Chapter 24: Evening Gossip
“What’s it to you, sir? This is my privacy,” the Omega said, looking at Wen En with displeasure.
Wen En withdrew his hand, but his eyes remained fixed on the suitcase that was half a person tall.
Peter then made a move. “Hey, he means no harm,” Peter patted the Omega’s shoulder and, looking at Romeo, said:
“Let me introduce you. This is Qiuyue, my family doctor. Qiuyue, this is Romeo.”
“I know him,” Qiuyue said, then turned his gaze to Wen En. “Who are you? Are you his bodyguard? But that doesn’t give you the right to pry into my privacy.”
“…” Wen En’s fists clenched. He was about to laugh from anger. After this mission was over, he would definitely give each of these law-breaking, gambling lunatics a slap.
“Oh, you’ve misunderstood, my dear. He is Romeo’s partner, Ethan,” Peter said, stepping in to smooth things over as the atmosphere grew tense.
“It’s companion, not partner,” Wen En corrected with a frown. Partner? That title sounds strangely disgusting.
“Oh, alright, companion,” Peter shrugged and said.
He looked at Ethan’s half-Eastern face and thought, Perhaps this is a unique Eastern quirk? Not calling a lover a partner, but using an emotionally ambiguous term like teammate, companion, or friend. Their terms for affection are also like this, using vague terms like soulmate or bond.
Qiuyue looked at Wen En with confusion, then at Romeo, and asked, “So, you and Claire…?”
“It’s a long story,” Romeo sighed, looking as if a wound in his heart had been brutally torn open, causing unbearable pain. “I can only make it short. She dumped me after falling in love with an ordinary Beta woman.”
With that, he managed to squeeze out two tears from the corners of his eyes, hugged Wen En’s arm, and buried his face in Wen En’s shoulder, looking utterly heartbroken.
“Fortunately, I met Ethan later and finally moved on. Darling, what would I do without you?”
“…”
Wen En said nothing.
Because at this moment, he really wanted to laugh, but in such a strange atmosphere, bursting out laughing was not a good choice.
On the other side.
Claire stood in front of the computer, pointing at Romeo’s face and cursing, “What the hell does it have to do with me! Why are you slinging mud at me!”
Della, on the other hand, propped up her chin and asked with confusion, “Is he mocking my work ability?”
But she had a Ph.D. in computer science. The term “ordinary” shouldn’t apply to her.
Claire: “Hey, is that the point?”
Della’s face was serious. “Of course it’s the point. Calling me an ‘ordinary Beta woman’ is much more upsetting than spreading rumors about me eloping with you. The latter is at most disgusting, but the former is a negation of my abilities. I’m sorry, but I absolutely cannot accept that!”
“…Are you crazy, Della?”
Claire’s palm itched. She really wanted to slap Della across the face. Sometimes, she really couldn’t understand Della’s train of thought.
Alright, back to Wen En’s side.
Hearing Romeo’s words, Qiuyue looked at him meaningfully. “Is that so?” Qiuyue sneered and said, “The Andersen Grand Hotel… I’ve heard all about it.”
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor came from behind them, followed by a “click—” like a mechanical spring. Romeo and Wen En did not turn around, but they had already guessed the situation behind them.
Two guns were pointed at their heads. The slightest misfire would cost them their lives.
Peter sneered and said, “Open it.”
Qiuyue nodded, squatted down, and opened the black suitcase.
“Are you looking for him?” Peter said meaningfully.
Inside the suitcase was a man tied up with ropes. The man’s mouth and eyes were tightly bound with black plastic tape, making it impossible for him to see or make any sound. But his ears were not blocked, and he could still clearly hear the surrounding sounds.
Including their conversation just now.
Perhaps sensing that the suitcase had been opened, the man’s limbs struggled a little, but this did nothing more than to inform Wen En and Romeo that he was still alive.
“Shh… don’t move,” Qiuyue said softly, closing the suitcase and zipping it up.
“Is he the person you’re looking for?” Peter looked at Wen En and asked, his tone filled with a strange sense of pride, as if the person in the suitcase was not a human, but a sacrificial artifact from an ancient cannibal tribe that he had bought for a high price.
Wen En’s brow furrowed. The person tied up and stuffed in the suitcase was indeed the person he was looking for—the missing Charles.
But the scene just now had disgusted him. Wen En said, “I thought you were filming a cult movie.”
“Hahahaha, you’re so humorous.”
Hearing Wen En’s words, Peter, far from being offended, burst out laughing.
“Want a cigarette?”
Peter took a cigarette case from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and asked.
Wen En’s expression was as hard as a diamond, unmoved.
