Liam and Sera laid there for a while, his body aching and his head still bleeding.
Sera lay right above him, also bleeding from her head, though it was little compared to his.
Mia immediately took out her handkerchief and wrapped it around his head, at least to slow the bleeding down for a while before they reached a medical firm.
He stood up slowly despite the ache in his body. They had to clean up their mess because their initial intention wasn't to come here and fight him, and end up killing him as well.
If that was their plan, they'd obviously not leave so much evidence, and it probably wouldn't have taken them so much time and blood to pull it off.
"See, Liam?" Sera said from where she lay. "I told you he wasn't the conversational type, but you didn't listen, and now look at the situation we're in," she whispered, coughing in between words.
"Indeed, it is my fault. I probably shouldn't have underestimated his violent Trait," he said as he struggled to stand up with Mia's help.
"I really thought he'd be more reasonable, not to start or indulge in a fight, and to think he belonged to the army once before," he turned to Carl's body.
"He is sloppy for someone who worked in the army. We're really lucky for that. If he was more skilled, we'd all be dead right now," she said.
"We've got to clean our trace as soon as possible so we can leave this place," he said, moving up to the body.
He bent down beside it and brought out his phone. The screen was cracked because of the fight, but it was still functioning.
So he unlocked it with a bloody finger and went straight to his chats... and Kieran's message was at the top.
He dropped a message in Kieran's DM, "I've got him boss, come to my house by 5 p.m. for proof," then he hit send and cleaned the phone before dropping it on the floor beside him.
He stared over at Sera. "Come on, we don't have much time to stay here."
She turned over and lazily started standing up. "Fine."
They all started cleaning up as much evidence as they could, leaving no part of the living room untouched.
They burnt the materials they used to clean up and dropped the ash out on an open field before they packed up and left.
"We really should have thought about everything before going," Sera said.
"I told you both we shouldn't go, now look at the spot we're in. If we get caught, I am going to jail for murder," she said as tear streaks started rolling down her face.
"Hey, Mia. Don't say that," Liam said, trying to calm her down.
"It's nothing but the truth," she retorted, covering her face.
Liam didn't say anything to follow up, just bent his face down.
"Don't worry, Mia, you won't go to jail. I know this county's laws, and that was basically self-defense you pulled off, not murder," she explained.
"But still, I killed him, Sera. I freaking killed him," she shouted, staring at Sera intently through the rearview mirror.
At that point, Sera didn't know what else to say, so she just sat back and continued driving.
"It will take a while for her to get over it. We shouldn't have gone along with her," Liam said to Sera.
"But this was only possible because she was there, you realize that, right?" Sera said mid-steer.
Liam nodded. "That's true."
They arrived at the bakery shortly after, but everyone just wanted to go home at that point. No one felt like staying at the bakery that day, so they all parted ways to their various homes.
As Liam settled down in his home, a system message popped up on the phone.
[Pawn-to-King Protocol]
[Task Generated: Acquire a failing tech firm.
Deadline: 7 days.]
[Accept / Reject]
"A failing tech firm? How's that supposed to help me at this point?" he asked, as though it would answer.
He didn't know what the system was playing at, but he decided to accept the task, as it would lead to bigger earnings for future problems.
More information then flooded the system screen:
[Zironex: Blockchain wellness startup. CEO indicted last month.]
[LiftByte: Ride-share tech, hemorrhaging cash since the lawsuit.]
[Dynetiq: Smart fridge company. Filed for bankruptcy three days ago.]
[CleenVR: Virtual reality cleaning service.]
[CoreLoft: Data optimization firm with four engineers left and no direction.]
[NetVigil Technologies
Sector: AI Surveillance / Predictive Crime Modeling
Status: Blacklisted
Note: Under investigation. Ethics board flagged.]
He glanced through the companies the system picked out for him to choose and invest in.
"I'll have to do my research first before I make my decision," he muttered before closing the system tab.
♤KIERAN'S POV♤
Jerry waltzed into the office, panting slightly as he walked up to Kieran, who was sitting comfortably while scrolling through something on his laptop.
"Sir, there's a message from Carl," he said hurriedly, inhaling too much air.
Kieran raised his head up. "What's it about? Has he gotten the job done?"
"Affirmative, sir. He has issued a meet-up for you to take a look at the body for confirmation," he said, holding a clipboard in one of his hands and a pen in the other.
Kieran stood up slightly. "Alright, get the car ready. We're going to see my dead cousin," he chuckled as he walked out of the office.
"Yes, sir," Jerry bowed, then followed behind him.
Kieran got into the sleek black Rolls-Royce as it purred down the street like a panther, its chrome grille gleaming like a crown.
Inside, the cabin was a cocoon of silence and luxury—polished walnut trim, butter-soft leather seats, and chilled champagne tucked behind tinted glass. Every detail whispered old money and untouchable power.
They arrived at Carl's street within an hour. He was pretty excited to see his cousin's corpse that he couldn't wait.
They parked right in front of his duplex, the engine shutting down as Kieran got out of the car.
From where he stood, he didn't notice anything new, though he felt something was far off. He didn't bother with it anyway.
He walked up to the door and noticed it wasn't locked. He turned to Jerry, who instructed the two guards that accompanied him to open the door and check inside for safety.
They did as instructed and came out minutes later. "You need to see this, boss," they said as they bowed their heads.
Kieran already became annoyed by their response—it meant things didn't go as planned.
He walked into the house, the smell of blood already in the air. He quickly covered his nose with a clean white handkerchief he always carried around.
He walked into the house and noticed the body lying there, but he didn't react. He wanted to be sure it was his cousin.
He stopped right in front of the body and stared down at it in disgust. "He couldn't get one simple job done," he said, spitting on the dead body.
"What do we do with the body, sir? We've already been seen by the neighborhood coming in here."
He turned to Jerry. "I don't want this matter to relate to me," he said, then walked out the door.
"Why am I always the one getting into trouble," Jerry grumbled before he followed him out.
Jerry came out to meet Kieran already in the car on his phone. He opened the door and joined him inside.
"Reach out to Arkman. I have a beautiful offer for him," he said, smirking.