Kerry then lifted his arm lazily and let go of her. Venus went to the bathroom, turned the tap on and off,
and two minutes later, she went back to the bedroom. Kerry was already snoring. Apparently, he was
deep in sleep.
Venus patted on his face to make sure he was really sleeping, and he gave no response. She was
surprised at how fast the drug was taking effects, and she decided to take action right away.
She went to the study on the third floor, found the secret place and took out the little wooden box. She
then walked out of the study, looked around, and found there was no one in the corridor. Her heart was
beating so violently in her chest.
She sneaked back to Kerry’ s bedroom and found he was still sleeping. She took a deep breath,
calmed herself down, sat on Kerry’ s bed, grabbed his right hand and pressed his thumb on the
fingerprint reader on that box.
The box was not opened.
Is he a lefty?
Venus then grabbed Kerry’ s left hand and repeated the same process. She was so nervous. She didn’t
know what to do if the box couldn’t be opened.
But luckily, the light on the box flashed, and after two beeps, the box was flicked open.
Venus was so excited that she almost screamed. She then threw Kerry’ s hand aside, held her breath
and looked into the little box.
But when she saw what was inside, her face darkened in an instant. It was a big blue gem which gave
out a soft glow. And the treasure map was no where to be seen.
Venus didn’t want to give up. She took out the gem and found there was nothing else in the box. She
knocked it with her finger to see if the sides of the box were hollow, but they were not, which meant
there was no hidden compartment.
She was suddenly overwhelmed by frustration, sadness and despair. She sat there motionlessly, and
she didn’t know what to do.
She suddenly realized Kerry had never admitted that he had the treasure map in his home. It was only
her guess. And Xuan Chu’s discovering of the box made her believe the treasure map was must in the
box. It was a highly subjective point of view.
She thought she would find the map, and she was even ready to leave this place forever. And now,
everything seemed like a terrible joke.
A few minutes later, she took out her phone and called Xuan.
“Hello?” Xuan’s voice was so happy.
Venus found there was no easy way to say it.
“What is it? Yan?”
Venus cleared her throat and said: “Xuan, I opened the box just now.”
Xuan noticed there was a tinge of disappointment in her voice. He asked: “The map is not in there?”
“No, it is not.” Venus said. Tears brimmed in her eyes.
“Then what is it?” He asked.
“A blue gem.”
“Can you send me a picture?”
“Sure.” Venus wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
Xuan knew Yan was must in a state of utter depression. He tried to comfort her. He said: “Don’t worry.
We can keep looking for it. We will find it.”
“Thank you. I’ll talk to you later.” Venus said. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to hold her tears
back.
She sent the picture to Xuan, and put the gem back in the box. She looked at Kerry, who was still
sleeping, and suddenly, she was seized by a blind rage and she punched on his chest heavily.
“You jerk! Where the hell did you hide that bloody map!! I should be able to leave this place tomorrow!”
She shouted in a low voice.
A few minutes later, she left the room with the box, banging the door behind her.
Kerry then opened his eyes. He put his hand on his chest and groaned. These were indeed some
powerful punches, and he almost cried out just now.
Turned out, Kerry had already asked John to install some hidden cameras in his study and swap the
map with a precious gem. He knew Venus would absolutely leave when she found the map, and he
couldn’t let her go. He felt very sorry when he heard Venus’s broken voice just now.
“Venus, I’m sorry. But I can’t let you go.” Kerry said to himself.
Venus put the box back where it was and went to her room. She couldn’t bear the sight of Kerry. She
knew she couldn’t stop herself from punching him when she saw him.
She removed her mask, and laid on bed tiredly. She felt like she just had a bungee jumping. It was like
she fell into hell directly from paradise.
The silence in her room was suddenly broken by the ringing of her phone. She knew it could only be
Xuan at this hour. She picked it up and said tiredly: “What’s up?”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Venus stared at the ceiling with her blank eyes.
“I saw the picture you just sent me. The gem was once inlaid in a sceptre belonged to a pharaoh in
ancient Egypt. It is called “Eye of the Sky”, and its value is immeasurable. That’s why Kerry kept it in
such a secret place.”
“I don’t care how valuable it is. This is not what I want.” Venus said in a flat tone.
Xuan was silent for a few seconds. He then said: “You still have time. Don’t give up.”
“Of course I won’t give up. I need to save my child. Thank you, Xuan.”
“It’s late. You should go to sleep now, Good night.”
Venus hung up.
She only had half a year to find the map, and now three months had passed and she found nothing.
She determined to try harder for the next three months.
It was early in the morning. Venus was stretching herself in the yard, and Kerry walked to her.
“Good morning.” Venus gave him a bright smile. No sadness could be noticed from her face.
Kerry also tried to do some stretches, but he then groaned and covered his chest.
“Weren’t we drinking wine last night? Did I get drunk?” Kerry pretended not to remember anything.
Venus said: “Yes. You said you were too tired, and you were not in a good mood. So you were
rendered drunk easily.”
“I see. But what’s with the pain in my chest?”
Venus’s cheek twitched and she said: “Last night I tried to drag you into your bedroom, and you
bumped on a table accidentally.”
Kerry nodded. He rubbed his chest and said: “I see. I thought you hit me last night. Because the pain is
so sharp when I woke up this morning.”
“Why would I hit you?” Venus looked away.
“I am just saying.” Kerry looked at her face in profile and smiled.
Venus didn’t want to talk about what happened last night. She said: “We are going out to sea tomorrow.
What should I prepare?”
“Just take some sun cream and some other creams you need to protect your skin. And don’t worry
about other things.”
“That’s good.” Venus did another stretch and said: “Time for breakfast.”
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