Hearing that voice, Isabella was surprised.
That surprise quickly turned to excitement, prompting the girl to speed up the process of cleaning her capsule, quickly removing the nutritional fluid and drying her clothes and hair.
Even though her body was still a little sticky, which usually bothered her so much that she’d have to leave the capsule and head straight to the bathroom to take a shower and get really clean, this time she didn’t mind and quickly went down the stairs of her house.
This was one of Evelyn Vance’s many homes. After turning 20, all the children left the main house to live on their own and practice independence, even though they were still supported by the money and staff she could hire.
Isabella’s two older siblings had already left home a few years ago, with her being the last to move out on her own earlier this year.
To stay in touch with her children, Evelyn would pay each of them a surprise visit for a few days.
Hearing that voice made Isabella realize that this was finally her turn to spend a few days alone with her mother.
When she arrived in the kitchen, she noticed that Evelyn had already dismissed the cooks and was at the kitchen island in the center of the room, chopping some fresh vegetables.
That scene made Isabella’s eyes sparkle.
"Mom, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I could have done something to welcome you..." She said in a flirty way, totally different from how she acted around outsiders.
Evelyn looked at her daughter with a loving smile on her face as she shook her head. "And be forced to eat more of those cookies of yours? No, thank you..."
Although she was in her 50s, being 30 years older than Isabella, Evelyn looked like she had just turned 30, appearing physically closer to the image of a sister than to Isabella’s mother.
Both Isabella’s red hair and golden eyes came from Evelyn, which made the two look even more like sisters.
[Visual Representation Here and on Discord.gg/NunuXD]
"My cookies weren’t that bad..." Isabella complained under her breath, but the ironic look her mother was giving her made the girl shut up and accept it, remembering that in the end those cookies really did have to go in the trash.
Evelyn laughed at how quiet Isabella had become and looked at her daughter again, noticing the residue of the nutrient solution still clinging to the girl’s body.
"Were you in Elysium? How is your progress going? From what I’ve heard, both Isaac and Ivan are already very close to forming their own Guild," Evelyn asked, concerned.
Although she didn’t want to show favoritism among her three children, she couldn’t resist revealing some "confidential" information to Isabella, considering that her youngest daughter had had less time to develop the personal skills and expertise necessary for the competition she was facing, and yet had proven to be just as competitive, if not more so, than her older children.
Especially considering that Isabella’s appearance was practically identical to Evelyn’s in her youth, it was hard for Evelyn not to see the girl as the best successor, given everything she had already demonstrated.
But upon hearing that question, instead of becoming worried, Isabella let a small smile play at the corner of her mouth for a fraction of a second, something she only allowed herself to do in the "real world" in front of her own mother, and which Evelyn picked up on instantly.
As the President of the Vance Group, Evelyn’s mind was extremely sharp; processing that signal alongside the information that had reached her, a wild hypothesis began to form in her mind.
Before Isabella could even give an answer, Evelyn laughed with interest. "Hehe... so the mysterious guild that appeared out of nowhere, throwing away millions, if not billions, in investments from various financial groups including the Vance Group, Astralis Requiem belongs to my dear Bella?"
The more the words came out of Evelyn’s mouth, the more Isabella felt her face go pale, reminding her of why she had undergone so much training in facial expression control.
With a mother like that at home, there was nothing Isabella thought could go unnoticed by Evelyn.
But trusting her own mother, the girl’s expression soon shifted to a cute, proud smile. "Hehe, those idiots think that just because my race in Elysium is that of a Monster, I was out of the competition... little did they know I had a card up my sleeve."
"Halon?" Evelyn asked.
At that moment, Isabella’s cute, proud expression froze again, turning to horror as she noticed her mother’s eyes narrowing slightly while she looked at her with even greater interest.
Isabella fell silent, but that didn’t stop Evelyn from displaying the analytical prowess of someone of her caliber. "Considering the phonetics of the name, I believe this is the name of a male Player. Not only a Player who helped you clear the game’s first dungeon, but one who was also capable of killing another Player just before that dungeon’s completion... I always figured you’d inherited my keen eye for men, but given your track record, for a while I thought I might have been wrong... now you’ve proven me right again, Bella, very well!"
Evelyn was having a blast.
She loved acting that way with her children, who were used to almost always being the smartest in the room, but who, when she was present, were nothing more than the little kids she’d watched grow up.
As the President of the Vance Group, Evelyn not only had access to all the company’s resources, but also to everything her children used those resources for.
To ensure their safety and that of the Vance Group, she had a trusted team focused solely on monitoring and protecting the three heirs, informing her of any suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary actions they might take.
And Isabella’s act of obtaining a fake high school diploma for someone else, someone who was not only part of the Lower Zone but also a classmate of hers, and most surprisingly, a man, set off triple alarms among the team, who quickly informed the President.
That’s why Evelyn carved out some free time in her own schedule to visit her daughter, wanting to understand what had caused such a change in the girl.
But now, connecting the dots of these small details, a surprising theory came to her mind.
And considering how huge the coincidence would have to be for this to come true, she felt as if fate itself were weaving something there.
But then, Isabella let out a reaction that startled Evelyn even more.
"A good eye for men?!" As she asked that, Isabella’s pale face turned red, her cheeks completely flushed.
Evelyn: !!!!!