Quinna and Javier’s dinner after leaving the airport changed from a romantic couple’s meal to accommodate a third wheel. Still, the dinner was nothing short of intriguing, as Lay’s self-driving programming idea was ingenious.Javier was more or less an amateur at these things, but Quinna was an actual expert. After all, automobile engineering was related to what she had majored in at university. Spending a decade in Heisenberg Group had reasonably made her one of the biggest experts there was, and no one would dare doubt her professional judgment. Anything she deemed worthy automatically cleared the bar—be it the hydrogen power system of the Chinean or Lay’s algorithms.It was why she started a bidding war against Javier.“Listen to me, Lay. If you join Heisenberg, this thing between you and me might still have a chance, okay? If you dare join Reivaj, though, darling, we’re gonna be an impossibility real soon!” she announced.Javier almost spat out. “Lady, is this the level you’d s
Javier came to the door and opened the envelope. The first thing that greeted him was a photo that made him frown. He could already guess just by looking at the photo of himself and Quinna what this was about without even having to look at the content of the paper.“You’ve got a cursed mouth, don’t you? Why didn’t I sense it when I kissed you earlier?!”Quinna was a little lost when she heard Javier say that, not understanding what he was getting at. Javier did not explain. He only unfolded the piece of paper. As expected, the note asked for 80,000 dollars in exchange for the photo. There was a bank account number on it too, but Javier did not have to check to know that the account must have been created by someone else’s ID. It would be nonsense to try to track the culprit down through the ID of the bank account.Luckily, Javier was not thinking of checking it either, while Quinna asked from the bed, “What happened?”“Nothing.”Anything that could be solved with money was not a
Eddie was shocked. He had wholeheartedly believed that Javier would be threatened, only for the latter to say that. He did not want to die. He just wanted money.“No, Mr. Kersey, you misunderstood me. I meant to let bygones be bygones, okay?”Let bygones be bygones, huh? That meant he was not going to return Javier the 80,000 dollars, and the latter would not have to worry about his photo being leaked. Whatever there was between them had been settled.Was it possible? Javier did not think so. He lit a cigarette and told Eddie, “I gave you 80,000 dollars before this because I didn’t want to make a fuss over this.“But you sent me another letter now, which means that you’re greedy and you aren’t satisfied.“What’s the matter? You think you have to be scared of me because I’m the chairman of Reivaj Group?“If that’s what you think, I can only tell you that you’re thinking too f*cking much.”Javier snapped his fingers and told Running Man, “Make it look like a gas poisoning. I’ll ar
It was apparent that Quinna’s sister-in-law was there with a motive. There was the boy who cried wolf, but Quinna’s sister-in-law was there crying for money. She and her husband had a clear goal: They were crying about how pitiful their life was to force Quinna to make arrangements for them to get the car accessory business.However, Quinna’s elder brother and sister-in-law had obviously underestimated Quinna’s temper.“Sure, my nephew will be implicated, you say? That’s easy. Send him to me. I’ll take care of him on your behalf. I’ll make sure he’s fed well.”Her sister-in-law was speechless at once. She did not want to do that. That was her own son! She then sobbed about how she was reluctant to part with her son and all that, hoping that Quinna could help her.Quinna did not want to even look at her sister-in-law and went to her office with Javier, but her sister-in-law followed them all the way there.Said sister-in-law looked at Javier coldly once they were inside the office.
Quinna received a call from her elder brother, who said that he had no idea about her sister-in-law going to meet her and that he had divorced the woman. He was also getting ready to open up a hotel and hoped to receive Quinna’s support when the time was right.Quinna was honestly all for it. After all, the restaurant did not matter when she met up with clients. As long as her elder brother’s hotel provided good service, there would be no problem. She did not understand why the husband and wife had gotten a divorce so suddenly.Despite her confusion, she recalled her sister-in-law’s arrogance when she had underestimated others and thought that the divorce seemed right. At least her sister-in-law would stop goading her elder brother into things after that.As she felt pleased, a smile made the corners of Quinna’s lips tug up. She knew that Javier must be behind this. She wanted to confirm it personally, only for him to gobble her up once again…After the flight landed, Javier went i
The strange film title frightened both Genevieve and Fiona. Fiona, in particular, asked reflexively, “It’s an X-rated film?!”Herschel chuckled. “How could we make an X-rated one right away? We’ll start with an R-rated one!”The answer scared both Genevieve and Fiona. They were not naïve girls, so they knew the difference between an X-rated and an R-rated film. However, they could not accept making even an R-rated film. It was not like they were so broke that they could not afford to eat. Who would want to star in something like that?Realizing that this could very well be revenge, Genevieve and Fiona attempted to escape. At that moment, ten men appeared and rushed into the warehouse before shutting the door tightly.What happened could no longer be seen, but one could hear Genevieve and Fiona shrieking and yelling like two little lambs as the wolves punched on them after hollering, “Get to work!”Vaguely, one could even hear the sound of clothes being torn apart…At the same tim
