Meanwhile, Anthony was sneakily treading on Kenneth's heels.
As the boy watched his father enter Spencer's laboratory, a trace of doubt flickered in his eyes. Seconds later, he took a couple of steps forward and leaned against the wall, listening attentively.
Thus began a conversation inside the laboratory.
“You need me?” asked Kenneth.
Spencer inclined his head.
“What is this about?”
After taking a deep breath, Spencer shifted his gaze to Kenneth. “Have you thought of how you would deal with the matter?”
At the mention of that topic, the latter parted his lips and answered, “I have already made plans.”
“When will you take action?” came Spencer's query.
Upon hearing the question, Kenneth pondered momentarily before he replied, “Why are you asking about this?”
“I'm joining you.”
“You?”
Spencer did not avert his eyes as he elucidated the circumstance, “Now, this is no longer your personal affair. You have nothing to worry about bringing me along. I won't be your burden, and besides, I'm much more useful than you could ever imagine.”
“I didn't mean anything like that...” While maintaining eye contact, Kenneth went on, “Are the results out?”
Spencer nodded. “Mm.”
His reaction alone was sufficient to say it all, so Kenneth did not even need to dig into it.
A brief moment of silence later, Kenneth looked at Spencer and said, “Sorry.”
A wry smile touched the latter's lips on that note. “Why are you apologizing? You know this has nothing to do with you.”
“If it weren't for Nat—”
“It's not her fault either,” interrupted Spencer. “No one could've predicted things to turn out like this.”
Kenneth kept his lips buttoned.
Just then, Spencer voiced, “I suppose we do share a common enemy now. Since this might even be our one and only chance, I must join you. Otherwise, even if you guys were to succeed in getting what you want, it could still be a fake. We simply can't afford the risk!”
Kenneth contemplated those words. Moments later, he uttered, “Of course, your presence would definitely make our job a breeze. In that case, I'll ask someone to begin the preparations. I'll inform you before we set off.”
“Roughly when?” inquired Spencer.
As the two exchanged glances, he continued, “The sooner we tackle the problem, the better.”
“You know, I'm just as impatient as you are, but as you said, we might be granted only one attempt at it. So, I'll have to make sure everything is flawless,” Kenneth responded.
Spencer inclined his head. “I understand.”
“Rest assured. We'll go as soon as possible.”
Seeing Kenneth make such a commitment, Spencer nodded once more.
During the interim, Anthony's entire body had almost hugged the wall as he paid the utmost attention to every word of the discussion between the adults. As if he was afraid of missing crucial details, he even began to inch closer to the door.
“Oh, right. One more thing—”
Before Spencer could bring up another issue, Kenneth's ears twitched all of a sudden, and he flashed the former a meaningful look.
Slightly startled, Spencer took a moment before he shot a wary gaze to the door.
At that point in time, Anthony was still leaning against the door. In fact, he was inundated with puzzlement when the laboratory became quiet out of the blue. Without a second thought, he boldly pressed his ear to the door, seemingly wishing to dig through the door.
Alas, right at that juncture, the door was flung open abruptly.
Anthony nearly lost his grip on the door because of that, but luckily, he managed to remain steady and did not drop to the ground.
The next second, he could feel a silhouette looming over him from above. Lifting his head, the boy looked at the person standing right before his eyes. After being stunned for a moment, he swiftly forced himself to smile.
“Daddy, Spencer.”
“What are you doing here?” Kenneth's tone was cold, but his visage was icier.
“I...” Anthony darted his eyes from side to side as he instantly came up with an ingenious scheme, thus blurting out then and there, “I'm here to see Spencer.”
“See him?” A pucker formed between Kenneth's brows.
“Yes. I don't know what happened, but my bones have been aching for the past few days, so I wanted to seek Spencer's advice.” Anthony spewed nonsense straight through his teeth. There was not a change in his expression as he did so.
Concurrently, Spencer scrutinized the boy from head to toe. “You mean your body hurts physically?”
