The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1013

Anthony caught up to Charlotte and slipped his arm around her waist, careful not to hold her too tightly, worried he might actually set her off. Charlotte shot him a quick look, then turned away, but she didn’t shrug him off.

In the main hall, Dr. David was fussing over a sleek, high-tech machine, his lab coat dusting the floor. It was the lab’s newest blood analysis system, supposed to be almost perfectly accurate.

When he heard them come in, Dr. David glanced over his shoulder. He froze for a moment, then took two quick steps back when he saw the stormy look on Charlotte’s face.

“Lottie…” He pressed his lips together, looking nervous. “I swear, this wasn’t my idea. Anthony dragged me here. I had nothing to do with it. I’m loyal to you, you know that. Completely, one hundred percent.”

Anthony tossed his jacket onto the sofa and lazily started rolling up his sleeves. “Come on, you got two billion out of it. This was a fair deal.”

Dr. David’s face twitched. “What was I supposed to do, run? If I was getting kidnapped anyway, I might as well cash in. Charlotte, I just earned the lab two billion. We really needed it.” He looked at her hopefully. “I mean, I couldn’t just get kidnapped for free, right?”

Charlotte didn’t want to hear another word from either of them. She flopped down on the sofa, put her arm on the table, and waved them over. “Just get it over with.”

Dr. David let out a shaky breath and tried to calm himself down. He grabbed a syringe, disinfected her arm, and drew her blood in one smooth motion.

Anthony was right there, gently pressing a cotton swab over the spot where the needle had been. “Does it hurt?”

Charlotte shot him a tiny smirk. “It’s nothing.”

Dr. David took his hand away and glanced at Anthony, whose expression had turned dark and unreadable. “It looks like you’re in the third stage now.”

He paused, making sure they were both listening. “There are five stages to this genetic mutation. The first one lasts a while. Everything seems normal until around fifteen. After that, the second stage starts at eighteen. That’s when you start seeing things like insomnia, muscle weakness. After that, the mutation picks up speed.”

He looked down at her chart. “Charlotte’s is a third-generation mutation. The fifth and final stage hits at twenty. When that happens, the mutated cells basically eat up all the healthy ones. By then, even a cure can’t help. That’s the end.”

Charlotte had just turned nineteen. She had less than a year left. If they didn’t find a cure in time, her body would keep breaking down. The inhibitor she made for herself was helping for now, slowing things down, but it wouldn’t last forever.

Anthony listened in silence, his face cold and his dark eyes distant, as if he’d frozen over inside. He didn’t say a word.