A Force Love Contract With GANG LEADER

Ed tapped Max on the shoulder and said, “Go sit over there. See, Boss is so nice to give us a treat.”

The sister and brother were both startled. One felt embarrassed, and the other wailed inside.

Tristan smiled and added lightly, “I have told you how many times not to call my boss all the time.”

Ed patted his head and said, “Right. Sorry.” And he turned to Max, who was stiffened. “Let me introduce you. This is my boss, CEO of Chasin Group, Mr. Fox, Tristan Fox.”

Max was astonished. Chasin, everyone in LA knew it. He had not been in LA for long, but he also heard about it many times here and there.

He had to look at him with new eyes, but at the same time, the haze inside him grew thicker. He stole a look at his sister from the corners of his eyes.

Tristan stood up and reached his hand to him. Even while suspicious, Max stepped forward to stretch his hand out to shake with him. “Hi. I am Max White.”

“Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Fox. I should pay you back someday.”

Tristan smiled when he took his hand back. “I have known your sister for some time. And it was not a big deal. So don’t take it too seriously.”

As he said, he touched Kate on her back, and Kate’s back stiffened. She did not dare look at her brother, but she could feel that he was looking at her.

Both the sister and brother were preoccupied, and despite the food being as exquisite as pieces of art, they tasted like cotton. In order to defuse the awkward atmosphere, Ed tried to ask them to have wine. He made fun of Max. “Max, are you old enough to have alcohol?”

Tristan asked Max some questions about his major and school work. He looked like he was half an expert in that field. Max answered his questions carefully in a polite but detached manner.

Tristan didn’t eat much either, but he kept asking Kate to eat this and that, appraised the chef of the restaurant, and stated that he planned to draw him in… Both the tone and the content of his words made Kate speechless.

The atmosphere seemed peaceful, but there was something simmering below the surface. When Tristan went out to have a call and Ed left for the toilet, the sister and brother finally got a chance to be alone.

Max said, “Kate…”

He looked at Kate’s eyes and panicked. He was overwhelmed with all kinds of doubts and conjectures, but he could not utter a word. How could he ask his sister what that man had to do with you, why he helped us, what deal you had with him?

He was afraid of asking the questions, and he was even more afraid to hear the answers. And it would be an insult and injury to his sister. He felt he had changed to a totally different disposition in the past four days. He had become cowardly and hypocritical.

He clenched his fists under the table. His sister seemed to read his mind and moved to sit by him. She held his hand and said gently, “Max, don’t worry about me. I am OK. We are all OK now.”

Max collapsed and said chokingly, “Kate, I am sorry.”

Kate patted his back, stroked his hair, and comforted him. “I am your sister. Don’t say that.” She also had tears in her eyes.

At this moment, the door was pushed open a little but soon closed again.

Ed retreated outside and muttered, “Is this family of the year?” He turned back to see his boss shrugging his shoulders. He explained, “It is not done yet.”

Tristan didn’t reply to him but turned to the window and smoked. After exhaling smoke, he asked, “Do you envy them?”

Ed was startled. “Envy who? The black sheep?”

Tristan seemed to be speaking to himself, “The bond of the family.”

Ed turned his lips down. “Not every family is like them. They are blockheads.”

Tristan laughed. After a while, he said, “I haven’t been to the sanatorium for quite a long time. I will go tomorrow.”

And after that, he extinguished the cigarette and stood by the window and focused on the view outside. The sky formed a golden tent with the setting sun. The city was also dyed with this golden color that disguised its true appearance.

When they got out of the restaurant, it was all dark.

They sent Max back to school first. When he parted with his sister at the gate of the school, he looked at her in despair as if she would be executed afterward.

That was Ed’s observation. And Ed also had brainstormed about the scene of the sister in the execution room. Hopefully, she could at least keep her corpse in one piece.

Kate looked placid, though, or was at least pretending to be.

When they drove to the alley where Kate’s apartment building was located, Ed said, “Here it is. The car cannot go further. There are steps.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Kate said, “OK. I will get off here.”

Tristan looked at the pitched dark alley and said, “I will go with you.”

Kate’s hand, which had already reached the car door, trembled slightly, and she pushed the door open without a word.