NovelUSAChapter 554 Theo followed their gazes and glanced over, pausing in surprise when he saw the woman's face.
"Jeanette? What's she doing here?" Remembering she was a friend of his younger sister, he hesitated for a moment, then made his way over and sat across from her.
Jeanette's heart was pounding with excitement, but she forced herself to act oblivious, pretending to be tipsy and out of sorts.
"Who... who are you? Why are you sitting here?" she slurred, looking up at him with feigned confusion.
Theo frowned. "This isn't the kind of place you should be hanging around. Go home, Jeanette." Jeanette threw her hands in the air in wild exaggeration. "Go home? Go where? The house is gone, my father's in jail, my mother left... I don't have a hanymore." Only then did Theo remember the recent events, the headlines from earlier that day. He pressed his lips together. "Then you should at least get a room at a hotel for the night." Jeanette shook her head stubbornly. "I... I haven't had enough to drink yet." Theo's frown deepened. "You're already drunk. I'll have someone take you back." He rose to leave, but suddenly Jeanette grabbed his hand.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Don't go," she pleaded.
Assuming she was just being belligerent, Theo tried to pull away, but her grip was surprisingly strong-he couldn't shake her off.
As they struggled, something slipped from beneath the collar of Jeanette's shirt, catching the light.
Theo's expression changed in an instant. He grabbed the pendant hanging from her neck—a battered old locket- and demanded urgently, "Where did you get this? How do you have it?" Jeanette's eyes flashed with a sly, triumphant look, though it vanished almost as quickly.
She met his gaze, frowning in mock confusion. "What are you talking about? This locket's a family keepsake. My parents gave it to me." Theo couldn't hide his agitation. "Did you have it since you were a kid?" "Of course," Jeanette replied, giving him a strange look.
He stared at the locket, tracing the intricate pattern and the single deep scratch across its surface-a mark he remembered all too well. Memories rushed back, unbidden.
He had been just a boy the first the visited Havencrest with Talbot. Talbot had work to do, so Theo wandered off alone, curiosity getting the better of him.
Havencrest was dazzling for a child, full of noise and color, and Theo-restless and mischievous at that age was drawn straight to the busiest part of town.
Vendors crowded the street, hawking their wares to a swirl of locals and tourists. In the chaos, Theo didn't notice the group of shady men following him.
He'd barely reached a quiet alley when they jumped him, shoving a burlap sack over his head.
He fought as hard as he could, but they were stronger-he was just a little kid.
Just when Theo thought he was done for, a little girl charged out of nowhere, flinging a handful of cayenne pepper into the kidnappers' faces.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe men staggered back, blinded and cursing.
The girl yanked the sack off Theo's head, grabbed his hand, and took off running. "Help! Somebody help! Kidnappers!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as they sprinted down the street.
He remembered the locket bouncing against her neck, clinking with every stride and the deep scratch across its surface. She was even smaller than he was, barely reaching his shoulder, but her eyes burned with fierce determination.
Once they reached safety, she let go of his hand and fixed him with a solemn stare. "I saved you."
"What do you want?" Theo had asked, wary-he'd grown up with the om complicated politics of the Glenwood family and trusted no one. But the girl shook her head. "I saved.
you, so now you're mine. You have to listen tofrom now on. You can only like me-you're not allowed tolike your little sister."
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