Facade of Love

Chapter 419 Don't Shoot

Fields of poppies, as far as the eye could see. Once turned into product, they were nothing but cash.

Lucas had just rolled into Lake City and was already throwing cash around as if it were nothing. To him, money was merely a drop in the bucket.

"This isn't even the biggest farm we've got. The top spot goes to Kenneth's place," Rebecca boasted a little. "Word is Kenneth's getting old. He's planning to hand over the reins to Lucas. With his smarts, we're all going to be rolling in dough."

I bit my lip and stayed quiet. To me, all this stuff was bad news, but to them, it was their bread and butter, as precious as a farmer's prize crop.

They had it all: the fields, the factories, and a sales network that stretched nationwide. They ran a slick operation. Even out on the fringes, none of it was against the law.

Thinking I could use their setup to take down Lucas was like believing in fairy tales.

That thought made me sigh, deep and heavy.

I knew Lucas was bad news, but I could not find the silver bullet to take him down. It was enough to make me lose hope.

Feeling down, I remembered all the lives lost, all the reasons to hate Lucas, and here I was, stuck, unable to do a thing or find a way out. Just waiting for the end. The more I thought about it, the deeper I sank into despair.

Despite wanting to kill Lucas, I realized I could not even get close to him, much less take my shot.

Feeling totally helpless, I let out another heavy sigh.

Rebecca, trailing behind me, gave me a worried look and asked, "Ms. Scott, you okay?"

I shook my head, took one last look at the lush poppies, and felt a wave of frustration. I turned away and headed back to my room to be alone.

"Oof... Ahh!" I was about to head out when, out of nowhere, a shadowy figure barrelled right into us.

Rebecca and I did not even have time to sidestep before we were sent sprawling onto the ground. As I scrambled to my feet, I barely caught a glimpse of our assailant before spotting a group of beefy guys hot on his trail not too far behind. Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

My eyes flicked to the runner, now darting into a field blanketed with poppies, his clumsy retreat oddly familiar, though I could not quite place him.

I spun around to face the newcomers, recognizing them as Inch's crew.

They did not waste words. The one in charge eyed me and asked, "Ms. Scott, you good?"

I shook my head, puzzled, and shot back, "What's going on?"

He glanced at the distant runner, signaled his squad to keep up the chase, and tossed over his shoulder, "Nothing major." With that, he was off.

Rebecca let out a surprised, "He's actually running?" Clearly, she was as shocked as I was that the escapee had any fight left in him. As I watched the chase unfold, it hit me – that was the same old man I had seen half-dead in the dark room the day Yara nearly did me in.

Now he was sprinting for his life? I caught Inch closing in, gun in hand, about to squeeze the trigger. My brain froze, and on instinct, I yelled, "Don't shoot!" The shot rang out anyway. I whipped around, heart in my throat, to see the old man still stumbling forward, miraculously unscathed.

Inch, unfazed, simply holstered his weapon and coolly said, "Hi, Ms. Scott." I bit back any response, my face set in a hard line, and turned to leave.

I had barely taken a few steps when an ear-splitting scream cut through the silence, "Ah!!!" I spun around, my heart racing. The old man who had been running was nowhere to be seen, however. All that was left was the echo of his screams in the distance.

Rebecca's voice, tinged with regret, floated to me. "To keep strangers out, the boss had the ground rigged with jagged blades and mousetraps. Lucky for him, he didn't reach the perimeter, or he would have hit the live wires and been fried to a crisp."