At Cloudscape Community, Jimmie Tate, Harold Houston, and Melvin Steele sat in a neat row on the sofa. Jimmie''s face was a mask of cold fury, Harold was clutching an ashtray, and Melvin was brandishing a club thicker than his arm. The living room was terrifyingly silent, the air thick with murderous intent.


    "Juniper,e here." Seeing the pair arrive together, their fingers intertwined, Melvin immediately barked the order.


    Juniper was genuinely exhausted and had no energy to deal with the three of them. Her eyes shifted to Shanley. "Take off your shirt."


    “Huh? Oh.” Shanley, momentarily stunned, obediently began to unbutton his shirt.


    "What are you doing?"


    The three brothers werepletely thrown by this sudden development. They were here to settle a score. Why was he taking his clothes off?


    The next second, Shanley''s shirt came open, revealing a muscr chest. Under the bright lights, the bloody wound was especially jarring.


    All three of them frowned in unison. The guy was injured?


    "What happened?" Jimmie asked, his brow furrowed. "That looks serious."


    "Gunshot wound," Juniper yawned, speaking nonchntly. "My people did it."


    "What?!"


    Jimmie and Harold''s eyes flew open in shock, while Melvin audibly gasped. Did a little lovers'' quarrel really need to get this violent?


    "I''ve already taken my revenge," Juniper said with a slight smile, her tone unhurried. "If you aren''t satisfied, feel free to take another shot."


    The men were speechless, their pupils dting. They had only wanted to threaten'' Shanley, not actually hurt him. But their little sister she had nearly killed the man. They knew she was wild, but they never imagined she was this wild.


    Wow. A true role model for the modern woman.


    "As long as you know what you''re doing," Jimmie said, clearing his throat and trying


    to soundposed. The wound did look serious and would probably take a while to heal.


    But still... how could someone injure Shanley so easily? Jimmie narrowed his eyes.


    It was obvious one was willing to inflict the pain, and the other was willing to receive


    it.


    "Let''s go,” Jimmie said, patting down his clothes. "We can talk about thister."


    "Yeah, let''s go Melvin added,


    awkwardly hiding the club behind his back and scratching his head. He had been genuinely furious earlier, ready to beat Shanley to a pulp But how he actually felt a bit of pity for the guy. He''d nearly lost his life just by being in a rtionship


    "Take care of yourself, Mr. Schwartz,” Harold said, casting a cool nce at


    Shanley''s pale face, his smile dripping with sarcasm.


    "Take care," Shanley replied, forcing a faint smile.


    As Jimmie walked past, he paused for a second and opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately said nothing. The man was hopelessly in love. Nothing he said would matter. Besides, knowing his sister she would never have truly harmed Shanley it was either an ident caused by her


    subordinates, or... this was all an borate ruse orchestrated by


    Shanley to win sympathy. The


    second possibility seemed far more


    likely.


    "Ahem." Shanley covered his chest and coughed, guiltily averting his gaze from Jimmie''s knowing eyes.


    "Tsk." Melvin also paused, giving Shanley a thumbs-up and managing to spit out two words: "Bad. Ass." If anyone ever dared to question Shanley''s sincerity again, he would be the first to object.


    After the three brothers left, Dana finally dared to emerge from the kitchen, her eyes red as she looked at Juniper. "Ms. Payne, I almost thought you..."


    "I had something to take care of, and I lost my phone,” Juniper said, feeling a pang of guilt. She had been so busy with matters at Base No. 1 that she''d neglected everything else. "It won''t happen again."