Mirabe cleared her throat, "Just kidding, but seriously, keep hitting the books."


    Cassie replied, "Oh."


    It was no surprise; his sister seemed to love money more than she loved him.


    Collins, who knew Mirabe''s ways quite well, gave her a sideways nce. Why did he get the feeling she wasn''t really joking?


    After dinner, Mirabe gave Cassie a ride back home. They''d found him a ce not too far from his school.


    In the car, Cassie, feeling a bit restless, pulled out his phone. He fiddled with it for


    a moment, opened Messenger, and decided to add a new friend by entering a string of numbers.


    Once the search result popped up, he sent a friend request. It wasn''t long before it got epted.


    Seeing this, Cassie''s eyes lit up, and he dove into a conversation right away. Mirabe had one hand resting on the open window, the other on the steering wheel, as the night breeze brought in the chill of early spring.


    After a moment, she withdrew her hand to roll up the window, her gaze lingering on the rearview mirror for a second before she calmly pushed the button on the car door.


    They drove along for a while, and Cassie nced out the window. Thanks to his sharp memory, he noticed they were heading in the wrong direction.


    "Sis, where are we going?" Cassie blinked, ncing at Mirabe, who had said they were heading home.


    Mirabe''s expression didn''t change. After passing another car, she finally said, "You''ll have to catch a cab from here."


    Cassie blurted out, "What? You''re not taking me home?"


    "I''ve got some stuff to handle," Mirabe replied, not offering any further details.


    She nced in the rearview mirror again and soon pulled over to the side, "Out you go."


    Cassie shot his sister a look of mock betrayal. Women, he thought, could be so heartless!


    Reluctantly, he stepped out of the car. As soon as the door closed, Mirabe drove off without any hesitation.


    Watching his sister''s car fade away, Cassie thought, "Really?"


    So love does fade. She didn''t seem worried at all about him, this charming young man, possibly getting into trouble.


    Cassie sighed, standing there by the roadside like a little wolf cub left behind.


    **


    Mirabe took a spin around the outer ring road before easing the car to a stop at


    a construction site near the river.


    This area was still under


    development, so it was pretty


    deserted. The streetlight


    were


    and far between, casting a sparse and dim light.


    It looked empty and cold.


    Mirabe parked at the end of the road, where she couldn''t go any further. After a few quiet moments, she unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car.


    Just as she did, a van rolled up, its blinding headlights illuminating Mirabe''s car.


    The van came to a stop, and six or seven hefty guys, who definitely didn''t look like they were there for a friendly chat, got out.


    Mirabe leanedzily against the car door, her head slightly bowed Once all the men were out, she tilted her head, her expression eerity calm in the dim night.


    The man leading the pack squinted at her. He raised his hand to signal caution to the others and slowly began to close in on Mirabe.


    "You knew we were tailing you the whole time?" the leader asked, his tone matter- of-fact.


    He wasn''t dumb. Picking such a deserted spot meant she was waiting for them on purpose.


    Mirabe straightened up, her gaze sweeping over the group, and shrugged, "Kind of hard to miss."