?Chapter 1267:


    Any trace of softness vanished from Sadie’s face as she fixed him with a cold stare. “What’s ine’s status now?”


    Hurst barely bothered to lift his eyes, delivering his answer with a careless drawl. “He’s still breathing. That’s all you need to know.” A slight pause, then a ghost of a smile yed at his lips. “Ms. Hudson, isn’t it about time we started being honest with each other?” There was no doubt what he meant.


    He wanted to talk about the NE Research Institute.


    Tension coiled in Sadie’s chest once more.


    “You’ve yed things close to the vest, Dr. Lawson. That needle technique is no ordinary skill. Only those tied to the NE Research Institute would ever know it.”


    Her expression hardened, every word razor-sharp. “What’s your real link to NE?”


    Noah’s thin hand mped suddenly around Sadie’s, holding tight. A sharp glint shed in Noah’s eyes as he shot Hurst a silent, unmistakable warning.


    He could not allow Sadie to dig any deeper.


    No matter what, she had to be kept far from the truth.


    There was simply too much danger in whaty behind them.


    If Sadie were ever pulled into that shadowy past, the fallout would be catastrophic.


    With a strained gentleness, Noah tried to steer her away. “Sadie, some things are best left behind. Why keep chasing what’s already gone?”


    None of it made sense to Sadie.


    She honestly couldn’t understand.


    Why did Noah always insist she turn her back on the questions about her parents’ vanishing?


    For seventeen long years, she had lived every day and night longing for answers—hoping, aching.


    Their fate was a gaping wound, neither alive nor dead in the world’s eyes.


    How could he possibly expect her to just forget?


    Hurst cast Noah a sideways nce, his smile edged with meaning. “Mr. Wall, you’re worried, aren’t you? Afraid that if the wrong people notice Ms. Hudson, she could be in danger?”


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    Noah tilted his head up, a storm of fury igniting in his gaze. “That’s enough!”


    Unbothered, Hurst only shrugged, his smirk cutting sharper. “You know as well as I do—those people have eyes everywhere. Ms. Hudson’s mother, Brenda, yed a pivotal role at the NE Research Institute. The truth will surface sooner orter. There’s no covering it up forever.”


    Those people? Who exactly was he talking about? A cold weight settled in Sadie’s chest as Hurst’s words echoed in her mind.


    She darted a look at Noah, whose face had drained of all color, then back to Hurst, who revealed nothing.


    Every instinct screamed at her that something dangerous and long-buried was at y.


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