Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Sick of Lies

I pinned the man down in the flames. He screamed in agony.

In the otherwise quiet night, his shrieks were piercing. Neighbors' lights began flicking on.

He shoved at me desperately—in a crisis, people can summon superhuman strength. I couldn't hold him, and he pushed me aside, scrambling out of the fire and frantically slapping at the flames on his legs, rolling on the ground.

I was also on fire, but not as badly.

I lunged at him again, tackling him to the ground and driving my knee hard into his temple.

Two blows, and he screamed again. Just then, a neighbor's door opened—a sleepy voice called out, "What's all the noise at this hour... Marcus Zhang? Catch that fugitive! He's beating someone!"

The neighbor grabbed a broom from inside and started whacking me with it, shouting, "Everyone come! Catch the fugitive! Marcus Zhang is attacking someone!"

The metal-handled broom cracked against my skull, making me dizzy. The man seized the opportunity to break free from my grip. The neighbor pinned me down, concerned, asking the attacker, "Hey buddy, you okay? Let's hold him down together!"

The man balled up his fist and slammed it into my head. I shouted, "Hold him down, my ass! Check the group chat, you idiot!"

Just then, the man lunged, pulling a short knife from his pocket.

"He's got a knife!"

The neighbor nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood up and tried to intervene. "Just call the police—nobody needs a knife!"

But the man was beyond reason. He lunged at me, slashing wildly, and caught the neighbor's arm.

The neighbor screamed, clutched his bleeding arm, and ran back inside, slamming his door shut. I shouted, "Great job on the hero act, buddy!"

The man was already charging at me with the knife. Elena and my mother had heard the commotion—they threw open the window, and when my mother saw me, she screamed in terror, "Marcus! My boy!"

"Mom, stay inside!"

I knew I couldn't run.

Even with a knife pointed at me, I couldn't run. Behind me stood the people I loved most!

Luckily, the neighbor had left the broom behind. I grabbed it, relying on the principle that reach beats blade, and jabbed the handle at his throat, his eyes, his mouth.

The man was forced backward, his short knife flailing wildly. My heart was hammering at a million miles an hour.

That was a real knife!

He could withstand a dozen of my strikes—I could only take one. If that blade pierced my body, I was done for.

He could afford ten misses. I couldn't afford one.

Elena was crying hysterically as she grabbed the longest knife from the kitchen—the carving knife—and held it out the window. "Marcus!"

"No! If something happens to him, I'm afraid they'll charge me with excessive force!"

I seized my opening, driving the broom handle into the man's nose, shoving him backward until he was cornered against the hallway wall.

He stopped caring about defense, roaring with rage as he charged, taking the blows while slashing at me with the knife.

I panicked, trying to knock the knife from his hand, but his grip was iron. He was closing the distance.

I couldn't hold him off anymore. The blade was about to strike—thinking fast, I threw myself at him.

The knife missed its mark, but his wrist slammed into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him in a bear hug. He immediately shifted angle, trying to drive the blade into my back.

My mind went blank. Only one thought remained.

Fight... with everything I have!

I glanced down at the floor below—a bus was parked directly underneath. I hoisted him up and hurled both of us over the railing!

The sensation of freefall was immediate. I gripped his collar tight, using his body as a cushion beneath me, while he thrashed and screamed, too panicked to use his knife.

The three-story drop sent adrenaline flooding through my system. Wind roared in my ears—it was over in a flash.

CRASH!

We smashed into the roof of the bus. The metal dented inward. My entire body howled with pain, but I'd landed on top of him, breaking my fall with his body.

Momentum sent me rolling off the bus roof. I hit the ground hard, feeling like every bone in my body had shattered.

From above, Elena and my mother's cries echoed. I took shallow, careful breaths, forcing myself to stay calm, then very slowly stood up.

At least nothing was broken.

The man groaned weakly on the bus roof. I climbed onto the tire to check on him. The bus roof was caved in, but the three-story fall onto the vehicle hadn't killed him—whether anything was fractured, I couldn't say.

I picked up his phone and fell into thought.

Elena and my mother came rushing downstairs. The moment my mother saw me, she threw her arms around me, sobbing, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm okay, Mom..." I said softly. "Elena, call an ambulance—he should be fine. And call the police."

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

The more I thought about it, the more something didn't add up. I tried to unlock the phone, but I didn't know the passcode. So I climbed back onto the tire, held the phone up to the man's face for facial recognition, and checked the call log. Sure enough, there was a contact labeled "Boss Drake." If my instincts were right, this was the same person who'd threatened me on video.