When the girls left the warehouse and walked along the road, it took them some time before they finally came across a cab.After sending Genevieve back to the campus, Fiona told her, “I’ll come meet you at night. We’ll be each other’s pillar of support…”She sounded caring, but Fiona scowled the moment the cab door closed.Best friends? F*ck her. All Fiona cared about was herself. Genevieve could die if she wanted to.Genevieve apparently thought the same way. Since it was still early, she cleaned herself up and waited at the campus gate. She had even gone to buy some baked goods as she waited for Harley.She had thought it through. When Harley came, she would apologize to him properly and ask him to ask Javier for a favor. She believed that a fool like Harley would buy any lie she made up.After about half an hour, Genevieve managed to see Harley. She hurried over and passed the baked goods to him. “Dear, I bought you breakfast. You…”Before she could finish her sweet message,
The truck driver was fine. When he came out of his truck, he swiped his forehead and tried to flee.There was an old man riding a bicycle and pulling along a cart of steel bars and a large hammer. Javier grabbed the hammer in passing and went over quietly before he swung the hammer down on the driver’s back.The driver, who wanted to flee, collapsed on the ground right away, and Javier dragged him off to the side. He swung the hammer up again, aiming for the driver’s head.“You only have one chance to say the truth. Tell me, who sent you to kill me?”“I just accidentally…”With a swoosh, the hammer moved down toward the truck driver, producing fluttering wind.“It was Freddy! It was Freddy Russo!”The truck driver yelped in fear as he screwed his eyes shut.Bang! The hammer landed right next to the driver’s ear and only caused some stray gravel to graze his face. If this had been a blow on his head, he was sure his head would have split apart and blood would have splattered aro
As Bernadetta launched a barrage of kicks against the restaurant door, Mrs. Greene summoned 120% of her strength, holding the fort. The older woman had made a living terrorizing others with absurd accusations and downright unreasonable demands, but this time, she had met her match. Bernadetta James put the “man” in the word “woman”—in that she resorted to violence as soon as things escalated. In the end, it took both Mrs. Greene’s apology and a deal to provide Javier and Bernadetta with three days’ meals, all free of charge, to make the young woman stop. Then—“because I actually have a weakness against people sincerely appealing to my better angels,” according to Bernadetta—she amended the peace offer, changing the three days’ free meals to…a week’s worth. Back in the inn, Javier expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Bernadetta for rescuing him. “I can’t thank you enough for standing by my side when I needed it the most, Bern. But I can thank you a bit more if you refrain from using t
Mrs. Greene opened her flap and unlocked the floodgate, the spit during her tirade so profusive that she could water an old lady’s lawn. “It’s him, officers! It’s all him! He did this to his own camera just to remove himself as a suspect, but we know better than that! He’s the guy who stole my goddamn lingerie!”She turned and trained her finger on Javier. “You vile, disgusting, degenerate piece of sh*t! Ptooey!”‘Back at you! I'd rather spend the night with my left hand than with you!’ By this point in the morning, Bernadetta had arrived at work. Her heels clicked onto the floor as she sauntered toward the commotion. As soon as she heard what had transpired, she laughed, looking clearly amused. She trained her perfectly manicured finger on Javier and piled on. “Oh, it was him. I can testify to that! He stole Mrs. Greene’s bra because he is…the Lingerie Phantom Thief! By day, he is Javier Kersey. At night, he is Jo Ker, the Bra Stealer!” Javier threw his arms up in exasperation
Javier shook his head. By the time his vision was back to normal, the dog was gone. It had escaped! “What kind of hell spawned this little sh*t?!” Javier wondered to himself aloud. “Was this really an effect of the world changing? Is this an example of mutation because of the Storm? Or is there something else at play?”Baffled and unsure what to think, Javier returned to the dorm and told the residents to open the door. Inside, he found Florence huddling the frightened kids closely. She was white from fear, and yet in the presence of vulnerable kids, she had assumed the role of the protector without a second thought. “Hush, it’s alright! It was fake. Someone pulled a terrible prank and put on this white sheet and…” Javier made up a fib to explain the haunting away exactly because the truth could land him in a mental institution. No one would believe him—and for good reason too!Javier drove Florence back to the Yuzuian restaurant, where the latter’s electric scooter was. While
