Chapter 85 Prove yourself

Chapter 85 Prove yourself
Chapter 85: Prove yourself 

Audrey’s smile stayed on her face, small and controlled, as the silence stretched between the three of them. The farm wind moved lightly through the trees, carrying dust and the distant sound of metal clanking from an unfinished shed. 

Thomas and Scar Face stood stiff, both of them staring at her like she had risen from the ground instead of rolled in on a wheelchair.

Audrey tilted her head slightly, studying their faces the way a hunter studied movement. “Funny,” she said calmly. “Very funny how I find the two of you together.”

Thomas swallowed. “It’s not what you think.”

Scar Face cleared his throat. “Yeah. It’s not…” 

Audrey lifted a hand slowly. “Stop.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through both of them. “I asked a question. I didn’t ask for noise.”

She looked directly at Thomas first. “Why are you standing with him like you’ve known him your whole life?”

Thomas shook his head quickly. “I don’t know him like that. He just… showed up. Looking for weed.”

Audrey turned her gaze to Scar Face. “Is that so?”

Scar Face straightened his shoulders. “I came for weed,” he said. “That’s it. Tennessee wouldn’t have one and it’ll be inappropriate to ask him.”

Audrey leaned back slightly in her wheelchair, her fingers resting calmly on the armrest. Beneath her dress, the pistol pressed lightly against her thigh, a quiet reminder of how much control she still had. 

“You expect me to believe that?” she asked. “That the two of you just happened to be standing together, whispering like old friends, like a reunion?” 

Thomas stiffened. “We weren’t whispering.”

“You were panicking,” Audrey replied flatly. “And panic tells the truth before mouths do.”

Scar Face frowned. “You’re reaching.”

Audrey laughed softly, the sound humorless. “No. I’m observing.”

She rolled her wheelchair slightly to the side, her eyes sweeping across the farm, the land, the huts, the soil. “This place has been lying to people since you came here, Monkey,” she said. “I’m just the first one who bothered to listen.”

Thomas clenched his jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Audrey snapped her gaze back to him. “Then enlighten me. Because from where I’m sitting, you look nervous. And he looks cornered.”

Scar Face scoffed. “You’re making assumptions.”

“I’m making decisions,” Audrey corrected.

She straightened. “Monkey.”

He flinched slightly at the sharpness in her tone. “Yes?”

“Get back to work,” she said. “The farm didn’t stop existing because I rolled in here.”

Thomas hesitated. “I…” 

“Now,” Audrey said.

He looked between her and Scar Face, then nodded stiffly. “Okay.” He turned and walked away, his steps heavy, his shoulders tight.

Audrey watched him go until he was out of earshot. Then she shifted her attention fully to Scar Face.

“You,” she said. “I have a job for you.”

Scar Face lifted his chin. “You can’t give me orders.”

Audrey smiled again. This time it didn’t reach her eyes. “Funny thing about that,” she said. “I already did.”

Scar Face folded his arms. “Only Tennessee can fire me.”

Audrey’s hand moved so fast neither of them processed it at first.

The knife left her fingers in a clean arc, slicing through the air and burying itself into the wooden post beside Scar Face’s head with a sharp, violent thud. The blade vibrated inches from his face.

Scar Face froze.

Thomas, who had turned at the sound, stopped dead in his tracks.

Audrey didn’t blink.

“Next time,” she said calmly, “I won’t miss.”

“Audrey…” Scar Face’s breath came shallow. “You’re crazy.”

Audrey leaned forward slightly in her wheelchair. “No. I’m very focused.”

She pointed at him. “You have three days, Uncle Scar.”

“Three days for what?” Scar Face asked.

“To prove your usefulness,” Audrey replied. “Someone poisoned me. I want names, evidence, and a clean trail. You find who did it.”

Scar Face shook his head slowly. “That’s not my job.”

“It is now,” Audrey said. “Consider it probation.”

Scar Face laughed once, sharp and nervous. “You don’t have the authority.”

Audrey’s eyes hardened. “Three days,” she repeated. “After that, you’re done.”

Scar Face leaned closer. “Only Tennessee can fire me.”

Audrey looked him dead in the eye. “Only Tennessee thinks that. And Ten doesn’t know, that I can fire him as well. Be careful.” 

She turned her wheelchair smoothly, already done with the conversation. “If you fail,” she added over her shoulder, “you won’t be unemployed. You’ll be irrelevant. And you know what happens when you become irrelevant."

Scar Face stared after her, his jaw tight, his fingers trembling slightly as the knife remained lodged beside him.

“Prove your street credibility, Uncle Scar…” 

Audrey rolled away without looking back, Lorrine nowhere in sight, the farm silent again except for the sound of her wheels moving steadily forward.