Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 289: Bella… what exactly was she planning?

Ryan finally left the bathroom, just about a minute after Bella had walked out. One of the guests from the banquet hall happened to come in to use the restroom and, in passing, let Ryan out.

Ryan could clearly remember the strange look on the man’s face—after all, being locked in a bathroom stall is a pretty weird situation.

Once he realized it was Bella who had been following him, the initial tension he’d felt from the unknown vanished. But in its place, a different kind of panic took over, one he couldn’t shake off.

Rubbing his temples in frustration, Ryan felt like his head was about to explode from everything that was happening.

A few days ago, when he visited the orphanage, the director had slipped him a note. It was news about Bella’s return.

At the time, the director had hinted at Ryan with a kind of “why aren’t you doing something about this?” attitude. In the director’s eyes, there was a huge chance that Ryan and Bella could end up together. Bella had come back specifically to find Ryan—wasn’t that obvious?

Ryan wasn’t clueless about all this. He understood Bella’s feelings. He just… wasn’t sure.

He tucked the note away in his pocket, knowing he’d have to hide it once he got back to the villa. After all, anything he tried to hide had a way of mysteriously disappearing, only to end up in Alice’s hands—just like his old journal. But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to throw the note away. After all, it was from Bella.

Ryan quickened his pace back to the banquet hall. Whether it was because of Bella’s threat or his instinct to protect her, he couldn’t let Alice find out about what had happened.

Thinking back on the encounter, Ryan still felt a lingering fear. That oppressive feeling—he’d only ever seen it in Alice when she was in one of her chaotic moods.

He tried to push the memory out of his mind, but one image stayed stuck, replaying over and over like a paused frame.

He had seen the hand that slipped the note under the stall door. It was still as slender and delicate as he remembered.

But what Ryan had noticed, with his sharp eye, was the fresh wound on Bella’s palm. Blood was seeping from the cut.

The wound was long and thin, but it wasn’t a clean line. It looked like she had clenched her fist so tightly that her nails had dug into her palm, breaking the skin. Bella was Nella, the third daughter of the Langston family. She had definitely recognized him when they first met on the second floor earlier.

Or maybe, Ryan thought, this whole thing had been orchestrated by Bella from the start. After all, she was the one who sent the invitation to this banquet. Maybe even Alice bringing him here was part of Bella’s plan.

Why hadn’t Bella acknowledged him earlier? And why had she threatened him when they were alone in the bathroom?

What did Bella want with Alice?

Could this be part of the Dangerous Events?

A wild thought suddenly popped into Ryan’s head, so outlandish that even he had trouble accepting it.

What role did the system play in all of this? Were Alice’s Dangerous Events her fate, or were they orchestrated by the system?

Ryan didn’t know where these thoughts were coming from, but he knew one thing: Alice, in her position, had a lot of people gunning for her.

But this time, with Bella, Ryan couldn’t shake the feeling that it was because of him that Alice was being targeted. Wasn’t this trouble something he had brought to her?

Before stepping back into the banquet hall, Ryan took a moment to compose himself. The reality was clear: whether for Alice’s sake or his own, he had to act like nothing had happened.

But…

As soon as he walked into the room, Ryan was hit by the strange tension in the air. Alice and Bella stood on opposite sides of the room, each with a group of people behind them.

On Alice’s side were her gang members, while the guests had all huddled behind Bella, their eyes filled with fear and hostility as they glanced toward Alice.

What… had happened?

Ryan looked over at Alice. She had her back to him, talking to her bodyguards, her face cold and expressionless. She was clearly not in a good mood.

“Ryan, you’re back.”

Before Ryan could say anything to Alice, a soft voice came from the opposite direction, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

It was Bella.

Ryan glanced over, expecting her to show some kind of reaction after what had just happened between them. At the very least, he thought she wouldn’t be as composed as before.

But he had underestimated her. Bella didn’t show any sign of discomfort. In fact, she looked at him with an expression of disdain, as if he were nothing but a nuisance.

If Ryan didn’t know what had happened between them, he might have been fooled by Bella’s performance.

Ryan took a serious look at Bella. The silver-haired girl didn’t meet his gaze at all. In fact, when she noticed him looking, she deliberately hid her right hand behind her back.

He knew he had to give Alice some kind of explanation. Ryan was also worried that Alice might do something reckless in the heat of the moment. As he passed Bella, he made his way toward Alice.

“Miss Alice, I’m fine.”

When Bella had spoken earlier, Alice had already turned around. Seeing Ryan approach, she immediately walked over to meet him.

“Keep searching. Go to Mr. Langston and get the security footage. I’ll explain everything to him later,” Alice commanded her people, her tone sharp and decisive.

She was now standing in front of Ryan, grabbing his right hand. Her sharp eyes scanned him up and down, and only after confirming that he was truly unharmed did she let out a small sigh of relief.

Ryan felt a bit uneasy under Alice’s intense gaze. It was as if her eyes were the best surveillance system anyone could ask for.

He couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of relief that the Langston estate didn’t seem to have any actual security cameras. And the fact that Nella (Bella) hadn’t spoken earlier, only communicating through a note, was a stroke of luck.

One phone call had been enough to make Alice take this situation so seriously. Ryan had no doubt that if she found out what had really happened, both he and Bella would probably end up at the bottom of a river.

“Ryan, did you see Miss Nella outside earlier?” Alice asked, not caring that the silver-haired girl was standing right there. She questioned Ryan openly, as if Bella’s presence didn’t matter.

However, Alice didn’t seem too concerned about the answer. After all, Bella had returned so quickly that it didn’t seem like there had been enough time for anything significant to happen.

“Bel… Nella… I didn’t really see her,” Ryan stammered, almost slipping up. But Alice, now focused on Bella, didn’t seem to pay much attention to his response. Once she heard that he hadn’t seen her, she didn’t press the issue further.

Alice’s people went off to search for the mysterious figure that didn’t exist, while the banquet hall, though continuing after the earlier disruption, had a completely different atmosphere compared to before.

This incident had taught Alice a new lesson: she hadn’t been keeping a close enough eye on Ryan. From now on, she might even assign someone to follow him to the bathroom.

Alice’s possessiveness was growing stronger, and the seeds of hidden danger had already been planted.

Bella… what exactly was she planning?