“What do you mean?” Geoffrey furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Did any other significant events occur during my time as Mr. Mysterious?” Cristofer asked.
Hearing this, Geoffrey was surprised. “Are you really sure you want to regain your memory in such an extreme way?”
“Don’t waste time, just answer my question,” Cristofer urged.
Geoffrey smiled playfully and said, “There is indeed another significant event that occurred during that time. But I’m hesitant to tell you about it.”
“Why are you hesitant?” Cristofer asked.
“Now that you’ve already broken your arm and are disabled, if I tell you about it and you try it again, you might end up dead,” Geoffrey explained.
Cristofer chuckled and said, “If I die, you’ll have a chance to take control of all of Uncle Nelson’s properties. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Uncle Nelson once told me that even if you couldn’t be his heir, he wouldn’t choose me either. So if I want to get his properties, the best way is for you to inherit them first, and then you can pass them on to me,” Geoffrey replied.
Cristofer shook his head with a wry smile and said, “You’re quite the strategist.”
“I learned from Uncle Nelson. He’s even more cunning than me. He took advantage of your parents’ deaths to separate you from Estelle and then helped you when you were at your lowest point. He made you feel indebted to him, and you thought you could never repay that debt. With this, he could easily manipulate you to do whatever he wanted…”
Before Geoffrey could continue, Cristofer immediately interrupted him, asking, “What do you mean Uncle Nelson took advantage of my parents’ deaths?”
Geoffrey raised an eyebrow and said, “Surprised, huh? Or maybe you didn’t want to accept it? You’re a smart person, so you should have figured this out by now. Gretchen is just a worker at the car dealership. She could arrange a car accident, sure. But keeping the two cars involved hidden for nearly six years and fooling you completely? That’s quite a stretch, don’t you think?”
“Uncle Nelson hid the cars,” Cristofer exclaimed in surprise.
Geoffrey continued, “Only a few people in the city are powerful enough to hide cars. You should have figured that out earlier. Did you know but didn’t want to believe it?”
Cristofer fell silent.
“You don’t believe me? Alright, let me answer your question. When you were Mr. Mysterious, you decided to leave everything behind and start a new life abroad with Estelle. But you had a car accident on the way to the airport.”
“You mean the accident that put me in a coma for months?” Cristofer asked, his brow furrowing.
“Yes, that’s the one. Do you remember I told you Uncle Nelson asked me to cause that accident?” Geoffrey asked.
Cristofer gave him a sharp look.
“Don’t glare at me. I just did what Uncle Nelson told me. He wanted you to survive. Estelle would go abroad, and you’d continue working for him once you recovered. If the accident killed you, he wouldn’t have cared. You were expected to work for him as long as you were alive.”
Raising his head, Cristofer closed his eyes, and his heart sank. ‘It turned out that’s the truth,’ he thought.
With a pained expression, he asked, “After the accident, Uncle Nelson made Estelle go abroad alone, saved me, and then told her I was dead, right?”
“Uncle Nelson told her that Mr. Mysterious is dead. He’s right. Mr. Mysterious died in that car accident, and he won’t return,” Geoffrey explained. “It’s a shame you’ve lost your memory and can’t awaken your secondary personality. Even if you tell Estelle now that you’re Mr. Mysterious, she might not believe you.”
Cristofer’s phone suddenly rang.
“Mr. Hans, your phone is ringing,” Geoffrey reminded him.
With his left arm still resting on the car hood, Cristofer dropped the golf club he held and pulled out his phone from his suit pocket. The caller ID displayed a star pattern – it was Estelle calling.
Taking a few deep breaths, Cristofer cleared his throat, trying to sound normal. He answered the phone gently, “Hi, Estelle.”
From the other end, he faintly heard a dog barking and some unpleasant noises.
“Well, I have something to do tonight and won’t be back at Hans’ Residence. If Grandpa Gary asks about my whereabouts, please make an excuse and cover for me.”
“Estelle, where are you now?” Cristofer asked with concern.
“I’m… at Rose Garden.”
“Rose Garden? The buildings there are going to be demolished. It’s very dangerous to stay there. Why did you go there alone? You should have asked me to go with you!”
“It’s alright. I’m safe,” Estelle reassured.
“I’ll come get you right away. Just wait for me there,” Cristofer insisted.
“No, please don’t come here!” Estelle hurriedly refused. “I… I’m not alone. It’s not safe for you to come right now…”
Sensing something amiss, Cristofer inquired, “Estelle, who’s with you right now? Is it Dr. Carrey? Or Tim?” Meanwhile, he wondered to himself, ‘Estelle, you must be with a man now, or you wouldn’t have hesitated like this. If it’s not Dr. Carrey or Tim, who else could it be?’
“Neither. This is my private matter. Please don’t worry about me. I’ll hang up,” Estelle responded quickly.
“Wait…” Before Cristofer could say anything else, Estelle ended the call abruptly.
Observing Cristofer’s reaction, Geoffrey asked with a smug smile, “Was that Miss Hudson calling? Is she still unwilling to forgive you?”
Ignoring him, Cristofer frowned and tried to call Estelle back. However, she rejected his call, and he couldn’t get through. Undeterred, he dialed her number again. Soon, a mechanical female voice informed him, “Sorry, the subscriber you dialed cannot be connected at the moment, please try again later.”
Geoffrey, who was nearby, overheard the mechanical voice and asked, “Is her phone turned off, or have you been blocked?”
Without responding, Cristofer made another attempt to call Estelle, but the outcome remained the same. Seeing this, Geoffrey offered his phone to Cristofer, saying, “If you want to confirm whether you’ve been blocked, you can try calling her using my phone.”
After a brief pause, Cristofer accepted Geoffrey’s phone and dialed Estelle’s number again. The call went through this time, confirming that Estelle had indeed blocked him.
“What do you want?” Estelle’s irritated voice came from the other end.
“Estelle…”
As soon as he uttered her name, Estelle recognized his voice, “Is that you, Cristofer? Why are you calling me from Mr. Field’s phone? You…”
“You blocked me?” Cristofer asked.
“I… I just wanted some peace,” Estelle replied.
“I didn’t intend to disturb you. I’m just really concerned about your safety. At the very least, you should tell me who you’re with right now. I won’t know how to explain your absence to Grandpa and the kids if they ask where you’ve gone.”