The man didn''t waste a second. He quickly tapped the earpiece hidden under his cor, whispered a code word, and then turned it off. After a brief pause, he started typing on hisputer: "Are you helping the Shepherd family?"


    Mirabe''s fingers danced over the keyboard as she replied, "Dad, aren''t you helping them too?"


    "Bullshit." That was all he sent back.


    Mirabe raised an eyebrow but didn''t let it bother her. "Logging off."


    Just as she was about to shut down herputer, she noticed an envelope on the desk. She hesitated, then typed one more message: "Don''t take any more jobs rted to the Shepherd family. Do me this favor."


    No more using "Dad" now.


    The man sat up straighter and typed, "So you''re still saying you''re not helping the Shepherd family?"


    "If that''s what you think... sure," Mirabe replied, her words oozing sarcasm.


    The man''s lips twitched as he quickly typed another message: "Didn''t you take on


    a Shepherd family job before? What, returned the goods? Made peace? They''re not after you anymore?"


    Mirabe: "..."


    Fine, you want to y hardball?


    She closed the chat window, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Thirty secondster, she hit the confirm button and shut down herputer.


    Meanwhile, next door in the vi, Curtis had been tracking someone for ages when hisputer screen suddenly shed. A satellite map popped up, pinpointing a coffee shop just two hundred meters from Evergreen Gallery with a blinking red dot.


    Curtis was stunned by how easily he''d found the target. No time to think, he put on hismunicator and ordered his men to follow the lead.


    An hourter, the man who had finally shaken off his pursuers pulled out his phone and sent Mirabe a message.


    【Damn, you''re ruthless.]


    When Mirabe saw the message, she nced at the time and shook her head.


    Took you an hour to get away? Pretty weak.


    That evening, Shawn returned from the art exhibition, beaming with joy.


    Mirabe was lounging on the couch, reading a ssic novel. She nced at her clueless little brother, Donald, and shook her head.


    After a moment''s thought, she decided to speak up. "Dad, it''s almost the end of the year. Try to stay indoors more. It''s not safe out there."


    Shawn, misunderstanding her concern, thought she was just looking out for him. He nodded, "My dear, you don''t know how lucky I was thanks to James. This exhibition, I met three top art critics."


    Once Shawn got started on art and critics, he was unstoppable, his eyes shining with excitement.


    Mirabe listened while reading her book, asionally responding.


    Finally, Shawn remembered something and looked up at his daughter. "Oh, you should call James. Let''s have dinner with him in the next few days; I need to thank


    him... never mind, I''ll talk to him myself."


    With that, Shawn reached for his phone.


    Mirabe pressed her temples, closed her book, and sat up to take his phone away. "It''ste, Dad."


    Shawn looked confused. "What do you mean, te''?"