I took a deep breath and called the number.

When the line connected, Monkey Drake's angry voice came through immediately: "Is that bastard's family dead yet?"

The moment I heard his voice, I gritted my teeth. "So it was you! You dared threaten my family—you animal! I just helped you, and you swore you'd keep your word!"

"So it's you. My man failed? You and your promises mean nothing! I'm finished now—the big client says he never received the goods, and the intermediary is going to kill me! You bastard, what trick did you pull? I'll take you down with me even if it kills me!"

I froze at his words. The DNA had matched.

So the big client... wasn't Victor Li after all?

Rage burned in my chest. I shouted, "The big client not being Victor Li has nothing to do with me! I already did my part—you went back on your word! Go to hell!"

I hung up, my head spinning.

Everything was chaos—complete chaos. Things weren't supposed to unfold this way. The ledgers showed companies connected to him, and the DNA had matched...

On Monkey Drake's books, Wendy Xu had conducted multiple transactions, all funneling money to him.

And that body—I was one hundred percent certain it was Victor Li. Even the test results had confirmed it.

How could the big client not be him?

What was I missing?

I sat on the curb, sorting through my thoughts while people around me gawked. Ignoring them, I carefully read Nora Zhao's confession.

"The arson was my doing. That girl—I killed her too..."

"I haven't been around these past few days because I couldn't live with the guilt. In the end, I chose to face the truth..."

"Tomorrow morning, I'll turn myself in. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused everyone."

Nora Zhao's confession nagged at me.

Why would she kill Wendy Xu? Why would she confess? Those two things contradicted each other!

I called Detective Sullivan. "Detective Sullivan, it's Marcus Zhang. Have you heard about Nora Zhao turning herself in?"

Sullivan said, "Yes. We're still looking for her, but she's completely vanished. We've checked every camera in the building and can't find her. You were supposed to be the primary suspect in Wendy Xu's murder, but then Nora Zhao goes and confesses."

"Don't you think her confession is strange?"

Sullivan was silent for a moment, then said, "If your earlier testimony was true, then her confession is contradictory. Her motive for killing Wendy Xu should have been to escape—so why come back and turn herself in?"

"Exactly. If she was ruthless enough to kill, why confess? It makes Wendy Xu's death pointless!"

"Regardless, if she confesses to the arson, ninety percent of the charges against you disappear. The police will continue investigating. Where are you? Are you coming in to turn yourself in or not? Your attitude keeps flip-flopping—I don't know what face to put on when I see you!"

"Detective, I've been reckless plenty of times. Let me be reckless one last time. I've got a mountain of evidence on Monkey Drake—enough to uproot his entire operation. I'm giving it to Elena."

"You've done another good deed? How many are you planning? That's enough!"

"Maybe I can find Nora Zhao. This is the last time, I promise!"

I hung up and handed all the criminal evidence to Elena. I looked her dead in the eye and said, "Don't go home to sleep. Go straight to the police station and stay there until everything is resolved."

Elena nodded firmly. I looked at my mother.

She clung to my shirt, unwilling to let go. My nose burned. "Mom, you wait for me. Your son will be back to see you soon."

I forced myself to let go and jumped into the car, heading toward Orchid Heights.

From the day of the arson until now, Nora Zhao had never appeared in public. Why?

Because she never left!

Those of us homeowners who'd been fighting for our rights knew the building's camera layout inside and out. Avoiding the cameras was easy—but Nora Zhao also had to avoid being recognized by other residents. No matter how carefully she dodged the cameras, she still had to worry about being spotted.

So her best option was to stay inside the building and never leave.

Since both apartments had already been discovered by the police as crime scenes, Nora Zhao had only one place left to go.

I drove the Range Rover back to the development, but they didn't let outside vehicles through. I parked on the street, climbed over the fence, and entered the complex.

No cameras here. During the day, climbing the fence might attract attention, but at night it was quiet.

The fence opened onto a safety passage connecting the underground garage to ground level.

I followed the passage into the garage, navigating the space easily, avoiding every camera along the way—knowledge we'd accumulated over years of vandalizing Victor Li's car.

At the end of the corridor was a dark electrical room with an unlocked door.

When I pushed it open, I found food wrappers scattered across the floor and the unmistakable smell of human waste. Nora Zhao sat in the corner, looking haggard.

She looked up, startled. "How did you know I was in the garage?"

"Because we've done a lot of things together—throwing eggs at his car, splashing paint. This electrical room was everyone's secret base. Once Victor Li died, no one came to do that stuff anymore, so I could hide here in peace... Do I look pathetic?"

