Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

Tina curled her lips into a faint smile, her tone casual yet laced with confidence. "Only when we stir up enough trouble will the rats come out of hiding. Otherwise, how is a cat like me supposed to find them?" The matter concerning Elsa's in-laws didn't need to be so complicated. Tina could have easily used her hacking skills to uncover details from years ago. But she chose not to.

The approach this time was rather reckless, not aligned with her usual methods. As Uncle had said, now was the time to keep a low profile. But the ultimate purpose of lying low was to lure out the people hiding behind the scenes. Dorothy Russell had disappeared for quite some time. Tina initially thought Dorothy wouldn't stay hidden for long and would resurface soon. To her surprise, Dorothy had exhibited remarkable patience, staying completely off the radar. Even Dorothy's enigmatic backer remained a mystery to Tina.

Based on the clues she had so far, the person helping Dorothy Russell was connected to one of the prominent families currently making waves. But which family it was-she still needed more time to find out. The timing wasn't ripe yet. Master Tam glared at Tina, muttering to himself about how he couldn't possibly be unaware of such logic. After some hesitation, he finally spoke. "Aren't you afraid of alerting the snake? They might hide everything in advance, making it impossible to catch them."

Jared's voice, deep and magnetic, answered in Tina's stead. "Alerting the snake isn't necessarily a bad thing."Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Master Tam paused, his expression unreadable. "But the snake might not come out."

Tina picked up the cup of tea Scarlett had poured for her and took a sip. "We know too little about the hidden clans. The Bailey family might just be the breakthrough we need."

It was time to force Dorothy Russell out of hiding.

Tina wasn't afraid of Dorothy herself. But Dorothy's ability to develop dangerous compounds made her a significant threat. And behind Dorothy was the hidden clan-a family shrouded in secrecy.

If Dorothy managed to create a compound harmful to society and pass it on to the hidden clan, the resulting chaos would be catastrophic.

Isaac nodded thoughtfully. "Targeting the shops outside-reporting them for tax evasion, fire safety violations-these tactics are guaranteed to hit the mark. Tina's planning to use these methods to deal with the other hidden families. A direct and transparent approach."

"See that, old man?" Ian burst out laughing after hearing Tina's words. "My granddaughter is smart! Not like you, always freeloading at our house!"

"The last time the Langdon family caused trouble, you didn't even step in to help!"

Master Tam shot Ian a disdainful glance. "If I had stepped in last time, Trevor wouldn't have left so easily. I was helping you lessen the burden, and now you blame me?"

"You-!"

"Enough squabbling!" Jared interrupted just as Ian was about to argue further. "Tina, aren't you going to show them the ancient book you brought?"

"Oh, right." Tina suddenly remembered, pulling out a yellowed book from her bag. "Grandpa, I found this by chance at the Reed family's place. Elsa said the text inside is specific to the hidden clans. Can you recognize any of it?" Unlike the deliberately aged bamboo strips they had seen before, this book was genuinely old. Its cover was almost completely worn, but the contents had been carefully preserved, making the text inside still legible. The Brookes family's four brothers, who had all studied modern knowledge, had never seen such a thing.

Jack, sitting closest to Tina, took the book from her and examined it closely. The densely packed characters made him dizzy. Finally, unable to endure any longer, he handed it to Brandon. "Can you understand this?" Brandon shot him a look of disbelief. "Do I look like I can?"

"Can't read it? Then pass it to Dad. Tina didn't expect you to help translate anyway." Gavin snatched the book and almost caused it to fall apart in the process.

Under Melanie's reproachful gaze, he awkwardly laughed, quickly handing the book to Ian.

The old man took one look at it and his expression changed dramatically.

"This-how could something like this end up with the Reed family?!"

Master Tam, realizing no one was paying attention to him, lost interest in sulking.

He moved to sit beside Ian, leaning in to examine the text. "I can recognize a few characters, but I can't read all of it. Can you?"

Ian shook his head. "This must be at least a hundred years old. I wasn't even born then. How could I possibly know all of it?"

Jared clasped Tina's pale hand in his, his voice steady. "Grandpa, it seems like you recognize this book?"

Ian let out a sigh. "I've seen references to it in the ancient texts from my own family. Over a hundred years ago, someone from the hidden clan combined various teachings to create a manual. When it was first introduced, it caused a sensation within the hidden clans, leading to fierce competition over it. Eventually, it went missing. I never thought it would resurface with the Reed family."

Tina immediately understood.

No wonder Jasper Reed had locked the book away in a safe. He must have been interested in the hidden clans for some time.

Or perhaps, it wasn't Jasper Reed who was interested in the hidden clans-but Dorothy Russell.

That woman had always been obsessed with immortality.

It wouldn't be surprising if she had targeted the hidden clan in her pursuit of eternal life.

In hindsight, it seemed Dorothy hadn't been incapable of escaping capture back then-she had deliberately chosen not to escape. She must have been certain someone would come to her rescue.

Tina had underestimated Dorothy Russell's capabilities.

But Tina couldn't shake the feeling that Dorothy's goal wasn't merely immortality. She likely had a grander scheme-one that involved not just the hidden clan but also major wealthy families.

Narrowing her eyes, Tina thought of Dorothy Russell. Her skills in disguise were exceptional, and her acting abilities even more so. Tina had always prided herself on seeing through pretenses. Yet, she had been outmaneuvered by Dorothy-and had even let her go.

"I just remembered something!"

Master Tam suddenly slapped his thigh, startling Ian so much that he dropped the book.

Under the glare of everyone in the room, Master Tam sheepishly picked up the book, his face reddened. "Don't look at me like that! I have a way to decipher this book. If you keep giving me that look, I won't tell you."

Tina's eyes lit up. "Master, you have a way?"

"Of course!" Master Tam straightened his back and coughed twice for effect. "I have a collection of countless treasures. I just remembered-there's a dictionary of hidden clan characters in my study. It explains the translation methods between their script and modern text in great detail."

Jared perked up. "Is that book still in your study?"

Master Tam nodded. "Of course! I've kept it in a very secure spot. Whenever you're free, come with me to the temple, and we'll retrieve it."

Tina didn't want to waste a moment. "I'll have Cole accompany you. You can leave tomorrow."

For some reason, just holding this ancient book made her uneasy.

Dorothy Russell's ultimate goal had to be uncovered. Otherwise, the consequences could be disastrous.