Ryan didn’t co to the hospital just to visit Clara today. Sure, he hoped to get so useful information from the girl, but his main focus was on the hospital’s archived records.
After all, people can lie, but written records? They usually tell the truth.
Well, most of the ti, anyway.
After leaving the fire escape, Ryan’s next stop was the hospital’s electronic records room. As long as Clara’s na was in the system, he could pull up her dical history, paynt records, and other details—exactly the kind of information he needed right now.
Ryan shared his plan with Mia, which had beco a bit of a habit for him.
Ever since he realized that all his sneaky efforts to infiltrate places were often outdone by a single phone call from Mia, he’d pretty much given up and accepted the little girl’s help.
Take today, for example. Getting into the electronic records room wasn’t going to be easy. Ryan had co up with two ideas: one, pretend to be a disgruntled family mber and cause a scene to access the paynt records; or two, sneak in when no one was looking.
Mia’s approach, though, was way simpler. She pulled out her phone, made a few calls, and before long, the head of the records departnt ca running over, bowing and scraping in front of her.
Ryan watched Mia, all smug and confident, and then glanced at the departnt head’s respectful attitude. Honestly, he felt a little bitter.
It reminded him of that scene from Justice League, the one directed by Zack Snyder, where Flash asks Batman what his superpower is, and Batman just says, “I’m rich.”
Ryan had been bending over backward, sweet-talking Alice into helping him with missions, only to get a few Skill Points that didn’t even give him what he wanted.
So far, the only useful things he’d gotten were so items and the Bloodhound Instinct. The rest? Honestly, they felt like a joke.
Especially that Drama Magnet he got recently. Wasn’t that just a straight-up negative buff?
Compared to that, Mia and Alice’s “money powers” were way more convenient. They could wave their hands and get things done that Ryan couldn’t even dream of.
Yeah, money and power are the real cheat codes in this world. The system? It’s a joke.
Ryan and Mia followed the departnt head into the electronic records room. The guy was smart enough to leave them alone, quickly excusing himself and giving them the space.
Ryan had expected this, but still, watching the guy practically sprint away made him hesitate for a second.
Is this really okay? Isn’t this, like, a huge breach of duty? Won’t he get in trouble for this?
“Ryan, what exactly did you get from Clara earlier?”
Mia, hands behind her back like so kind of little boss, strolled into the room. Despite the na, the “electronic records room” was really just a massive storage area for hard drives, with only one computer actually in use.
The digital age sure made things easier. If this were a few decades ago, they’d be drowning in paper files, and who knows how long it would take to find anything.
Ryan sat down at the computer, while Mia wandered around, looking for a place to sit. Eventually, she hopped up onto the mousepad, right where Ryan was about to reach for the mouse.
Ryan’s hand froze mid-air, and he awkwardly pulled it back.
He shot Mia a silent look of protest, but before he could even finish, she glared at him twice as fiercely.
Taking advantage of a mont when Mia wasn’t paying attention, Ryan sneakily grabbed the mouse. It wasn’t as smooth without the mousepad, but it was still usable.
As he logged into the system, he started thinking back to his conversation with Clara. There were definitely so gaps filled in, so the trip hadn’t been a waste.
But the results weren’t as big as he’d hoped.
The most important thing—figuring out who was funding all of this—was still a mystery. Clara had no clue, and if the records didn’t reveal anything either, then they were still stuck with no real progress.
“Frank fell three days ago, so it’s still pretty recent.”
“But from what Clara said, Frank’s last visit to the hospital was about two weeks ago, and he hasn’t been back since.”
Ryan slowly pieced things together, organizing the information as he spoke.
“Half a month, huh…”
Mia tapped her cute little chin thoughtfully. The guy who stole the stuff had also ntioned that it was about half a month ago when the person behind the scenes first contacted him. That lines up with Frank’s tiline.
“Maybe Frank t with the person behind all this about two weeks ago. They made him an offer, and Frank agreed.”
“He knew he was going to die, so he didn’t want to show up in front of his daughter anymore, afraid she’d notice sothing was off. So, he just stopped coming to the hospital.”
Ryan nodded as he listened to Mia. He had to admit, she was really sharp. He hadn’t even shared his thoughts with her yet, and she’d already laid out almost everything he was thinking.
“But that’s where the problem is,” Mia continued. “Why did they find him two weeks ago but only act three days ago? Is there so specific reason for that timing?”
Mia’s legs swung slightly under the desk as she thought out loud, her small, smooth legs and cute round-toed shoes catching Ryan’s eye. She had started off sitting to his right, but now she had sohow shifted to right in front of him.
Ryan suspected she was doing it on purpose, but Mia didn’t seem to be making any other moves, acting as if she hadn’t even noticed.
“If it was just Frank who chose to act three days ago, that could make sense. His kid’s still seriously ill, so he wouldn’t have just given up on life right after being approached.”
“But the thief also acted three days ago. That guy’s greedy as hell—he’d want to get his money as soon as possible. No way he’d wait this long.”
“So, it has to be the person behind the scenes who deliberately chose this timing.”
Mia watched Ryan’s expression closely. His face was a mix of surprise, admiration, and a bit of embarrassnt that he was trying hard to hide.
Mia’s toes twirled slightly, and a mischievous smile crept onto her lips.
Got him. Ryan didn’t want to seem so serious, after all. That ant she could keep going.
After a bit more thinking, Mia seed to hit a wall. She sighed, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her knees, propping her chin up with her hands, looking adorably frustrated.
“What do you think, Ryan?”
Her question snapped Ryan out of his daze.
Everything Mia had said was spot on with his own thoughts. He was starting to wonder if the little girl could read minds.
But now she was asking him to solve the problem, and honestly, that felt like a bit much.
Ryan stole a glance at Mia. Her expression was serious, and he couldn’t tell if her current posture was intentional or not.
“Ryan, what’s up? Your face is all red. Are you hot or sothing?”
Mia giggled as she teased him, fanning the flas of his discomfort.
Ryan felt like he was losing his mind. How could he be so wary of Mia, yet so powerless against her teasing?
“It’s not that…”
“Oh? Then why are you staring at my legs so much?”
She had a point. Ryan’s gaze had indeed been drawn to her legs, and now he was struggling to look away.
Her legs were pale and smooth, like polished jade. The curve of her inner thigh was so perfect it looked like it had been asured with a protractor. Even the most expensive sculptures couldn’t match that kind of symtry.
Her calves were just the right amount of soft, with a cuteness that was uniquely hers. If he could press his fingers into them, they’d probably feel amazing.
Sitting cross-legged, the soft flesh of her thighs was slightly squeezed, but there were no creases—just enough to stir up so dangerous thoughts.
And just a little higher up, he could almost make out the faint outline of her petite, round bottom, along with a glimpse of white cotton…
Ryan’s blood rushed through his veins, and just as Mia had said, his face and neck flushed bright red.
He let out a heavy breath, slapping his face in an attempt to calm himself down. But he forgot that his face was still sore from earlier, and the pain made him wince.
Still, it worked. The sudden jolt of pain was enough to extinguish the fire of his hormones, leaving him feeling oddly relieved.
Mia had been watching him the whole ti, and when she saw how things turned out, she couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth in disbelief.
She had only been using about 50% of her usual charm. How did it end up like this? Could it be that her allure had gotten even stronger?
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