Release that Man

The world-famous thief, Cedrick, was indeed an eye-grabber. Even though he was not that conspicuous among the world of normal people since he was not rich or famous and had not graced the cover of a magazine before, within special circles, the title ‘gentleman’ was an attention-grabbing presence.

In just one night, the news that Cedrick had appeared at a five-star hotel had started to spread among a specific circle. As someone who watched over… or rather, followed Ye Shuang constantly, she naturally got the news earlier than everyone else.

“Even though the name is quite loud, he’s ultimately just a youth without ambition and background.” Madam Grace glanced at Cedrick’s info once before tossing it aside; there was no sign to show that she had even realized that this was her biological son.

Looking at her underling coolly, Madam Grace waved her hands in impatience. “There are three kinds of people, in this world—players, tools, and toys… Those who have the right to sit at the table with us are either our friend or enemy; those who have the potential are tools that we can control and toys.”

A condescending huff escaped from his nostril. Madam Grace commented in a haughty tone, “Those are nothing more than clowns to fill up our time. Paying them any attention will be a waste of my time.”

Honestly, this Cedrick had impressive ability, but since he did not have the ambition to be a player nor the intention of aligning himself with a party to become a tool, in such an aimless life, as good as he was, the height that he could reach was limited. At most, he was a toy who could provide slightly longer entertainment than the others.

Having thought that the information that he had provided would be valued, the underling was stumped. He actually wanted to say, “Then, is that Eastern beauty considered a tool or a toy? Isn’t it a bigger waste of your time to focus on that man?”

However, he did not have the guts. Just like what Madam Grace said, he was not yet a player, so he did not have the right to say such things to her.

Swallowing the grievance, the underling carefully arranged the file into a neat pile and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry for wasting your time, madam. I shall take my leave now.”

“Go.” Madam Grace waved her hand impatiently. The underling kept his body bowed until he left the room.

When there were not many people left in the room, Madam Grace looked through the file again before massaging her temples and asking the African American next to her, “Tess, don’t you think that these idiots are getting harder and harder to control?”

The man was large and huge. He was a reticent man, but he was a good fighter and had an acute sense of danger; he had saved Madam Grace from certain death multiple times. Because of that and his loyalty, the African American had become the one person who had the right to stay next to Madam Grace.

The man nodded silently. Madam Grace lifted her brow to look at him. “You are also getting more and more boring to me.”

Madam Grace was not surprised when she did not get a response. She leaned against the chair and tapped on the armrest casually. “I don’t think there will be any threats any time soon. What do you think?”

The man kept his silence, and Madam Grace took it as silent agreement. She nodded. “Very well, this Cedrick did help us find a surprising little present though. Can you go capture that little mouse for me?”

The little mouse was none other than the newbie who had been exposed the day that Cedrick moved into the same hotel. The man stood where he was for a while before walking slowly out of the room.

After the man opened the door and closed it behind him, Madam Grace who kept her eyes on that direction pouted slightly. “So boring.”

…

Whether or not Madam Grace was really bored, Ye Shuang and Han Chu soon felt the very opposite of bored.

Edward, who had disappeared not long after showing up in Feng Yuan City, finally reappeared before their eyes. He did not explain where he had been but showed great reluctance after hearing that Han Chu planned to pair him up with Cedrick.

“Huh‽” The lazy and salacious fatty plopped on the couch lazily, and he glanced side-ways at Cedrick. “I have my own things to do; I have no time for babysitting.”

Cedrick smiled politely. He had been licking his wounds since the day before. “That’s perfect because I don’t want to spend time with an unkempt middle-age man either.”

Edward raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. He looked down on such weak personal jab. He shrugged at Ye Shuang and Han Chu. “See, neither of us think that this is a good idea.”

Brother Shuang frowned in silence and did not jump in to negotiate

When Han Chu looked over at her with surprise and nodded silently, Ye Shuang relaxed her brows. She thought about it and slowly went over the pieces of memory that she was going over in her head earlier. “Brother Han, I remember that you once said, there are many things that happen in the world every day, and if it is not on a global scale, rarely will there be people who remember when and what happened with a snap of their fingers, correct?”

