She quickly dabbed on some foundation to barely cover the mark, then rushed back to the car, hauling the man off to Mercy Hospital.


    When the guy came to and saw June, his eyes flickered with panic. "What are you doing to me?! What are you doing?!"


    June recognized him. He was an old friend of her husband''s, someone who''d partnered on a project with him that eventually fell apart. After that, he just vanished. Rumor had it he got hooked on gambling, split with his wife, and his only daughter moved overseas to get away from him. Most folks figured he''d been beaten to death ages ago, but here he was, still in the Capital, looking surprisingly well-off in designer clothes.


    ra wasn''t in the mood for chit-chat, so she gave him a swift kick in the stomach. "Spill it, what''s your deal with Quinn?"


    He winced in pain, barely holding back the urge to throw up. ra, without a second thought, grabbed a knife nearby and sliced off one of his fingers. Both June and Calix were shocked by her boldness.


    The man let out a scream, his face turning ghostly pale. "I can''t tell you, I just can''t! If I spill the beans about Quinn, she''ll kill me. You don''t know how vicious she is—she''s the one who chopped off my ear!"


    His hair was long and scraggly, covering his ears and giving him a disheveled, rough-around-the-edges look. ra lifted his hair, revealing the missing ear. June shook with fear, unable to find her voice.


    ra spun the knife in her hand. "I know about your shady business with Quinn, and she won''t hesitate to take you down if she finds out. She''s keeping you around because she thinks no one knows. Here''s the deal: you owe one and a half million over there. I''ll pay it off, and you get out of town."


    The man stayed quiet, still writhing in pain. ra tapped his face with the knife, memories shing through her mind. She nced at the sharp de, realizing she wasn''t squeamish about blood and could handle pain pretty well. The thought slipped away quickly, and she pressed on with her threat.


    "So, what''s it gonna be? Every time you hit up the Bradford family for cash, it winds up in Quinn''s pocket, right? She looks down on regr folks, especially a jobless wanderer like you. Even offering you a chunk of change was a huge favor."


    His cheeks burned with embarrassment. ra had nailed it. Sure, the amounts he asked from the Bradfords seemed big, but he only ever pocketed a small cut. A regr job wasn''t bringing in any money, and gambling made him feel like traditional work was just too slow. He''s trapped in a never-ending cycle.


    Teaming up with Quinn had kept the moneying, so he stuck with it. However, with that money, he could gamble somewhere else, living it up way more than dealing with Quinn.


    "Alright! I agree! Just stop hurting me!"


    Just after he spoke, June, still in shock, quietly asked, "Do you have any proof? Quinn is my adopted daughter. She''s not like that. Are you trying to smear her...?"