Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 272: Frank’s death… it might not have been an accident!

Ryan was still a bit dazed after Anna abruptly hung up on him. He thought about calling her back but hesitated, figuring it wasn’t really necessary.

He couldn’t understand why Alice would suddenly invite Anna for coffee. Alice wasn’t the type to reach out and make small talk with people.

“She hung up on you?”

Mia, rubbing her slightly sore wrist, gestured for her team to keep pressing their interrogation. She took a moment to walk over to Ryan and held out her hand for his phone.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“She said Miss Alice invited her for coffee, and then she just hung up.”

Ryan didn’t hide anything. He wasn’t as sharp as Mia when it came to reading people, so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to let her help analyze the situation.

“Coffee?”

Mia frowned at Ryan’s words. There was no way those two could sit down and peacefully have coffee together.

Even if Alice was genuinely trying, Anna probably wouldn’t be in the mood.

Anna had left out a lot when she called Ryan earlier. She’d only told him that she was taken to the police station as a victim of harassment, but she didn’t mention that she’d actually hit someone.

Mia clicked her tongue, silently cursing Alice’s sharp instincts.

She had just pulled some strings to get Anna out of the police station, and now Alice had already swooped in. Her ability to gather information was almost too good.

Mia could pretty much guess what might happen between Alice and Anna. Her eyes gleamed mischievously as she weighed the pros and cons.

“Ryan, are you worried about Anna?”

Mia, having decided to take a break, cozied up to Ryan, wrapping her arms around his and rubbing her cheek against his chest affectionately.

“Not really… I mean, Miss Alice probably won’t do anything to her…”

Ryan scratched his nose and pulled away slightly, sounding a bit unsure. Yesterday, he could’ve said that with confidence, but after everything that had happened, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He realized he was starting to lose his ability to read Alice.

“Ugh, if you ask me, instead of worrying about her, you should be more concerned about yourself.”

“Anna’s the type who’ll be fine even if you’re the one in trouble.” Mia didn’t spell it out, but she could see Ryan’s concern. She pouted as she spoke.

What does she mean by “she’ll be fine even if you’re in trouble”? Ryan stared at Mia, confused. He had a feeling she was hiding something from him.

As far as he knew, Anna and Mia had only met once—that time when Anna barged into the villa, trying to drag him away.

They hadn’t crossed paths since then, so when did they get so familiar with each other?

“Let’s drop this for now. Little John and the others have already gotten some answers. Let’s go check it out.”

Mia dodged Ryan’s questioning look. Everything was still under the surface, and the three of them had reached a sort of unspoken balance. No one was going to reveal the secrets lurking beneath the surface just yet.

Mia didn’t want to talk, and Ryan couldn’t force her, so he had no choice but to shelve his curiosity for now.

But the new nickname Mia had just used piqued his interest.

“Little John?”

“Yeah, Little John! You just saw him earlier, didn’t you?”

Mia playfully tapped Ryan on the forehead with her small fist. Following her gaze, Ryan spotted the man she was referring to as Little John.

Except…

Ryan shot Mia a weird look. Was she seriously calling that hulking, muscle-bound guy over there “Little John”?

Mia probably didn’t realize she was the smallest one here, but since she was the boss, Ryan figured he’d just go along with it.

“Miss, the guy’s been roughed up a bit, but he’s talking now.”

The man Mia had called Little John hurried over when she waved him over, bowing his head slightly in deference, making Mia look even more smug.

For now, they set aside the issue with Anna. Since the thief had already confessed, it was time to focus on the main task.

Ryan and Mia had caught the thief earlier, and the whole ordeal had drawn quite a bit of attention.

They’d been out in the open all day, which was already risky enough. And when they were bringing the guy back, he’d almost blown Ryan’s cover by acting up.

Because of that, there was no way he was getting off easy.

Given Mia’s team’s “persuasive” methods, the guy was probably lucky to still be alive. Ryan glanced at the man, whose eyes were so swollen they looked like two giant buns, and silently thought, Yep, that tracks.

