Under the Heiress' Facade
Chapter 353

Hera stared at the brass lock and found a key among the others on the ring. She couldn't help but wonder if Bernard had bought an entire courtyard house for her.

The lock opened with a click. Bernard swung the door open wide and flicked on the lights, revealing a Victorian-carved wooden screen directly ahead.

Stepping around the screen, Hera was surprised to see a renovated space for medicinal herb storage and an alchemy lab. Intrigued, she moved forward to check it out.

The herb storage was neatly organized and stocked with various traditional medicinal herbs.

Meanwhile, the alchemy lab boasted various furnaces, gold and silver acupuncture needles, and all necessary tools neatly arranged. Clearly, everything had been meticulously prepared for her.

Previously, Hera had considered setting up an herb storage in her suburban villa but dismissed the idea due to its inconvenient location. Moreover, she had grown accustomed to the lab in Cavenridge and hadn't bothered with relocating.

Given her impending enrollment at Jedburgh for college, returning to Cavenridge wasn't practical. Bernard's thoughtful gesture of preparing this place for her in Jedburgh took Hera by surprise.

"The other three rooms include a bedroom, a consultation room, and a chemistry lab."

Bernard led Hera into the courtyard and introduced each room.

"This place is close to Quantford University and Bradbury University. You could open a medical clinic here, create pills, and treat patients." Hera glanced at Bernard, suddenly realizing he seemed to know her thoughts. She wondered how he had learned about her plans for Jedburgh. She pondered for a moment before asking, "How did you know I could create pills?"

She had only ever given him pills without explaining how they were made.

Bernard's eyes flickered momentarily. He had almost given himself away.

Indeed, Hera had never disclosed to him that she personally crafted the pills, having only referenced it under her alias, Dr. Shadow.

"Weren't the pills you gave me made by you?" he countered.

"By the way, didn't you say only the Eclipse Stone could cure my illness? Yet, I've recovered. Did you use the Eclipse Stone? Isn't it still with Dr. Shadow?"

Bernard raised an eyebrow and fixed Hera with a skeptical look while waiting for her explanation.

Hera was caught off guard. She sensed that he might have discovered her secret identity as

Shadow. She wondered how he

would've learned that. After a

everyone else believed Dr. Shadow

was Camille.

Camille had been recklessly using Hera's name to practice medicine, which infuriated Hera. She needed to stop Camille, but the timing wasn't right yet.

Hera had overlooked one crucial detail the money she used to set up Queenie had been directly transferred to Astral Nova.

If someone exploited this and infiltrated the Astral Nova system to investigate, they would uncover that the payment from "Raven" was linked to Dr. Shadow.

Therefore, exposing Camille now as

an impostor and claiming her own

identity as Dr. Shadow would

wanted figure with a

100-thousand-dollar bounty head.

reveal Hera as only

Hera needed to wait for the right moment when the Grandmaster of Astral Nova wasn't present to hack into the system and erase the transaction records.

"That just proves how exceptional my medical skills are!"

Hera dodged the question and pointed to the west wing to change the subject.

"Is that the bedroom? It's almost 3:00 am now, and I'm exhausted. Let's sleep here tonight."

Bernard watched her retreat and smiled resignedly. It seemed that Hera wasn't ready to reveal her true identity to him yet.

Using the key, Hera unlocked the door to the west wing.

The lights flickered on automatically, revealing a traditional main hall with a bedroom on the left and a study on the right. Despite the antique decer, the living amenities were modern and complete.

She opened the wardrobe in the bedroom and found neatly arranged men's and women's pajamas, underwear, and outerwear all in one closet. Startled, she turned around.

Bernard leaned casually against the bathroom door with a mischievous smile.

"Sweetie, would you like to join me for a bath?"