Molly woke up very early, and she had not slept well all night.
She tossed and turned over and over again. The few times she fell asleep, she'd wake up because of
uneasiness or nightmares before long.
At midnight she came out and found that the light in the study was still on. She knew that sometimes
Brian was very busy. He even could be so busy that he went to bed very late for several consecutive
days. However, he rarely stayed up for the whole night.
When she got up at dawn, she boiled milk and toasted bread in the kitchen. She waited for Brian for
quite a while, but he did not come out. Finally, she went upstairs with a glass of milk. She was about to
knock at the door of the study when the door opened from the inside.
Although Brian had stayed up for the whole night too, he did not look tired at all. His face was still cold
and indifferent as he always was. He took a glance at the milk in Molly's hand and contemplated for a
while before he asked,"Why did you get up so early?"
With no word, Molly simply delivered the glass of milk in her hand and gave him a hint with her eyes.
Brian understood tacitly and took the glass.
Taking out her mobile phone, she typed something, then put the phone in Brian's face. "I could not fall
asleep. And I saw that you probably stayed up the whole night too, so I went downstairs to make
breakfast!"
Slightly, Brian glanced at her phone and read. "What was wrong with you?" he asked with a slight
frown,"You couldn't sleep well the whole night?"
In response Molly nodded. But then she corrected herself, smiled slightly and shook her head instead,
meaning it was OK with her. She pointed downstairs with her finger.
"Let me wash my face and brush my teeth first. Once I've freshened up we can have breakfast
together!" Taking cue from what Molly meant, Brian replied.
With a smile, Molly nodded and pointed at the glass of milk. As soon as Brian passed it back, she
turned around and went downstairs.
As she walked down, Brian kept his gaze on her back, with a solemn impression showing on his face,
and his deep eyes giving a hint of irritation. It didn't sit well with him that Molly was pretending to be
strong.
*
Due to the sudden snowfall, temperatures across the city had fallen below zero. The harsh moist and
cold air passed through people's clothes and bit their skin as if it carried innumerable fine ice needles
to freeze people to the bones.
At an ordinary cafe in A City, which opened twenty-four seven, Steven sat inside a private room, with a
cup of steaming coffee in front of him. He kept peeping outside. It seemed he was anxious, waiting for
someone.
He sat there much longer, just waiting, sometimes even forgetting about his coffee. Once the coffee
cooled down, he would order for another one. Finally, after nearly three hours, he watched a car pull
into the cafe's parking lot. His eyes shone as soon as he saw the man who came out of the car.
However, he did not move. He just sat there quietly waiting, till the man walked into the private room.
The man stared at Steven for a short while before sitting down opposite him. Then he asked,"When did
you arrive here?"
"Just a moment ago!" Looking at the man with a poker face, Steven did not tell him the truth.
The man peered at Steven with a pair of sharp eyes, as if he knew better than that. He ordered a cup
of coffee from the waiter, and asked Steven in a low voice,"How about Sharon and Molly?"
"Not exactly fine," answered Steven with a self-deprecatory smile, like a man conscious of his own
shortcomings. "How could they be fine with such a man like me?" he added.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" the man asked, lighting a cigarette.
"No. Both Sharon and Molly know what happened at that time, but they don't blame me," Steven
answered with a smile, shaking his head slightly,"We might be facing a hard time, yes. But at least... I
feel at ease on the whole, because there are no more intrigues in our lives."
"Well," the man answered,"it wouldn't be better if you could think so, because it's no good being
anxious and worried about everything in life. In the end, it only robs you of precious peace, saps your
energy and derails your focus from more important matters."
"Yeah!" with a half-hearted smile, Steven tried to cover his bitterness. He sighed slightly and
asked,"Are you coming to A City for a specific mission?"
"No," the man shook his head and said,"I came here in private."
A little puzzled, Steven looked at the man incredulously.
The man fell silent for a second. It was apparent he didn't intend to say any more. On that account, he
conveniently turned to a new topic by asking,"Now that Edgar is the mayor of A City, have you ever
thought of asking him...?"
"He helped me at one time. But I'm careful not to bother him with pleas for assistance, which would
jeopardize his career!" a bitter sounding Steven replied,"Otherwise, how would I face his father in the
future?"
"Do you think that Edgar was really compromised... by giving in to his father's threat on account of you
and Molly?" the man said while putting out the cigarette,"Don't just look at things on their surface.
There could be more to it than meets the eye."
"So what?" With a growing tinge melancholy, Steven regretted,"It was because of my excessive self-
conceit that the Wolf SWAT Team suffered irreparable damage."
As Steven mentioned the past, the man's eyes narrowed in discernible disapproval. He slowly
asked,"For how long are you going to be a scapegoat and be viewed as a traitor?"
In reaction, Steven suddenly clenched his hands into fists, his mouth quivering at the corner. As far as
he could remember the events that had led to his fall, all the evidence had pointed to him. In the
ensuing harsh circumstances, he was even made to believe that he had betrayed their country.
Otherwise how could he explain the destruction of the Wolf SWAT Team as a whole?
From the beginning to the end, nobody except him had been privy to the formation, until it had been
time to execute the plan. However, it had seemed that the opponent had uncovered every single detail
of the formation.
Seeing the bitterness on Steven's face, the man sighed deeply. "Steven, I know you have never come
to terms with the facts," he said. "For all these so many years, you have hidden behind a veneer of
disappointment just to avoid facing Jonny Zeng. I believe... that you have done your own investigations
for all this time, right?"
The man's words took the form of a query, but apparently, he was quite sure about what he thought.
Steven did not answer. Due to what the man said, he gradually calmed down, as if his excitement just
now slowly disappeared. He smiled with bitterness and said,"You are thinking too highly of me. Now
what can I find out by myself?"
The man fixed a thoughtful, sharp gaze on Steven without saying a word for quite a while. After what
appeared like an eternity, he smiled and said,"It is also OK not to investigate. Maybe your life is not as
exciting as in the past, but it may not be bad."
"Yeah!" Steven answered.
They both dropped the subject as if there was a tacit understanding between them. They then chatted
casually. However, the man kept mentioning Sharon and Molly, intentionally or unintentionally, as if he
paid more attention to them.
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