The 3 B's- Beauty, Brains and Bravery - Chapter 520

As the girl hung up on David Florence, Xi Yuan placed the scrambled eggs along with the chocolate pudding in front of her, grabbing the jar of Litchi juice next. “What did you want to talk about?”, the girl smiled cheekily, focussing on the man completely now. Xi Yuan smiled, taking a seat for himself next to her. “I need you to be alert, Xinghe. For the next few days, at least…”, he began.

Xi Yuan briefed the girl about everything that had happened last night. The girl listened to him, quietly noshing the breakfast he’d prepared. It was odd, she thought, how Chan Hyun had bitten his tongue off. The kid couldn’t have possibly done it willingly. From what Xi Yuan had told her, he seemed to be a simple foreigner. A civilian, one could say. Until and unless he was being forced to do such things, there was no way a teenager would do that to himself.

“Run a background check on this little hacker, Yuan.”, the girl said after a while, “See if his family is in danger or if he’d done anything illegal, anything huge enough that could be used as leverage to blackmail him.”

“Your brothers already did that.”, Xi Yuan said, shaking his head, “Chan Hyun is clean. No criminal record. And his family is currently in South Korea, safe. The kid is an exchange student with majors in Computer Science. That’s why it’s so difficult to figure this out. I don’t get it.

“It was as if the message was to be delivered to me. As if the mastermind knew I understood Korean, and that I’d show up to interrogate myself. Before I met him, the kid did not speak to anyone. How strange.”, he added, a bit agitated as disturbing pictures of the night before flashed in front of him.

Rong Xinghe smiled, leaning back in her chair, “It seems President Xi doesn’t enjoy the shady parts of the business, huh?”

The man stared at the girl, knowing very well what she meant. She was teasing him, implying he couldn’t handle the violence that required to be done. That he was much too ‘noble’ to soil himself with unnecessary filth. Challengingly then, the man raised his brows, eliminating the distance parting them, he pressed his lips against hers furiously. It wasn’t until she clutched onto his collar in struggle did he let go, a victorious smirk across his mouth. “I don’t enjoy bloodbath, Love.”, he said, “I don’t seek comfort in others’ pain. But when it comes to shielding those whom I love, Xinghe, there is no end to my darkness.”

The girl chuckled. She was no different than him, in that aspect. But it was satisfying still, to watch the ever-so poised CEO Xi respond to her provocations so playfully.

“Do you want me to meet this Chan Hyun?”, she asked.

“He cannot speak.”, the man sighed, “It’s your choice, but I don’t see the point.”

“Alright. I’ll let you deal with this then. Just make sure he gets proper medical and psychological treatment, okay? He’s still a kid.”, Rong Xinghe nodded understandingly, “I’ll increase my security for the time being. Will that be fine?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”, Xi Yuan smiled, “By the way, do you have any idea who might’ve done this?”

“Honestly? No.”, the woman answered, “I have a lot of enemies. Most of them, terrorists and politicians. Had it been an assassination attack, I’d have pointed to Ahmed Ali Fadhil. He did try to kill Bro Mo recently, after all.

“But Soulagement Pharmas case was a personal attack. And a neat one, with no evidence. Fadhil doesn’t work that way. So it has to be someone else. Someone obsessed with my destruction.”

The man felt desperation hitting him, again. He was sure that the answer was too obvious. Right in front of his eyes, and yet, neither he nor her brothers could think of such a person. Of course, the thought of Rong Yufan being involved had occurred to them initially. It was a dead-end, they’d realized a week ago. His alibi checked out. His schedules showed how busy he’d been during the time his system had been hacked. Not to mention, it didn’t make any sense. For someone who’d pushed her down a running train, Rong Yufan wouldn’t play such childish games. A scratch-like PR damage. It would be oddly merciful of him. And unlikely.

Although they were going to keep a watch on Rong Yufan from here onwards, they couldn’t find any evidence to rule him in for the hacking incident weeks ago.

_________

City Shíyīng, Country X, 11:30;

Elijah Williams walked down the long corridor with quiet footsteps, his pointed shoes clicking the floor now and then. Costumed in the clothes of a waiter, the man had his Desert Eagle 50 tucked at the small of his back.

The location they’d been tipped off for was a painting auction in a five-star hotel. One of the slickest facades, if one were to ask the Hybrids. Art was the most convenient route, so to trade classified information or weaponry, for that matter. They’d learned it the hard way in the past. ‘He must be visiting someone here.’, he’d said into the Bluetooth earpiece earlier, the Florence brothers on the other end.

‘Probably.’, Shawn had said, ‘Let’s focus on catching him first, though.’ Maksoor Khan had changed his look. Shaved. Hair cut. It did little to conceal his huge physique, but.

Elijah had noticed their prey the second he had walked in. Maksoor Khan had traversed his gaze through the crowd for a minute before he’d nodded faintly at a thin man by the bar. And then, he’d dashed into the hotel lobby from the open space, leaving the man alone to finish his beverage. Now was the time, Williams thought. ‘Get the skinny one in the Black tee.’, he instructed the other two, following behind Maksoor.

The Hybrid was at a distance of roughly eight meters from the man when he realized he was heading for the Men’s restroom. Easy. The man calmly waited for Maksoor Khan to disappear behind one of the doors inside the washroom as he stepped in himself. No one else was occupying the place, thankfully. He hated the thought of endangering the innocent public. Carefully, Williams pulled an ‘Out of Service for Maintenance’ signboard in front of the room, closing the door behind him.

Just when he’d leaned against the lavish restroom counter, Maksoor Khan walked out, his eyes traveling to the closed entrance subconsciously, and then to the only person visible. Elijah Williams smiled cunningly, his gun in both his hands now. As the Hybrid looked at him, Maksoor Khan could swear he had never seen something like that before. The unnaturally black demonic eyes, veins below them popping frighteningly. It was the Ripper! Khan could feel his legs freeze at the sight of the person opposite him. How was it possible, he questioned himself. Wasn’t it just a tale? A legend?

“Andrea would be pleased…”, Elijah muttered, his tone filled with hostility, “To kill the killer of her child. Could anything be as satisfying?”