Liam Linden brushed Faye Vaughn aside.
Pink banknotes scattered across the ground.
Without a single glance, he hurried away in disgust, as if he had just touched something filthy.
Faye Vaughn sighed softly and crouched down to pick up the money.
Once she had gathered it all, she stood up unhurriedly, pulled out her phone, and opened WeChat.
[Brother Liam, my dad loves the little toy you made. Here's the final payment.]
After sending the message, she transferred 1,000 yuan.
She had been contacting Liam Linden under a false identity for a year now.
She pretended to be a thirteen-year-old girl whose single father was obsessed with mechanical design.
Liam Linden was, in a way, a genius.
He could craft intricate little toys with clever mechanisms just by scavenging scrap metal and junk.
These weren't ordinary toys.
With the right materials, he could potentially build deadly weapons.
Liam Linden was an extremely dangerous person.
Cultivated properly, he could become a rare, genius-level national asset.
If not, the alternative was terrifying.
[Thank you.]
Liam Linden quickly replied on his old, secondhand phone, [Do you and your dad need any new toys?]
Faye Vaughn thought for a moment before replying, [I want a unique, custom-made drone. I wonder if Brother Liam can make one?]
Liam Linden endured the pain in his stomach, his fingertips flying across the screen. [I can. But it'll be expensive.]
Faye Vaughn sent a voice message: "Is twenty thousand yuan enough? It's all the money I saved from the New Year!"
She had a gift for voice acting.
Her imitation of a girl in her early teens was innocent, adorable, and utterly flawless.
[Okay. I'll work through the night and mail it to you tomorrow.]
A flicker of light appeared in Liam Linden's dark eyes.
'He needed that twenty thousand yuan desperately!'
That beast of a stepfather had beaten his mother, leaving her deaf in one ear. She needed surgery.
[Okay! Make sure to take care of yourself, Brother Liam!]
[Got it. Thanks, Little Rhonda.]
After patiently sending his reply, Liam Linden clutched his stomach and struggled to stand up straight.
...
Faye Vaughn put her phone away. As she turned, she saw a familiar face.
Third Young Master Finn Hawthorne.
"Faye Vaughn, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Finn Hawthorne's handsome, defiant face was glacially cold.
Faye Vaughn's brow furrowed. "Are you following me?"
Finn Hawthorne sneered. "Just passing by. As luck would have it, I saw you stuffing money into the hands of that Lin bastard."
Faye Vaughn said nothing.
All three Hawthorne brothers hated Liam Linden and his mother.
And Finn Hawthorne hated them most of all.
Finn Hawthorne was only seven when Mrs. Hawthorne jumped from a building to her death.
He had been downstairs at the Hawthorne Group building with the butler, chasing after a balloon vendor and laughing. "I want the biggest one! The one with Ultraman on it!"
Just then, THUD!
A body landed with a sickening splatter of crimson, right in front of little Finn Hawthorne.
He froze, completely stunned.
For three years after that, he didn't speak a single word.
"I'm sorry."
Faye Vaughn lowered her head in a gesture of meek apology.
Finn Hawthorne stared at her coldly. "Believe it or not, I could have him killed today."
Faye Vaughn's head snapped up. "Don't!"
A scornful smirk twisted Finn Hawthorne's lips. "So some bastard is more important than me, huh? Fine. I'm going to kill him today, just to prove a point."
Faye Vaughn's voice softened, laced with a pleading tone. "Please don't."
"He dies, or you die. I'll let you choose."
Finn Hawthorne was deliberately making things difficult for her.
Without a moment's hesitation, Faye Vaughn replied, "Then I'll be the one to die."
Finn Hawthorne exploded in a sudden rage, grabbing her slender wrist. "Fine! You want to die? Come with me!"
He dragged her, forcing her into his car.
Finn Hawthorne drove like a madman, as if he wanted them to die together in some twisted lover's suicide.
Faye Vaughn scrambled to grip the grab handle inside the car.
Wind blasted through the open window, whipping her long hair into a tangled mess.
Finn Hawthorne glanced over. Seeing her face pale with what he took for terror, he felt a savage thrill of revenge.
Driving at breakneck speed, Finn Hawthorne brought the sports car to Cloudcrest Mountain.
A crowd of young men and women were gathered there, whistling and reveling.
"Young Master Vance is here!"
"He actually brought a date!"
"This chick is gorgeous! Wonder if she's afraid to die, HAHAHA!"
Finn Hawthorne didn't stop, driving straight to the starting line.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Faye Vaughn shot him a look.
'The favorability score is plummeting again.'
'He's more volatile than the stock market.'
"Sit tight. I'm not responsible if you die."
His face grim, Finn Hawthorne waited for the starting flag to drop, then slammed the accelerator to the floor and shot forward.
He drove just like he lived: violently, impulsively, defiantly.
As they sped around a sharp corner, Finn Hawthorne suddenly cursed, "Fuck! Someone's tampered with the brakes!"
Faye Vaughn looked at him, strangely calm. "You jump. I'll control the steering wheel."
Finn Hawthorne was astonished.
'What is she saying?'
'Does she have any idea? If the brakes are really shot, she could die in this car!'
"There's a grassy slope up ahead! Jump now!"
Not giving him time to think, Faye Vaughn shoved him hard and grabbed the wheel.
The car lurched violently and began to swerve.
"Faye Vaughn! Are you fucking stupid!"
Finn Hawthorne snatched the wheel back, cursing viciously. "You don't even fucking love me! Are you an idiot, trying to die for me?"
Faye Vaughn shot back, "You're the one who's crazy! Don't you hate me? Despise me? You should be happy if I die."
The car was still hurtling forward.
Finn Hawthorne hadn't touched the brakes.
He had been lying to her.
He never thought she'd be so gullible, falling for it every single time.
"Get ready to jump!"
Faye Vaughn urged him again, her face set with the grim determination of a martyr. "I'll repay my debt to you today!"
"Faye Vaughn, you're fucking crazy!"
Cursing, Finn Hawthorne slammed his foot on the accelerator, hurtling toward the finish line.
BANG! Red fireworks erupted in celebration.
He had won.
The car glided to a smooth stop, and Faye Vaughn froze.
It was as if she was only just now realizing what happened. She pointed a trembling finger at Finn Hawthorne, stammering with rage, "Y-you... you lied to me?"
Finn Hawthorne scoffed. "If you're stupid enough to be fooled, you deserve it."
Faye Vaughn's fair, delicate face flushed crimson with anger, like a blooming rose.
She stammered "you, you, you" for a while, but not being much of a cusser, she could only slam the car door in frustration and storm off.
Once she was a safe distance away, she glanced back.
'Finn Hawthorne's favorability score: 10%.'_
'It's finally a positive number again.'
'That wasn't easy.'