Sally walked up to Frank, pointing at Callie. "You have to watch out for her. She's not all she seems-if anything, she must hold a grudge."

"A grudge?" Frank was slightly confused-he had not done anything to deserve Callie's wrath, so why would there be enmity?

Still, Sally was right about one thing-Callie was not all she seemed, which was why Frank kept her around, so that she would not cause him trouble like Sally did before.

"Don't try to drive a wedge between us!" Callie retorted indignantly just then. "I'll admit that my group covets the power of the Shagan spiritron vein, but we're not dumb. The man chosen by the Shagan spiritron vein is set, and it's not going to change easily.

"Even if you compartmentalize the power of the Shagan spiritron vein through science, you can't even harvest a tenth of its true power that its owner could wield. With that being the case, why challenge him, when an alliance suits everyone just fine?"

Sally snorted and ignored her, then turned toward Frank. "So, did that helmet work? How does it feel?"

Frank shook his head. "I felt nothing-literally. Everything around me seemed to disappear."

Sally sighed, slightly disappointed. "Guess that was a dud... But I'll keep going until it works!"

"One can only hope."

Frank was not really worried about uncovering the history of the Shagan spiritron vein. He would be happy if he could leave Shagan, though sitting tight suited him just fine too.

"Right, Mom has something to tell you, but there are eyes here. Come with me."

Frank had been idling anyway and left to visit Whitney Chandler with Sally. Whitney greeted him enthusiastically, saying, "Hey, kiddo! Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye. I've been imposing for far too long, and there's plenty of work waiting back in Chandlerton. Don't let me keep you now."

Frank nodded. "Good, since it's bad to keep you all the time! Do you still have my number? Just call me if anything comes up. I'll be arranging for investments in Chandlerton too, to help develop the area."

Whitney smiled. "Then I thank you on behalf of the villagers!"

Sally rolled her eyes. "Why bother? He has plenty of money and nowhere to spend it. It's no skin off his back!"

"Is that how you talk to him, when you owe him so much?" Whitney snapped grumpily. "You'd be dead if not for him."

Sally did not agree with that. "If not for him, I'd transcend and become invincible."

Seeing that her daughter was unmoved, Whitney apologized instead. "Sorry. I've really failed with this one-don't get too upset with her now." Frank shrugged—-he had long since stopped worrying about Sally. "It's fine. She's always like that."

Still, after Whitney left, he told Sally

I And

"She's your mom, and I really would've killed you if not for you're treating her like

Content

Sally sighed. "Ambitions means no attachments. Don't you think everyone else would just use her to threaten me if they knew about her?"

Frank nodded in realization.

As it turned out, Sally was really not that cold-she was just doing it to protect her mother.

Still, Frank said, "But you don't really have much ambition these days, do you? Can't you set aside your prejudices, at least?"noveldrama

Sally could not actually argue

against that, as there was no question that she had lost her opportunity for greatness. Still, she was staying with Frank to atone for her past crimes, and she was unsure if she could protect Whitney if someone stronger than Rudy Himmel came knocking.

As such, she had to make sure nothing went amiss.

et

"I have something serious to tell you too," she said. "Callie Wright contacted me before. Although I don't have proof, I really don't think she's just a messenger-if anything, she'd have a special status among her group.

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