Chapter 14

Robert's nose instantly started bleeding.

Even his eyes became unfocused.

He truly felt firsthand the shocking power of my slap.

"You don't have to hit her. You can take it for her."

"Besides, you deserve it too."

I said calmly.

It took Robert a while to recover. He raised his hand to hit me, "You bastard!"

"Robert, you dare hit Alice?" Emily rushed to stop him.

Robert was too angry now to listen to what Emily was saying.

He glanced at Emily, but was determined to hit me, "Nothing you say today will work! She's getting more and more out of line. How many people in this family has she hit now?"

"Who knows, maybe she'll hit you next! I must teach her a lesson!"

"Exactly!" Ava was still fanning the flames.

I took out my phone and called Joseph. He answered immediately.

"Girl, what made you call me? In trouble?"

The moment Joseph's voice came through, Robert froze in place, more rigid than if he'd been hit with a paralysis spell.

"Yeah, someone wants to hit me."

"Who? Who dares hit you?" Joseph's tone became serious.

"Don't they know I'm your backer?"

"..."

I felt a bit helpless.

Joseph's tone was too street-like. People who didn't know better would think he was some gangster.

Not the noble heir of the Miller family.

I stared straight at Robert, "Do you still want to hit me?"

Robert slowly lowered his hand, scared into silence.

"Girl, who exactly wants to hit you? Where are you? I'll come right away."

There was rustling on Joseph's end.

Seemed like he was busy changing clothes.

Looking at the now-obedient Robert and Ava, I said, "No need, everything's fine for now."

Then I hung up on Joseph decisively.

Ava's eyes widened even more, "Alice, you, you know Mr. Miller?"

I couldn't be bothered to explain to Ava.

"Oh, right, there's still one more slap."

I slapped Robert right across the face.

Robert's face turned frighteningly dark as he pulled Ava out of the hospital room.

"Babe, well done. Finally, some peace and quiet." Emily looked at me with relief.

I sat by the bed, suddenly wanting to say that if she wanted, I could make the people she hated never bother her again.

But that didn't sound like something Alice would say.

I could only swallow those words silently.

...

"You observed her for a few days and just suspect she went on a date?"

Michael's indifferent tone revealed his speechlessness.

Joseph felt a bit embarrassed, "No choice. Her daily life is just going to school, coming home, and losing weight. Recently, there's been a guy following her around. Other than that, nothing else. I really had people watching her 24/7."

"Tsk."

Michael clicked his tongue impatiently.

Alice only possibly had some connection to V. He wanted Joseph to investigate for him, but Joseph was so useless.

If Alice really was V, V's counter-surveillance abilities were very strong. She discovered someone was watching her and deliberately acted like a student.

Or she had been on guard against Joseph all along.

Looks like he couldn't rely on this cousin of his.

"Forget it."

Michael said after a moment of silence.

Joseph was surprised, "What's wrong, don't need to observe her anymore? I think she really doesn't seem connected to V. Although I've never seen V, there are only legends about her out there."

"But I think she probably wouldn't be a fat person."

Michael suppressed his anger, "Go to the hospital when you have time."

Joseph was confused, "What's up? Who's in the hospital? Do I need to visit?"

"You go get your IQ tested." Michael hung up after dropping that line.

Joseph stared at the call screen disappearing, stunned for a few seconds.

"Damn! I'm not an idiot."

Joseph didn't dare call back, so he just pointed at his phone and said, "Michael, what are you so cocky about!"

"Is making the global rich list at 26 such a big deal?"

"Okay."

"That is pretty impressive."

Joseph's tone weakened.

He lay back on the bed, talking to himself, "Compared to whether she's V or not, I'm more curious what she'll look like when she loses weight!"

...

I checked the time.

Morning classes ended at 11:30. John and I agreed that at 12 o'clock sharp, he'd come to the rooftop to bring me food.

I had to say, the diet meals he made were surprisingly good.

Today I planned to pay him, after all, losing weight was a long battle. I couldn't keep eating his food for free.

Especially when he was already short on money.

In my first year after escaping from BOC, I lived well using my own abilities, never struggling financially.

But I wasn't clueless about money either, and didn't want to take advantage of others.

I opened my phone and looked at John's unapproved friend request.

I approved it.

Sent a message asking, "Not delivering anymore?"

After fifteen minutes, John hadn't replied.

Whatever, I'll just go buy some whole wheat bread myself.

No choice, I was really starving.

I had just taken a step when a call came in.

It was Joseph.

I answered.

"Hey, your little boyfriend seems to be in some trouble."

I frowned, "John?"

"Holy shit, you guys really are dating?" Joseph was still teasing.

I was a bit speechless.

"What happened to him?"

I wasn't particularly concerned about John, but considering he'd been bringing me food for several days and I hadn't paid him yet, I wouldn't ignore his troubles.

"I'm at the Grand Palace Hotel right now. Just now, when I went downstairs to get food, I saw your little boyfriend in the lobby."

At this point, I had no interest in arguing with Joseph that John wasn't my little boyfriend.

"I saw him looking like his consciousness wasn't quite clear, being held up by two big guys and taken upstairs..." Joseph said, "Um, the world's going downhill. I feel like nowadays even boys need to protect themselves when they go out!"

My expression darkened.

"I'm coming right away."

Through the phone that I hadn't hung up, Joseph's teasing voice came through, "Hey, and you say he's not your little boyfriend? Look at you, your concern is practically overflowing through the screen. Don't worry, though!"

"Since he's Girl's little boyfriend, how could I just stand by when I see him possibly in danger?"

"I already had my people follow them up. If anything's wrong, they'll act immediately and protect your little boyfriend!"

I had no interest in listening to Joseph ramble on, so I hung up.

I reached the 16th floor of the Grand Palace Hotel, where John was, as fast as I could.

"Room 1602," I muttered to myself, quickening my pace. When turning a corner, I couldn't brake in time and almost bumped into someone.