Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“Clark, I Know what I’m doing.”
“No! There’s no room for negotiation; Clark knew that his sister was stubborn. Even if he disagreed, she would carry on with her plan secretly.
“Clark, you should give me those phones.”
“Do you think I won’t tell you once I decode the messages?”
“But you will go alone, won’t you?”
Clark was stunned. He didn’t expect his sister to be so perceptive.Mirabella was clearly a better hacker than he was. If he gave her all the phones, she might decode them first and go there alone.
“Clark, I feel like there’s a certain lack of trust between us.”
He was speechless. Clark, feeling the pressure from his sister, could only say, “Alright, I promise you, after I crack it, I’ll share the information with you. But you also must promise not to venture out alone. If we’re going, we’re going together.”
“Deal!”
She agreed to his proposal, but he still was hesitant on believing her.
“No lying,’ Clark emphasized.
“Okay.
Hearing her promise, Clark’s anxieties were slightly alleviated.
Their car pulled up in front of a vast ranch on the outskirts of town, with sprawling fields and a herd of cows grazing leisurely.
There stood an inconspicuous house in the middle of the ranch, where Mr. and Mrs. Earwood had been taken.
That was a safe location owned by Romeo, a place where no one would think of looking for them at that time.
As Clark got out of the car, he fumbled with his bag, causing its contents to spill out.
Mirabella bent down to pick it up, only to find something odd about the necklace.”What’s wrong?” Clark asked, puzzled.
Mirabella shook the necklace in her hand, “There seems to be something inside it.”
“Something?” Clark took the necklace and saw that it was a simple red string necklace with a pendant, like a talisman from a temple.
Mimicking Mirabella, he shook it and indeed heard a faint sound from within.
There really was something inside!
As they approached the house, Taylor, who had been anxiously waiting at the door, saw their safe return and couldn’t contain her relief and guilt.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Seeing that they were unscathed, Taylor couldn’t help but hug the two children as she prayed for their safe return.
Logan was becoming more and more convinced that those siblings were not ordinary. They had managed to return safe and sound from such perilous circumstances.
No ordinary person would have such skills.
“Mrs. Taylor, this is your bag,’ Clark handed her the bag.
Taylor was overjoyed, “Thank goodness, nothing is lost, everything’s still here.”
“And this necklace.” Clark handed her the necklace, reminding them, “There seems to be something inside.”
“I suggest we open it up and see; Mirabella said gently.Something was inside!
What could it be!
“This is a necklace that Carol got from a temple last year for her dad, for protection. But then the string broke and he stopped wearing it,’ Taylor explained. Last year, Logan had been having a bit of bad luck, so Carol got this from a temple and insisted that Logan wear it every day without taking it off.
“Let’s open it,, Logan also shook the pendant and heard the faint sound from within.
What if there was a clue inside?
“How do we open it?” Taylor was unsure of what to do.
“Let me try; Mirabella found that the pendant was not simple, it used a lock mechanism, layer upon layer. If not opened in the correct order, it wouldn’t budge.
Eventually, everyone saw a tiny chip inside the opened pendant!
“Why would this be here?” Logan and Taylor exclaimed in unison, “What is it for?”
That was the first time Mirabella had seen such a small and delicate chip, slightly bigger than a grain of rice, its purpose unknown for that moment.
“Could it be that Carol had something to say, and she wanted to tell us through this chip?”
Clark seemed to have stumbled upon something that linked him with Carol, and his heart pounded with excitement.
Mirabella suddenly had a thought, “Clark, didn’t Carol give you an amulet as well?”
Upon hearing that, Clark realized, “You think there might be something hidden in the amulet too?”
“There is a chance.”
Clark instantly pulled out his wallet and retrieved the red, triangular amulet.
He shook it but heard no such sound from within.
The thought that it might be hiding a clue made him brace himself, and he carefully began to unravel the amulet.
Logan and Taylor held their breath, watching his actions closely, and soon, a tiny crescent moon appeared at the very heart of the amulet.
That moon was about the size of a fingertip, made of platinum, and had a strange symbol carved on it.
“Is this a clue Carol left for me?”
Clark couldn’t believe that Carol had hidden that in the amulet so long ago, and it had taken him all that time to finally find it!
If it hadn’t been for his sister’s reminder, he likely would never have discovered it.
He felt so foolish!”What’s the meaning of this tiny moon, what’s its purpose?” Taylor couldn’t guess, “What message is Carol trying to get across to us.”
Logan too, was unsure of its purpose, examining it closely in his hand, “If Carol really is involved with some organization, could this symbol be the organization’s logo?”
“It could certainly be a possibility” Mirabella confirmed, “I’ll have someone look into it.”
She took a photo and sent it to Jack, asking him to identify the symbol as quickly as possible.
“Carol must have realized long ago that she was in danger, she didn’t abandon us, her parents, or leave Clark. It must have been a last resort,’ Taylor surmised, tears streaming down her face again.
“I have a suggestion.”
At Mirabella’s words, everyone turned to look at her, curious about her new idea.
“I propose we examine everything Carol left behind.”
“You mean we should even take this scarf apart?” Taylor’s tears were welling up, but what could possibly be hidden in a scarf!
She had washed it so many times, any clues would have surely been washed away by that point.
“What if we find something new?”
Hearing Mirabella’s suggestion, Taylor thought it over, and finally decided to unravel the scarf to see.
Logan picked up a platinum necklace, “This was the first gift Carol bought for her mother after she started making money. It’s made of platinum, there’s probably nothing suspicious about it.””Let me see,’ Mirabella took the heart-shaped platinum necklace, it looked ordinary, but she pulled out a magnifying glass from her bag to see if there was anything written on it.
“Kid, aren’t you overthinking; Logan couldn’t help saying, “How could there possibly be a clue on this tiny thing.”
“Have you heard about a news story, a calligrapher who could write characters 3mm tall with a brush, it was called micro-calligraphy:”
Mirabella explained as she examined the necklace, “Later, another calligrapher broke the record by writing characters only 0.8mm tall, and now there’s even smaller writing.”
Logan was shocked, he’d never imagined such a thing could exist.
Taylor felt as if they had been stuck in their small town for ages, completely oblivious to the wonders and technological advancements of the outside world.
“Clark, look at this necklace. The heart pendant has some weird symbols on it; Mirabella said, handing over the piece she’d discovered.
Clark studied it closely and gave his observation, “It seems like it’s written in some special ink or maybe even etched. I wonder what message Carol was trying to get across.”
Mirabella thought Carol was pretty clever, leaving so many clues behind.
Clark was secretly thrilled at that discovery. Initially, he thought finding Carol would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, but at that moment there seemed to be some hope. If they could somehow decipher those symbols, they might be able to find her soon!
“Do these symbols resemble the ones we’ve seen on their cellphones?” Clark speculated, “Carol must have sensed danger a long time ago. She probably left these clues for us in case something happened to her.”
“I think Carol might have known she was in danger and left these items behind. These could be bargaining chips against the organization,’ Mirabella suggested. If they had leverage, they had a chance to negotiate.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.