“This guy jumped from the third floor onto a tree. Lucky for him, he didn’t break his neck.”

Mia, walking beside Ryan, commented casually.

Of course, by “lucky,” she meant it was fortunate for their side, not the thief.

“Hey, you’ve been through a lot, huh? Ready to talk now?”

Ryan stepped forward, looking at the man tied to the chair, completely unable to move. His eyes were so swollen that Ryan couldn’t even tell if they were open.

At first, the man didn’t respond, as if he’d passed out. But just as Ryan was about to touch him, the man suddenly started convulsing violently.

“Please! Please stop hitting me… I’ve told you everything, I swear!”

“Please, I’m begging you, I’m almost dead…”

The man’s desperate pleas echoed through the room, like a fish flopping helplessly on dry land.

He kept begging, struggling to get up, but the restraints held him firmly in place, making it impossible.

Ryan shot a strange look at Mia. Why did it feel like the guy hadn’t just been beaten up, but had been tortured in ways he couldn’t even imagine?

“Forget the details. Just ask him already.”

Mia wrinkled her little nose, urging Ryan to hurry up. She was worried the guy might pass out soon, and then they’d have to wait even longer.

“You’ve confessed to everything?”

“Yes, yes, everything! I’ll tell you whatever I know, just please stop!”

The man was genuinely terrified now, scrambling to show his cooperation. He wasn’t stupid—if he didn’t talk now, he was as good as dead.

He’d taken a lot of money, and sure, money was important, but was it more important than his life?

“Who sent you? Why were you trying to steal the contract plans?”

Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly, cutting straight to the point.

“I don’t know who sent me, I swear! I’m telling the truth!”

The man hesitated for a moment but then answered, trembling. As soon as he said he didn’t know, the tension in the room thickened, and he quickly tried to explain.

“I only communicated with the guy through text messages. He told me where the plans were and told me to steal them.”

“After I stole them, I was supposed to drop them off at a specific location. A few days later, the money was transferred to me.”

Ryan listened carefully but didn’t respond right away. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. The guy didn’t seem to be lying, but his story wasn’t much help either. They still hadn’t made any real progress.

“So, the injury was just an accident? You were only there to steal something?”

The man nodded quickly at Ryan’s analysis, but then Ryan’s expression darkened.

He’d thought they’d stumbled onto something big, but it turned out the mastermind was being incredibly cautious. All they’d caught was a small-time player.

Rubbing his temples in frustration, Ryan asked a few more questions, but the answers were all the same: “I don’t know.”

The man was trying his best to cooperate, and he was telling the truth. He was just a low-level, unemployed guy who’d taken some cash to play the part of a petty thief.

“Mia, what do we do with him?”

Seeing that they weren’t going to get anything more out of him, Ryan, feeling a bit drained, turned to Mia for her decision.

“Bury him.”

Mia said it casually, barely glancing at the man, whose face had gone deathly pale.

Tears streamed down the man’s face as he listened to their conversation. Useless people like him were only good for fertilizer.

As he watched the two of them walk away, his face twisted in desperation. Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he clung to one last shred of hope and shouted out.

“Wait! There’s one more thing!”

“Frank’s death… it might not have been an accident!”

—————–

PS:

Well, things just keep getting darker, don’t they? Ryan and Mia have caught their thief, but instead of big answers, all they get is some small-time crook who’s more terrified of Mia’s crew than anything else.

You’ve got to hand it to Mia, though—when she says “bury him,” she’s not playing around. Poor Ryan, caught in the middle of all this chaos, trying to make sense of it while Mia’s running the show with her no-nonsense attitude. And just when they’re ready to write the guy off, he drops a bombshell about Frank’s death possibly not being an accident. Cue the suspense!

So, what really happened to Frank? Is this thief finally telling the truth, or is he just grasping at straws to save his own skin? Ryan’s getting deeper into a web of secrets, and you can bet this is just the beginning.