Olivia Bellard's birthday banquet was soon forgotten, though some who had once maintained deep connections with the family suddenly lost interest and distanced themselves.
Who would want to be around someone who schemed for petty revenge?
In the meantime, Mimi's days passed by smoothly. As usual, Mimi ate Tobias's food, slept, watched dirty movies, teased her colleges and employers, ate some more of Tobias's food and worked with Shen Jue to ruin her father.
All things considered, everything was going pretty well!
However, who would have thought that would all come crumbling down in the blink of an eye.
One late evening, a call was received as Mimi, full of energy, was about to sit back and watch a good dirty film with some microwaved ramen.
Damn it! She was looking forward to this! They used chocolate syrup and everything!
Grumbling, Mimi looks down at her phone and felt even more irritated.
It was Shen Jue.
"Creepy bastard, this better be…"
"Ah, little one, glad you answered so quickly!"
The sound of Shen Jue's sunny voice on the other end made the corner of Mimi's lips twitch. Before she could cuss him out, his following words stopped her.
"Oh, by the way, we seem to have encountered a problem. It looks like your father has grown aware of our movements, so he's enhanced his and his allies' security."
"What?" Mimi gave a slight frown.
"Don't fret, I've arranged a setup to meet with one of his allies. They've learned who our targets are connected to and want to negotiate with us. Probably for the sake of saving his business."
Mimi fell silent for a moment.
"So, you plan to meet up with one of my father's investors because he's asked to bargain with us?"
"Yup."
"By yourself?"
"Yup."
Mimi rubbed her forehead irritably. "Shen Jue, you know that's a trap, right? My father set it up so he can scope us out."
The man laughed gleefully on the other end. "Haha, I know, I know! But don't worry about me I'm going fully prepared!"
Mimi's temples twitched. Who's worried about who?
Too lazy to correct him, Mimi sighed loudly. "When is it?"
"Two hours from now."
So soon!
Mimi raised an eyebrow, but her lips twisted into a zealous smile. "Then I'm coming with you! It's about time I joined in on the fun, don't you think?"
Shen Jue was silent on the other end. She could tell the other was smiling idiotically.
"Haha, all right."
"Send me the location, and I'll meet you there."
"Ah, there's no need for that! Look outside."
"Huh?" Her brows raised.
Mimi stood up from her seat and peaked out the balcony windows. When she looked out, her entire being froze in shock. Below her apartment complex, a black Mercedes was parked. Leaning lazily against the car, phone and binoculars in hand, was Shen Jue.
She was dumbfounded.
The man noticed her from below and waved at her enthusiastically, as she stared down at him expressionlessly as if unmoved.
Mimi: "…"
Aaahhh, so creepy!
She smirked mockingly and bitterly spoke. "My, my, you're more of a creep than I thought you were, Shen Jue! To stoop so low as to pry on a fair maiden through the window, you've surprised me."
Shen Jue simply laughed at her insults, completely unmoved. Mimi felt the corner of her lips twitch.
"What are you doing here?"
She didn't dare ask how long he had been there.
"I had a feeling you'd want to join in on the fun, so I thought to make it faster and pick you up!"
Bullshit! He had obviously been standing there watching her through the window before he even called!
She sighed. "All right, I'm coming down."
Mimi hung up and moved away from the window. At this moment, while putting away her laptop with the mosaic images on the screen and the cup of steaming ramen, Mimi's lips pursed.
She was silent for a moment and looked back at the balcony window before snatching the cup of noodles and slurping them quickly.
Just because she agreed to go with him, doesn't mean she should starve in the process!
Rubbing her belly with content, her eyes narrowed as she glanced back at the balcony. While she was at it, she'd later remind him to burn the binoculars.
…
When Mimi walked down, Shen Jue's dark pupils fixed on the girl and curved slightly.
"Let's go, little one." He opened the passenger seat for her.
Mimi nodded her head and hopped in. Shen Jue laughed softly and closed her door, making his way to the opposite side. Mimi buckled her seatbelt and quietly leaned into her seat, gazing out the window. The two were surrounded in silence, neither uttering a word for the start of the ride.
When they stopped in front of a stoplight, Mimi kept her gaze to the window view.
After a long time, she opened her mouth to ask, "So, how do you plan to disguise ourselves? You know we can't show up as our actual identities."
Shen Jue mildly tapped the steering wheel and said, "Look in the back. I prepared some things."
Mimi glanced at the backseat and noticed a red gift bag propped up on the seat. She tilted her head and grabbed it, setting it on her lap. Lowering her head to steal a peek, a flash of astonishment flitted across her eyes.
