Almost Lost Evan Lan 6

The driver was a woman.

Her build was almost identical to Lisa's, she wore a wig styled just like Lisa's hair, and had an incredibly lifelike mask.

If Lily Bai couldn't recognize people by their bioelectric signature, she'd never have guessed this was a fake.

She wanted to call home to make sure everyone was safe, but she'd already given her phone to Samson Zhang.

Right now, he was sprinting up the road toward her.

"Need to make a call? Use mine." The President handed her his phone.

"Thank you." Lily dialed Max Mo's number.

Max's voice was cautious and low: "Who is this?"

"It's me!" Lily said. "Is the baby okay? Is everything at home alright?"

"We're fine," Max said. "What happened? Where did Lisa take the Gatekeeper?"

Lily finally relaxed. "I'll explain when I get back."

She handed the phone back to the President. "Thank you."

"Let me drive you home!" The President gestured to his own car.

Lily glanced at her two wrecked cars and nodded.

All the bodies—and the half-dead thugs—had been taken away by the Supreme Emperor’s Estate guards.

Secretary Grant drove up the mountain.

On the way, they picked up Samson Zhang. The moment he saw Lily, he burst into tears. "Sis! Are you okay?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Can you please not do this anymore? No matter what they steal, you can't risk your life like that! What's worth more than your life?" Samson yelled at her.

"Okay, okay! My bad! Chill, there are other people here!" Lily glanced at the front seat where Secretary Grant and the President sat.

Samson managed to calm himself a bit, then asked, "So what exactly was stolen?"

Lily pointed at the potted Brook in her arms.

"Just this plant?" Samson squawked.

Lily nodded.

"All these days I've been here, I've seen you and Ms. Crowe treat it like an ancestor. Is there something special about it?"

Lily shook her head. "We just really like it, that's all."

"You... you risked your life for a potted plant, you..." Samson was too angry to finish.

Lily didn't say anything either.

On the way, they ran into the road spikes. Secretary Grant stopped to pick them up, then drove them home.

The President didn't go inside and let her return home on her own.

Lily and Samson thanked him profusely before heading inside.

After they left, the President took out his phone, found Ms. Crowe in his contacts, and called her.

...

Not long after Lily got home, the real Lisa returned.

She looked a mess, covered in dirt and bits of grass.

After everyone compared notes, they pieced together the enemy's plan to steal Brook.

First, they used a low-frequency sound to lure Lisa and Little Smudge away.

Humans couldn't hear it—only Lisa and Little Smudge could.

Once they'd left, the fake Lisa showed up, hurriedly claiming Lily had told her to take Brook somewhere and asking Max Mo for the car keys.

Both Lily and Brook trusted Lisa more than anyone else there.

Max handed her the keys without a second thought.

Ms. Crowe carefully handed Brook over to her, reminding her not to break any branches.

Only Uncle Ernie suddenly felt a sense of dread and asked, "Where's Little Smudge?"

"It's in the back. It'll come back on its own soon." Fake Lisa replied and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Uncle Ernie stopped her again. "Just to be safe, let me call Lily and double-check."