Chapter 39 - The Secret of the Basement

Looking at this thin and small figure, Chris suddenly had mixed feelings. He wanted to comfort this child, but he did not know where to start. There was no way he could understand the child’s plight, so he could only sigh.

“Go back. Study hard and don’t think too much. Life is still very good. Sunlight is everywhere. The sun will eventually shine into those dark corners.”

Joey didn’t look like he was looking forward to it. He looked at the dead tree branches in front of him with a pair of lifeless eyes.

“Teacher, life is indeed beautiful, but it’s your life and not mine. I don’t know if the sun will shine into the corner, but I know I’ll be in the corner for a long time. I’m going back to class.”

Joey turned around and left, returning to the classroom expressionlessly. The others thought that he had already informed the teacher and were prepared to continue to prank him, but the teacher did not find trouble with them, so they gradually stopped bullying him.

A week passed…

After the Garcia Corporation returned to operating normally, they signed new contracts from time to time, and Olivia’s relationship with Brian was getting better and better. It was as though her wish to fall in love had been fulfilled, and it was time for her mother and Allie’s death to be investigated seriously.

When Olivia arrived at the orphanage, the children were playing happily on the lawn with bright smiles on their faces. There were snacks and toys on the lawn. The children were of all sizes and were having a great time.

A lean and skinny boy sat by the side, staring in a daze. As he looked at the children playing, there was no emotion on his face. Olivia recognized him at a glance. Compared to before, he had grown a little.

When Olivia wanted to greet Joey, Chris stopped her.

“You are?”

“I sent that child here. I came to see him today. Why? Is there a problem?”

Chris shook his head and said helplessly, “This child is very sensible, but he’s too introverted. His thinking is so mature that he doesn’t look like a child. He doesn’t speak much either. He’s almost transparent.”

When Olivia heard this, she was stunned. She didn’t expect Joey to become like this. Was it because she hadn’t come to see him?

She walked to his side and sat down.

Something shocking happened. Joey smiled when he saw Olivia. The warm sunlight shone on the boy’s face, and his dimples when he smiled were filled with sunlight.

“Miss, you’re here.”

Olivia nodded and passed the things she had bought to Joey.

“How is it? Are you not used to being here?”

Joey shook his head. “It’s pretty good. It’s better than being at home, at least. Thanks for coming to see me today. When are you planning to leave?”

She had just arrived a while ago. Why did Joey ask her when she was leaving?

“I just arrived, and you want me to leave already? It seems like you hate me a little and don’t really want to see me.”

Joey raised his head and looked straight into Olivia’s eyes. “That’s not true. It would be best if you could accompany me forever. But Miss, you are an adult and not as relaxed as us children. I don’t want you to delay your own matters because of me.”

Olivia looked down on her own childish thoughts. She had thought that the child didn’t want to see her in a fit of pique. Unexpectedly, Joey was being sensible, so her thoughts just now were really too stupid.

“Miss, let’s go play in my room. There’s nothing fun here. It’s quieter now.”

Joey led the way while Olivia followed at a leisurely pace. When they passed through the main hall, a small courtyard that had been sealed up attracted their attention. The courtyard was unique and small.

Olivia pointed at the courtyard. “Joey, do you know what that courtyard is?”

Joey looked up and said, “I don’t know either. The director said that it’s a restricted area. We can’t go there to play. If we’re caught, we’ll be grounded. However, some brave children have been there too. They’ve been discovered several times.”

Olivia was very curious. There was always a secret behind everything that was prohibited. She couldn’t help but walk over and find two children playing with bottles under the tree.

They filled the bottles with white powder, there were no labels on them. After pouring out a few of the bottles, they mixed the powder together and sniffed them. After they were done, they started to twitch all over and spit out some saliva. It looked like they were taking drugs.

“What are you guys doing?”

Olivia was somewhat angry. How could such young children come into contact with such a thing?

The sound was a little rushed and frightened the children. One of them started crying and said something while crying, but it was hard to hear what he was saying.

“Okay, okay, stop crying. Tell me, what are you doing?”

Only then did the boy stop crying. He said with some fear, “We’re playing with this because we saw those people living in the basement consuming it like that. The director told us that they’re special, so they can’t come out to sunbathe, or they’ll die. They can only be locked up in the basement to secretly take medicine. Only then will they recover.”

The other boy tugged at him, his expression grave and frightened.

“Didn’t we promise the director not to say anything?”

After understanding the situation, Olivia discovered that the two children had accidentally entered the basement because they were playful. Then, they discovered the illegal behavior of the orphanage.

The young director had felt that the two of them were not a threat and lied to them that this was a ward.

The director would not expect that Olivia had found out about this matter. Olivia walked to the courtyard entrance and was just about to enter when she felt her vision go dark, and she lost all senses.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Olivia woke up. Her mouth was gagged, and she was tied to a chair. She tried to break free but found that it was very firm and showed no signs of relaxing.

Olivia looked around and found that the two children and Joey had been brought here as well. They were still unconscious, which was rather worrying. She didn’t know what was going on, but she hoped that they were fine.

It was a small room with a bed and a wardrobe. The floor near the bed was filled with needles, and it looked scary.

A person wearing a white coat and a mask walked in. There was disdain in her eyes as she stood at the door. She then walked in and smiled at Olivia.

“Oh my, look who this is? It’s actually our Mrs. Ford. What a rare guest. But why do you insist on courting death for no reason? Isn’t it good to be a rich lady living a life of luxury? If you insist on being a busybody, then you can’t blame me.”

Olivia recognized this voice. It was the director.

“Haha, you’re usually pampered and well-treated, so you must be uncomfortable like this, right? Let me tell you, a drug addict was living on that bed before he died there. When he died, he left with a grievance. After that, no one dared to come to this room anymore. You have to be careful tonight, don’t anger his spirit.”