Chapter 21 A Lonely Night

"I said marry me! It's that simple." Odile stood in front of Étienne, holding the document signed by her father, her eyes filled with hope.
Étienne looked at her for a while, as if he had made up his mind, about to speak.
But Odile became flustered, "You don't have to say it! I was just joking. We're good friends, and I wouldn't threaten you like that."
She was scared because in that moment just now, she already knew the answer. She would rather not hear it, and continue thinking that she still had hope.
The subjective consciousness of a person can occasionally possess a strong power, like descending a flight of stairs. When not paying attention, thinking there is still one more step, but there isn't, and when you lift your foot to step down, there's a feeling of emptiness. Therefore, at this moment, Odile wanted to believe that the stairs were still there, as long as she didn't step down, she wouldn't fall into emptiness, and that it would continue to exist.
Seeing the relieved expression on Étienne's face, Odile's heart felt like it had been pricked by fine needles.
"This is for you." Odile tried to hide her disappointment.
Étienne looked at the signature on the document, feeling more confident with these people. "Thank you, Odile."
"I told you, we're friends. Why are you still like this?" Odile tried her best to appear relaxed.
In the morning, Evelyn had a photoshoot arranged by Silver Media. The assistant assigned was a young man, wearing a baseball cap backwards on his head, very lively, but slow in his thinking when it came to work. Evelyn had been running around all morning, unable to coordinate the shoot properly, and she was getting frustrated.
When the assistant spilled coffee on the clothes for the shoot again, Evelyn finally lost her temper. Her voice was not loud, but it was intimidating, "Can you do your job properly? Is it that difficult?"
"I can do it!" The young man was practically in a military posture, almost calling Evelyn "Your Majesty." In the morning, he had been warned that he must not let his guard down when working with Evelyn, and now he finally understood why.
"You don't need to come in the afternoon!" Evelyn dismissed the assistant and finished the shoot herself. When she got home from work, she felt exhausted. She even missed William a little, despite his seemingly unserious demeanor, he was meticulous and rarely made mistakes. He should be the perfect partner for her.
Since the morning, Evelyn had been feeling anxious, not knowing what was wrong.
"You're just too worried. Antonio has so many resources in his hands, but you insist on going out and doing everything yourself. Can't you stop feeling anxious? I know you don't want to rely on others, but have you ever thought about how people who care about you feel? And Antonio is such a good person. I'm telling you, don't be too stubborn, okay?" Vivian was still chattering on. As she turned around, she saw Evelyn fainting on the ground.
Now she was completely panicking, struggling to drag her onto the sofa,
"Evelyn, Evelyn, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me, what should I do? What should I do, call an ambulance? 000? No, Melbourne 000! What's our emergency number?"
"What is it? What is it?" Vivian was anxiously hopping around Evelyn, "911!! Yes! 911."
Evelyn woke up to find Antonio and Vivian sitting by the bed, each staring at her with wide eyes. As soon as they saw her wake up, they began bombarding her with questions.
"One more word and I'll kick you both out," Evelyn grew inexplicably annoyed.
"Alright, take a rest. We're sorry, can't we care for you?" Vivian breathed a sigh of relief.
Antonio quickly added, "Take care of yourself."
"The doctor said you were excessively fatigued and under too much pressure. It's dangerous for me to be away from home," Vivian said, her eyes welling up with tears.
"I know, I'm fine now, so why cry? No crying allowed," Evelyn wiped away her tears and comforted her. She had been visiting the hospital too often lately.
Antonio stood on the side, feeling that it wasn't good to stay like this any longer. He made an excuse to go out and buy some food. After Antonio left, Vivian looked towards the door and sighed. "See, Antonio is so good. He came to the hospital immediately when he heard you fainted."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm just saying you should cherish him," Vivian said.
Evelyn didn't say anything, but Vivian immediately understood what she meant. "Well, then there's nothing to be done. Destined for unrequited love. Let's feel sorry for Antonio for twenty seconds." And she actually observed a twenty-second moment of silence.
Evelyn was speechless. This person's train of thought was truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Ten minutes later, Antonio came back carrying food. "This is yours, Vivian, and this is for you, Evelyn."
Vivian looked at her seafood rice and then at Evelyn's salad and chicken soup, instantly delighted.
"This is the punishment for being hospitalized," Antonio said, pointing to Evelyn's plain congee, then looking at Vivian's meal. "Yours is the reward."
"Reward for carrying Evelyn to the hospital? Haha!" Vivian was very happy.
Evelyn looked at the incredibly childish pair with helplessness. The three of them ended up having a meal at the hospital like this. They ate happily, creating a surreal scene.
Étienne was waiting for Menier to fall for it.
Leo rushed in, saying, "As expected, they've taken action."
"Is it the factory we anticipated?" Étienne asked.
"Yes! Our people have surrounded them!" Leo said cheerfully.
