Chapter 132 You can’t touch her
Chapter 132 You can’t touch her
Chapter 132: You can’t touch her
Vill turned away from the hill with the quiet satisfaction of a man who knew he had just secured leverage. The camera felt solid in his hand, its weight reassuring, its contents far more valuable than the metal and glass casing suggested.
Behind him, the city breathed on, unaware of the images now frozen inside that device. Coco in Roy’s arms. Roy holding her like the past had never put her broken them. It was enough to ruin reputations, destroy campaigns, and tighten the leash Vill loved to pull.
He slid into his car and drove off calmly, merging into traffic without haste. He didn’t check his mirrors. He didn’t need to. He believed himself untouchable.
Several cars back, LSD eased his own vehicle into motion.
He had seen Vill leave. He had seen the camera. And he had understood immediately.
LSD kept a careful distance, matching Vill’s speed, changing lanes when he did, never too close, never too far. His hands were steady on the wheel, his expression flat, but his pulse was sharp and focused. This wasn’t rage. This was instinct. Coco had been exposed, and Vill was the kind of man who never collected anything without intent to destroy.
Vill drove toward a quieter stretch of road, one that curved away from the city lights and dipped into shadow. LSD waited until the traffic thinned, until the streetlights grew sparse and the night opened wide around them.
Then he accelerated. He pulled sharply ahead, swerving into Vill’s lane and braking hard.
Vill cursed loudly, slamming on his brakes to avoid collision. Tires screeched. Both cars lurched to a stop at an angle across the road.
“What the hell…” Vill began as he shoved his door open.
LSD was already out of his car.
Vill barely had time to straighten before LSD slammed into him, driving a fist into his chest and sending him stumbling backward. The camera slipped from Vill’s grip, dangling briefly from its strap before bouncing against his side.
“You think you’re clever,” LSD said coldly. “You think nobody sees you.”
Vill laughed breathlessly, recovering faster than expected. “Ah. Coco’s guard dog,” he said, wiping blood from his lip. “Didn’t take you for the sentimental type.”
LSD didn’t answer. He swung again.
Vill blocked the hit and countered, driving his elbow into LSD’s ribs. They grappled, feet scraping against asphalt, breaths harsh and uneven. Vill was wiry and vicious, fighting dirty, aiming for weak spots, jabbing fingers toward eyes, knees toward joints.
“You really think she’s worth this?” Vill spat as he shoved LSD backward. “She’ll fall eventually. They all do.”
LSD surged forward, grabbing Vill by the collar and slamming him against the hood of his own car. “You don’t get to say her name.”
Vill grinned even as he winced. “Too late.”
That was enough.
LSD drove his fist into Vill’s jaw with brutal precision. Vill staggered, tried to recover, but LSD followed relentlessly, forcing him down to the ground. He landed hard, the breath knocked clean out of him.
LSD pinned him with a knee to the chest.
Vill gasped, his chest heaving, eyes blazing with hatred and shock. “You think this ends anything?” he rasped. “I always have backups.”
“Not tonight,” LSD replied.
He reached down, unclipped the camera from Vill’s shoulder, and stood.
Vill tried to rise, failed, and collapsed back onto the asphalt, panting heavily. He could do nothing but watch as LSD walked back to his car, camera in hand.
“This isn’t over,” Vill called hoarsely.
LSD didn’t turn around. He got into his car and drove off, disappearing into the night with the evidence safely out of Vill’s reach.
Vill lay there for several long seconds, staring up at the dark sky, chest burning, lungs struggling to draw air. His jaw throbbed. His ribs screamed. Slowly, painfully, he rolled onto his side and dragged himself upright.
His smile, when it returned, was thinner but no less dangerous.
“Temporary setback,” he muttered. “Nothing more.”
He got back into his car and drove off, already recalculating.
Pearl lay curled against Detective Flynn in his bedroom. The room was dim, curtains drawn, the soft glow of a bedside lamp casting long shadows across the walls. Flynn’s arm rested around her waist, his breathing slow and even, though he wasn’t fully asleep.
Pearl stared at the ceiling, her thoughts restless.
“She’s smarter than she looks,” Pearl said suddenly.
Flynn shifted slightly. “Who?”
“Coco,” Pearl replied. “Everyone thinks she’s just reactive and follows orders from her father. But she planned everything to destroy Roy. She’s deadlier than her father.”
Flynn opened his eyes, turning his head to look at her. “What do you mean, everything?”
Pearl sighed and rolled onto her side to face him. “She fooled him. Played him. She had him wrapped around her finger while pretending to be in love.”
“That’s a strong accusation,” Flynn said carefully.
Pearl scoffed. “You don’t know her like I do. She even got pregnant, Flynn. Lost it in the process, she killed her unborn child. All in the name of fulfilling whatever twisted plan she had against Roy.”
Flynn frowned. “You’re saying she used a pregnancy as leverage?”
“I’m saying nothing about Coco is accidental,” Pearl replied. “She sacrifices whatever she needs to.”
Flynn was quiet for a moment, processing. “Are Roy and Coco officially divorced?”
Pearl hesitated. “I… I don’t know.”
Flynn’s eyes sharpened. “You need to find out.”
Pearl raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Just curious,” he said slowly, “It’s an interesting story.”
She studied him, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll find out.”
Flynn pulled her closer. “Be careful. People like Coco don’t forgive easily.”
Pearl smiled faintly. “She won’t harm me.”
Flynn kissed the top of her head, unaware of the larger currents already shifting around them, of the camera now gone, of Vill licking his wounds, of Coco standing on the edge of something fragile and dangerous.
Outside, the city continued its quiet churn, secrets moving faster than truth, alliances bending under pressure, and consequences drawing closer with every breath.