"Completely pathetic."

I sat down next to her and said, "I don't understand. Why did you suddenly decide to turn yourself in?"

"Tai Sun betrayed me. He broke his word..." Nora Zhao said. "We agreed to flee the country together, but I couldn't reach him anymore. It's hilarious—while I was waiting like a fool in that apartment, he'd probably already sold the gold and was living it up somewhere."

I listened in silence.

She stood up. "I'm meeting my boyfriend for one last time tonight. I'll turn myself in tomorrow morning. If you're worried I'll run, you can keep an eye on me. Don't worry—I've taken responsibility for everything. People will soon realize you were just caught up in this."

"Where are you going? Let me give you a ride."

"What?"

"Like you said—I'm worried you'll run. Let me drive you. Don't worry—if you're really meeting your boyfriend one last time, I'll let you have your moment."

Nora Zhao gave a soft "mm" and said she wouldn't run.

I led her out of the garage and walked through the complex.

Even though it was late, there were still residents out and about. They spotted us and stared.

"Is that Nora Zhao? The one who set the fire!"

"Didn't she say she'd turn herself in tomorrow morning?"

"Shameless—she almost burned our homes down too!"

Nora Zhao kept her head down the entire way. I put her in the back seat and locked the doors, then asked where she was going. She said the city hospital.

I drove to the hospital. A middle-aged man was standing by the road, wearing an old-fashioned suit that had been washed clean, bearing the gentle wear of time. He'd thoughtfully tied his own tie and held a bouquet of roses.

Nora Zhao suddenly asked me to stop, but she didn't get out—she just sat there, watching him.

The man, despite looking a bit shabby, had a dignified air. He wore thin glasses and kept checking his watch, then gazing hopefully into the distance.

I asked, "Is that your boyfriend? Why don't you go see him?"

"It's him. I arranged to meet him, but I didn't want him to see me like this. Can you dim the interior lights? I don't want him to notice me."

I turned off the engine. Nora Zhao tidied her hair, looking self-conscious. "I look terrible these days—I don't want him to see me like this."

She never got out of the car. She just sat there, watching the man with eyes full of tenderness.

Then her eyes grew moist, and she murmured, "Do you think people remember who they loved in their past life?"

"I don't know."

"Never mind—I already know the answer. He once wrote a poem, a beautiful one. You know, people our age loved those romantic poems. Young people like you probably don't write them, right?"

"We don't."

"What do you write?"

"Pretty corny stuff. I'd rather not say."

Nora Zhao closed her eyes, tears falling, and whispered, "I've seen enough. Let's go."

I started the car. She pulled out her phone and slowly made a call.

When he answered, she said softly, "Have you been waiting long? I'm sorry—I had something come up and can't make it."

The car was quiet enough for me to hear the man's voice through the phone. "Oh? I haven't been waiting long—I just got here a few minutes ago. How long will your thing take? Do you need me to come help?"

"Wesley Wei, you're so silly..." she said tenderly. "A date at this hour—we could only go get steamed buns at dawn. And you wore a suit and tie."

"Wait—you saw me? I thought it was our first date, so I dressed up. Are you judging me, Xuelian? I can go change."

"Silly, go home. Don't catch a cold."

Nora Zhao hung up and finally let herself cry. She grabbed tissues from the car and kept wiping her eyes.

I couldn't help asking, "First date?"

"Yeah."

"You said the baby was your boyfriend's—your previous boyfriend?"

"No. It's his."

"I'm a little confused..."

I drove on, unable to make sense of their relationship.

Nora Zhao said softly, "I've fulfilled my last wish. You can take me to the police station now."

I said nothing, just accelerated and took the on-ramp to the elevated highway.

Nora Zhao startled. "You're going the wrong way. You don't need the highway—there's a police station right back at that intersection."

"I'm not going to a police station. If you turn yourself in, your plan works out perfectly..." I said coldly as I drove. "Nora, I've had enough of your lies. I'm not falling for any more of your stories—it's time to reveal the truth."

Nora Zhao's face went pale. "Where are you taking me?"

"You know exactly where. Tai Sun betrayed you? You accidentally burned someone to death? Don't make me laugh. I've heard enough lies from you!"

"Marcus! We can talk about this!"

She started to panic, clawing at the doors, but I'd already locked them.

She pleaded, "You figured it out, didn't you? I'm begging you—let's stop here. If I turn myself in, it's all over. You won't have any serious charges. There's nothing in this for you to lose. Please, don't keep digging."

"I may not have any charges left, but this outcome is missing two very important things."

"What?"

"Justice and conscience."