“Well…”
Frank murmured awkwardly, shooting a glance at Rory as she stood in the distance.
“Hmm…?”
Gene quickly caught his meaning and waved Rory off for her to leave.
A hint of annoyance showed on Rory’s face for an instant, and she was staring thoughtfully at Frank even as she headed into her bedroom.
With her gone, Gene asked, “Alright, you can speak freely now, Mr. Lawrence. Does my illness have something to do with Rory?”
Frank nodded slightly. “Actually, I need you to stay calm and listen to what I have to say to you now, Mr. Pearce.”
“Tell me.” Gene’s mood dampened even as he saw the scowl on Frank’s face.
“Someone is growing Chestbursters inside you… Actually, there are three of them, each half a meter long. Once they mature, they will tear a hole out of your ribcage.”
Gene’s face fell even though Frank had warned him to stay calm.
He started panicking even though he almost could not, and he seemed to see the worms squirming around even as glanced at his abdomen.
Still, he was already taking the news better than most, and the fault was not entirely on him-no one could have stayed calm if they knew they had something like them inside them.
“A-Are you sure?!” He grabbed Frank’s arm, his eyes widened in panic. “I’ve consulted so many doctors, even traditional healers… but none of them could tell! But you did so right away… Are you sure about this, Mr. Lawrence?!”
“Calm down, Mr. Pearce.” Frank patted his shoulder to calm him down but nodded in confidence. “This is curable, but…”
“But, what?!” Gene cried, sweating buckets.
The fact that Frank was still keeping him on tenterhooks was really killing him!
Frank sighed. “Even if I remove the Chestbursters, there’s a chance that more would be implanted into you. Moreover, it must be fed with a specific type of medicine, orût won’t mature.”
“Are you saying that someone’s been trying to kill me?” Gene murmured, catching on.
“Yes,” Frank nodded in confirmation,
sighing. “So, all I can say is that loan cure you this one time, but not every time. All you can do is be wary toward the people around you for your sake.”
“Rory… Thames…” Gene growled the name through his teeth.
Aside from Zorn Woss, Rory was the only person who could stay around him without arousing his suspicion.
And as Zorn was Gene’s childhood friend who had no motive to hurt him, Rory was the only possibility.
“But…” Gene was soon hesitant-Rory was a delicate maiden who did not know about medicine.
How did she poison him, and without him or Zorn noticing?
“Could it be Zorn?” he murmured to himself.
Frank chuckled. “Why don’t you consider this, Mr. Pearce? You have no heirs, so whoever benefits most from your death would be the most motivated.”
“Benefits most…”
Gene did not even need to guess thanks to Frank’s hint, though his face turned paler than before when he realized who the culprit was.
