4. Her Allies

She wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious, but when she woke up, she realized she had been lying on the seat.

Jolting upright, a sudden hint washed over her, she wasn’t here by choice.

Glancing around, she noticed she was in the back seat of a car. Outside, the sky was dark. Her gaze shifted to the driver, a woman with curly hair focused on the road.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked her voice tinged with panic.

The woman had drugged her, for damn sake, and now she was taking her to some unknown place. How did she get her away from the officers? She must have had help.

In other words, this had been planned for a while. And if that was the case, there were likely more surprises ahead.

"Thailand," the driver said calmly, almost unaffected.

"What?" Her brows furrowed. "Why... why Thailand? What do you want from me?"

She had never intended to run. But the woman forced her hand, which meant the law would be hunting her as a fugitive. She hated the thought, especially because the woman couldn’t help her escape from Rochelle’s grasp.

The woman with curly hair glanced at her through the rearview mirror, her voice firm. “I promised to help you, didn’t I?”

Help? They had never promised each other anything. Everything was according to her plan.

“This could work in your favor. I know everything about you, including where to start looking for the person responsible for your accident.”

Her heart skipped a beat. "What?" she stammered, frowning. "Who are you?"

"Natalie."

"Who are you?" she repeated, her voice growing serious, eyes narrowing.

Natalie ignored her question and sped up, as if trying to outrun someone.

The accident? She had never questioned what happened before she woke up in the hospital. Maybe she hadn’t been ready, or maybe she was too scared to face the truth. Now, this woman was telling her it wasn’t a suicide attempt but something caused by someone else.

Lijun thought about attacking the woman, but she hesitated. ‘Escape, then what? Would you rather go back to that cell? Fine, but don’t forget, you’ll be serving a life sentence without crimes to reflect on.’

She slumped back into her seat and lowered her gaze to her legs. They weren’t paralyzed, but they would take time to heal. As for the surgery? She didn’t care if she lived or died, but if she had to go, she wanted to know even a little bit of truth.

She put a hand on her chin and thoughtfully asked herself. "I can’t really be Scupper... can I?"

She meant to say it to herself, but the words came out.

"You could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were worse than that," Natalie replied coldly.

Lijun shot her a piercing glare. "Don’t act like you know me."

"I told you I do."

"If you can't prove it, don't say you know me," Lijun warned with a dark tone

"Come with me to Thailand."

"Why there?"

"Everything started there."

Annoyed, Lijun leaned against the car door, staring out the window. "I almost forgot I have a sister," she mumbled sorrowfully.

Natalie smiled faintly. "Nayan? Or do you mean Hanae? Neither of them should be your concern right now."

Lijun turned to her, confusion deepening. "Hanae... No. What about Nayan?"

"Oh, she's your other sister. your biological one."

Lijun’s brow furrowed as she leaned forward, almost distracting Natalie from the road.

"Why have I never seen her?"

"You have. The last time was five years ago."

"Hah." She leaned back. "I was talking about Hanae."

She acted like she didn’t care, but deep down, she was shocked and confused.

"Don’t overthink it. She’s alive and well. In fact, she’s the one who sent me here."

Suddenly, a sharp sound shattered the left window, and the car skidded to a stop.

Lijun, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, slammed her nose against the front seat.

"Argh, what the..." She touched her nose, pulling her fingers away to find them smeared with blood. But when she glanced at Natalie, the driver seemed to be in worse shape. Blood was streaming from a gunshot wound in her shoulder.

"I knew we wouldn’t make it," Lijun lamented, realizing the gravity of the situation.

She glanced outside to see they were in an alley, surrounded by over twenty motorbikes.

"Crap!"

Lijun shook Natalie by the shoulder. "Hey! Are you dead? Why bother taking me if you were just going to die? Move the car!"

"That... damned investigator," Natalie growled, wincing in pain.

"You don’t have any allies?"

From the start, it seemed like Natalie was struggling alone. Lijun had assumed she was being taken to some sort of team, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

"You’re the one who told me never to trust anyone," Natalie said between her pain

"Excuse me!" Lijun raised an eyebrow.

The car tires had been shot out. The only option left was to fight. Natalie opened the glove box and pulled out a TT-33 gun, handing it to Lijun.

"Don’t... dare die," Natalie said, her voice faltering.

Lijun’s hands trembled as she reached for the gun, then let it drop. She looked at Natalie, whose eyes were dimming with every second.

There was no escape. She couldn’t run, her legs were too weak, and outside was a battlefield. What could she possibly do?

Before she could decide, the car door yanked open. Lijun turned to see a masked man with piercing blue eyes. Without a word, he raised the butt of his gun and struck her across the head.

Darkness swallowed her.