Chapter 434: Chapter 434: Do You Know This Love That Cuts to the Bone?
Mark Joyce, hearing this, could more or less understand that Levi Lowell wasn’t dissatisfied with the mission itself, but rather with the target of the mission.
Indeed, having the esteemed Dark Guard Captain protect Miss Vaughn and the Young Master seemed somewhat overqualified.
No matter how skilled Miss Vaughn was in medicine, comparable to the reincarnation of The Divine Doctor, she wasn’t constantly targeted for assassination.
"If you have any objections to President Hawthorne’s orders, I can relay them for you now." Mark Joyce, despite his thoughts, smiled and took out his phone, speaking to Levi Lowell.
"Why would I have any objections to the Family Head? If he asked me to walk through fire, I would do so without hesitation!" Levi Lowell hurriedly stopped him, looking aggrieved, "I’m just curious, who exactly is that woman?"
Mark Joyce thought for a moment before saying, "If nothing unexpected happens, she will be the Young Madam of the Hawthorne Family."
The Young Madam of the Hawthorne Family?!!
Leo Lowell’s calm and silent demeanor showed a crack, and just as he was about to ask something, Levi Lowell beat him to it, "How is she qualified to be our Mistress? What about Miss Miya?!"
"If that’s the case, you’d better not say that in front of President Hawthorne." Mark Joyce shook his head slightly, offering a piece of advice.
Levi Lowell didn’t take it seriously; how could that ordinary-looking woman in the restaurant compare to Miss Miya in any way? Mark Joyce was surely exaggerating...
Meanwhile, the "ordinary" Ann Vaughn finished her breakfast and went to the glass greenhouse to check the growth of the Bone-removing Vine, surprisingly finding that the buds had already bloomed.
Previously, Ann Vaughn didn’t quite understand the meaning behind the name "Bone-removing Vine," but upon seeing flowers stacked like piles of white bones, she understood.
She just didn’t know what its main effects were.
Ann Vaughn fiddled with the seedlings growing next to the Bone-removing Vine, a hint of intrigue in her eyes.
The seeds were also given by that woman, but only the Bone-removing Vine thrived, blooming in just half a month, while the rest grew at a uniform pace.
Every time she came, it seemed the Bone-removing Vine would shoot up a bit more...
"Miss Vaughn, someone claiming to be Harold Vaughn’s personal lawyer wants to see you." Uncle Dexter opened the greenhouse door, saying to Ann Vaughn, who was trimming the Bone-removing Vine buds.
Hearing the name Harold Vaughn, Ann Vaughn thought for a moment before recalling he was the square-faced man who had half-threatened, half-coerced her to give up the Vaughn Clinic.
"I won’t see him." Ann Vaughn flipped her wrist, put down the scissors, packed away the buds, and walked out of the greenhouse, "There’s no point seeing him; nothing will come of it."
Uncle Dexter nodded in agreement, "Yes, let’s do as you say."
Saying this, Uncle Dexter seemed like he had more to say but seeing Ann Vaughn in a good mood, he refrained.
It’s better to not know about those vexing things online if one doesn’t have to.
Ann Vaughn didn’t spend much energy on this matter either, taking the buds back to her room, intending to extract the essence to see what effects it had.
As for the lawyer sent by Harold Vaughn, it was just about the ancient recipe and Vaughn Clinic, trying to make her compromise and hand them over, or else the next step would likely be to sue her.
But perhaps it was something Cyrus Hawthorne said that day that inexplicably gave her some confidence, her mind calmed down instead.
After seeing the old house, she would make a decision; it shouldn’t be too late, right?
Thinking this, Ann Vaughn felt much more at ease, focusing back on the Bone-removing Vine, then placing the extracted essence in a glass container.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have any test subjects on hand; otherwise, she could find out the main effects of the Bone-removing Vine sooner.
...Wait!
Ann Vaughn suddenly remembered that since Cyrus Hawthorne knew so much about exotic plants, his study should have related books and information!
Wouldn’t it be faster to go straight to find them?
With that thought, Ann Vaughn placed the glass container away and left the master bedroom for the study.
The three-sided oval ceiling-high bookshelves enclosed the desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, the sheer volume of books already overwhelming Ann Vaughn.
She wondered how Cyrus Hawthorne managed to read through all these books.
Muttering secretly in her mind, Ann Vaughn stepped onto the moving ladder, searching the rows of cabinets for the book she needed.
Strangely, there wasn’t a single book or material related to exotic plants.
Originally, she thought Cyrus Hawthorne had read about Bone-removing Vine in books, hence his understanding, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Ann Vaughn sighed lightly, casually pulling a book with a black cover, seeing "Illustrated Weaponry" written on it.
She wasn’t interested in weapons and was about to put it back when she discovered several sheets of paper wedged between where the book was and another book.
Likely inadvertently placed there, with edges already slightly crumpled.
Ann Vaughn intended to smooth out those sheets and put them back, but she inadvertently caught sight of a familiar name on them.
Hopewell Medical Foundation?
Applicant... Cyrus Hawthorne?!
Ann Vaughn’s eyes paused slightly, immediately unfolding the entire paper and reading from the top.
No matter what, she never imagined that the world-renowned Hopewell Medical Foundation was established by Cyrus Hawthorne three years ago!
He had explicitly said...he wasn’t interested in anything that might hinder the interests of Hawthorne Group.
The child, she included.
And yet, until now, there had been no outside information suggesting Cyrus Hawthorne was the founder of the Hopewell Medical Foundation, indicating he wasn’t using it to gain benefits.
Ann Vaughn’s slender fingers tightened slightly, an unstoppable thought emerging in her mind.
Could it be that what he said back then...was all intentional?
Once deeply-held beliefs are shattered, many previously unexplainable events for Ann Vaughn now had answers.
For example, how Cyrus Hawthorne had long known about her pregnancy and uterine fibroids.
"Could he be..." Ann Vaughn’s heart suddenly thumped violently twice, but quickly calmed down.
What was she thinking? If he genuinely liked her, how could he still have affections for Cynthia Sheridan?
With that in mind, Ann Vaughn folded the papers neatly back, failing to see, on the back of one sheet, two lines written in powerful, flamboyant handwriting.
[Does the yearning to the bones know?]
[You will never know again, Ann Vaughn.]
After sorting the books on the shelf, Ann Vaughn intended to descend the ladder but was startled by a stern shout from the doorway, "The study is a restricted area, no one is allowed to enter and exit freely, and intruders will be regarded as stealing secrets!"
The sudden shout nearly caused Ann Vaughn to lose her footing and almost fall off the ladder.