The Queen They Let Go (Alice and Eric) novel Chapter 447

Alice's defenses crumbled in an instant, and tears turned into a shaky laugh.

Eugenia gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Such a pretty girl; crying ruins your look."

"Who cares about being pretty—lying to me like that, I don't care how good you look, I'm not talking to you anymore."

Eugenia couldn't help laughing at that.

"You little menace."

Seeing the reunion between mentor and student, Julius realized they likely had a thousand things to say, so he took the initiative to excuse himself.

The two of them had their own rhythm, and once they finished trading recent stories, they naturally shifted to business.

Eugenia took the lead.

"I really didn't leave the country; Julius's condition was too serious, and I needed to stay close.

"But when it comes to needle therapy, you're better than I am, so of course, I was going to let you treat him."

Alice nodded.

After a brief pause, Eugenia went on.

"I was the one who lured Xavier here; he's not the head of the family, but he runs all of the Sarratts' dirty operations, so if we catch him, we're holding the entire clan's rap sheet."

Alice handed her the medical report.

"I suspect the reason I was trafficked back then ... was him."

She had never said that to anyone before.

But based on the data Rowan had extracted from that USB drive, Maria's lab clearly belonged to the Sarratts.

Back when Maria was pregnant, she couldn't resist the terms the Sarratts offered and took a cocktail of their drugs.

By rights, the baby in her belly was supposed to be another test subject.

In a twisted way, fate had intervened.

The trafficking ring working for the Sarratts back then didn't have the fancy communication tools they do now.

So, they grabbed Alice by mistake and smuggled her away.

As for Linda, that was all Huglan's doing—he'd seen that Maria was destined for money and status, so he deliberately planted his own daughter at her side.

Eugenia had refused to go along with the Sarratts' methods and was thrown out; everything she'd built was taken over by the current head of the family.

Back then, she hadn't wanted Alice dragged into any of that ugliness.

She'd only joked that someone had stolen her "good fortune."

Whenever Eugenia drifted into mystical talk like that, Alice never pressed; she was terrified her mentor would start lecturing, and she'd lose the thread and get annoyed.

Who would've thought that after circling around and around, everything would still come crashing down on her head?

"Honestly, I don't care anymore whether I was abandoned on purpose or not."

Worried her mentor might think she was still stuck on being left behind, Alice explained herself.

"I was lost back then, but no alarm was raised. Likely it was because Maria didn't know how to explain it to the Sarratts, so she figured it was better to act as if I were truly gone.

"Was Maria completely incapable of loving me?

"Maybe there was a sliver.

"Letting me fend for myself to live or die was probably Maria's final act of maternal mercy."

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