After Joseph came down, Zoe stuffed him something nice to eat, which warmed Joseph.
"Thank you, Zoe."
Joseph's smile was light, but sincere.
Lucas took one glance and said nothing. He knew now why Zoe did that.
Zoe paid more attention to Joseph because she wanted him to feel welcome, while Lucas was her
biological brother, she didn't need to do that.
But why did he feel somewhat jealous?
Lucas then went back to his room.
Joseph and Zoe really hit it off, so Nicole just left them alone and went to the living room.
Edwin was saying something to Samuel. He seemed in a good mood.
Nicole was heavy of heart not knowing Sally's whereabouts, but she forced a smile and walked over.
"Samuel and I are taking the children out for these days. If you need anything, call Jason."
"Well, I'm not alone. Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's you guys who should be careful. Keeping your head
down will protect you from any harm, okay?"
Edwin had a worried look on his face.
Nicole nodded. She hesitated for a second and decided to say nothing about it.
Just wait until she found Sally.
Something moved in Nicole's eyes.
Samuel knew what she was thinking with just one glance. Therefore, he ended the conversation with
Edwin soon.
"Let's go upstairs, too."
"OK."
They then went upstairs.
Nicole was thinking nothing but Sally. Although she wasn't a nice person, what she had experienced
saddened her. And Nicole had no idea whether she was alive or not.
As soon as they went in the room, Samuel said in a low voice, "I need the bathroom."
"Oh, OK."
Nicole didn't find it strange, so she just did her things.
After Samuel walked in the bathroom, he fell to the floor.
The headache. His head was about to explode.
What was going on?
The headache came so suddenly and overwhelmingly. But he managed to hold it back, so Nicole didn't
see it.
Samuel groaned softly out of pain. It was like something was screwing in his head.
Cold sweat soaked his back. His shirt was wet and his face was frighteningly pale.
He gritted his teeth but it didn't help. Then he quickly turned on the shower, letting the sound of flowing
water muffle his groan.
He collapsed and curled himself up on the ground.
"Samuel, just some casual clothes will do. Don't you think so? We have no parties to attend, so you
don't need a suit, right?"
Nicole asked from outside, her sound soft and gentle. But to Samuel it was from long distance, so eerie
and unearthly.
"Samuel?"
Walking to the bathroom door, Nicole asked again.
"It's up to you."
Samuel said weakly. Something painful moved in his eyes.
"Okay."
Nicole then left the door.
Samuel pressed hard on his thigh, but the intense pain and headache was so overwhelming.
He panted and finally gave up, hoping it would pass soon. But the pain did not ease at all as he
expected.
The pain was so fierce and overwhelming for Samuel. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't.
Some pictures flashed in his mind. It was bright red blood, as if he was witnessing a massacre.
Countless people were shot and tortured, old, young, male and female. Everyone was crying and
groaning, but they couldn't do anything about it.
Anger surged out. It just flooded out. He wished he could be one of them, so that he could kill those
killing devils.
The impulse swirled and spiraled in his mind, in his brain. He was almost driven crazy by that impulse.
He felt like being torn and whipped. It was unbearable.
"Oh!"
Samuel couldn't bear it any longer and let out a low roar. Then he fainted.
Nicole heard something from the bathroom, like groan, but she couldn't hear it clearly because of the
water.
"Samuel? Are you alright?"
Nicole rushed to the bathroom and asked, but she could hear nothing but the flowing water.
Her heart ached.
Nicole wanted to get in, only to find the bathroom was locked from inside.
Why did Samuel lock it?
Nicole was confused, and she rushed downstairs to get the spare key from Steve.
The others didn't expect that. And Edwin began to worry.
"Steve, go to see what happened."
Steve nodded and followed Nicole upstairs.
Lucas and Joseph were worried, too. Zoe wanted to follow them up, but was stopped by Lucas.
"Can you take a look?"
Lucas' heart was heavy.
Joseph was studying medicine. Though he wasn't a doctor yet, he knew more than the others. And he
felt it must be Samuel and his neuralgia.
Joseph thought of it too.
Two boys exchanged glances. Joseph went upstairs without hesitation.
"Lucas, I want to go too."
Zoe begged, but Lucas said to her, "We will be of no help. Joseph studies medicine. I'm afraid it was
Samuel's neuralgia."
"But he is taking medicine! And Joseph has read the ancient books in the Harper Town. Hasn't he
found a cure yet?"
Samuel didn't get it for so many days. Everyone thought he had recovered.
But now, Nicole's expressions told them it was not what they expected.
"Let's just wait here."
Lucas was worried, and he held Zoe's hand tightly.
Zoe no longer insisted, but her eyes wet slightly. No one could see what she was thinking.
Nicole opened the bathroom with the spare key and saw Samuel was lying on the ground with his face
deathly white.
"Samuel!"
Nicole's heart ached.
She rushed forward and held Samuel in her arms.
Samuel was all wet under the shower, but he had lost his consciousness.
Steve then turned the shower off. Seeing Samuel, he said worriedly, "Shall I call Mr. Blair and ask him
here?"
Just as Nicole was about to say something, Joseph rushed over, grabbed Samuel's hand and felt his
pulse.
Color drained from Joseph's face.
Nicole had been watching them aside. Seeing Joseph's face going an ugly green, she worried more.
"What's the matter?"
Joseph couldn't believe it, but he shook his head, saying, "Daddy is fine. It's just neuralgia, but where is
the medicine I gave him?"
Joseph fished through Samuel's pocket, but he didn't find it. Nicole then remembered that she hadn't
seen Samuel take his medicine these days. She thought that he might have taken it while she was
asleep, but now when Joseph asked, she realized Samuel didn't take it at all.
She began to blame herself.
Why didn't she take the neuralgia seriously?
She thought Samuel would take it for the sake of her and the children, but he didn't.
But it was not the right time to think about it. She then withdrew her thoughts. What mattered now was
to figure out why Samuel didn't take the medicine and where it was now.
"I didn't see him taking, and I didn't ask. Do you have any spare?"
Nicole looked at Joseph hopefully.
Joseph nodded and turned around to Steve, saying, "Steve, please carry Samuel to bed and get him
some clean clothes. Turn up the temperature if possible."
Nicole frowned slightly.
"The room is warm. It is twenty-three degrees Celsius. Is there any need to turn it up?"
Something moved in Joseph's eyes. He said in a low voice, "Turn it to 30 degrees. Samuel is cold
now."
Nicole then realized. Samuel's body was ice cold.
Soaking in the cold water, he was cold, and that was reasonable. But after Nicole held him so long, his
body was still cold now.
Nicole thought that Joseph was hiding something from her, but it didn't bother her. She just asked
Steve to do as Joseph instructed.
Steve put Samuel to bed and heat the room as Joseph asked.
The room got insufferable hot, but the color had gradually come back to Samuel's face.
"I'll get the medicine from my room."
Joseph then pivoted around.
Steve wanted to ask Joseph more, but seeing Nicole so worried, he asked, "Ms. Nicole, what..."
"Nothing. Thank you, Steve."
Nicole smiled faintly, but the worry never left her eyes.
She then called Ernesto and told him she couldn't take the trip right now. She would let him know when
she was ready, but she didn't tell him what had happened.
After hanging up the phone, Nicole sat beside Samuel.
His hands were still cold, frightening cold. It was so strange to feel cold in such a hot room. She began
to fear something bad would happen.
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