Chapter 1041

Matthew hung up his call, said goodbye to Lorraine and his parents, and headed for the door. At the doorway, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He pulled out his phone

and dialed Ivy.

He said, "I need to go out for a while. Get in touch with Caleb. If he spots any suspicious people entering the village, have him notify you immediately.

"And if—I mean if suspicious individuals do enter the village, don't engage them yet."

Ivy immediately asked, "Why? Are they trying to kill your family? Why shouldn't I intervene? Are you worried I'll cause trouble by killing them?"

Matthew had just reached his car when he heard this and countered, "Do you really think I'm afraid of trouble?"

Ivy thought for a moment, realizing that was not Matthew's style at all, which made her even more confused. "Then why?

Matthew explained, "I'm worried there might be too many of them, or we might encounter skilled fighters. If you get tied up fighting them and my family are in danger at that moment..."

"I get it now, you're right," Ivy said with sudden understanding. "If anything happens, my first priority will be protecting your family."

Matthew corrected. "Not protecting-evacuating them. In my house, there's a door behind the closet wall that leads to an escape route."

After the last dangerous incident, he had installed this secret door as a contingency plan.

Ivy pondered for a moment and nodded. However, she quickly remembered she was on the phone and replied, "I promise you. I'll make your family's safety my absolute priority."

Matthew felt much more at ease hearing her words. Afterward, he hung up and drove out of Silverbrook Village.

As soon as he left the village,

Matthew noticed something unusual about today's road conditions. The entrance to Silverbrook Village was usually major traffic bottleneck, packed with vehicles and pedestrians.

The village entrance typically experienced constant standstill, or at the very least, slow-moving traffic, with no one ever managing the flow. Disorder had become the

norm.

Yet, it was strangely different that day.

There was a traffic officer at the village entrance. The officer was working diligently to direct pedestrians and various vehicles.

As Matthew drove past the officer, he saw sweat dripping from the officer's forehead, their short-sleeved uniform completely soaked. However, they continued directing traffic enthusiastically.

Even though Matthew had seen traffic officers before, they usually gave out tickets and occasionally directed traffic, never with such dedication.

This was highly unusual, and the thought briefly crossed his mind as he drove away from Silverbrook Village.

The streetlights were just coming on as dusk settled in. Normally, traffic was at its heaviest and slowest between rush hour and nightfall.

Usually, there would be a symphony

of honking horns, flashing headlights, cars cutting each other off vehicles crossing double yellow lines, and impatient drivers pulling all sorts of risky maneuvers.

Yet, it was different again that day. Cars were lined up in orderly rows, moving along systematically, as if the drivers' behavior had suddenly improved dramatically.

The traffic was undeniably smoother

under these conditions. What typically took three minutes to reach the first traffic light now took just

over a minute. When he approached, the light was red.

Matthew gradually pressed the brake, bringing his car to a stop about three feet from the stop line. As Matthew looked toward the intersection, what he saw left him even more shocked.