Qiao Anni was about to speak when Olivia hugged her tightly, so hard that she could barely breathe.
“Urgh…”
“My god, what did Bres do to you?”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“I never thought he’d become this kind of person. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here right now…”
Slap! Slap!
After Qiao Anni repeatedly patted her back, Olivia seemed to realize her actions were too rough.
Finally, she let go just before Qiao Anni was about to suffocate.
Qiao Anni supported herself with one hand on the floor, gasping for air.
“I say… isn’t there… some misunderstanding… miss?”
“Huh?”
Olivia’s expression was dazed.
“I told you, listen to me explain…”
Bres on the floor was completely exasperated.
“Really, I’m so sorry!”
Olivia bowed ninety degrees to apologize to Bres, who was sitting on the sofa, pressing his lower back and grimacing in pain.
“I say, what exactly do you take me for?”
“A criminal who illegally uses controlled substances to control, detain, and abuse a minor girl?”
Olivia raised her head.
“…Is my image really that bad in your mind?”
Bres said helplessly.
“Feels like staying in a place like this for long, it wouldn’t be strange to become like that…”
“Mm-hmm, the scene earlier was indeed terrible.”
“Qiao Anni, why are you speaking up for her?!”
This chaos finally ended before the landlady, Mrs. Kingston, came to pound on the door.
The three sat down at the table again.
“So, why is this little girl in your house?”
Olivia was still confused.
“My name is Qiao Anni. I’m this guy… I’m Mr. Bres’s, uh, niece!”
Qiao Anni answered before Bres could speak.
“Niece?”
Olivia looked at Bres, and seeing Qiao Anni signaling him with her eyes, Bres quickly caught on.
“Right, she’s my niece, came to Nightless City to seek me out! She used to live in the Elma area, we rarely kept in touch!”
He quickly added.
Olivia still wasn’t convinced.
“How come I never heard you mention having a niece?”
“Because… she’s a distant niece! Haha, I didn’t even know I had such a niece until I got the news!”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Qiao Anni chimed in.
“Then little sister Qiao Anni, why did you come to Nightless City? This place isn’t exactly nice. Where are your parents?”
Olivia asked the key question.
They hadn’t coordinated this question in advance.
Qiao Anni looked to Bres for help with her eyes.
Bres answered with his lips.
‘Make it up yourself.’
You said so.
Qiao Anni closed her eyes, steeled her heart, and began her great creation.
“So, both your parents died in an accident? And your other relatives divided up the property and left you to fend for yourself?”
“Y-yes… In the end I c-could only come to Uncle Bres.”
In the past ten minutes, Qiao Anni had told a heart-wrenching story of a girl searching for her relatives.
The story was so full of twists and turns, so bizarre and gripping, that even Olivia’s eyes were red after hearing it.
“Oh my god, how could this be…”
Bres, watching from the side, couldn’t help but marvel at Qiao Anni’s excellent bullshitting ability.
No matter how ridiculous the story sounded to him, at least it had successfully convinced Olivia.
Of course, storytelling skill was one thing, but who was telling the story also mattered.
This pitiful young girl appearance was devastatingly effective on older women.
But could she actually cry over her own made-up story?
Just as that thought occurred, Bres saw the truth.
While Olivia was hugging Qiao Anni and wiping her tears, Qiao Anni quietly slipped her hand into the bandage on her abdomen and pressed hard on her wound.
Tears immediately welled up.
…This girl is really ruthless.
Bres waited another ten minutes before the two calmed down.
Olivia dried her tears and asked the last question.
“Then what about Qiao Anni’s wounds, the thing on her neck, and those drugs?”
Bres smiled, though of course only inwardly.
“When I went to pick her up at the station, I got into a car accident and was half an hour late. Because of that, she was robbed by a group of thugs. Not only were all the luggage she brought stolen, she also got shot in the stomach. Luckily, it wasn’t a vital spot.”
His tone was especially heavy, as if everything had really happened.
Olivia showed an “I see” expression.
“And the collar?”
“That’s just youth fashion, right Qiao Anni?”
“That’s right.”
Qiao Anni nodded repeatedly.
“As for those controlled drugs, they were confiscated goods from when I was entrusted to clean up a gang. I was planning to hand them over to the police in a few days. Since you happened to come today, I’ll give them to you…”
‘So she’s a police officer—no wonder Bres didn’t want her to see me earlier,’ Qiao Anni thought.
With that, Bres handed the bag of drugs to the astonished Olivia.
“So that’s how it is… It seems I really misjudged you, Bres…”
Olivia’s shame was beyond words.
The two looked as if they were at a ceremony for handing over some important relic.
What a noble scene—if only Bres wasn’t clenching his other hand behind his back so hard it was bleeding.
Watching this farce, Qiao Anni on the sofa commented inwardly.
“Then I’ll take my leave for today.”
“Take care.”
“I’ll come visit you again another day, little sister Qiao Anni!”
“Okay!”
Click.
Hearing the sound of the lock clicking shut and Olivia’s light footsteps fading away, the two in the room finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your tone just now was disgusting…”
“Heh, your acting is just as good…”
“But, it’s finally over.”
Qiao Anni stretched, then winced as she pulled her wound.
“Yeah, it’s a pity about those drugs…”
Bres showed a pained expression.
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“If I could recycle some of those drugs, I could pay the rent…”
“What about me?”
“I figured you don’t need them anyway.”
Just as the two were bickering, a knock came again.
“Again?”
“Who is it now…”
No need for instructions this time; Qiao Anni voluntarily walked into the bathroom and closed the door with a bang.
“Pretty clever.”
Bres confirmed Qiao Anni was hidden and opened the door.
“Long time no see, Mr. Bres.”
Outside, a smiling middle-aged man in a suit with blond hair tipped his hat to him.
“A rare visitor.”
“Oh, that’s because Mr. Bres rarely contacts me to keep in touch.”
Bres voluntarily stepped aside to let him in, and the man entered without ceremony.
Completely ignoring the mess in the room, the man sat down on the sofa.
Bres didn’t sit; instead, he stood opposite the man and looked him straight in the eye.
“So, what business do you have with a small fry like me? ‘Veles.’”