Chapter 1130 She Is Mine
Joseph took care of Bastien meticulously. In the evening, Bastien showed signs of waking up. With much effort, he opened his eyes and saw Joseph sitting by his bedside with a concerned look on his face. Bastien glanced at the layers of bandage on his arm and asked nervously, “Joseph, my arm…”
“Mr. Nine, we managed to get you to the hospital in time. Your arm is fine. You will make a complete recovery after a period of rest.” Joseph paused and continued hesitantly, “I thought you had the jade key? How did you injure your arm so seriously?”
Bastien was leaning back against a cushion when a cold glint flashed across his gentle eyes as he replied, “That jade key is fake.” “Fake?” A deep crease appeared between Joseph’s brows.
“Even though the key fitted into the lock, it couldn’t be used to open the secret room. As I used force, it activated the traps instead. This happened because I was too careless…” Bastien continued coldly, “Not only was Zophie deceived, but I have also been deceived. This jade key is an exact replica of the real thing. The only person in Loang who is capable of replicating the jade key so well is Varre Appleby. However, he disappeared more than a decade ago…”
It was as if the man had suddenly fallen off the face of the Earth. The royal family had made attempts to find him but to no avail. No one had expected that Varre was still alive and had even created an exact replica of the jade key.
“Mr. Nine, so where’s the real key?” Joseph was confused. After a pause, he said hesitantly, “Could… Could Major General Sutton have switched it out when he was questioning Zophie? Maybe he’s thinking of keeping the key for himself?”
Bastien narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “It wasn’t Jerome. It was someone else who took the key.” “Who?”
“Natalie,” Bastien answered. “She’s probably the only person who could have deceived both Zophie and myself. Well, she has outsmarted me once again…”
“What?” Joseph exclaimed in shock. Both Joseph and Bastien fell into deep thought.
Even though Natalie hasn’t been here for long, she has a good relationship with the Sutton family. They are so close that Daniel even went against me because of her. On top of that, she also knows Varre, who has been missing for so long, and was able to get him to duplicate the jade key with such short notice…
What’s more intriguing is that she is such a master of stratagem and was able to calculate and execute every step so perfectly…
No matter who got their hands on the fake jade key, they would all end up suffering. Bastien could not help but wonder what would have happened if he had been more careless. He might have even lost his arm.
“That woman… She’s making me love and hate her at the same time…” The determination in Bastien’s eyes became increasingly intense as the man’s infatuation for Natalie grew deeper. Not only is she so wild and beautiful, but under her gorgeous appearance is also a cunning and ingenious mind.
“Natalie has caused you such misery…” Joseph wanted to ask further but stopped mid-sentence. Are you intending to just let the matter slide?
Bastien glanced at his injured arm and said placidly, “Joseph, spread the news that I got injured in the royal mausoleum around. Make it sound as serious as possible. Also, let Blaze know that the jade key in my possession is a counterfeit. In the coming days, I will focus on my recovery and see how the situation develops while waiting for Blaze to force Natalie to hand over the real jade key…”
Joseph understood that Bastien did not want to confront Natalie directly and wanted Blaze to do the dirty job instead.
The mantis, busy stalking the cicada, would not be aware of the bird behind.
Between Blaze and Natalie, regardless of who the mantis or cicada was, the bird would certainly be Bastien, watching the mantis’ every move.
“How’s the investigation going? Is the man behind Blaze that person?” Bastien asked nonchalantly.
Joseph nodded solemnly and replied, “It’s just as you thought. King, the mastermind behind Blaze, is the person you had in mind.”
Bastien pressed his lips together and let out a sigh. “No matter how much that person wants to be at the top, there can only be one king, and it would be me.”
Of course, there was something else that the man omitted from his sentence.
Not only will I become the king, but I will also have Natalie as my queen!
