When We Share Each Other's Name

"Come on, you wouldn't do something this reckless, would you?"

The man chuckled. "You have no idea what I can do to you."

Angie had gotten death threats many times, and she had always survived because she did not dwell on them. This was the first time she had actually been threatened directly.

Angie's arms were roughly pulled and then taken to one of the old houses tucked away in the dark alley. She pushed Angie's body until she fell to the floor.

"Aw, you like to play rough, huh?"

The man looked at Angie with cold eyes. "Tell me, who told you to?"

Angie frowned. "What? You think I'm someone else's underling?"

"Don't talk too much. Just tell me who told you to do this. I might be kind enough to let you go."

Angie got up from the floor and chuckled softly. "Why, you look very anxious. Are you being chased by someone?"

Angie's arms were firmly gripped and then her body was pushed until her back hit the wall. Pain spread throughout Angie's back, but she was still able to smile sarcastically.

"You really like pressing me against the wall. Interested?"

The man pressed Angie's shoulders even harder. The cold expression on his face further added to the man's intimidating impression.

"Go away. I'll not hesitate to kill you if you dare to show your face in front of me again."

Angie groaned softly. "Why? If you're afraid that I'm involved with whoever those people are that you suspect might have ordered me to keep an eye on you, then the answer is no. I'm not involved with anyone. I acted on my own free will and had nothing to do with anyone else."

"Liar." The man hissed hatefully.

Angie clucked in annoyance. She recklessly pushed the man's chest with all her might until he fell to the floor. Now, the position was reversed. Angie was on top of the man's body and laughed softly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. Actually, I wanted to come to you nicely, but you came straight at me with that sharp knife of yours."

"Go away," the man said.

Angie chuckled. "No, no, no. I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

"What do you think we've been doing, huh?"

Angie laughed. "You keep threatening me and wanting to kill me."

The man suddenly grabbed Angie by the neck and squeezed her very hard. Angie closed her eyes and groaned in pain. Her breathing began to become labored as the man's grip grew stronger.

"Ugh, let me go," Angie groaned.

"I intended to ignore you and let you go unharmed, but you're ungrateful."

Angie struggled for air as her breathing became labored. It was like her life was being forcefully pulled out of her body. The man had absolutely no mercy at all, and it was clear he was not kidding when he said that he intended to kill Angie.

"Please, let me go..."

Angie's neck was released. She fell to the floor and coughed very loudly. Her neck was in excruciating pain. She opened her mouth and immediately took in as much oxygen as she could.

"You're so cruel," Angie said in a low voice.

"Now get out of here."

Angie touched the man's leg and gripped his calf. "No, you won't. I won't give up."

"What the hell? You really want to die, huh?"

Angie shook her head. "Come on, let's talk. I swear I came to you of my own free will. No one else told me to do this."

Angie tried to get up with difficulty. When they faced each other, the man's expression actually looked annoyed and reluctant to look Angie in the eye. This was probably the craziest thing Angie had ever done in her life. She was probably just too upset after being fired from her job and was looking for an excuse to get up.

"What do you want?" the man asked.

"Your name?"

The man did not answer.

Angie cast her eyes around the room. The small house in the narrow alley was sparsely furnished. Angie realized that this house only had a wooden table with a few chairs. There were no decorations, no other furniture around. This small house looked so spacious just because of the lack of furniture inside.

"Is this your house?" Angie asked again.

"Just tell me what you want and leave."

Angie smiled widely. "Then let's be friends."

The man gaped. "What? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm completely serious."

"I don't see any benefit to my life in being friends with you. Now leave while I'm still being nice to you." The man turned his face away.

"Tell me your name."

"Ezikel Langdon."

Angie blinked softly, then laughed. "You're lying." She approached the man and quickly reached into his pants pocket.

She backed away quickly and giggled as she swung a black wallet in her hand.

"Maxime Seagrave. Max, then. Nice to meet you, Max. My name is Angela McAlister. Just call me Angie."

The man named Maxime Seagrave widened his eyes when he realized what Angie was doing.

"Bitch! Give me back my wallet."

Angie giggled amusedly. "Okay, relax, man. I just want to know what your name is."

Angie grinned. She probably did not have a strong enough physique to fight with that guy. She would definitely lose badly, but her two hands were agile enough to get things done. Her weakness in endurance was replaced with other abilities that were quite useful. This was just one of them, there were many other things Angie could do.

"You got what you wanted. Now get out of here."

Angie hummed softly. "But actually, there's still something else I want."

"You really don't know yourself."

Angie laughed. "Yeah, maybe."

Angie did not want to leave, or at least she still did not want to leave if she had not gotten more information about the golden pin with the three-claw symbol in the center. She was just thinking of how to get to the topic without making Maxime suspect that the gold pin had gone missing. Ah, he might have realized that it was missing, but he certainly had no idea that Angie was the one who found his pin.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Hm, an interesting piece of information, perhaps? Something that can be put on the news and that everyone will talk about."

Maxime widened his eyes. "You're a journalist?"

"Yes."

"Get out of here!"

Maxime pushed Angie's body roughly and forced her to get out. Angie was still rebelling and trying to hold on. She did not want to just leave without getting anything.

"Hey, come on. I'm sure you have something interesting. If you want money, I'll definitely give you half the profits."

Maxime growled angrily. "I don't need your money."

"Then, whatever. Whatever you ask me for."

Maxime stopped pushing. The two of them stared at each other intently, as if they were trying to skin each other.

***