Nelly didn't know what else to say.
Her act of kindness had resulted in disaster for Thalia, so it was only natural that she would feel guilty about it.
Even so, she had a determined look in her eyes as she slowly came to a realization.
Noticing that Nelly had gone silent, Thalia tried to ease the tension by saying with a chuckle, “The reason I'm telling you this is to remind you that you're not alone in this. I just didn't expect to someday be so closely connected to another woman in life, you know?”
However, hearing her laugh only amplified Nelly 's feelings of guilt even further.
“Relax, will you? I'm used to living life on the edge, so death doesn't scare me at all! On the contrary, I want to thank you for giving me the chance to find out something that I've always wanted to know!” Thalia continued with a genuine smile on her face.
Of course, no amount of reassurance would ever erase the guilt in Nelly 's heart. While she hadn't intended for things to turn out like this, it remained an undeniable fact that her actions had indirectly caused it.
“Have you had any episodes lately?” Nelly asked after a brief pause. Thalia shook her head.
She had yet to witness Nelly suffering from the poison as Spencer had knocked the latter out before bringing her back.
“How is it like when you have those episodes? Does it hurt a lot?” Thalia asked. Nelly nodded. “Yes, it hurt so much that I felt like I was going to die.”
That was when she recalled reading about Thalia's fear of pain when she looked her up a while back.
Sure enough, Thalia froze the moment she heard that. “Oh, well... So be it, then! It can't possibly hurt more than all of these wounds!” she said with a forced smile.
“It's not the same. You can stop the pain from your wounds or go numb from them, but this is different. It really redefines pain for you. In fact, the pain I felt when giving birth was nothing compared to this,” Nelly clarified.
Thalia fell silent this time.
Although I've never given birth myself, I've heard and witnessed how painful it was for others when going into labor. That's why I decided to never have kids in life! And now, Nelly is telling me that the pain during childbirth is nothing compared to this...
Nelly chuckled when she saw Thalia go silent. “Well, it's not like there's nothing you can do about the pain.”
Thalia's eyes lit up when she heard that. “What can you do?”
“Remember what Spencer did the other day? It worked wonders,” Nelly said. Thalia frowned. “You mean have someone knock you out?”
Nelly nodded.
“I see... All right, I understand. If I ever have one of those episodes, please make sure to knock me out on the spot! I don't want you to hesitate, okay? Oh, and tell everyone else to do the same if they ever see me having an episode,” Thalia said in a trembling voice.
“What's this? The great Thalia who fears nothing in the world is afraid of a little pain? I wonder what your man would think if he finds out!” Nelly teased her.
“Who said I'm afraid of pain?” Thalia stubbornly refused to admit to it. It was her biggest secret, after all.
“Why else do you think I'm telling you this?” Nelly asked.
Thalia froze as the sudden realization dawned upon her. So, she was telling me all that just to warn me? “How did you know about my fear of pain?”
“Take a guess.”
“No one else knows about this!”
Nelly simply kept quiet and smiled at her.
“Did Tony tell you that? Wait, no... I don't think Tony knows about it either. Hmm... Was it Spencer who told you?”
“You could say that.”
Thalia frowned and mumbled with a pout, “I can't believe he revealed my biggest secret!”
“All right, it's getting late. You should get some rest,” Nelly said, making no attempt to explain herself whatsoever.
“You too,” Thalia replied.
Nelly nodded and walked out of the room.
Thalia found herself liking Nelly more and more as she watched the latter leave.
As though he had noticed something off about her response, Spencer looked her in the eyes and asked, “What are you planning on doing?”
Nelly simply flashed him a faint smile in response. “What could I possibly do?” “Don't do anything stupid, Nelly ...”
“Am I really that stupid of a person?”
Spencer frowned and went silent as he tried to come up with a response.
“Don't worry; I'm not going to do anything!” Nelly reassured him with a faint smile. Spencer simply stared at her in silence.
He knows me like the back of his hand. If I don't leave now, he'll definitely sense that something is wrong! With that in mind, Nelly decided to excuse herself. “All right, you carry on with your work. I'll head back and get some rest now.”
Spencer nodded at her without saying anything.
After making her way to the door, Nelly turned around and reminded him, “I know that you're very busy with your research to come up with an antidote, but you mustn't forget about Thalia. She needs you the most right now. She likes to see your handsome face, so make sure to shave before you go see her!”
It wasn't until Nelly had closed the door behind her that Spencer retracted his gaze and went back to his report.
Nelly returned to her room after leaving Spencer's laboratory.
As Alpha Kilian was discussing business with Dave right now, she knew he wouldn't be home.
Even so, Nelly made sure to lock the room door and stand in the innermost corner of the room before whipping out her phone.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she punched in a number and made the call.
She had a sharp and determined look in her eyes as she clutched the phone tightly in her hand. The call got through a few seconds later.
“Hello? Is this Ms. Jackson ?” asked the person on the other end of the line. “Yes, it's me,” Nelly replied.
“I'm surprised you'd call me. Did something happen?” Boss asked with a hint of joy in his voice. “I'm calling to confront you about something,” Nelly said coldly.
Boss let out a nonchalant chuckle. “I can tell that much.”
Nelly got straight to the point and asked, “Why would you do this?”
“I've done many things, so you need to be a little more specific. Which one are you talking about? Your poisoning or Alpha Kilian 's injury?”
“So, it really was you!” Nelly exclaimed.
Boss' voice grew cold all of a sudden. “Yes, it was me. It's a shame I failed to kill him, though. I can't believe he managed to escape.”
“Forget it, Boss! I won't let you hurt him!” Nelly yelled.
“Go ahead and try to stop me, then. I'll have you know that I don't just want to kill him. I'm also going to torture him so much that death would be a relief for him!” Boss said confidently.
“Talk is cheap, so how about we skip the idle chit-chat and cut to the chase? Tell me, what exactly do you want?”
“What, are you going to agree to all of my demands?” Boss asked.
“Not necessarily. I just want to see if it's easier to meet your demands or to just commit suicide. Of course, I'll pick the option that benefits me the most.”
Boss froze for a brief moment when he heard her response.
Although Nelly is a very calm and rational person, she's definitely capable of doing just about anything to get what she wants. The fact that she managed to survive in the southern camp is proof of it.
With that in mind, he said, “All right, then. My demand is simple. I want you to return to my side and
help me out.”
Nelly narrowed her eyes. “Help you out? What could I possibly help you with?”
“Please don't give me that crap, Ms. Jackson . I may not know your true identity, but I do know that Theodore is your father. Surely, you must've inherited his talent as a hacker, right? I must say, you did a really great job at hiding it!” Boss replied.
Nelly was so shocked that she paused for a few seconds before saying, “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Is that so? What about that thing in your bracelet, then? Do you not know that as well?” Nelly fell silent after hearing that.
Oh, no... I didn't think he'd find out about that!
“Let's not forget the message on the billboards in the Pack . That was your doing too, right?” Boss pressed on.
He got the answer to his question when Nelly remained quiet.