All along the chase, Lian kept switching his running route like a clever little fox. Sometimes he leaped over the metal barriers and folded chairs that shops left outside at night, sometimes he hopped onto low walls and slid down like a pro, sometimes he darted through narrow side alleys that barely fit one person.
Thanks to his aunt's super intense training plan, not only had his legs and lungs gotten way stronger, but his jumping ability had become amazing, his balance was solid and his reflexes were lightning fast.
Maisie, on the other hand, knew every single corner of these streets by heart. She had been running long distances every morning and every night for years, so she had completely mastered exactly where to step, how to turn, and how to keep top speed even on these messy, complicated roads.
To anyone watching from the sidewalks or balconies, the sight of a handsome teenage boy and a fierce teenage girl flying through the city, leaping and twisting like that, looked exactly like those super cool parkour athletes you see in viral videos!
When Lian had spun around earlier to shout at her, he had already caught a terrifying glimpse of the heavy metal wrench gripped tightly in Maisie's hand.
"Oh no, oh crap, this girl is dead serious tonight!" he screamed inside his head. "If she actually catches me, I'm totally finished!"
That pure panic lit a fire under him. Every single muscle, every drop of energy in his body exploded all at once.
Maisie never, ever expected Lian to suddenly become this fast, this slippery, this much stronger than the first night she had seen him.
After a full ten-minute wild chase, Lian miraculously vanished from her sight like smoke.
When Maisie finally stopped, her chest was heaving, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath, she realized she had already reached the far northern end of Seaside.
The wide, moonlit beach stretched out endlessly in front of her, waves whispering gently against the sand.
Maisie bent over, breathing hard, sweat dripping down her face. After a few seconds she straightened up, wiped her forehead, and scanned the whole area with sharp eyes.
"That stupid jerk ran insanely fast tonight! He didn't even stop once to rest? Fine, fine, he has to be completely exhausted by now. And out here on the open beach there are no buildings, no corners, no place to hide. I'll definitely spot him in two seconds."
With that confident thought, Maisie started searching along the palm-tree-lined shore, walking quickly, eyes darting left and right.
She regretted it almost instantly.
Everyone in the whole city knew that after dark, Seaside transformed into the legendary "Car Sex Boulevard." It was practically a local landmark!
Maisie had barely walked two or three hundred meters when she passed at least five or six cars parked on the roadside, windows completely fogged up, doors locked tight and each one rocking gently (some not so gently) under the soft orange streetlights.
The farther she walked, the redder her cheeks burned. Her ears felt like they were on fire.
Just when the embarrassment became too much and she was seriously thinking about giving up the chase and running away forever, she suddenly spotted Lian!
There he was, lying flat on his stomach in a shallow sand pit beneath a row of tall palm trees, peeking out every few seconds toward a certain white car that was shaking enthusiastically just a short distance away.
"That disgusting, perverted, absolute creep!" Maisie's blood boiled hotter than ever. "So he really is spying on couples! Today I'm going to break every single bone in his body!"
Fury completely took over. She tightened her grip on the wrench and charged forward like an angry tiger.
Lian only noticed her when she was practically on top of him. Pure instinct took over; his hand shot out, grabbed her wrist, the one holding the wrench and they both tumbled and wrestled in the sand. The noise instantly reached the white car.
The rocking stopped immediately.
The driver-side window rolled down with a soft whirr. A gorgeous long-haired woman leaned out, completely naked from the waist up, her full, snow-white breasts swaying gently in the cool night breeze as she turned to look toward the commotion.
Lian's brain worked at light speed. In one smooth motion he dropped flat, back to the car, and pulled Maisie down with him, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against his chest like they were lovers in the middle of a passionate embrace.
Maisie had been fighting with everything she had, but Lian's hug was like steel cables. Suddenly she could barely breathe, let alone break free.
From the woman's point of view, it looked exactly like two teenagers madly in love, rolling around on the beach.
Seeing nothing suspicious, the woman gave a small, amused smile, slipped back inside, and rolled the window up. A few seconds later, the white car happily resumed its rhythmic rocking.
Maisie, peering over Lian's shoulder, caught a clear glimpse of the woman's face under the warm streetlights.
In that single heartbeat, every bit of fight drained out of her body. She let Lian pull her all the way down until they were both lying flat in the sand, bodies pressed together.
Because that woman was the exact same person who, just a few days ago, had hugged her gently in the school office and wiped away her tears.
Maisie stared up at the starry sky and asked in a tiny, trembling voice, "That woman in the car… is she your mom's sister? Or… your real mom?"