Kisa asked, "What did David tell you when you confronted him?"Thomas helped her put on her coat and replied, "Not a damn thing. And he didn't breathe a word about our mom either. Come on, Kisa. He's asleep now, so we got to go. We can talk outside.""But there are guards all over the damn place. How the hell are we supposed to escape?" Kisa asked, feeling worried."We can. I dug a hole in the backyard ahead of time. We'll slip out that way." Thomas sighed, "Maybe my biological father feels guilty about me. That's probably why he let me stay here and didn't even bother to put a tail on me. Lucky for me, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to get you out." Thomas spoke with conviction, and Kisa did not dwell on it further.Once they made it to the ground floor, they made a beeline for the backyard. "What the hell? There were guards posted outside my door. How come they are not here today?" Kisa wondered."Oh, I just made up some excuse to get them out of our way. We need to ma
"Since it is just a meaningless call, just hang up..."The line went dead.Kisa sat on the ground, stunned.'Gilbert didn't even bother saving my number. How much does he loathe me to treat me like a complete stranger? And that woman, what the is she doing with Gilbert? They seem too close!'Countless speculations raced through her mind, making her heart ache. But she took a deep breath and forced herself not to overthink. The urgent task was to get out of here.Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the distance. she gritted her teeth against the pain in her belly and squinted in its direction. With a streetlamp close by, she eventually saw that the person was Thomas. He had escaped, but he was hurt.Without hesitation, Kisa ran over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"Thomas froze for a second before blurting out, "What the hell are you still doing here? You need to get out of here, now!"Kisa did not reply. Instead, she pulled him to a nearby spot to sit down. Thomas had injur
Thomas was holed up in the hotel. He was injured and his legs were practically useless. To make matters worse, his wound was starting to get infected, and he could not manage on his own without proper care.Meanwhile, Kisa was weak. When she tried to get up, she moved too quickly, causing her to stumble and fall clumsily to the ground as soon as her feet hit the floor.Gilbert was standing there, watching her with piercing eyes. His voice was colder than the icy winter winds. "What the hell were you doing in that alley? Are you and David scheming something again?"Kisa shook her head, struggling to get back up from the ground. She looked at Gilbert and asked, "Is your grandma okay?"Gilbert's eyes scanned her up and down as he spoke with a frigid tone, "You look like a hot mess. Are you playing the distressed damsel to help David extract information about Grandma?"As Kisa listened to Gilbert's baseless accusations, a sharp pain pierced her heart. She took a deep breath and said n
Gilbert just could not bring himself to be cruel to the woman before him. Despite everything, he took her to his place—a decrepit courtyard tucked away deep in the alleyways of the old city district.Kelvin had been taking care of his grandmother's illness here. With Kelvin around, Kisa did not have to worry about Thomas' injury. But Kelvin was not exactly thrilled to see her. As soon as he laid eyes on her, his face darkened, and he grabbed Gilbert's arm, saying in a harsh tone, "Why the hell did you bring her here? What if she rats us out to David and puts your grandma in danger?"Kisa was quick to defend herself, blurting out, "I won't tell David. I just escaped from him."Kelvin sneered, "Yeah, right. You're full of sh*t. Who knows if you and David cooked up this little scheme to mess with us.""I didn't—""Enough!" Gilbert cut her off coldly, turning to Kelvin. "Check out Thomas' injury first."Kelvin scowled. "Are you kidding me? Not only are you not kicking her out, but no
Before Kisa could finish her sentence, the creaky wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and Gilbert stood coldly at the entrance. "If you've got something to say, just say it. No need to stir up trouble here." His eyes filled with disgust.Kisa's heart sank. She averted his gaze and said, "I just want you guys to watch out for Sara. She's very likely working with David. She was responsible for the collapse in the basement of the Mullen residence."Gilbert leaned against the doorway and lit a cigarette. "She's more honest than you are," he said, his voice tinged with fatigue.Kisa felt a sudden pang. "So you don't believe me?" she asked.Kelvin suddenly let out a cold laugh. "You just said it yourself. Sara confessed to us that she was helping David, including the incident at the Mullen residence. She overheard David plotting to hurt Mrs. Kooper Sr. and risked her own life to save her. If it wasn't for her, Mrs. Kooper Sr. would probably be in David's hands right now.""No..." Kisa
"Tomorrow, you take Thomas and get out of here." Gilbert's eyes were especially cold, sending a shiver down Kisa's spine.She clenched her hands tightly and spoke in a low voice, "She spilled the soup on purpose and poured it onto her own hand."He closed his eyes slightly, his face filled with endless impatience and disappointment.He restrained his temper and growled, "Can you stop with the excuses already? Bringing you two back was a colossal mistake. Tomorrow, I want you both out of here and gone for good!"The man seemed to have returned to his initial callousness.'It was I who had wrongly accused him, hated him. And it was because of me that he ended up in this mess. How could he not despise me?' she thought in her mind.Gilbert did not seem to want to look at her. He turned to Sara and said, "I'll take care of the rest. You go have Kelvin look at your hand." Then he turned and went to cook.Sara gave Kisa a smug smile before wiping her shoulder and walking out.Kisa wat
Early morning, the alley was quiet. Kisa followed the man in silence. She quickened her pace, hoping to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Gilbert, but he matched her speed.'Well, he hates me to the core now, so it's a miracle he even took me out. So why would he bother with me?' she thought to herself.After passing through three small alleys, they emerged onto an old street with food vendors on either side. Gilbert wordlessly bought a few sandwiches and two cups of orange juice.When the sandwiches and orange juice were handed over, Kisa was overjoyed and smiled at him, "Thank you."Gilbert avoided eye contact and replied in a monotone voice, "I'm just worried about my child going hungry." He then walked toward a small pharmacy not far away.Kisa pursed her lips and smiled, quickly following him."Symptoms?" the pharmacist glanced at Kisa's belly and asked.Kisa thought for a moment and said, "Occasional sharp pain and tightness in my belly, and a bit of spotting the night before
The house looked like it had been through a tornado. The furniture was tossed around like a game of dominoes, and broken dishes littered the floor like shattered dreams.Gilbert raced upstairs at the sight of the chaos, leaving Kisa standing there stunned. She felt a sinking feeling in her heart, sensing something was terribly wrong.Upstairs, Gilbert's voice echoed through the hallway as he frantically called out for his grandmother. Kisa's hand felt icy cold as she followed him up the stairs, stepping over bloodstains and signs of a violent struggle.There were four rooms upstairs, and as Kisa reached the landing, Gilbert came running out of Sara's room, his face a mask of panic and fear. He shouted "Grandma" over and over again, but there was no answer.Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from Thomas's room. Kisa's heart leaped, thinking maybe Thomas had managed to escape. But as she rushed into the room, she saw Kelvin instead. Kelvin was injured, with blood streaming from