"We found him a perfect match."

Ashley’s brows rose as she instinctively glanced at her screen, waiting for Omen to drop a message. She had only asked Omen to do one thing, and that was to find a compatible match for Lucian. Of course, she hadn’t given him any details.

Just before Ashley answered Gustav, her phone vibrated once more. She glanced at it and saw Doctor Wesley’s contact name.

"We should—"

CLACK.

Ashley hung up on Gustav without a word and answered the incoming call.

"Doctor Wesley."

Doctor Wesley, who was on the other side of the line, almost flinched upon hearing her calm voice.

"Madam, we found a match for the master. It’s almost a perfect match, and it’s the highest compatibility we’ve found," he said. "I’ll schedule the transplant as soon as possible."

Ashley tightened her grip around her phone.

This should have made her happy. It should have given her hope.

But somehow, somewhere in her heart, she felt the opposite.

Perhaps it was because she had seen Lucian after the transplant, assuming her guess about her previous life was correct.

Or...

Was it because this simply felt wrong?

"Doctor Wesley," she called. "Who told you this?"

"Madam?"

"Who found the donor?"

For a second, Doctor Wesley looked confused, but he still answered.

"The hospital."

"I see." She nodded. "Let me know the earliest operation schedule available."

"Yes, Madam."

Having said that, Ashley hung up without another word.

Then, she dialed Gustav’s number, and surprisingly, he answered almost immediately.

"I was calling—"

"Where did you get the news about this donor?" She asked, cutting him off once again.

Gustav frowned. He almost replied with, Does it matter?

But he held his tongue and answered properly.

"Our men, who had been searching for a donor, called," he explained. "They said they found someone who was a perfect match."

"The catch?" she asked with an arched brow, knowing Gustav’s men had likely taken drastic measures to receive such news so quickly.

Gustav had hoped she wouldn’t ask, but since she did, he had to tell her.

"The donor is still... alive."

"..."

"Don’t bother with that for now," he said. "What matters more right now is the master. If you said we’re on the same page, this shouldn’t bother you."

"I never said it bothered me," she replied. "I’m just wondering about one thing."

Ashley spun her chair slightly as she thought for a moment.

One thing she promised herself today was that she would not make the same mistake again.

She would not ignore the signs the moment they appeared.

Earning her place in Dominion was important.

But Lucian’s survival mattered too.

"Gustav, have you contacted Doctor Wesley about this?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Why are you asking?" he blurted out, only to bite his tongue almost immediately in realization. "I mean—not yet. I called because you mentioned you wanted to be notified first."

Gustav almost rolled his eyes at himself as he internally cringed.

He wasn’t used to this.

Talking to her about important matters, or even following her instructions.

Still, he had to admit that the second he agreed with her, he naturally started keeping every word and order she said in mind.

"Besides, Doctor Wesley isn’t completely part of Dominion," he added. "He worked for the master. So he’d probably have some moral dilemma if he found out about this."

"But the hospital already found him a match," Ashley said. "The moment you called, Doctor Wesley called too."

Gustav furrowed his brows. "What did you say?"

"According to him, it was the hospital that informed him," she continued.

She didn’t need to elaborate further for him to understand.

The timing was far too perfect to call it a coincidence.

"Fuck," Gustav breathed out, his face twisting in dismay. "They already know."

Meaning, the news about Lucian had already reached the High Chamber.

And now they were interfering.

Ashley drew a deep breath as she stared at the monitors.

"I told Doctor Wesley to schedule the transplant as soon as possible."

Gustav gripped his phone tighter. "Wait—don’t. Delay it."

Ashley arched a brow as she glanced at her phone.

She had already planned to, but it surprised her that Gustav wasn’t acting blindly anymore.

No matter the risk, she had expected him to insist on pushing through with the transplant.

"If the High Chamber already found a donor, then it’s suspicious," he said, hoping she would listen.

Much to his surprise, she spoke.

"It looks like they really want this transplant to happen," she guessed, catching him off guard. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Gustav stared at the phone in shock before pressing it back against his ear.

"Yes."

"I thought I was the only one who noticed," she hummed. "We’ll proceed with the schedule."

"What? Didn’t you just say it was suspicious?"

"And it’ll look even more suspicious if you and I suddenly change our minds now," she replied without hesitation. "Gustav, use your head. It’s there for a reason."

Gustav frowned, but she already continued.

"My husband won’t go through that transplant if his body isn’t prepared for it. It’ll take time before they can proceed with the operation," she added. "For now, let’s stick to the original plan. Khan already contacted you?"

Gustav remained silent for a moment before breathing out.

"Yes."

"As for the guy you found, keep an eye on him," she said. "I want his profile too. That’s all."

Having said that, Ashley ended the call and focused on her monitor once again.

Tossing her phone to the side of the desk, she ran her fingers across the keyboard.

[What the fuck.]

Ashley stared at it before another message appeared.

[Omen: Fuck! Why would you ask me to do something and beat me to it?!]

Annoyed that Omen hadn’t reached out to her before Gustav and Doctor Wesley did, Ashley briefly attacked his cybersecurity as a side task.

She had asked Omen to do something, and he had agreed.

However, if Gustav had already received the news, then Omen had already completed the task.

He simply hadn’t informed her.

[Hey!!! Stop attacking me! Are you crazy?!]

Ashley ignored him and continued venting through his system since it was the only thing she could do right now.

[Fine! I regret accepting this gig, okay?! The perfect match for the person you’re trying to save is still alive—damn it!]

She paused as her eyes shifted toward his pixelated chat box.

[Besides, I checked the patients’ records you sent me. I’m waiting for a reply from my good friend!]

[Ghost: That quack doctor?]

[You knew him?]

[Anyway, yeah. I told him I needed to find someone’s lungs. And he told me about this research facility working on a cure-all drug. I’ll send the address. Fuck you! Good luck on your trip!]

Then Omen sent a set of coordinates, which Ashley opened.

It directly led to a website she had never seen before.

As she clicked through some of the details, she paused at the lead researcher’s half-body photo with his arms crossed.

Raka Jean.