The Double or more Life of the Fake Heiress (Mirabella)

The magnetic interference in the area was so intense that even the most state-of- the-art signal boosters couldn't cut through it. Curtis had spent the whole of yesterday mulling over this, and it was the only conclusion he could draw. These kinds of dense forests, which don't even appear on maps, couldn't possibly be man-made. Given today's technology, there's just no way to whip up a magnetic field like that. Even with another century of research, it might still be out of reach. So, aside from the natural magnetic interference from the terrain itself, there seemed to be no other explanation.

Wyatt threw a glance at Curtis. He didn't know much about magnetic interference, but he understood that natural magnetic fields weren't something you could just disrupt on a whim. Looking over at the archaeologists still unconscious on the carpet, he asked, "What on earth were they searching for?"

Curtis shrugged, his voice carrying a hint of disinterest. "No idea."

Wyatt propped his chin on his hand, catching a faint floral scent drifting by. Leaning closer to Curtis, he took a sniff. "Curtis, you smell kinda nice."

Nice? Curtis, who was only catching the metallic tang of blood, shot Wyatt a skeptical look. "You sure your nose is working right?"

"I'm serious. It's like a sweet floral scent," Wyatt insisted after another sniff.

Seeing Wyatt's insistence, Curtis lifted his arm and gave it a sniff himself. "I don't smell anything."

"Maybe you picked up some flower nectar in that uncharted forest, and now you can't smell it on yourself," Wyatt suggested.

"Maybe," Curtis replied, not making much of it, as he leaned back in his chair and fell silent.

An hour later, they touched down in Riverdale. The doctors, already on standby, quickly whisked the archaeology team off to the hospital for treatment. Trevor was taken along too, and James, without even changing out of his clothes, tagged along.

The archaeology team had suffered serious internal and external injuries, needing more than three hours of surgery Luckily, all of them pulled

ret

through and were no longer in immediate danger. Hearing the doctor's update, James finally let out a breath he didn't know he was

holding, his tense brows easing.

Looking at Trevor lying quietly on the hospital bed, James shook his head, emotionless. Emily definitely couldn't find out about this.

Wyatt walked in, knowing James hadn't had a wink of sleep in over a day. "James, maybe you should head home and catch some rest. I'll stay with Trevor. As soon as he wakes up, I'll ring you."

James, still seated by the hospital bed, didn't budge. "It's alright."

Realizing persuasion was futile, Wyatt resigned, "Okay, I'll go grab you some fresh clothes."

"Mhm," James murmured, resting his elbow on the chair's arm, fingertips pressing against his forehead as he closed his eyes to rest.

Wyatt soon left the hospital, swung by James's place to fetch some clean clothes, and returned. After dropping off the clothes, he quietly stationed himself outside the room, not disturbing James.

By the following afternoon, thenoveldrama

archaeology team, expected to have woken by now, was still out cold. The doctors ran another round of thorough checks but found nothing wrong. All their vitals were normal, so the doctors weren't overly concerned, suggesting they simply wait a bit longer. Yet, even after another night passed, none of them had stirred.