"Unless absolutely necessary, we must not harm innocent people. But we can't take it lightly either. Let's go to headquarters. Have reinforcements been sent to the hospital?" Étienne said.
"As per your orders, reinforcements have been sent. Madam and the others have already been evacuated," Leo answered.
"Alright, let's go."
Étienne's biggest fear was that Menier wouldn't personally take action. If they couldn't capture all of them at once, it would be troublesome in the future. Although Menier was arrogant, he wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
The headquarters were brightly lit tonight. Leo drove Étienne to the place that resembled a palace in the darkness.
Go, and this is also the most important step tonight. Yes, the bait is myself!
It depends on whether Menier has the courage for it.
When the car was about a kilometer away from headquarters, the other party finally made a move. Étienne could even feel the barrage of bullets hitting the bulletproof glass. "Leo, slow down."
"Sir, it's too dangerous. I can handle it myself. Why do you need to come personally?"
Étienne gazed into the darkness like a hawk. "Leo, if I don't take action, they will surely hesitate."
"Sir," Leo said helplessly.
"The right rear tire is leaking air. We won't be able to hold on much longer. Trust in our brothers. Stop the car."
"Are you sure?" Leo asked, but his foot still pressed the brake. The lights here were bright enough, indeed the best position.
Feeling that the gunfire outside had gradually subsided, Étienne was only worried that Menier hadn't arrived. It was not until he suddenly saw Menier behind the sculpture not far from the window that he felt a little relieved.
Seeing that he was almost engulfed by the darkness, Étienne picked up the gun beside him, opened the car window without hesitation, and Leo was almost frightened to death. He quickly picked up his gun and covered Étienne.
It had been a long time since Étienne held a gun, and he was a bit rusty. The first shot hit the sculpture, but Menier escaped even faster. Étienne immediately aimed. This was the last hope, as the other party was about to leave his optimal shooting range.
Without hesitation, he fired two shots in a row. One hit Menier's back, the other hit his waist.
"Sir, your marksmanship has not declined."
"That's enough, give me more bullets," Étienne said.
"You can't go down, it's not possible!" Leo quickly stopped him.
Although there were almost no gunshots outside, who knew if there were any hidden ambushes in the darkness? It was too dangerous to get off the car now.
"If you don't give me bullets, I'll go down like this," Étienne said as he was about to open the car door.
Leo had already locked it. "No! I won't let you go down."
"Are you following your own judgment or mine?" Étienne said and directly kicked open the car door. Holding the gun and bullets, he got out of the car, step by step towards Menier's position. "Surrender." Étienne looked at Menier, who was writhing in pain on the ground.
"Didn't expect to be captured by you. Just kill me quickly," Menier sneered.
"Your life and death are not for me to decide."
Soon, Étienne's men all gathered around, disarmed Menier and took out all his weapons. "Take him back to headquarters and clean up this place before daybreak."
In the headquarters hall, Étienne called for a doctor to treat Menier.
"Leo, I leave the next task to you. Prepare a suit and a private jet for me."
"Are you going to the United States again?" Leo couldn't understand why that woman had such a great charm that made Sir so infatuated.
"Shut up! Hurry up, will you?" Étienne impatiently said.
"Yes."
Étienne was exhausted on the plane. After changing clothes, he tilted his head and fell asleep.
Étienne got off the plane and headed straight to Evelyn's villa, but the person who opened the door was a face he had never seen before. "Excuse me, who are you? Whom are you looking for?"
"Evelyn," Étienne asked.
"Miss Bennett, she moved out."
"Where did she move to?"
"I have no idea."
Moved out? Did she do it to avoid him? Given Evelyn's personality, she would never do that. She had a thousand ways to make him back off, but this wouldn't be one of them. There must be some problem she encountered.
He tried his best to find out and finally ended up at the hospital. To his astonishment, she was hospitalized again. Evelyn lay in bed, engrossed in the novel Vivian had sent, completely oblivious to the man standing at the door.
She moved her neck and tilted her head, then noticed the person by the door. Compared to last time, he seemed to have lost weight. But she didn't care whether he was fat or thin. She lowered her head and continued reading.
William sat down on the sofa in the hospital room. "Evelyn, are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"We've already terminated our contract," Evelyn replied, still looking at her book.
"Can't I come and see you?" William felt wronged.
"There's no need for that," Evelyn disregarded him.
"Goddess," William called out softly. Evelyn's hand, flipping through the pages of the novel, couldn't help but pause. "Let me explain to you."
Evelyn just continued reading, as if she had closed off her hearing, pretending he didn't exist.
"The person in the photo is from a long time ago. I didn't place the photo there; it has been in my wallet all this time. I didn't even realize it until recently when I took it out to use it. Please don't misunderstand, don't think too much," William said with his head down.
"You're the one overthinking. I don't really care. Just leave," Evelyn calmly finished speaking.
"So, everything I've done before couldn't earn even a bit of your trust?" William felt a bit upset.