Chapter 75
Byron’s towering frame stiffened at the sound of Sylvia’s voice, his head turning instinctively toward her.
Sylvia stood at the intersection not far away, her face cold and her striking eyes glinting with icy anger.
She pointed forcefully at Ruby, who was perched on Byron’s shoulders, and called out, “Byron, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Get Ruby down right now.”
Byron frowned. “Come on, I’m not going to drop her.” He slightly raised his eyes to look at Ruby sitting on his shoulders. “Ruby, do you think I’d let you
fall?”
He wanted Sylvia to see just how much her daughter adored him and that she would take his side.
Swoosh. Before Byron could finish, Ruby slid down from his shoulders with agility.
‘Oh no. Mom’s mad. When Mom’s angry, she rules the world,‘ she thought in alarm. ‘Normally I can get away with all sorts of mischief, but if Mom gets mad, right or wrong, I’ve got to stand by her side, no questions asked.‘
Byron’s handsome face darkened slightly.
Byron gritted his teeth and shot a glance at Zack. ‘Zack should be backing me up right about now,‘ he thought. But the next second, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Zack scampered over to Sylvia, wrapped his arms around her thigh, and beamed up at her, “Mom, what brings you here?”
‘After finally getting Mom to forgive me, there’s no way I’m risking her anger again,’ Zack thought anxiously.
Ruby also scurried over and clung to Sylvia’s other leg, nuzzling her head against it. In her sweetest voice, she pleaded, “Mommy, I’ll be a good girl from now on. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?”
Upon seeing the two adorable kids, Sylvia’s mood improved significantly. She overreacted because of that awful video she saw recently, where a child fell off their parent’s shoulders and got badly hurt.
“Byron, don’t you dare take Ruby out secretly again,” Sylvia said sharply.
Byron’s face darkened, his sharp eyes narrowing dangerously as an icy aura radiated from him. ‘How insolent. There she goes again, lecturing me,‘ he wondered. ‘She just can’t get enough of bossing me around, can she?‘
Byron longed for Zack and Ruby to return to him, but now they only had eyes for Sylvia, clinging to her hands and begging her to take them around the
ZOO.
Byron, you can go now. I’ll take care of them. Sylvia didn’t want Byron near the kids, especially now that she was still fighting for full custody of Zack.
With that, she firmly grasped each child’s hand and walked right past Byron.
“Mommy, let’s go see the pandas. And after we see the pandas, could we go see the monkeys?” Ruby chirped excitedly.
Zack piped up excitedly, “Mommy, could we take some pictures later?”
Byron scowled as he watched Zack and Ruby fawning over Sylvia. ‘These little traitors are too much,‘ he grumbled inwardly.
As Sylvia wandered through the animal exhibits with the two kids, checking out one animal after another, she couldn’t shake off a strong sense of unease that suddenly washed over her.
She glanced around. The monkeys, usually so lively, were now listlessly huddled together. Even the giraffes, who typically strolled leisurely, were lying motionless on the ground.
Chapter 75
Sylvias, heart suddenly cank. She noticed roadside plants with leaves turning yellow, thell edges curing del Carthad 1,25%
Sylvia took a deep breath, and a faint, acrid scent stung her nostrils. Suddenly, she understood,
Oh no. Toxic gas leak, Sylvia wondered in alarm. With so many tourists swarming around, this is dangerous.
“Byron?” Sylvia whipped around and dashed toward Byron, who was trailing a short distance behind with an icy face.
Ever since Sylvia arrived, Byron had been left out in the cold, seething with suppressed anger. He shot her a dismissive look and asked curtly. “WHAZ Something up?”
Sylvia urged anxiously, “Byron, can you contact the zoo management right away? We need to evacuate everyone. There’s a toxic gas leak here
Byron frowned slightly. “What proof do you have?”
Evacuating visitors was no trivial matter. Without solid evidence, no one was going to believe her.
Sylvia shook her head urgently. “I don’t have concrete evidence, but I swear by my professional expertise. There’s real danger here.”
“Your expertise, huh?” Byron sneered coldly. “Sylvia, you’re oversimplifying things. If you’re so sure there’s a gas leak, I’ll call the fire department right now to check it out.”
Sylvia’s heart sank. ‘By the time the fire department gets here, it’ll be too late,‘ she thought.
Judging by the animals‘ reactions, the gas was spreading rapidly. Even though the visitors hadn’t been here long, if a large–scale leak occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Sylvia snapped, “Byron, don’t you ever talk to me again. You’ve never believed a word I said, not once. Just go to hell where you belong.”
Sylvia finally lost control of her emotions. She snapped, spun on her heel, and sprinted toward the zoo administration office.
Byron fell silent. Zack and Ruby stared blankly at Sylvia’s retreating figure, their faces filled with confusion.
Sylvia called over her shoulder hurriedly, “Zack, keep Ruby with you and stay close.” Without another word, she dashed all the way to the zoo administration office.
“Excuse me, is there a gas leak? The animals here are already showing unusual reactions,” Sylvia asked urgently.
In the zoo administration office, a few staff members were lounging around playing cards. At Sylvia’s urgent words, they all burst out laughing.
“Miss, I’m the office director here. We’ve got surveillance cameras all over the place. How come I haven’t seen anything unusual with the animals? Are you kidding me?” A middle–aged man slammed his cards down and stood up, clearly annoyed.
“I’m serious. There’s definitely a gas leak here. I need you to evacuate all visitors immediately,” Sylvia insisted urgently.
Sylvia grew increasingly frantic, but the staff just burst out laughing in her face.
One of them scoffed, “Who the hell do you think you are? Ordering us to evacuate? Do you have any idea how many visitors are here? Or how much revenue we’d lose if we shut down for even a single day?”
Sylvia’s brow furrowed tightly. Just as I thought,‘ she mused with a hint of resignation. ‘These people aren’t going to listen to me at all.‘
Just then, Byron strode in with icy, measured steps. The staff who had been laughing and joking moments ago instantly changed their express quickly straightening up and snapping to attention.
The office director hurried over, his tone suddenly respectful. “Mr. Blair, what brings you here in person?”
Byron was the real owner behind this zoo. He ignored the office director. With a cold lift of his eyelids, he pointed at Sylvia and ordered, “Do as she says”