A resentful wail—interspersed only by sobs that sounded more like someone was being strangled—was echoing in the middle of the night while Javier and Florence could not see even a single soul out there? Animated by the power of “hell, naw!”, Florence dove into Javier’s arms for protection. Her hands were clasped firmly on either side of her head, hoping to block out the ghastly demand in her ears. Her eyes were squeezed so tightly shut that even a crowbar could not pry them open.Javier himself was just as terrified. He would have felt better if he could see the source of the voice rather than just hear a woman sobbing about getting her head back. At least he would know what he was up against! But just hearing it without any visuals at all?! Nooooope!Then, Florence hugged him in a “help-me!” sort of way. She was soft and supple—damn, that sexy figure in combination with her silky-smooth skin sure was welcoming. She was warm, and damn did she smell good! Nothing competed with fea
The dog barked in protest as it pointed its paw at Javier with the intensity of a mob before executing a monarch. The flames in its eyes were so bright that they could incinerate Javier into ashes in milliseconds. In the end, though, all that protest was for naught. Constance tied it up in the parking garage, while Javier watched in glee. Ah, sweet, sweet revenge! The stupid dog had thought it could set him up, had it? That would teach it!The look the Pomeranian shot him almost felt like a threat: ‘Just you f*cking wait, hooman!’‘Wait for what? How much can a stupid b*tch like you do to me?’ Javier scoffed in his mind. Now that the four-legged pest was gone, Javier turned back to Constance and talked about the new orphanage. As it turned out, despite the old woman’s sentiments for the building she had founded, she was a lot less obstinate and unreasonable as she might appear. “I mean, I don’t object to it completely. I know the new place is gonna be better, but…” She faltered a
Florence called half an hour later to tell him where they’d be having dinner. After leaving the inn in Bernadetta’s care, he hurried to the venue. Florence had picked a newly-opened Yuzuian restaurant. Javier had never liked Yuzuian restaurants, but since Florence had invited him, courtesy stopped him from asking the woman to change their meeting venue. He found Florence quickly enough and sat across from her. They placed their orders, and Javier began his performance: He started sighing and doing his best to look forlorn. It intrigued Florence enough to ask what was wrong, and Javier told her about his unfortunate beef with Constance that day.“It’s so unfair, man! Why would I bully a dog for no reason?” he moaned. “I’m sure Aunt Constance misunderstood. You’re a knightly, heroic, kind man! How could someone like you possibly get off on hurting a dog? I’m sure Aunt Constance was just too worried about the dog’s welfare to think things through. She didn’t mean it. I can vouch for
Herschel was dressed quite sharply today. It was the full ensemble—black leather shoes, black slacks, a white collar, and last but not least, the good old oil-slicked hair. The typical look of a high-ranking office worker, just as Javier had requested. Ordering him to get in his car, Javier asked, “You brought all the stuff I told you to?”“Yo, I would never forget the stuff my boss told me to bring. I’ve got all the preparations down pat. You can check ‘em if you don’t trust me,” Herschel replied. He fished an ID and some documents out of his leather bag. “See? All the documentation a journalist in the most important room of a news agency would have.”After a round-check and some instructions, Javier sent Herschel on his way to complete his mission. The man was strangely reluctant, though. “Boss, you told me you decided to work in that inn, right? Does that mean, you know, that you’re gonna call me ‘boss’ while you’re there?”Javier had almost forgotten he had mentioned this. It
Javier’s suspicion turned to Constance Hellman’s white Pomeranian. He turned to the director’s office and met the dog’s eyes. With its paws on the windowsill, it hoisted itself up to look out of the window. Seeing the dog cracking a lopsided grin and baring its fangs—beaming as smugly as a teacher’s pet who had managed to subdue everyone through the power of being the boss’s favorite—made it look both amusing and chilling. It would have been had the dog not caught Javier’s gaze, suddenly dropped the smile, and put on a face that seemed to be saying, ‘I’m just your average dog! Nothing to see here!’And then it feigned—yes, feigned—a yawn as its one last measure to cover up the fact that it had been laughing smugly to itself. ‘What. The. Actual. F*ck?!’ Javier thundered in his mind. ‘B*tch’s a natural actress! What’s it doing here instead of being interviewed on a talk show after becoming viral on TikTok?’In combination with Russell’s report, the incident inside the director’s of
As Javier was befuddled, Constance rushed in from outside and picked up the white Pomeranian gingerly to carefully check its injured leg.“Oh, baby, what’s the matter? Did you hurt your leg?”The white Pomeranian whined in pain and began twitching upon hearing Constance’s concerned question. This upset Constance so much that she admonished him sternly. “Mr. Kersey, I thought that you were a loving person, but I can’t help doubting your motive now.“I’m skeptical about you taking good care of the kids here when you’d even hit a cute dog!”Javier felt extremely offended. When had he hit the dog? He hurriedly explained, “Madam Hellman, I didn’t do anything!”Constance asked angrily, “You didn’t do anything? Why would it suddenly limp now and whine so pathetically? Why did it hurry over to me? Give me a reasonable explanation!”Javier was in distress as well. “How would I know? It was fine when I was carrying it just now, but it wanted to get down on the floor, so I carefully placed