Seeing that Wen En did not respond, Peter didn’t think much of it. He just thought Wen En was probably scared. Despite his calm exterior, he was afraid that one wrong move would get his head blown off by the gun behind him.
After all, this was his territory. He should still observe some basic etiquette as a host. So Peter walked up, holding the cigarette, and held the tip to Wen En’s mouth, saying again, “Want a smoke?”
Wen En did not take the cigarette, just looked at him coldly and silently.
“It’s just an ordinary cigarette,” Peter said. “There’s no poison in it.”
“I don’t smoke,” Wen En said.
“What a shame,” Peter said with regret. “Mr. Romeo, would you like a cigarette?” Peter turned and offered the cigarette to Romeo, who was beside Wen En.
“Thank you.”
Just as Romeo was about to take the cigarette, he felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced to the side and saw Wen En warning him with a knife-like gaze.
If you dare to smoke one, you’re dead. Wen En glared at him.
“…But I’m sorry, I don’t smoke,” Romeo swallowed and quickly refused.
“Alright, then I won’t force you,” Peter said. The moment he turned around, he threw the unlit cigarette on the ground, stomped on it until it was a flat, amoeba-like object, and even ground it with the tip of his shoe, as if venting his anger.
Having been rejected twice, Peter was angry inside, but he had other objectives, so he couldn’t show his anger so quickly.
He had to take a deep breath, then slowly exhale. He stood in front of Wen En and forced another seemingly friendly and polite smile.
“So, Ethan, what is your real identity?”
“I thought you already knew,” Wen En said. “You seem to be very well-informed.”
“I’d rather you say it yourself,” Peter smiled.
And the gun behind Wen En lightly touched his head, followed by the sound of a chair moving again.
“Sit down. Let’s talk slowly,” Peter said.
Seeing the two guests slowly sit down, Peter smiled again. “Let’s play a game.”
Peter extended his hand. Qiuyue, beside him, seemed to sense something and handed him an old-fashioned revolver. The gun had a dark brown oak-grain handle, and the barrel was a shiny dark gray. The black and gray cylinder was somewhat similar to the roulette wheel on the table.
Once the bullet was loaded and the shooting game began, the outcome would be either red or black.
Peter held the gun, the muzzle aimed straight at the center of the black suitcase.
“This revolver has five chambers, and there’s only one bullet inside,” Peter’s lips curled up slightly. “Mr. Ethan, let’s make a bet. Let’s see which bullet Mr. Charles Brown in the suitcase will die from.”
“What’s in it for me to join this bet?” Wen En said expressionlessly. “You’re pointing a gun at my head and threatening me to join your boring game. I have no choice at all.”
“Of course there’s a benefit,” Peter said. “If you’re lucky and Charles doesn’t die from your guess, then I’ll let you, Romeo, and Charles leave here safely.”
“And if Charles dies?” Wen En asked.
“Then you’ll suffer the same fate as him,” Peter said with a smile.
Looking at that punchable face, hundreds of sharp daggers flew from Wen En’s eyes. He wished he could take those daggers and stab Peter in the face a hundred and twenty times.
Damn it, how dare he set a trap for me. Wen En could figure out what Peter’s words meant with his toes.
On the surface, Peter looked like a gambling lunatic, but Wen En was no naive rookie agent. He knew that the owner of a casino would never be an irrational gambler, just as the leader of a drug cartel would never touch drugs.
Wen En was as rational as Peter. Wen En had said he would never do anything he wasn’t sure about, and so was Peter.
Peter had said he wanted to kill everyone, including Wen En, and he believed he had a one hundred percent certainty of doing so.
The problem now was that Wen En was not sure he could get out alive. Even with Della and RV’s support, he wasn’t even sure he could survive until they broke in.
Just as Wen En’s thoughts were in a mess, a voice completely blew his mind.
“I’m sorry, baby,” Romeo’s voice suddenly sounded. “I’m afraid I can’t be on your side this time.”
Wen En looked up, shocked and confused. He saw Romeo pointing at him, his eyes filled with cunning and resentment. “Peter, at this point, I have to tell you everything I know.”
Romeo frowned, a look of deep hurt on his face. “My only request is to be free from the control of this treacherous, insidious, control-freak of a Beta man with violent tendencies. Can you promise me that?”
“Oh? Of course,” Peter glanced at Wen En beside him. Wen En was biting his lip, glaring at Romeo with a hostile gaze, as if warning him: If you say one more word, you’re dead.
Peter’s interest was piqued. With the mentality of watching evening gossip news, he said, “Let’s hear it.”
