426: [Bonus chapter] Run your mouth until you're saved

[Bonus chapter] Run your mouth until you're saved

"Don't miss this chance… You know this might be the last."2

Mrs. Deng could only stare at Heaven for the next few minutes, holding her breath as her racing heart echoed in her ears. How could she not pick up on what Heaven was telling her? No matter how Heaven would say it in a roundabout way, Mrs. Deng already knew her fate if she didn't do anything now. 

If she refused Heaven, then that only meant what Axel witnessed today would reach Dominic and Grandma Zhu. Although Mrs. Deng was confident Lionel and Ria wouldn't do anything to her, they wouldn't help her either. Silas wouldn't do anything as well. If anything, he would just replace her with someone else. 

However, if she opened her mouth, Mrs. Deng was certain Silas would come after her. Just the thought of it scared her, knowing Silas was different from Dominic. Different in a way that was... bad. So, this matter was simply a matter of whose hand she would die. 

"I..." she trailed off, assessing the look in Heaven's eyes. 

Mrs. Deng pressed her lips into a tight line once again, calming her breathing. "Did you... Did you really mean that?"

"Hmm?"

"They will kill me, young madam." Her lips quivered as she confessed to the impending doom she had foreseen. "If you can promise that you will send me away safely, then I'll tell you everything I know."

"Mrs. Deng." Heaven let out a chuckle, scratching her temple with her index. "It seems you don't understand. The information you hold equates to how much I am willing to protect you. In other words, unless the information you know will actually make a difference, then I don't mind making all your problems disappear."

Mrs. Deng gulped, clasping her lap tightly. "I'm scared, young madam."

"As you should." Heaven kept a smile, showing no sign of pity toward the head maid. "Betraying this family is the worst mistake you could've made in this life. Now, tell me, how long have you been spying on this family under Silas's orders?"

Heaven's question caused deep lines in between Axel's brows. He glanced at his sister, only to see Heaven keeping her eye contact with Mrs. Deng. When he veered his gaze to Bear's direction, Axel noticed how Bear had just maintained a poker face, as if he wasn't surprised at everything he was hearing. 

'Am I... the only one who thinks this situation is a little... odd? New, perhaps?' he wondered to himself. 'I like Bear, but was he supposed to hear this? But then again, Bear also knows that incident with those rogues months ago.'

Axel mentally rocked his head while maintaining a nonchalant front. His sister and her bodyguard looked quite cool and untouchable. He didn't want to look like a mascot, at least not from the outside.

"Probably around... five years ago?" Mrs. Deng confessed, earning Axel's attention with her answer.

"Five years?!" he repeated with an increasing tone. "Mrs. Deng, are you telling us you've been leaking everything to that damn Silas?!"

Mrs. Deng lowered her head as she peeked at Axel. "I didn't have a choice, second young master."

"Hah!"

"Axel." Heaven cast him a side-eye. "Let her finish."

"Tch." Axel clicked his tongue, propping his bottom on the armrest, as he didn't want to sit beside Heaven. He might end up kicking Mrs. Deng's face if she said something more stupid, which he believed she would. 

"Speak." Heaven jerked her chin at Mrs. Deng. "Run your mouth until you're saved."

Mrs. Deng cleared her throat, nodding in understanding. At this point, she could only hold on to the little hope Heaven was giving her. And that hope was for Heaven to keep Axel quiet. Yes. For Mrs. Deng, that was the only help Heaven could give her. 

Little did she know, Heaven... wasn't the type to help people. Matter of fact, she was the worst person to ask for help. But Mrs. Deng hadn't known that yet. She hadn't known that turning to Heaven was akin to turning to the devil.

"Ha hah..." A low shaky laugh escaped Axels' mouth the more he listened to Mrs. Deng's confession. His hands were clasped into tight fists, trembling as he held himself back from storming out to find Silas and punch him in the face. 

Meanwhile, Heaven showed no sign of surprise as her gaze never left Mrs. Deng, not even for a millisecond. Bear, on the other hand, did not react as well. Hearing all sorts of twisted confessions was something that had been a part of their lives in the past. Thus, listening to Mrs. Deng sounded quite tamed compared to other confessions they listened to in the past. 

"I swear!" Mrs. Deng placed her hand across her chest, panting as she had been talking nonstop to save her skin. "I didn't want to do it. At first, I thought it was Sir Silas's way to keep updated with his family's life. But then, one day, he suddenly told me that I was leaking information about the family. So I begged him, but he asked me to keep working for him."

"That's how it all started. I was just scared of him, and —"

"Did he tell you to let Andrea Ng in the household?" asked Heaven as she hadn't heard any information she wanted to know yet. 

Her question made Mrs. Deng pause. The latter's brows rose, looking at Heaven in surprise. 

"You mean that maid who…?"

"Yes." Heaven nodded. "That maid who stabbed me months ago. You were the head maid, Mrs. Deng. Although I have many questions about your morality, I believe you maintained that position for decades because you were good at your job."

Heaven took a deliberate pause, letting Mrs. Deng's brain breathe for a moment. "What I'm saying is, you, as the head maid, would have noticed how underqualified Andrea Ng was. It's impossible you wouldn't know she was smoking inside the mansion and yet you didn't fire her."

"Did Silas ever tell you to let her in?" she repeated, stressing each word to make sure Mrs. Deng knew she had to answer. 

Mrs. Deng held her breath as she held her hands together, trying to stop them from trembling. Her mind couldn't help but wonder how Heaven got to this point, but her heart was overwhelmed with nervousness.

In the end, Mrs. Deng drew a deep breath before she answered upon releasing an exhale.

"Yes."

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