Listening to her captor, Layla found herself deep in thought. It dawned on her that the person before her had no real intention of killing or even seriously harming her. They just wanted to negotiate.
"I get that you want us to be 'friends,'" Layla said cautiously, tilting her head as she tried to make sense of the situation. "But why go through all this trouble? If you wanted be hidden, you could've easily taken me out after I had left here. Why this elaborate setup?"
The fake Layla sighed, folding her arms and leaning back slightly, as though explaining something to a stubborn child. "First, I needed to know how you figured out I used that car to visit the Curse Mall. Secondly, someone had to show you and your friend the consequences of poking around where you shouldn't. And lastly—" she paused, her voice softening, "—because I don't want to. Killing you would've been the easy way out. But just because something's easy doesn't make it right. Don't you agree?"
