"Of course I’m sure!" Toby said with confidence. "Everything’s on the SD card, man. We’re still in the ga...for much more than a thousand bucks!" Suddenly, his voice abruptly stopped when he checked that there was no SD card in his cara.
"What happened?" Dean asked when he saw Toby’s face turn white, as if he’d just seen a ghost join them in the car.
"Damn it! I didn’t insert any SD card in this cara."
"WHAT!?" Dean was completely stunned. "You have to be joking, right? How could you take a shot without an SD card?"
"No, there’s nothing here," Toby said helplessly. "Ugh, no worries—I have my cell phone... Oh, for God’s sake, where’s my phone? I rember I put it here."
"Oh my god, Toby! We’re dood! We’re as good as dead! Damn it!"
...
Inside the tinted SUV, the man who had quietly stolen Toby’s SD card and phones leaned forward, passing the loot to Liam, who was sitting behind the driver’s seat like a commander in the shadows.
"Brother, these are all I managed to grab," he whispered. "Not sure what’s inside, but my gut tells it is sothing crucial."
Liam took the devices without hesitation. His sharp eyes scanned them once, and a pleased smile spread across his lips.
"Your guts serve you well. Let’s check what pictures these fools got after camp at the café."
The first surprise ca imdiately; neither phone was locked. He can’t help but laugh amusingly.
"What kind of so-called journalists carry their lives in unlocked phones? Such foolish n."
With the confidence of a man rifling through an open diary, he scrolled through one gallery.
His smile faltered when he saw Evelyn’s face, as clear as daylight. While Oliver, holding his small backpack, relaxed, his face was not as clear as Evelyn’s.
Liam’s jaw tightened. He checked the email app, making sure the photos hadn’t already been sent out.
"No signs of outgoing ssages," he muttered, switching the phones to airplane mode before shutting them down completely.
"Pathetic amateurs. Couldn’t even protect their evidence."
Still, his movents remained sharp, precise. He pulled out his laptop, slid the SD card into the reader, and let the files load.
The images popped up in sharp detail; Evelyn walking beside Oliver, sunlight framing them both. Beautiful, fragile, and dangerously exposed.
Liam exhaled slowly, pride swelling in his chest.
’Thanks goodness, the crisis is under control even before it happens.’
He leaned back against the leather seat, his mind briefly replaying the morning.
Evelyn had refused his offer to drive her to the café, insisting she and Oliver would walk. He hadn’t argued. Instead, he made sure one of his n shadowed her discreetly, with two more stationed near the café.
When word ca that two suspicious n were sitting in the parking lot with a cara the size of a cannon, Liam’s instincts flared.
His quick plan had been simple: box them in, distract them, strip them of their toys. And now? The proof sat in his hands.
"These fools..." Liam’s voice hardened as he clicked through the last of the photos. "How dare they try to harm Young Master and Lady Boss?" His knuckles cracked as he snapped the laptop shut.
The man sitting beside the driver turned to see him, asking curiously, "Bro, you got the evidence, right?"
Liam shot him a look sharp enough to worry his friend. Then he sighed, softening only slightly.
"Yes, I’ve got it. However, I’m not certain whether they’ve already shared these files elsewhere. That’s the danger with rats, you never know how many holes they’ve crawled into. We’ll need Boss Axel to run a deeper check."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own sleek phone. His thumb hovered over Axel’s number, but he paused, his eyes narrowing in thought.
"Wait. Have you contacted Brody and Brandon yet? I don’t want Lady Boss setting foot in the apartnt building without shadows. Contact them back now, make sure she gets ho unnoticed."
The man nodded imdiately, "Yes, I will..." and began tapping out ssages, his thumbs moving furiously across his screen.
"Good," Liam said, finally pressing Axel’s contact. The line began to ring.
He couldn’t help but smirk when Axel didn’t answer his call.
’Is he in the eting?’ he wonders while trying to call again, but still no answer from the other end.
...
At the Apex Tower in the capital.
Inside the sleek, glass-walled eting room on the seventy floor, Axel Knight’s attention wasn’t on the charts flashing across the big screen.
His phone buzzed softly on the table, Liam’s na glowing on the screen.
He frowned.
Liam never called during business hours unless it was important.
Still, the presentation in front of him was crucial: numbers, contracts, and international partners. He forced himself not to answer.
Then another vibration ca. It was a text.
"Boss, two gossip reporters are following Lady Boss." From: Liam
His chest tightens when he thinks Evelyn and Oliver are in danger.
Before he even realized it, he was already on his feet. His sudden movent caused the presenter—a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair—to freeze mid-sentence.
"Sir," the man stamred, sweat beading at his temple. "Was my presentation... unsatisfactory?"
Axel’s eyes flicked toward him, "Proceed without . Dylan will take notes, and he can brief later." He said without halting his step.
"Yes, sir..."
Without another word, Axel strode out of the room.
Every pair of eyes in the eting followed him, whispering behind their hands, but he didn’t notice. His phone was already pressed to his ear, Liam’s na flashing.
"Boss." Liam’s voice ca through the line, steady but carrying the edge of tension.
"Did they recognize her?"
"Most likely. They photographed her... and followed her toward the apartnt."
Axel stopped dead just outside his office door, his free hand curling into a fist.
"Did you stop them?" His voice dropped low.
"Yes, sir..." Liam answered quickly. "We handled them. I’ve secured their phones and cara. Nothing was leaked. They won’t be a problem anymore. But, sir..." He continued to explain.
Axel let out a sharp breath, feeling relieved. He pushed open his office door, closed it behind him, and headed straight to the glass wall overlooking the city. His cell phone was still pressed to his ear, listening to Liam’s report.
After a few minutes, Axel finally spoke, "Good! You did well, Liam."
"Thank you, sir. Do you have further instructions?"
"Yes. Send the full report to Collins. I’ll call him directly."
"Consider it done, sir."
The call ended, but Axel didn’t dial Collins right away.
Instead, his thumb hovered over another na in his phonebook. "Evelyn Knight."
"Should I call her? No, perhaps she’s still on the street. Better to wait a bit."
Axel’s lips slightly ford a rare smile. He lingered for a mont, caught between restraint and impulse.
Finally, he opened the ssage box and typed:
"Hi Eve, did you miss ?"
He stared at the words. Ridiculous. Childish, even.
Yet the thought of her reaction... a sigh, an eye roll, sarcastic words, maybe even a tiny smile tugging at her lips, was enough to soften his usually unshakable composure.
Before he knew it, he hit send.
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