She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 111

For the next two days, Loyce skipped school, locking herself away in a unit at the military housing compound. The apartment was fully equipped with surveillance gear, which she used to monitor the micro-cameras she’d also installed in her bedroom at Serenity Manor.

Just as she expected, after Sybil learned she wouldn't be staying at the manor, the cameras captured her sneaking into Loyce's bedroom.

Loyce had prepared two fake musical scores. The first was placed conspicuously on her desk. Sybil, having a bit of sense, glanced at it and realized it was nonsense. She tossed it aside disdainfully and began rummaging through the drawers.

Finally, from within a piano exercise book, Sybil pulled out the second, more carefully crafted fake score. Her excitement was palpable as she studied it for a moment before snapping a photo and hurrying away.

Watching the clownish display from the other side of the monitor, Loyce’s smile widened.

What an idiot. And the other heiresses hailed her as a musical genius? The successor to Morris?

Loyce quickly dismissed the little episode and turned her attention back to the situation with the pirates on the high seas. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, finding a firewall vulnerability and smoothly infiltrating the surveillance systems of several active pirate encampments capable of intercepting her cargo ship.

After a few days of observation, she had mostly ruled them out. She stretched lazily, just as the phone on her desk began to ring.

It was Morris.

“Loyce, my recital is about to start. Are you almost here? I saved you a VIP seat, and Hank mentioned you might want some snacks, so I left a basket of treats for you.”

Loyce glanced at the time. If it hadn't been for his call, she would have completely forgotten. “I’m on my way. What about Hank? Isn’t he coming? Why didn’t he give me a heads-up?”

“He ran into some trouble last night, but he’s fine. He just has something to take care of today and can’t make it.”

“Alright, I understand,” Loyce replied.

After hanging up, she checked her missed messages. It was a report from the men she’d assigned to secretly protect Hank.

[Boss, two separate groups planted a bomb in Hank’s car last night. It detonated on his way back, but he’s unharmed. We took care of one wave of assassins and left a couple of survivors for him to interrogate. It’s likely related to the ongoing struggle for power within the Mob; the attacks against him are getting more frequent.]

Loyce wasn't worried about Hank's safety. The men she assigned him were handpicked elites, each one worth ten ordinary soldiers.

Loyce paused, her gaze sweeping over them coolly. Without a word, she continued toward her seat—front and center, in the exclusive section reserved for the Lonsdale family.

She had just sat down when Sybil approached, a sweet smile on her face.

“Loyce, what are you doing here?” she asked, feigning surprise. “Morris saved this seat specifically for his special guest. Your seat should be further back.”

Sybil’s intention was clear: to publicly humiliate Loyce and make her seem ignorant of social etiquette.

Loyce remained seated, unperturbed. “What special guest?”

Sybil didn’t actually know. She had only overheard Morris on the phone inviting someone while passing by his piano room. When she learned about his solo recital, she had volunteered herself, hoping to be a guest performer for her esteemed brother. Regardless, anyone invited by Morris had to be a world-class musician. Sharing a stage with him would be a huge boost to her future career.

“Morris has a close friend joining him as a guest, and he saved this spot for them,” Sybil said, her brow furrowing as if dealing with someone unreasonable. She sighed. “Loyce, if you really like sitting up front, how about we trade? I’m heading backstage soon anyway. Let’s leave this for Morris’s guest, alright?”

Loyce’s long fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest, a faint smile playing on her lips. “If this seat is for his guest, then I have all the more reason to be sitting right here.”