Chapter 493

Chapter 493: Chapter 493

After finishing breakfast, Zoe Sawyer and her group went to speak with Old Man Miller as they returned their bowls.

As they approached, they heard a young man kneeling before Old Man Miller, saying, "Please, just listen to me. Come live with my dad. The two of you old-timers can keep each other company.

My place is close by. Whenever you miss my cousin, you can come back to visit anytime. I’m begging you. My dad is so stubborn; he won’t listen to me when I tell him to drink less. You’re the only one he might listen to, Uncle."

Sean Hughes glanced around and spotted the woman who had brought them congee that morning. He quickly walked over and asked, "Ma’am, where should I put these bowls?"

The woman, who had been watching the scene, turned around. Seeing Sean Hughes, she quickly said, "Just give them to me, give them to me."

As she spoke, she reached out for them. Sean Hughes handed over the bowls and chopsticks and casually asked about the relationship between Old Man Miller and the young man.

"That’s his biological nephew. The two families don’t live far apart." The woman explained to Sean Hughes as she placed the bowls and chopsticks into a basin. "Old Man Miller and his older brother are very close. When his second son couldn’t work, Old Man Miller paid for the medical bills by working hard and saving up, but he also relied on his brother for help."

When Old Man Miller’s sons were little, if their father was away at work, it was their uncle who would feed the two brothers.

The families were on good terms. His brother and sister-in-law didn’t see him as a burden and wanted to have him move in. It was better than him staying in an empty house, surrounded by things that would remind him of his son. No matter how strong someone is, that can break a person down over time.

Sean Hughes remained silent. This wasn’t something they could get involved in.

A few minutes later, Old Man Miller’s nephew stood up. After helping his uncle back into the living room, he walked over to Zoe Sawyer and the others.

He stood a short distance away, bowed to them, and said, "Thank you for your help. Otherwise, my uncle wouldn’t have been able to see his son one last time."

Zoe Sawyer and the others quickly waved their hands, saying it was no big deal and that they were just doing their duty.

Sean Hughes took a step forward, pulled out a sticky note, and asked the man to write down his phone number. "The nurses at Vardenburg Hospital took a photo of the father and son," he said. "And the memorial album for Mr. Miller’s organ donation needs to be mailed to the family. I’ll give your number to our colleagues here, and someone will contact you to coordinate."

The young man bowed again and again. Finally, after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke up. "Actually, my older cousin was also diagnosed with uremia when he was nineteen.

But our family was poor back then, and he didn’t want to worry my uncle, so he kept it a secret. If I hadn’t accidentally seen him swallowing painkillers behind the house one New Year’s because of the pain, I would have never known how serious his condition was."

Zoe Sawyer was stunned by this revelation, never having expected such a hidden backstory.

But it was too late to say anything now. Sean Hughes offered a few more words of comfort, took out two hundred yuan as a condolence gift, and then they left.

They had a pile of work to do and couldn’t stay any longer.

After returning to the police station, they gave the car back, borrowed the chief’s office, and used the "door" to return to their own side.

"You’re finally back," Evan Keller said when he saw Zoe Sawyer and the others return. "What ended up happening with that man from last night?"

Zoe Sawyer’s group took turns explaining what happened. When they finished, their other colleagues in the office shooed them off to their dorms to rest.

「Meanwhile, in a remote residential complex in another city.」

In a dim living room, a girl with messy hair sat cross-legged on the floor. A laptop in front of her cast a faint blue glow.

The girl’s expression was calm as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

Just then, a heavy stench hit her nose—a cloying sweetness mixed with the smell of decay.

Wren Rowan couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose and mutter, "Did a rat die somewhere around here? It stinks to high heaven.

The property management here is unbelievable. I know there aren’t many residents, but they can’t just ignore everything!"

’No, once I finish my work for today, I’m definitely going out to find the property manager and get them to deal with this dead rat.’

’If this smell gets any worse, I’m going to throw up!’

About half an hour later, Wren Rowan finally finished her update for the day. She quickly tidied herself up, put on a mask, hat, and glasses. Just as she reached the entryway and was about to open the door, the shadows of several figures fell through the crack at the bottom of the door.

Wren Rowan’s hand froze as it was about to grasp the doorknob. Before she could react, she heard men’s voices from outside.

"It stinks to death. Good thing no one lives in this building, or we would’ve been exposed long ago." The first to speak was a man with a somewhat sharp voice.

He had just finished speaking when a deep male voice added, "This is the most remote building here, with no security cameras around. Even the property management thinks it’s bad luck and stays away. We’re lucky if they come by once a day.

I cased this place for a long time before finally settling on apartment 712."

Wren Rowan’s heart leaped when she heard that. ’712... isn’t that the apartment next to mine?’

’And they’ve moved into 712? That can’t be right. Wasn’t that unit sold off long ago to be a "coffin house"?’

’Except for my place, almost every unit in this building is a coffin house!’

Wren Rowan was absolutely certain of this. She had extreme social anxiety and couldn’t bring herself to speak to people face-to-face. She also craved quiet; the slightest noise would keep her awake and make her agitated.

But in an old neighborhood, you’d run into friendly uncles and aunties who would greet you warmly.

And new apartment complexes had poor soundproofing, so you could always hear the noise from the floors above and below.

Wren Rowan had scoured every rental app before finally settling on the apartment she was living in now.

The owner had bought it early on, renovated it, and planned to rent it out as an investment.

But he couldn’t stop someone from turning another unit into a coffin house, and the property values for the entire building plummeted.

And where there was one, there were soon two, and then three. Eventually, every unit in the building except for her current apartment became a coffin house.

They couldn’t be sold, and they couldn’t be rented out.

The owner didn’t dare live there himself. Just when he thought he’d be stuck with the property forever, Wren Rowan showed up at his door, said she liked the place, and wanted to rent it.

The owner was overjoyed. He not only offered to cut the rent in half but also promised two months free for every ten months she stayed.

He was just trying to recoup whatever losses he could.

Since the apartment was already renovated, Wren Rowan had a custom balcony partition made to match the others.

From a distance, it looked as if it had been bricked up.

On top of that, Wren Rowan had moved in in the middle of the night. She stocked up on food and only went out late at night to throw away her trash. There was no one else in the entire building, and the property management never came around.

That’s why the men outside, despite casing the place for so long, had somehow failed to discover that there was still one resident here.