Chapter 71
At his words, I turned back around and took a long, careful look at him from head to toe.
Though he was cleaning, his movements were far from graceful, and he wasn’t even wearing a janitor’s uniform.
His attire wasn’t particularly expensive, but it was far from shabby.
Even his shoes were polished to a shine, with not a speck of dust on them.
It seemed he had only noticed the mess on the floor and decided to clean up without thinking much of it
Just then, the man turned around, and I finally saw his face clearly.
The moment I saw him, something clicked. He looked familiar, like someone I had seen on a couple of contract photocopies in the marketing department, a man named Martin Zamora.
Though, the person in the photo looked a bit younger.
After a second glance, all my doubts were gone, and I walked straight toward the old man
If he weren’t Martin, Zachary wouldn’t have asked me to take a second look
At that point, there was no need to confirm anything with Zachary. I had to find out more about Martin’s situation first
Just as I was about to step forward, a group of people walked past me. One of them finished the last sap of his bottled water and casually tossed the empty bottle onto the ground.
Martin frowned at the scene, clearly about to come over to clean it up. I quickly snatched up the bottle and threw it in the trash before he could
My grandfather used to say, the quickest way to bond with someone is to do what they do.
Sometimes, a little strategy could help one like shortcuts,
When I glanced back. I saw Martin’s face break into a pleased smile.
I was about to speak when I saw a familiar figure flash by
“Uncle Martin, what are you doing here sweeping the floor! Aren’t you supposed to be at the store?” someone spoke.
That voice sounded just like Dylan’s
I looked up in surprise and, sure enough, saw Dylan’s hamilsomte, sunny profile
He was holding Martin’s arm, looking concerned as he asked
Noticing my gaze. Dylan turned and met my eyes.
In that brief moment, I could clearly see the surprise and joy in his eyes.
“Yvonne! What a coincidence!” he said, his voice light and cheerful.
“You to know each other?” Martin asked, clearly puzzled.
That was when I remembered Martin seemed to be part of the Zamora Family
“Yeah, Uncle Martin, this is my senior, Yvonne. She’s amazing, one of the top students at our school. Dylan was introducing me.
1 felt embarrassed
Honestly, I wasn’t that outstanding. I had just made a donation to the school.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Dylan, don’t exaggerate,” I interrupted awkwardly.
“But it’s true,” Dylan said seriously, nodding as though he genuinely believed I was impressive.
I had no idea how to explain further.
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Chapter 71
It seemed Martin believed it, smiling at us. “Dylan never lies. You must be very excellent. I saw you pick up that water bottle earlier. There aren’t many kids like you these days”
I felt my checks redden, awkwardly running a hand through my hair. Mr. Zamora, actually, I just…
I almost admitted I had done it on purpose, but I stopped halfway through suddenly too embarrassed to finish my sentence.
In situations like this, it was better to keep the truth to myself.
Not everything needs to be shared with the world
Dylan, seemingly oblivions to my discomfort, turned back to Martin Uncle Martin, why aren’t you at the store!”
“Don’t even mention it. The store’s being renovated, and it’s a mess. No one knows what’s going on. I can’t be bothered to go in.” Martin sighed heavily, his face clouded with worry.
As I thought back to what I had seen earlier in the store, I remembered that it was bright and spacious inside, but nothing seemed strange or out of place as Martin had said ‘Could there have been some sort of misunderstanding! I wondered.
Dylan, clearly puzzled, asked. “Uncle Martin, what exactly is going on? Didn’t you say you paid the rent already? Why is someone else coming in to renovate your store?”
“It’s all Irene’s fault” Martin snapped, frustration and anger clear in his voice, “She promised me a week’s grace period, but I didn’t expect her to secretly rent the store to someone else.”
“When I came back to pay the rent, nobody told me. Now, that damned guy Harrison claims the store is his and has already brought in people to renovate it?” Martin was so angry, he looked like he might stomp his foot in rage
Dylan sighed sympathetically. “What are we going to do now? This store has been your business for a lifetime, Uncle Martin..
From these few sentences, I was beginning to piece together the situation.
No wonder the people in the marketing department had said that neither of the clients wanted compensation. Martin had built his business here for decades, so of course, he wasn’t going to just let go easily
I paused for a moment, then asked, “Mr. Zamora, have you talked to Irene about this
“What good would that do?” Martin growled, his anger rising again. “She’s already left the company. I can’t even find her. The people at the company just keep passing the blame around”
Dylan hurried to calm Martin down, but my attention was drawn to a sharp gaze fixed on me from a distance.
1 glanced over and, to my surprise, saw that Zachary hadn’t left yet
He was still watching me closely, with a twisted, almost sinister smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Martin was the one I needed to find, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Zachary was looking at me like he was watching a spectacle.
“What’s with that look? Why does he seem to find this so entertaining?” I wondered
Before I could figure it out, Dylan, still supporting Martin, began heading toward the store.
As we reached the door, a group of large, burly men suddenly appeared and blocked our way
“Martin, you still dare to show up!” one of them sneered. “Mr. Robinson says if you step foot in this store well break your legs
The group of men started shouting aggressively.
“You… you guys” Martin stammered, trembling with rage, but there was nothing lie could do to stop them.
Dylan quickly pulled Martin back a few steps, his voice rising in anger as he shouted, “Who the hell are you guys! This store was rented by Uncle
Marlin
“Hiph
icarly Mr. Robinson’s territory,” the leader of the group sneered. “You briter get out of here, or we’ll make sure your whole family regret it.” He raised a baseball bat clearly preparing to strike.
“You dare to threaten un?” Martin yelled. “What you’re doing will get you arrested?”
I could see that things were escalating quickly, and I grabbed Dylan’s arm, urging him. “Let’s leave. It’s not worth it. There are too many of them,
Chapter 71
and if a fight breaks out, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
Before Dylan could respond, one of the men, enraged by Martin’s wards, swung his baseball bat directly at me.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand why I was the target. I hadn’t said anything to provoke him.
“Did he think I wouldn’t fight back?‘ thought, confused,
But before I could proces it any further, my thoughts were interrupted.
In the blink of an eye, Dylan spun around and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest and shielding me with his back.
Bang!
The sound of the bat hitting Dylan’s body echoed in the air, a deafening crash that sent a shiver through me.
I stood there frozen, my mind completely blank. I had never imagined that someone would step in front of me like this, so fiercely, in a life–or- death moment, protecting me with everything they had
In the distance, a long lens emerged from a comer, the sound of a camera shutter snapping rapidly.
The person behind the camera grinned widely, his smile stretching so far it looked like it might reach his ears. “Mrs. Parker, all cozy man in broad daylight. This is spicy.
“I wonder how Hayden will react when he sees these pictures And how much will be pay to buy them?”
with another
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