?Chapter 554:


    After the men left, Brenna sat down at the desk in her suite. She pulled out her notes and refined her speech, checking for anyst-minute improvements. Once satisfied, she logged into the forum’s internalwork to browse the list of notable attendees.


    Later that evening, after Brenna and her team returned from dinner, Thiago spotted a small convenience store across the street. He nodded toward it and said, “Let’s grab some essentials.”


    The store beneath the hotel was built with a specific crowd in mind. It catered to the wealthy guests who stayed in the surrounding luxury hotels and was packed with premium goods.


    “Sure,” said Brenna with a nod. The four of them stepped inside together. A handful of other customers milled around the aisles, most of them foreigners. They had the look of travelers in town for the forum.


    As Brenna’s group entered, the two clerks behind the counter greeted them warmly in the localnguage.


    Brenna’s eyes swept over the space. The store was spacious, maybe a hundred square meters, with neat rows of bottled water, imported snacks, travel-sized toiletries, and everything else a traveler might forget to pack. Security cameras sat tucked in each corner, their tiny lenses gleaming under the lights.


    Who was watching those feeds? At the thought of this, Brenna tugged the brim of her cap lower, shielding more of her face from the cameras. Brenna and her team moved through the aisles, each grabbing what they needed. Thiago loaded tworge packs of bottled water into his arms, then tossed in a bag of whole grain bread and some instant meals for good measure.


    Joe and Tommy wandered through the aisles too, each picking up a few packs of instant meals and a case of mineral water. Brenna kept it light and grabbed just a few boxes of wafers, cookies, and chocte. The four of them exchanged smiles, amused by their simr choices.


    Brenna eyed the haul in their arms and shook her head with a chuckle. “Why so many instant meals? You do realize I can afford to treat you to meals, right?”


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    She even suspected they hadn’t eaten enough at dinner.


    Joe raised an eyebrow. “I brought pickles.”


    Tommy chimed in, “I brought some sauce.”


    “The food here is awful. I’m curious if the instant stuff tastes any better,” Thiago said.


    It dawned on Brenna. No wonder they had pushed their tes away so quickly at dinner. They weren’t full. They just couldn’t stomach the local cuisine.


    Back at the hotel, Thiago dropped a pack of bottled water just outside Brenna’s room.


    He then ced a bottle neatly beside her desk. “I’ve already checked the water. It’s safe.”


    Brenna twisted the cap open without thinking. She took a sip and immediately stopped. She then spat the water out into the wastebasket nearby.


    Something was wrong. This tasted off.


    “Has the person who delivered the bags left?” Brenna asked warily. When they hade back from the store, a hotel staff member had approached them in the lobby and offered to help carry the bags.


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