"We get to wear these?"
Shen Jue beamed, his eyes remaining on the road after the light turned green. "Do you like them?"
Mimi quickly responded by nodding her head. A smile floated to her lips, and her mood was exceptionally sunny. Shen Jue chuckled. It was apparent from the girl's glittering eyes, she expressed she was very satisfied.
At this moment, Mimi recalled Shen Jue's previous actions of waiting in front of her apartment with binoculars and couldn't help but narrow her eyes doubtfully.
After Mimi thought all this, she shifted her head toward the driving man beside her.
She cautiously laid down a question; her tone carried a trace of suspicion. "By the way, how often do you stand in front of my apartment like earlier?"
Shen Jue softly hummed as if he was thinking carefully, causing Mimi to raise an eyebrow. No way, he's done it more than once?
"Well, whenever I suddenly think about you, I feel troubled. So, I go and check up on you."
Mimi stared at him for a long time and could only give an ugly laugh. Seriously, what was this guy doing with his life?
She looked at him doubtfully. "Isn't that a bit too paranoid?"
Shen Jue was silent for a moment. His eyes dimmed as if he seemed to recall something.
After a while, he finally opened his mouth, "Mm, probably."
Mimi was momentarily stunned and felt her brows furrow.
Creep.
She didn't speak and shifted her line of sight to the window scenery for the remainder of the ride.
…
The car arrived and parked in front of a building. The deafening sound of blasting, booming music could be heard from outside. Mimi looked out and blinked dramatically.
This was a nightclub.
"Eh? This was the arranged meeting place?"
Shen Jue unbuckled his seatbelt and laughed. "Apparently so."
He reached for the bag on her lap and took out the pair of masks.
He smiled and passed her a mask. "Ready?'
Lowering her eyes to stare at the mask, Mimi's eyes gleamed with a sinister, thrilling light. Quirking her lips up, she grabbed the mask and giggled excitedly.
"Mhm! Let's go have some fun!"
…
Not far away, a few parking spaces away from the black Mercedes was a dark SUV. The man seated inside looked at the two figures leaving the car to enter the nightclub and quickly pulled out his phone.
"Sir, the young miss, and Mr. Shen have entered the nightclub. What are your orders?"
On the other end, a highly masculine and throaty voice spoke on the other end. "Follow them. Protect her at all costs. Don't let her see you."
"Yes, sir."
The man was silent for a moment, before his voice which had dropped down below the freezing point, said, "If you need to, eliminate whoever tries to harm her. I will deal with the consequences later."
Cold sweat poured down the man's back. Hearing his boss's orders, he knew the girl held great importance to him. This was surprising since his boss always tried his best to avoid shedding blood in all situations.
It wasn't that he was incapable or worried about the authorities. If anything, he could easily kill as many elite figures in the industry without being punished. He just preferred to handle things calmly and methodically.
But who would have thought when regarding the girl he was ordered to follow, he dismissed all previous righteous thoughts to protect her. It was at times like this he remembered how cold-blooded and ruthless his boss could be.
He was anxious. If he failed to protect the young miss, who knew what his boss would do to him!
The man felt a chill travel down his spine and his hair stood straight up on end. "Understood, sir."
Following those words, his boss hung up on the phone. The man stepped out of the car and walked into the nightclub.
…
On the other side of the city, after ending the phone call, a man leaned into his seat. He wore a black tailor-made suit, which outlined his muscular yet lean build.
The man possessed an unfamiliar face filled with deep menace, but those powerful eyes and his emotionless expressions were all too familiar.
The man was none other than Tobias Itou.
Tobias's fingers wrapped around a pen and slowly squeezed.
Snap--!
He sat completely motionless and indifferently glanced at the crushed pen in his palm. The destructive aura within his deep black eyes had not yet calmed, rather it seemed to increase.
He couldn't understand why his emotions felt so out of control. He didn't want to do this. He wanted to respect her privacy and let her run free.
But whenever he thought of the girl running headfirst into danger and getting hurt, his heart felt as if it was suffocating.
Tobias's ink-black pupils constricted, the firm darkness swallowed all sparks of light inside them.
For the past four years now, he watched her grow from a young, teenage girl to transform into a young woman.
Through those years, he found himself growing attached to her more and more to the point where if she suddenly vanished, his world would turn black and meaningless.
Why did he think this way?
Tobias closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After calming down his emotions, his black eyes opened to reveal a trace of self-mock.
His hoarse voice spoke softly in the dark, vacant room. "Why do you heartlessly torture me like this?"
Why do you break your promises and force me to resort to such cold, ruthless means?