"Kris..." Thalassa swallowed, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"Were you speaking to someone?" he asked again.

"Uh... no... I was just talking to myself," Thalassa quickly said, praying he hadn't heard what she had been saying.

Thankfully, he didn't press further. His eyes lit up as they scanned her from head to toe.

"You look gorgeous," he whispered.

His closeness was unsettling Thalassa. She needed him away so she could do what she'd come to do without any second thoughts.

"Kris, we've already talked about this, haven't we?"

Kris stared at her, his eyes squinting in confusion. "You said you didn't want people to see that we're together again, but we're not doing anything, Thalassa. We're just talking. Surely, nobody will suspect we're a couple just because of that?"

"You'd be surprised how some people think. I don't want to take that risk, Kris. Please understand." She saw the hurt flash across his face before she turned and walked off, forcing herself to return to the other guests.

All the while, she was studying her surroundings. Linda and her crew were initially following her with their eyes, but after a while, Linda and Cynthia had focused on their guests, while Susan was nowhere in sight. The biggest problem was Kris, who wouldn't stop looking at her. But suddenly, one of the guests, a much younger woman compared to the others, rushed toward him.noveldrama

Thalassa watched from the corner of her eye as the woman hugged him excitedly. Kris looked alarmed for a second, glancing at her to see her reaction, but Thalassa pretended to have seen nothing, continuing her conversation with a woman who wouldn't stop rambling on about her business ideas and a possible partnership with Thalassa.

"I'll be sure to think about it, Meghan." Thalassa smiled before quickly excusing herself.

With Kris and his family now distracted, she knew this was the time.

"Luisa, now," she whispered.

Three seconds later, the hall was plunged into darkness as the lights turned off. The guests murmured among themselves. There was just enough light to see silhouettes, but since Thalassa was wearing all black, she knew it would be hard for anyone to spot her in the shadows.

Having lived in the mansion for a year, she remembered the layout well, easily finding her way to the stairs and quietly ascending. Once she reached the top, she took the left corridor towards Linda's room. She found it without difficulty and breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened easily. She quickly entered, closing the door behind her.

"You're there?" Luisa asked through the earbud.

"Yes."

"Thalassa, are you sure you'll find the evidence here?" Luisa questioned skeptically through the earbud. "I'm sure," Thalassa replied.

000

Years ago, when Thalassa was still

naïve and eager to gain Linda's approval, she had offered to clean Linda's room after the maid scheduled for the task had fallen and injured herself. Thalassa thought doing this was going to impress Linda, showing her dedication.

After cleaning the bedroom, she had moved to the bathroom. Just as she was stepping out, she saw Linda standing by the wall of her bedroom, closing a hidden safe embedded in it. After closing the safe, Linda tapped twice on the wall, and the space sealed itself so seamlessly it appeared like an ordinary wall. Nobody would know that there was a safe hidden there.

When Linda saw Thalassa, she had been furious, demanding what she was doing there and accusing her of spying on her. Thalassa had explained that she was just cleaning, but Linda had kicked her out,

warning her never to return to the room and to tell no one about what she'd seen because she would blame Thalassa if her money got stolen.

Back then, Thalassa didn't think much of the safe, truly believing there was only money in the safe. But now she was more than sure it contained the incriminating evidence Linda had kept hidden.

That was why Linda had gone to such lengths to conceal the safe in the wall, even though the safe was password-encrypted.

In the present, Thalassa pulled out a small master-unlock device capable of unlocking any safe. It had cost her a fortune-over a quarter of a billion-because of how powerful it was. She then pulled her phone out, turning on its flashlight.

"Have you unlocked it?" Luisa asked anxiously. "The lights will come back on soon, so hurry." "I'm on it," Thalassa replied.

Moving the light toward the wall where she remembered the safe to be, she froze at the sight.

The safe had already been opened. Thalassa could see that it was open not long ago. Whoever had opened it was in so much haste that they forgot to close it.

"Luisa... it's empty. All the evidence is gone."

Just then, the door to the room swung open.

"What's empty?"

Thalassa gasped, spinning around at the familiar voice. Her heart skipped a beat as the light from her phone fell on Kris's face.