“That's right!” Anthony bobbed his head.
Despite the affirmation, Spencer did not seem to be convinced.
Anthony walked up to him right then and requested, “Hurry up and examine me! I want to know what in the world is going on inside my body.”
Witnessing the boy's behavior, the adults shared a look.
“What's wrong? Can't you just take a look?” added Anthony.
Left with no choice, Spencer eventually placed his fingers over the boy's wrist and took his pulse.
“How's it? Am I okay?” Anthony asked.
“You're perfectly healthy.”
“Huh? What's going on, then? During the last few nights, I constantly felt like I was having cramps in my legs as I slept.”
Spencer swept his gaze across Anthony and stated, “You're still growing up at this age of yours, so I guess your body must've developed too fast that it's affected your bones. You'll be fine after taking calcium supplements.”
“What about those cramps I'm having?”
“They'll be gone as well.”
“A-Are you sure? Shouldn't you at least perform an examination using an instrument?” Anthony acted like he really cherished his own life.
“No one under the sun has the nerve to doubt my diagnosis except you.”
Realization dawned on Anthony the moment he heard that remark. Spencer was a renowned miracle doctor, after all. It would, of course, seem a little out of place for him to put forward such skeptical words.
“I didn't mean anything like that...” An awkward grin was etched on Anthony's face. “So... Could you prescribe me some supplements, then?”
Spencer took a deep breath. “Hey, I'm not running a clinic here!”
The boy then regained his senses. “Oh, yes, yes... All right. I'll head out and buy some myself.” The sheepish smile on his face did not abate.
Spencer said nothing. A look of resignation was written all over his face.
Truth be told, Anthony did look like a natural when he put his heart and soul into putting on an act such as that.
It was then Kenneth shot his son a glance from behind. “Are you done here?”
Anthony wheeled around, only to see his father's stern mien. Immediately, the boy bobbed his head and answered, “Yes.”
All Kenneth did next was flung his son a meaningful look without uttering a single word. Despite that, Anthony still managed to get the picture in an instant.
Hence, the boy rose to his feet and announced, “Okay, then. You guys carry on with your chit-chatting. I still have something on, so I'll go first.”
After bidding the adults goodbye, Anthony flashed them a faint grin and exited the laboratory.
As soon as the boy walked further enough, Spencer voiced, “This son of yours sure has a knack for acting. The way he staged the whole show was so realistic that I almost fell for it.”
Kenneth lowered his gaze at that comment. In fact, he knew that better than anyone else.
Perhaps because Anthony was the spitting image of him, he could tell right away when the boy was lying. It was like him looking at a younger version of himself, thus becoming fully aware of the truthfulness behind every word that came from his son's mouth.
Be that as it might, Kenneth could not call his son out for eavesdropping outside the door.
Should he have chosen to talk the matter out, he would then no longer be able to keep the boy in the dark.
At the thought of that, Kenneth looked up and eyed Spencer. “By the way, we mustn't let the three of them know anything about this.”
“Got it.” Spencer nodded. “But are you certain we can keep it from them? They're so quick on the uptake, after all. It's going to be tough. Plus, since Anthony has tried to eavesdrop, that means he's already suspicious. This can't be a coincidence.”
An unfathomable glint flitted across Kenneth's dark eyes. He narrowed his eyes and said in resignation, “Just keep it under our hats for as long as we can. The later they learn about it, the lesser the pain and frustration they would experience.”
Spencer bobbed his head in agreement. “All right. Since you've said as much today, I won't let a word slip out. So, don't worry.”
Kenneth nodded as well. “I think that's all for today. I'll notify you again before departing. It'll be in a couple more days.”
“Noted,” uttered Spencer as he inclined his head.
Just as the conversation concluded, a sudden loud thud came from Thalia's room.
Spencer was astonished on the spot. The next instant, he bolted toward Thalia's room as quickly as he could.
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