Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 108: Chapter 108

After the kidnapping incident, Aidan made a trip from Odionland to take Isla back home.
Isla had originally stayed for Bowen, but unexpectedly, she'd barely spent time with him and instead got hooked on video games.
That day when Bowen came to rescue Aubree, Isla finally realized that there was no place for her in Bowen's heart. With her pride, she decided not to keep chasing what was impossible.
So, Isla made a clean break and returned to Odionland with Aidan.
Before leaving, Isla reminded Aubree, "Don't forget to keep teaching me how to play games on the phone when you're free."
Aubree spent two days in the hospital before being cleared to leave. While her body had recovered, the events of that day stayed with her.
For quite some time, Aubree was in low spirits, barely able to muster any energy. Noticing this, Bowen helped her get in touch with a therapist.
At Ellis Heights, Hugh and Carol, along with the other staff members, stood anxiously outside the kitchen, watching Bowen's busy figure inside with bated breath.
Hugh thought to himself, 'Surely Bowen can manage not to blow up the kitchen, right?'
None of them knew what had gotten into Bowen today. He suddenly decided to learn how to cook, stubbornly refused all help, and shooed everyone out of the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Bowen fumbled around for ages before finally locating the rolled oats.
His phone, on speaker for a group video call, sat on the kitchen counter.
"Well, well, well, isn't this a rare sight! Our very own Mr. Turner, actually getting his hands dirty in the kitchen?" Ollie's playful, slightly mocking voice was the first to chime in.
Then came Mark's deadpan question. "We won't die from eating this, right?"
"Is there anything I'm not capable of?" Armed with online tips, Bowen put the rolled oats into the pot.
'Besides,' Bowen thought to himself, 'it's just oatmeal. How hard could it possibly be?
'Still, since it's my first time making this, I'd better get someone to try it first, just in case it turns out terrible. Hugh and Carol are getting on in years, and it's inappropriate to put them through that. The other staff are still busy with work, so I'd better not interrupt them either.'
After mulling it over, Bowen decided that Mark and Ollie were the most idle, free, and healthy of the bunch. When it came to using his friends as guinea pigs, he never held back.
"That's true," Ollie mused. 'Bowen's reliability speaks for itself,' he thought. 'Everything he does is flawless.'
Trusting his friend completely, Ollie didn't hesitate for a second before choosing to believe Bowen.
Mark, being in the know, thought to himself, 'Wait, is Bowen just using us as guinea pigs before cooking for Aubree?'
With Ollie's approval, Bowen smirked as he poured the rolled oats into the pot. "So, care to come to Ellis Heights and be my taste testers?"
Mark was still racking his brain for an excuse to get out of it when Ollie had already agreed without a second thought.
'Getting to eat a home-cooked meal from Bowen? That's prime bragging material for our next night out!' Ollie thought. He couldn't wait to jump at the chance, and he made sure to drag Mark along. "Come on, Mark, you've got to come too. When Bowen cooks himself, it'd be rude to say no!"
Mark gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll go."
The oatmeal was almost ready. Bowen figured plain oatmeal was too bland, so he grabbed some seasonal veggies to whip up a quick salad. Just as the salad was ready, Ollie and Mark showed up.
Ollie's eyes lit up when he saw the salad. "Damn, Bowen, you've got some serious skills."
Bowen served oatmeal and salad. The oatmeal was simple to make but looked decent, and the vegetable salad turned out presentable. With the nice plating, Ollie's guard dropped completely.
Mark eyed the vegetables suspiciously. 'Is this veggie even salad material?'
Bowen waved them over. "Care for a taste?"
Ollie happily picked up his fork and took a big bite, only for the saltiness to almost kill him. Eyes watering, he instinctively grabbed the bowl of oatmeal and took a gulp, forgetting it was still piping hot. His face twisted through a series of expressions. He wanted to spit it out, but couldn't, so he forced himself to swallow it.
Having wisely anticipated potential disaster, Mark only took a couple of cautious bites of oatmeal before commenting, "The oatmeal is not bad."
"Bowen, I know you're loaded, but that doesn't mean you have to use the entire salt supply!" Ollie spluttered, his tongue numb from both the scalding heat and overwhelming saltiness. He gulped down several glasses of water before finally catching his breath.
Bowen frowned thoughtfully, picked up a vegetable, and took a small bite. "The oatmeal needs to cool down," he muttered. "And I oversalted the veggies."
Ollie finally caught on. "Hold up, Bowen, what the hell do you mean? So you're using me as your guinea pig, huh?"
Bowen shot Ollie a disdainful look. "You just realized?" he retorted, completely unapologetic.
Ollie coughed violently, nearly choking. 'Damn it, Bowen! What do you take me for? Your lab rat?'
He didn't need to think hard to guess who could get Bowen to cook. 'Great. So Aubree's precious, and I'm just chopped liver?' Ollie thought angrily.
He said, "Bowen, keep this up and you won't have any friends left."
Turned out, Bowen still had friends after all. After his first failed attempt, he carried the dish back into the kitchen. After two more rounds of tweaking, the new salad finally turned out pretty decent.
Having never known such hardship in his pampered life, Ollie "gloriously" became a permanent resident of the bathroom after eating that oversalted and haphazardly thrown-together vegetable salad.
Mark watched Bowen busying himself in the kitchen and asked, "Did you look into Mrs. Wilson before?"
"Alice, you mean?" Bowen glanced up at him, his manner casual and unhurried.
Mark nodded. "Yeah."
"What's up with her?" Bowen asked.
Mark replied, "I've nearly finished investigating whether Aubree is the person Alvin's parents saved before they got killed. I got some childhood photos of Aubree from the orphanage, but they were damaged. I sent them to a restoration service. Once the result comes out, we'll know if it's her.
"While I was looking into this, my investigation led me to Alice. Turns out, the information you had checked before wasn't entirely accurate."
Bowen hadn't even had time to think about how Mark had been investigating Aubree when that sentence snagged his attention. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"According to my intel," Mark said, "after Aubree went missing, Alice did appear troubled for a while, but in reality, she only seemed mildly depressed, nowhere near the intense emotional swings your investigation suggested. It wasn't until much later that her behavior suddenly changed. That's when the psychiatric hospital diagnosed her with a stress disorder, and only then was Carmen brought back to the Wilson family.
"I think this should help you. I wanted to dig deeper, but that's as far as I could get."
Bowen's eyelids twitched. "You're saying Alice faked her mental illness, probably just to bring Carmen back to the Wilson family?"
"I didn't say that." Mark shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oh, by the way, Bowen, are you planning to call Nina back?"
If it were Ollie, he probably wouldn't have picked up on the subtext.
But Bowen chuckled with a hint of amusement. "What are you scheming now?"
"Come on, don't put it like that. Doesn't what I told you about Alice mean you owe me one? Just let her stay with me for a few more months, alright?" Mark said.
Bowen said, "Well, that depends on whether Nina is willing to keep doing this."
Mark curled his lip, cursing under his breath, 'Sly old fox.'
Upon receiving the news, Bowen didn't think about what Mark was up to. He immediately headed back into the kitchen, prepared a fresh batch of oatmeal and vegetable salad, packed them carefully into takeout containers, and set off for Bree Technology.
Lately, Aubree had been heading straight to Bree Technology after her therapy sessions, so Bowen decided to wait for her there.