“What can I help you with?” Susan asked as she needed the money to buy a ticket.
The man started explaining what he needed her to do. “Something easy. You see, I have all this luggage
with me, and I can't leave them here. Could you get me a cup of coffee in that café?”
He pointed at the café in the basement.
That's it?
Susan put her guard down and agreed.
After the man had given her the money, she went downstairs to buy him a cup of coffee.
Buying a cup of coffee for someone was not a big deal, but she was so worried about her mother that
she dropped her guard against the strangers around her in the airport. Had Susan been in her right mind,
she would have remembered that there were airport workers who could help the man with the luggage.
Yet, she did not think of that. She arrived at the basement and realized most shops were newly open.
“A cup of coffee, please,”
“Sure. Please wait a minute.” A middle-aged man walked up to her.
While waiting for the drink, Susan kept looking at her watch anxiously.
“Why don't you take a seat first? The coffee is not going to be ready anytime soon. How about a glass of
water to calm you down?” The café owner then gave her a glass of water.
Without hesitation, Susan took a sip of the water as she was thirsty.
Some ten seconds later, her head started spinning. “You...”
“Are you tired? Why don't you take a good rest? I'll find you a comfortable spot.”
The man walked up to Susan with a baffling smirk.
Susan's body started trembling. She wanted to escape but was too weak to hold herself up. Instead of
standing up, she fell from the chair. “S-Stay away from me. Do you know who I am?”
“I don't care who you are. The moment you step into my shop, you'll have to obey me.” The café owner
continued to inch closer with a syringe in his hand.
Susan plunged into despair and did not know what to do.
With the remaining strength she had, she pulled herself away. Fear was written all over her face, and
tears began rolling down her cheeks.
Never in a million years did she think she would die in such a manner. Is this karma? Do I have to pay
the price for the evil deeds that the Limmers had done in the past?
As the man approached with the syringe, Susah could only keep her eyes shut and not look at it.
In the nick of time, something came crashing into the café.
A flying chair then hit the man right on his head, and the sound of his cracking skull could be heard from
a distance.
Susan immediately opened her eyes.
All of a sudden, a warm liquid splattered all over Susan's face. She woke up and saw the man lying still
in front of her.
The warm liquid was the blood from the café owner's head.
While Susan was still gasping for air, a man ran up to her and swiftly grabbed her arm.
She then tilted her head to look at the young man. She gazed into his eyes for nearly a minute but could
not hear a word he uttered.
After regaining her consciousness, she exclaimed, “Ian!”
She hugged his thigh and burst into tears.
She had never been so frightened before.
Likewise, she had never felt so helpless and disheveled too. At that moment, she had cast aside all the
etiquette and embraced Ian with all her might.
Susan just wanted to hug him tight and cry out loud. It was as if she had found a haven amidst a life-
threatening thunderstorm.
“Ian, you're here. I can't believe you're here! I thought I'm going to die, and I won't get to see you again!”
She started bawling her eyes out while hugging his thigh.
Ian's body stiffened.
He did not know how to react as they had never experienced such intimacy before this.
When he lowered his eyes to look at the girl, who wailed like a child, he thought she did not look like her
usual steady and modest self.
He found it amusing. “I'm here to protect you, don't worry.”
He gently patted the back of her shoulder.
Susan froze for a bit and finally came to her senses.
Wait a second. Am I crying while hugging my nephew's thigh? What am I doing!
Susan tilted her head to look at the young man, and words caught in her throat as she did not know what
else to say.
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