Under the Heiress' Facade

Even though Gideon had his differences with Bernard, he believed that Hera would be safe as long as Bernard was with her. This made Amelia's concerns seem unfounded.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Hera asked Bernard when she noticed him eyeing the phone.

"Yes," Gideon responded, thinking she was addressing him.

Hera was speechless for a second.

She handed the phone to Bernard. At the same time, she wondered if these two men were secretly conspiring right under her nose.

Bernard was slightly puzzled but took the phone.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Killian, if you dare do anything indecent to my sister, I'll make sure you pay dearly," Gideon threatened through gritted teeth.

"Oh," Bernard replied nonchalantly.

Gideon was infuriated by Bernard's indifferent response. Then, he realized the call had been disconnected.

He considered calling back to confront Bernard but decided against it. He thought it would be childish and only make Bernard think the Everetts were easy to bully. So, he let it slide.

Noticing how quickly Bernard ended the call, Hera gave him a curious look. She wondered what the two men had secretly discussed.

"Gideon asked me to take good care of you," Bernard explained, seemingly aware of her curiosity as he returned her phone to her.

"Oh."

Hera mimicked his earlier nonchalant tone.

No wonder his response seemed so reluctant.

Bernard was left speechless by her mimicry.

Hera scrolled through her unread WhatsApp messages to pass the time. She was actually waiting for Bernard to leave so she could contact Leon. However, Bernard showed no signs of leaving.

Just as she was about to hint at him to go, she noticed Bernard staring intently at the small pouch in her hand containing the black pearl earrings. "Do they look familiar to you?" Hera asked.

"Those are the Mother's Day gifts you made for Ms. Daphne when you were five," Bernard replied after snapping out of his trance. Hera was taken aback.

"You remember?"

"Of course. You pricked your finger making them and cried your eyes out," Bernard recounted.

He then gently took her left index finger and rubbed his thumb over the pad.

"Right here."

His touch sent a tingle through her, making her heart flutter. She pulled her hand back and took the earrings out of the clear pouch.

Waving them before him, she asked, "These are just ordinary black pearls. How can you be so sure they're the same ones?"Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

"You can check the clasp's backing to see if there's a small hole from when you pierced it wrong back then," Bernard said confidently.

Hera immediately pried open the

rusty backing, and as he had said,

there was indeed a small hole

underneath. This really was

el

Daphne's earring.

to

Daphne had been to that cave. Hera wondered what could be inside there.

Queenie had imprisoned her in the mountains of Lensvale, not far from that cave. Hera wondered if there wasa connection or if it was simply a coincidence.

"Where did you find these?"

Bernard noticed her eagerness to verify the earrings. It seemed like they weren't something she carried around but had recently acquired. "Grandma gave them to me."

Hera didn't want to mention the cave. She reattached the backing and returned the earrings back in the pouch.

Bernard didn't press further. Just then, his phone rang, so he stood up and went to the bathroom.

Hera took the opportunity to switch to her Raven account on WhatsApp and found Piglet.

They had agreed to message in an emergency and call in a dire

emergency. He had called four

times, indicating that something was very wrong.

As she had anticipated, the latest message in their chat read, "Boss, you're wanted by International Police!"