Chapter 199 His Feelings, Visible Only to Me
I closed the door behind me with one hand, looked down at Brenda kneeling at my feet, and said mockingly, "You think we're easy to fool?"
Gale walked right past Brenda to the middle of the room.
"Doing it here works—people outside won't hear a thing. No one would know if someone died," Gale said coldly.
Brenda was shaking uncontrollably. She knew our tempers all too well.
She regretted it now. Her plan to drive a wedge between Gale and Julie had been going so smoothly. If only she hadn't lost control and gone to Elite Emporium to provoke them, I wouldn't have run into her and caught her.
I walked slowly up to Brenda, my voice low and dangerous. "Let's hear it—why you went after Gale and Julie. You betrayed Gale long ago, and he has no feelings for you, so spare us the stupid talk about still having feelings for him."
Brenda clutched at her clothes. "I just couldn't stand seeing Gale happy. I saw them together, Julie smiling so happily, while my life is a complete mess. I felt bitter!"
She shuddered violently, tears streaming down her face. "I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, I'll never dare again. Please let me go this once, I'll never appear in front of you again!"
"Your promises mean nothing," I said.
Gale's eyes were cold. All he felt for Brenda now was disgust.
Having confirmed that Brenda's actions against him and Julie were purely personal, with no other forces pulling strings behind the scenes, Gale planned to just kill her and save himself future trouble.
Brenda's eyes filled with panic. She suddenly grabbed my leg. "The Thornfield family sent people to kill you! Not long ago, when you went to Whisperwind Isle!"
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"
"My husband has been working for the Thornfield family since last month. I overheard this by accident. I'm not lying!" Brenda said urgently. "The Thornfield family has a secret warehouse in Starstream City, filled with tons of cash, weapons, antiques, artwork, and lots of important stuff. Oh, and they're bribing city hall officials!"
I didn't trust Brenda. Someone like her would say anything to get what she wanted.
But her expression and body language didn't look like she was lying.
Gale and I exchanged a glance.
Gale's eyes turned colder. "You and your husband have a terrible relationship. Why would he let you know such important secrets?"
"I eavesdropped! I installed bugs in the house, and I snuck looks at documents he had hidden!" Brenda pleaded desperately. "I swear, every word I'm saying is true! Please, let me go!"
Gale stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Where's the warehouse?"
Brenda quickly gave an address, then added, "I can help you gather information, be your spy, monitor their dealings with officials. I won't hide a single thing. Please let me go, send me out of the country, as far away as possible. I promise I'll never come back, never appear in front of any of you again!"
I looked at Gale, waiting for him to decide.
Keeping Brenda around would always be a risk. Even if we taught her a harsh lesson today, given her personality, she'd definitely look for revenge later.
"I'll think about it," Gale said slowly. "For now, write down the exact location of the warehouse, the entrance, and everything else you know. If it checks out, we'll come find you again."
Then Gale and I left without lingering, even as Brenda chased after us begging us to let her out of the room. We shut the door firmly behind us.
Gale gave me the task of verifying the secret warehouse while he caught tonight's flight back to Dawnharbor.
Back in my office, looking out at the bustling city, I instinctively wanted to talk this over with someone.
Could this so-called secret warehouse be a trap?
And Stephen—since he'd shown goodwill and suggested cooperation last time, he hadn't contacted me again. I couldn't tell if he was waiting for me to make the first move or if he'd changed his mind.
I tapped my forehead with my knuckles and pulled out my phone, thinking of calling Lucas.
I opened my contacts. Lucas's number was right there. My finger hovered over the screen, but I couldn't bring myself to press it.
How would Lucas react if I called?
Would he be happy, or cold?
I used to study all sorts of ways to please Lucas, but after the divorce, I seemed to have lost that ability.
When it came to feelings, I stubbornly stayed in place, afraid to move forward or backward.
On impulse, I opened Lucas's social media profile.
Since moving out of the house we'd lived in for three years, I'd barely looked at his posts. It felt like unnecessary snooping, a weakness of not being able to let go of the past.
But this time, I couldn't control my curiosity about how he was doing.
Lucas rarely posted, but lately he'd been posting more frequently.
"Annoyed."—posted on the day of the divorce.
"So damn annoyed."—the day after the divorce.
"Want to come find you. Will I die if I don't dream about you?"—five days after the divorce.
"Plenty of guys chasing you. Are any of them better than me?"
"The house feels so empty."
"Took a bullet, worth it!"—the day he came back from Whisperwind Isle and survived the assassination attempt.
After that our relationship had warmed up a bit. I saw two photos of the olive tree by the front door with gifts hanging on it.
I resisted the urge to like the "Happy New Year" post.
Then—"I don't deserve to love you." This was the day Lucas learned from Marcus that we'd lost a child.
My eyes grew moist. I kept scrolling.
"I love you, but I realized it too late."
"Everything you want, I'll give you. Want to lay the whole world at your feet."
"Reads as 'date,' writes as 'affair.'"
Simple posts, one after another, hiding Lucas's thoughts between the lines.
I felt like my heart had been hit, aching and swelling.
The latest post was from 3 AM two nights ago: "I don't want to fight. I'm reflecting on myself."
I stared at the screen, then suddenly thought of something. I borrowed Adrian's phone, searched for Lucas's account again, opened his profile—the posts section was completely blank.
These posts were visible only to me.
I held my phone, silent for a long time.
A warm feeling spread from my chest, eventually reaching my lips and blooming into a smile.
I moved my finger, about to comment on the latest post, when Lucas's feed updated.
"Miss you."
"Don't dare talk to you."
I raised an eyebrow. A few seconds later, both posts were deleted.
Good thing I'd taken screenshots in time.
I didn't rush to contact Lucas. Instead, I checked his posts from time to time. Before bed that night, I posted something visible only to Lucas:
"Looking for a boyfriend. Requirements: handsome, 6'2", bad temper is fine as long as he treats me well. Smoking and drinking are fine as long as he can quit for me. Fighting and cold shoulders are fine as long as he can reflect and apologize."