Chapter Four

Emma looked shocked and shifted her gaze between Ryder and the commander.

"Are you sure?" She asked the commander, who then nodded in affirmation.

"I will be right back. I want to speak to him."

With that, she left the room, leaving Ryder and the commander in there.

Suddenly, the commander did something totally unexpected. He bolted over to the chair where Emma had been sitting earlier, looking as nervous as he had been when he first walked in.

He leaned in close, like he was about to spill some major secret.

Ryan was completely lost.

The commander's eyes were wide with panic as he leaned in, his hands clasped together like he was praying. "I'm so sorry, sir. I had no clue you were not just some random dude off the street. Please don't hold this against me. Look, I will come clean; nothing actually happened to Chad. That picture of him getting stabbed? It was fabricated. We faked the whole thing."

His voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "I'm begging you; don't let this blow up in my face. My career is just starting to take off. Please, I will do anything."

Ryan just stared at him, completely baffled. It was like watching a tough man in a movie suddenly turn into a scared kid. He could not make sense of what was happening, but one thing was clear: something big was going down, and he was somehow at the centre of it all.

"Has he found out who I am?" He thought inwardly.

He shook off the wild idea. There was no way anyone could have figured him out because he had been way too careful about keeping his real identity under wraps.

Keeping his face neutral, he asked the commander, "What is happening?"

But before he could even open his mouth, Emma walked in.

Her eyes locked onto Ryan right away, and the commander practically jumped out of the chair like it was on fire.

"Who are you? How do you know Attorney Davis?" Emma bombarded Ryder with the questions out of curiosity.

"Attorney David?" Ryder arched his brows in confusion.

"That name does not ring a bell. How will a street vendor like me know an attorney?" He scoffed.

She then explained to him that Attorney Davis, a high-profile and renowned lawyer in the country, had come to bail him out of the police station himself.

She concluded that the fact that the attorney himself was doing this meant he was not just a random dude, even if he didn't look like it. He had to be seriously important or connected. No way would a bigshot lawyer get personally involved for just anybody.

But he still insisted that he didn't know the attorney, which he truly didn't. In fact, just like he had claimed, he had not heard the attorney's name before.

He forced a laugh, trying to maintain his facade of control while masking his inner confusion. "Well, at least some people still respect the law, unlike the corrupt folks in this system. It is good to see an attorney stepping up for an innocent citizen like myself."

He glanced at the commander, who was still fidgeting like crazy, and smirked. "No need to stress. I will let this slide, but don't let it happen again."

Standing up, he asked Emma if he could leave to meet the mystery attorney who had bailed him out.

She apologised for the whole mess, and he thanked her for actually following procedure.

As Emma, the commander, and some officers escorted him out, he spotted the attorney and faked recognition.

"Oh, I didn't realise it was you!" he said, giving the lawyer a friendly handshake.

Quietly, he told the attorney to play along.

He then announced to the officers that they were elementary school classmates.

As they left the station, Emma remained sceptical about Ryder's story and his connection to this attorney.

While walking towards the exit, Ryder's mind raced.

He had expected to recognise the attorney, but the man's face was completely unfamiliar.

Keeping his cool, he maintained his act until they were safely outside the station gates.

Once they were clear of the station, he turned to the attorney, his face serious. "Alright, what is the deal? Who are you, and why did you bail me out?"

The attorney then pointed at a luxurious red Bentley Arnage car parked across the seat. "There is someone in the car over there waiting for you. I believe she has the answers to all of your questions."

"She?" He was confused as to who the person who seemed to be the orchestrator of his release was.

The attorney didn't stick around, leaving him confused and trying to make sense of everything.

He watched as the attorney crossed over to the car and had a quick conversation with the mysterious woman before getting into his fancy ride and signalling for him to come over.

As Ryder approached the car, after the attorney had driven off, a man in a suit and shades suddenly appeared, leading Ryder to the other side of the vehicle, where the woman had sat earlier in the passenger seat.

The man then backed off, leaving Ryder alone with the woman in the car.

Ryder couldn't help but wonder who this woman who seemed to hold so much power was.

Without even looking at her, he jumped right in with his questions: "I heard you've got answers about my release and all this crazy stuff. So, who the hell are you anyway?"

"That is two questions at once. I will answer one of them. My name is Jane... Jane Lin," she said, her voice completely flat.

That made him really look at her for the first time.

Even though she was dressed with elegance, there was a cold distance about her—a kind of aloofness that did not match her beauty.

"As for your other question, we will need somewhere private to talk about that," she continued.

He scoffed. "Why not now? Actually, I need answers right here. Right bnow or I’m out of this car."

She turned her gaze towards him, her face stern. "Aren't you in my debt?"

He smirked, amused by her boldness and where the conversation was headed. "Because of the release?"

He chuckled afterwards. "I never asked for your help. Even though I would have ended up in a holding cell tonight, but I would have still been eventually released without your help."

"If you really want me to thank you, I will. So, thank you so much, Jane, for your help. I really appreciate it, and I hope I can repay your kindness someday, although it ispretty unlikely for a street skewer seller like me." His words dripped with sarcasm.

"Since you won’t give me the answers I want, you can take your explanation and shove it. Have a good night."

Just as his hand gripped the car door handle to leave, she grabbed his arm.

When he turned, irritation on his face, he was shocked to see her expression—pleading, almost desperate.

"Please... please, I’m sorry," she said softly.

"I’m sorry for how I handled things and for being rude. Can we just go somewhere private so I can explain everything?"

After a split second of considering her plea and because he was desperate to know why a woman of the high class that she appeared to be would help someone like him, he finally accepted her offer.

After that, she told the man who had brought him in to get back inside and "drive to the location."

The drive was tense, with the only sounds coming from the car’s engine, the rush of wind as they sped along, and the occasional honk from the driver.

To Ryder’s surprise, the car eventually stopped near the end of an unfinished bridge.

A sense of unease washed over him, but he kept his cool, ready for whatever might happen. He was confident he could handle whatever they had planned, even if things took a dark turn.

She instructed the driver to stay in the car no matter what, then subtly gestured for him to get out of the car with her.

They exited the car, and she walked towards the edge of the bridge.

He followed her cautiously, watching her every move.

To his shock, she walked to the very edge, balancing on her toes as she gripped the railing, staring down at the sea below.

Even though he was confused, his mind racing with different possibilities of what was about to happen, he masked it.

He crossed his arms behind his back, his patience wearing thin. "I don’t know what is going through your head, but you are wasting my time. I need to get home and prepare for tomorrow. So either you tell me what is going on right now, or I’m out of here, and I mean it."

She lifted her head slightly, as if taking in the night air. "It is a cool, beautiful night, don’t you think?"

Fed up with her evasiveness, he turned to leave without another word.

Hearing his footsteps, she quickly spun around.

"Please, wait. I’m sorry," she called out, her tone suddenly urgent.

"The reason I brought you here is because there is something important I need to discuss with you...something that no one else can know about."

He hesitated, slowly turning back to face her, his mind racing. "What could be so important that she chose this strange, isolated place to talk to me alone?"

However, whatever it was, he had a feeling it was just the beginning of something far bigger than he could have imagined.