Claire P. O. V
“How long do you want to stand there? Come in. Didn’t you want to go to the night market like you talked about when you were on a flight?”
Ethan urged me to move on. He was already behind the wheel, wearing a grey blazer over a black t-shirt. A t-shirt might not fit his personality, but seeing him in it with that blazer made it work. At least he didn’t look like a gangster.
I quickly hopped in, sat right beside him, and buckled up. For a moment, everything seemed normal. But then, I realized this was the first time I’d seen Ethan drive alone. He never did that; even when he picked me up at the beachfront restaurant the other day, he let Danny do that. Never once had he driven himself.
Of course, he has plenty of people who’d happily do that for him.
“Where’s Chen Lien? Isn’t he coming?” I asked after buckling up.
“Now he’s on meeting with another client.”
“About your drugs?”
Ethan gave a slight smile. “Do you think that’s all my business is about?”
“Then what else? Isn’t that the only business you have?”
“Isn’t that all you have besides the taxes you collect from your Pack?”
“Taxes? Why would I collect those from them?”
“You don’t do it?” I asked, genuinely surprised. This was the first time I’d heard of an Alpha who didn’t collect taxes from his Pack members to boost the Pack’s growth.
Generally, whether it’s a big or small Pack, their leadership model still mirrors regular governance-collecting taxes to be reinvested into shared facilities. Although their budgets aren’t as large as those collected by governments, they are usually enough to expand and enhance the Pack.
But what Ethan was doing was way out of the ordinary. His Pack was massive, yet he didn’t require any financial contributions from his members for its development.
“My business isn’t just about drugs. I own several high-quality weapons assembly factories that no one else has. Plus, I have a medical equipment manufacturing plant that supplies almost all European hospitals. Money isn’t something I need to worry about,” he replied.
“That’s really impressive,” I said. “You kill people with your weapons, poison them with your drugs, and then treat them.”
Ethan burst out laughing at my words. But he kept driving, following the map on the car’s GPS. We left the villa and headed to the night market, which Chen Lien had mentioned to me on the plane.
It was truly amazing. As we headed to the night market, I saw the bustling lights of Shanghai, far more spectacular than Ethan’s Pack. The city was alive with bright, dazzling lights.
“I thought you wouldn’t take me anywhere,” I told him, still focused on driving.
“Just because you ask doesn’t mean I won’t give you what you want or the opposite.”
“So, is this a stroke of luck for me?”
“Consider it done.”
“Wow, I must have had a good dream last night,” Ethan praised. But his compliment didn’t make me smile at all. What Ethan did yesterday was a nightmare.
Ethan parked in a cramped lot packed with motorbikes and cars from others visiting the area. Honestly, this was my first time at such a bustling place-crowded, with tons of people catching up with friends or buying street food from vendors lined along the five-meter-wide street.
Ethan bought me many snacks: grilled sausages, squid, fried noodles stuffed with seafood, and a cup of boba milk tea. All these foods I’d never tried before were now in my hands, and for that night, we looked like a real couple. I mean, in the genuine sense. It was as if he actually wanted me, even though Ethan never had any desire for me at all.
“Do you want to sit somewhere to enjoy the food?”
“Yes, of course, but can I go to the restroom for a bit?”
“I’ll take you,” he said, offering to accompany me.
I thought Ethan would let me go alone, but he chose to accompany me. Amid the crowd, we searched for a restroom, and once we found it, Ethan waited not far from the entrance while I went in.
After finishing up, I headed back to Ethan. But just as I was about to reach him, someone grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth and pulling me away from the crowd.
I tried to push and struggle, hoping they’d let me go, but they didn’t. They kept dragging me along until we reached the parking lot, where they shoved me into a car. Inside was a man I’d seen at Ethan’s mansion.
“What do you want?” I asked as they shut the door.
The man just stayed silent, puffing on a half-smoked cigar. He blew the smoke out, some drifting through the open window, but most of it hit my face. I waved my hand to clear the smoke, but it was useless. Cigar smoke is way harsher than regular cigarette smoke, and it made me cough.
“Are you happy with Ethan Randall?”
“What?”
“You know he’s a criminal who shows no mercy to anyone who gets in his way,” the man said again, the things I don’t know.
“Do you think I’m in his way or something?” I asked him.
The man shook his head. “Of course not. I’m just reminding you to be careful around him.”
I had yet to learn what he meant. Was he trying to provoke me? Who was this guy anyway? Was he Ethan’s boss? A business partner? Is someone funding The Silver Fire Pack?
“If you’re Ethan Randall’s rival, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m not connected to Ethan at all. I’m just bonded to him as his mate. If he rejects me, it’s over. I have no reason to stay with him longer,” I replied.
Hearing my response, the man, who looked in his fifties, stared at me with a cigar still hanging from his lips. His gaze was sharp and piercing, sending chills down my spine-a fear I never felt even when I first saw Ethan.
This guy was like a monster.