, how could he see me as someone else’s substitute..."

Watching Ann Vaughn’s slightly trembling body, even Dean Master Moore, a straight-laced man, felt a twinge of sympathy.

"Oh no, I misspoke earlier, that’s not what I meant... wait!"

Ann Vaughn covered her face and turned to run, not giving Dean Master Moore a chance to explain.

It was a joke.

If the truth was explained, would she even continue her act?

Running all the way back to the lab, Ann Vaughn casually wiped her eyes with her sleeve before getting to work.

Standing at the lab bench, Wade Lowell seemed to sense something, glancing at her before quickly averting his gaze.

In the following two days, Ann Vaughn deliberately avoided Josiah Keaton, barely even leaving the lab.

As a result, Josiah Keaton had grumbled to Dean Master Moore several times, suspecting if Ann Vaughn had a change of heart for Wade Lowell’s pretty face.

Dean Master Moore, filled with guilt, dared not respond and quickly changed the topic.

"Have you heard about the professor’s accident at sea?"

"Mm." Josiah Keaton, still puzzled over Ann Vaughn’s avoidance, casually replied, "He’s too old to be running around the seaside, could he withstand a wave coming onto him?"

Dean Master Moore was at a loss, "How can it be the professor’s fault? The mist around the island is severe, he just became momentarily unaware and fell off the deck, although he’s unharmed, he’s been unconscious and hasn’t woken up."

"Oh."

"...I heard Wade Lowell has a way to eliminate the mists without exposing the island to outsiders. That gentleman even formed a special team to assist him with this task."

Josiah Keaton glared irritably at him, "Stop mentioning that pretty face to me!"

"I’m not, aren’t you curious how Wade Lowell managed it? The base has tried numerous methods over the years but never effectively cleared the mists, how did he do it?"

This time, Josiah Keaton caught on, looking cooly at Dean Master Moore, "You want me to ask Summer how Wade Lowell plans to do it?"

Dean Master Moore chuckled, "Just indulging everyone’s curiosity."

After all, this was a project commissioned by that gentleman, who wouldn’t want to be involved?

"Sure, immediately bring Summer back, and I’ll help you ask." Josiah Keaton responded decisively.

"...Consider I didn’t say anything."

On the other side.

Perhaps due to the side effects of the medication, Ann Vaughn had felt dizzy for the past two days, lacking appetite for everything she ate.

As her sleep extended, her wakeful periods grew increasingly short.

Therefore, when Wade Lowell had staff install fog-clearing machines around the island, she couldn’t attend and slept deeply in the resting room of the lab.

When she awoke, the lab was dim; everyone had long since left.

For days, the sight upon waking was not Wade Lowell’s cold face but another cold face, making the suddenly empty lab somewhat disconcerting.

Ann Vaughn slowly sat up, the thin blanket slipping off to the floor; picking it up, she noticed it had a cute peach butt pattern, likely placed by a kind-hearted female researcher.

As she was about to get up, she suddenly noticed the surveillance cameras in the lab were all off.

Her eyes flickered as she steadily walked to the lab bench, skillfully retrieving a pass and storage card from it, turned, and left the lab.

The forest prison.

The island was vast; installing fog-clearing machines required many hands, Wade Lowell himself had taken most, leaving few staff, posing no threat to Ann Vaughn.

Avoiding the patrol, she brushed open the prison with Wade Lowell’s pass and walked briskly inside.

Passing through layers of stone steps, rounding numerous bends, she could see a door at the end in the distance.

She cautiously swiped the pass up to it, hearing a "beep," and the door opened.

Contrary to her imagined cold and damp prison interior, this space was clean and tidy, fully furnished with hot tea, snacks, fresh flowers, candlesticks all set on the table, more akin to a hotel suite than a typical prison.

But, in this prison, there was no one.

Annie frowned, walked a few steps further, about to call out when she saw a foot sticking out beside the table corner.

Her expression paused, hesitated forward, lowering her voice to ask, "Cyrus Hawthorne? Is it you?"

Crash—

The sound of chains suddenly erupted, grating harshly on Ann Vaughn’s ears.

As Annie looked closer, her eyes opened wide to the extreme.