Darnell didn’t have any romantic feelings towards Lillian, but for some reason, he didn’t want her to misunderstand him. So, he quickly changed his clothes and went out to chase after her.
However, it seemed that Lillian was really angry. Darnell couldn’t find her at the village entrance and only learned from the security guard that she had taken a taxi and left.
“Ah, this girl is really angry.”
Darnell sighed helplessly, thinking of explaining things properly to Lillian at work. He returned to his rental house to freshen up and by the time he came out, it was already half past seven.
After breakfast, Darnell went to the garage to drive out his Lamborghini. Garrett ran out from the guard booth and smiled, “Boss, are you going to work? Can you give me a ride? I want to go to the Tale Whale, the bookstore.”
The Tale Whale bookstore was on the way to Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, only three kilometers apart. Darnell opened the car door and let Garrett, who had been on duty all night, get in.
“You’ve been working all night. Why don’t you rest properly instead of going to the bookstore? Besides, if you want to read a book, you can just download one. Is it necessary to drive more than ten kilometers to buy a book?”
“It’s not for me. It’s for my sister.”
Garrett fastened his seatbelt and chuckled, “She likes physical books, and she has some unique tastes.”
“She wants to find two volumes of ‘Poems by the Legendary Hermit’. I checked and found that only the Tale Whale bookstore has replicas. So I’m going there to take a look. It’s almost her birthday, so it can be a gift.”
Darnell was slightly taken aback. “Poems by the Legendary Hermit” was difficult for even many scholars to fully understand.
“Your sister is quite knowledgeable.”
Darnell smiled and replied, “Otherwise, she wouldn’t be interested in this kind of book.”
Garrett scratched his head. “I don’t understand it, but she likes it. As long as it’s not a bad book, I’ll do my best to satisfy her.”
Darnell stepped on the gas and drove out of the village. “Where’s your car?”
Garrett looked a little embarrassed. “I left it in the village. I only drive it for official business. It’s a bit of a gas guzzler-over a dollar per kilometer. Parking fees are also expensive. A trip to the bookstore costs at least fifty bucks.”
“I know the village and the company cover the expenses, but I still want to save a bit. After all, buying books is my personal thing.”
Darnell, familiar with Garrett’s frugal nature, shook his head with a smile and didn’t press further. “How was last night?”
Garrett took the cue. “Everything was safe. No suspicious people came near.”
Darnell thought about the arrangements he had made regarding the Apex. “Keep your guard up these next few days. Whiteville hasn’t been too peaceful lately.”
Garrett nodded earnestly. “Understood.”
Vroom-
Fifteen minutes later, the Lamborghini pulled up at the back entrance of the bookstore. Just as Darnell was about to tell Garrett to go around to the front, a sharp shout came from the side.
“Nathen! Nathen!”
The voice sounded familiar.
Darnell and Garrett turned their heads at the same time and saw a young woman in professional attire pulling a beggar despite the attention they were attracting from others as she repeatedly shouted,
“You are my younger brother! I’m familiar with your accent! You’re Nathen, right? Nathen, I am Sophia, your sister…”
The young woman was none other than Sophia from the car dealership. At this moment, she seemed completely devoid of composure and elegance. All that remained were anxiety and anticipation.
The beggar she was pulling was very young, around fifteen years old. He was blind with both hands and feet broken and seemingly deaf as well.
No matter how much Sophia shouted, he showed no reaction except for shaking his begging bowl while repeating,
“Can you please give me a little bit of money, kind-hearted person? There is flooding at home. I have no money for food…”
Sophia let go of her handbag and held the young beggar’s face with both hands as she shouted,
“You are Nathen! You must be Nathen! Nathen, I am your sister! It’s me, Sophia…”
The young beggar squirmed and tried to avoid Sophia’s grasp while many onlookers watched.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
At this moment, a man with a gold necklace and another one-eyed man walked over. They forcefully pulled Sophia away, who had tears streaming down her face, and shouted loudly, “You can’t bully beggars just because you have money! Leave him alone! Can’t you see how miserable he is?”
“Just because he bumped into you doesn’t mean you can give him a hard time!”
“If he dirtied your clothes. I can pay for it. How much does that cost? I can afford it. As a person who’s also disabled, I feel a responsibility to stand up for him.”
With the instigation of the one-eyed man, the crowd gradually grew angry. They thought it was another scene of heartlessness towards the poor and started accusing Sophia of being too cruel.
At the same time, the man with the gold chain grabbed the young beggar and quickly left.
“It’s not like that! It’s not like that!”
Sophia’s tearful face waved her hands as she shouted, “He is my long-lost younger brother… My long-lost younger brother…”
“Don’t listen to her!”
The one-eyed man gradually retreated from the crowd as he continued, “People nowadays don’t even care about their own parents. Why would they bother with their disabled siblings? There are no saints in this world.”
“This woman might be a human trafficker, trying to deceive the beggar, and then sell his organs for money.”
“Let’s beat her up first and then call the police. They will handle it when they arrive.”
Incited by the one-eyed man’s words, the crowd became increasingly angry. Some even rolled up their sleeves with righteous indignation, ready to teach Sophia a lesson.
“A human trafficker? How can someone so beautiful be a human trafficker? She is truly heartless.”
“The more beautiful someone is, the more wicked they are. What a vile woman!”
Seeing that everyone pressed in on Sophia, ready to attack her, the one-eyed man smirked and picked up Sophia’s handbag before fiddling with it for a moment. He took out her wallet and cell phone, preparing to make his escape.
Just then, a figure rushed over and kicked him several meters away before picking up Sophia’s wallet and cell phone.
The one-eyed man clutched his abdomen but couldn’t make any sound due to pain.
“Make way! Make way!”
Garrett put Sophia’s wallet and cell phone into her handbag before forcing his way through the crowd and rushing towards Sophia, who looked pitifully distressed. “Sophia, are you okay?”
Then he shouted at everyone, “Her name is Sophia. I know her. She is a salesperson at the car dealership, not a human trafficker.”
As he said this, Garrett showed them a photo of himself together with Sophia and the manager of the car dealership as evidence.
“If you still don’t believe it, we can call the police so they can handle this situation.”
“If you insist on being unreasonable and want to resort to violence against her, I don’t mind stopping you with my fists.”
He clenched his fist with a crackling sound which gave off an intimidating aura as if one punch could kill or severely injure someone.
Seeing Garrett’s imposing figure and the car dealership information in the photo, the curious onlookers scattered in an instant, and the one-eyed man took off running.
In an instant, they disappeared without leaving any trace behind.
Garrett glared at their retreating figures before turning to Sophia and handing her the handbag. “Sophia, are you okay?”
Sophia didn’t respond to Garrett. She just stared ahead, sobbing uncontrollably, “Nathen…”