Han Chu nodded. “I did say something to that effect, yes.”

“Three years ago at Kansas… The time that Cedrick found the first clue about his family, the clue came from the people who were chasing after Anthony.” Ye Shuang smiled and turned her eyes to Edward. “I… My partner once asked Tony, and while he said that he didn’t remember a thing about that day, that was false. He refused to help Cedrick because the relevant parties came from a complicated background, and he didn’t want to get dragged into the mess.”

“Huh, what does that got to do with me? I wasn’t even there that year,” Edward answered, shouldering the questioning gaze from Ye Shuang.

Things seemed to connect for Han Chu as well. He frowned and also turned to look at Edward. “After taking out the wrong preconception and ignoring the uncertainties, the known conditions are as follows. One, Cedrick’s real family is probably Madam Grace; two, the clue about his family appeared three years ago in Kansas; three, both you and Madam Grace belong to that organization; four, Anthony also confirmed that the incident at that time was a troublesome one…”

Knocking against the table subconsciously, Han Chu’s expression turned serious. “I believe that if my speculation isn’t too far off, after combining the logical reasoning behind all these conditions… the incident three years ago should be the work of your organization. And Mr. Edward, you already knew who Cedrick’s real mother was, didn’t you?”

Edward huffed out a breath calmly, but he did not confirm or deny that statement.

“I still know one thing that can support that supposition…” Ye Shuang smiled. “Mr. Edward, you once admitted that you have no good rapport with the members of the organization, right? You have devised plans to destroy their families. In any case, you have made them lose everything other than money… Then, the fact that you knew about Cedrick’s history and decided not to do anything, even pushing him down the wrong director, is not something that hard to believe, right?”

“Hmm?” Facing the fiery gaze from Cedrick, Edward said with a shrug, “So?”

This time, Han Chu or Ye Shuang did not get the chance to say anything before Cedrick blurted out, “Tell me the truth!”

“Ah, I refuse,” Edward said lazily.

“You—”

Ye Shuang sighed. “Calm down, Cedrick. In any case, I think you already know the truth, so there’s no need to get hung up over the details.”

Deep breath, another deep breath!

Indeed, after all, he had lost all hope for that woman. Even if Edward did intervene to divert his focus, it was also true that over the past thirty years, the woman had never once cared about him. Furthermore, the woman who called herself his mother was his real mother’s assistant. His stepmother knew about the truth, and she did not tell him.

After telling himself that, Cedrick started to calm down, and he asked serenely, “Edward, do you not want me to reconcile with Madam Grace?”

“Why would you say that?” That was the first question that Edward had answered, but his attitude was so bad that it would have been far more harmonious for the man to keep his mouth shut. “I believe that the real tragedy will happen after you two reconcile. After all, that woman will not reciprocate the anticipation that you have for her at all. Will it be fun to watch the hope go out of your eyes? But unfortunately, you are the only one who will be devastated; that woman won’t even feel a thing, so I soon lost my interest.”

He was just a petty thief. No matter how skillful he was, no matter how high he was on the FBI watchlist, it did not change the fact that Cedrick had not matured. While Edward enjoyed the suffering and pain of his enemy, to deal with the so-called biological son that his enemy would not even care about, he really did not have the drive.

For him, Cedrick was nothing more than an advertisement in the middle of a show.

Looking at Cedrick, who was angered again with a few words, and then at Edward, who felt shamelessly prideful of himself no matter the situation, Han Chu thought about it, lowered his head to open the laptop, and looked through Feng Yuan City’s map. “Perhaps my earlier plan is not that perfect. I think it’s better for the two of you to work separately.”

“Then, that’s the plan.” Edward hauled himself up from the couch. He had both of his hands in his pockets, all ready to leave. “I still have other things to do. Unlike you guys, I haven’t been resting while we’ve been here.”

When he walked to the door, with his hand on the doorknob, he turned back like he suddenly remembered something. He looked at Ye Shuang and revealed the first sincere smile since he stepped into the room. “I say, if you come up with a plan, feel free to come find me.”

Madam Grace’s latest prey? Such wonderful bait.