Chapter 145 – Fiona's Change
At the Alibi.
After going a little wild together in the restaurant, Fiona signed the documents.
Just like that, she officially became the owner of a fast-food place.
And—technically—she also owed William a huge sum of money.
It was the kind of deal where she'd "lost the wife and the soldiers," then happily helped William count the cash afterward.
Completely voluntary.
Now in high spirits, she joked and teased William as they walked into the Alibi together.
"Wow, Fi—now that's rare," Kevin said, surprised when he saw her. Kate looked just as shocked.
Over the past few months, Fiona had been absurdly busy—anyone who knew her had seen it firsthand.
So seeing her casually stroll into the Alibi was genuinely unexpected.
"Everyone needs to relax once in a while," Fiona said with a smile.
"Two rums."
"Something good happen?" Kevin asked as he poured the drinks. "You look way too happy."
There was no real reason to keep it a secret.
Fiona said it outright—almost a little proudly:
"He just gave me a fast-food restaurant."
"…He what?"
Kevin froze.
Not just him—Kate behind the bar, along with Kermit and Tommy nearby, all stared in disbelief.
No one had ever thought Fiona and William were serious.
Everyone assumed it was just sex.
No one imagined William would give her something this valuable.
"Seriously?" Kevin asked, glancing between Fiona and William.
"It's not quite what she's making it sound like," William said calmly, an arm wrapped around Fiona's slim waist.
"I just loaned her the money to open it."
Fiona leaned into him, looking genuinely happy.
Even so, everyone found it hard to believe.
A loan—sure—but an entire restaurant?
And judging by how they looked together, no one doubted that even if Fiona never paid him back, William wouldn't really care.
In reality, William was doing this to completely separate himself from the business.
Giving Fiona a stage didn't mean he had to own the place.
He could've opened the restaurant himself, hired her as manager, paid her a salary—or even paid her nothing and let it be "compensation in kind."
This clean break was about risk control, not generosity.
But to outsiders?
It looked like pure devotion.
Kevin and the others didn't live in the underworld. They had no idea what William really did.
Money laundering never even crossed their minds.
"Well, that is worth celebrating," Kevin said sincerely.
He really was happy for Fiona.
In the original timeline, whenever Fiona fell apart, Kevin and V were always the ones supporting her as true friends.
Meanwhile, Debbie, Lip, and Ian—the so-called family—rarely bothered seeing things from Fiona's perspective.
In the Gallagher household, aside from Liam being too young to understand when Fiona eventually left…
Only Carl treated her even remotely like a real sibling.
The rest?
Ungrateful, through and through.
(Ian at least had the excuse of untreated bipolar disorder—but that illness had already been taken away by William.
Whether Ian would still become the "gay Jesus" without it… who knew.)
"But seriously," Kevin added, lowering his voice,
"don't let Frank find out. You'll never have a moment's peace."
At the mention of Frank, Fiona frowned slightly.
"Where is he, anyway? At this hour, shouldn't he be getting drunk here?"
Since kicking him out, she hadn't seen Frank in quite a while.
Honestly, that alone felt like a blessing.
Frank's presence had never brought her anything but disaster.
"Frank?" Kevin said, wiping a glass.
"He was here earlier. Right now… he's probably at Dottie's place."
"Dottie?" Fiona blinked, not recognizing the name.
"Dottie Coronis."
"…Butterface?"
Fiona tilted her head.
William hadn't reacted to "Dottie," but the moment he heard Butterface, it clicked.
Ah.
That storyline.
Frank really was a walking curse.
All of it—for Dottie's inheritance.
Going over there, acting warm and caring—by itself, that part wasn't even the worst.
What truly crossed the line was this:
At one point, Dottie's pager went off.
Someone had been in a car accident. The heart was a perfect match for her.
And for the sake of Dottie's inheritance, Frank lied directly to the organ donation center, telling them that Dottie had already passed away and no longer needed the transplant—so they should give the heart to someone else.
Just like that, he condemned Dottie to death.
Strictly speaking, Frank didn't pull the trigger himself.
But in William's eyes, what Frank did was even more disgusting than murder.
If Dottie ever found out the truth, she'd probably claw her way out of the coffin just to strangle Frank with her bare hands.
That said, William had no intention of interfering.
Dottie had nothing to do with him—why bother sticking his nose into it?
Besides, Dottie had already arranged her assets for her daughter long ago.
In the end, Frank would only get two thousand dollars in cash and one last pity lay before she died.
Hardly worth worrying about.
"Yeah. Butterface," Kevin nodded.
"But why would Frank go to her place?" Fiona frowned.
"Would she really take him in?"
"Not exactly…" Kevin said, then explained Dottie's situation to her.
After hearing it, Fiona sighed softly—then her expression hardened.
"No. We can't let Frank screw Dottie over. She's suffered enough already.
That scumbag is definitely after her house and her money. We can't let him get away with it."
She looked utterly righteous.
William, meanwhile, was completely baffled.
…Wait.
You just became a business owner.
You haven't even officially escaped the South Side yet.
Why did your moral stat suddenly spike like this?
When you were broke, you definitely didn't act like this.
A "normal" Fiona would be wondering how to skim a cut from whatever Frank squeezed out of Dottie—money that could help feed her siblings.
Instead, now she wanted to play moral crusader?
Well damn.
Looks like solving her survival problems had unlocked her Saint Fiona class.
Honestly, William found it kind of amusing.
He knew exactly what Fiona was at her core.
Now he was curious—how long could she keep this up?
"Fi… since when did you get such a strong sense of justice?" Kevin asked, just as surprised.
He didn't know Fiona as deeply as William did—but even he knew that normally, Fiona wouldn't go out of her way over something like this.
Unless it involved her siblings, she usually didn't get this invested.