Facade of Love

Inch’s reaction, although intense, did not surprise me.

It was only natural given the circumstances. After a moment of panic, he quickly regained his composure and restarted the car. He glanced atand asked, "How did you... find out?" | pursed my lips, feeling a heavy sense of unease in my heart. "The Youngs have been having one problem after another, and Idris has been targeted multiple times. The police know he's in Lake City, but he hasn't shown himself. He's hiding in the shadows, and it's truly despicable." Inch pressed his lips together slightly and asked, "So, the police only know he's in Lake City but haven't found him yet?" | nodded, feeling mentally exhausted. "You should be careful too. This maniac deliberately cto Lake City, and he's undoubtedly targeting us." He acknowledged with a grunt and fell silent.

Before long, the car arrived at Charlie's villa. Having been here a few times before, | was already familiar with the place. | got out of the car and entered the courtyard. It was cold, and there were hardly any people outside, which made the open space unsettling.

Inside the hall, Charlie was having tea with someone, or rather, he was the one drinking while the other person stood respectfully, seemingly listening to his instructions.

The standing man was someone | had seen a few times before. He had a crew cut, slightly tanned skin, and his facial features resembled those of Southeast Alara’s descendants. He always wore a stern expression, and his aura was quite intimidating. Although | had seen him a few times, | had never spoken to him.

When Charlie sawarrive, he did not say much to the man. He simply told him, "You can go attend to your duties." The man nodded and turned to leave.

| was genuinely curious about him and could not help but glance at him a few times. Charlie noticed my gaze and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Is he your type?" | snapped out of my thoughts and quickly shook my head, furrowing my brows. "I was just curious. | feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but | can't quite place it." He chuckled lightly and did not respond to my comment. Instead, he said, "Let's go. I'll take you to see those two little guys." With that, he stood up and ledupstairs. It must be good to have money as Charlie had dedicated an entire floor of his spacious villa to raise two stray cats. He had even set up several natural cat trees for them. The two little ones seemed to have gotten used to their surroundings. They were playing in the room, and as soon as they saw us, they ran toward us, rubbing against our legs.

Charlie picked up the little female cat and casually handedthe small male cat, saying, "Here, you can play with them." | was taken aback for a moment but then accepted the little kitten. They had improved a lot since | last saw them. Their fur was much smoother, and both the mother and her kitten had a tricolor coat, which made them look adorable.

"Have you given them names?" | stroked the small kitten, and my tense and nervous emotions from the police station seemed to dissipate.

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me. "You can nthem." | was a bit surprised, but after a moment of thought, | did not hesitate to say, "The little female cat will be called Furball, and the little male cat will be called Egg." The corner of his mouth started twitching, and his expression was inscrutable. He remarked sarcastically, "You're quite good at naming things." | pursed my lips and said, "Then why don't you give them names yourself?" He replied, "Cotton, Candy." Deco | paused for a moment but found that the nactually sounded quite nice. | said, "The mother cat is Cotton, and the kitten is Candy?" He nodded.

| could not deny that they were nice names. | said, "Then let's go with that." With that said, | started to murmur to the two cats.

His phone rang, and he put down the cats to answer the call. Cotton was frolicking around the room, clearly delighted, while Candy, being smaller, took little steps trying to follow its mother.

Bang! A decorative item on a shelf was knocked over by Cotton. | got up to pick it up and noticed something unusual when | put it back. Behind the shelf, a hidden door had opened automatically, and the shelf had moved aside as well.

A secret door! These words immediately flashed in my mind as | peered into the dark interior of the secret door. There were no lights inside, but there was one at the entrance. | opened it and went inside. In no time, | reached a staircase, leading to what seemed like another set of rooms.

The layout inside was cold and dark, with predominantly somber black decor. There was a neatly made bed, giving the impression that someone rested here almost daily. On the bedside table, there were several guns neatly arranged.

Guns?! At first, | thought they were toy guns, but upon closer inspection, they were real firearms. Realizing this, a shiver ran down my spine, and goosebumps erupted all over my body.

The room had a large layout, with numerous cabinets. | had no idea what was inside, so | opened one and was stunned by what | found.

Except for a red sandalwood box that was placed conspicuously, the rest were filled with neatly arranged gold bars. There were so many gold bars that it exceeded my comprehension.

"You seem curious about my bedroom," a voice cfrom behind me.