Chapter 283: How Did You Recognize Me
The following day dawned crisp and clear.
Winona made her way to the hillside villa, with Rodolfo trailing closely behind.
Over time, their acquaintance had grown into a routine of light-hearted conversations that skirted around substantial matters. The mention of the elusive faceless man, however, instantly transformed Rodolfo into a fortress of silence. His reticence was impenetrable, revealing nothing of consequence.
Rodolfo was barred from the villa's second floor, so he escorted her only as far as the staircase. Usually, Winona would proceed without a second thought. Today, however, she paused, gripping the banister, and asked, "Rodolfo, aren't you even a bit curious about what the faceless man actually looks like?"
The painting would be completely restored today, and she had arranged a meeting with the mysterious figure.
Rodolfo’s response was terse. "Curiosity killed the cat."
Winona shot him a disparaging look, her eyes narrowing in exasperation. “You’re unbearably dull,” she retorted before ascending the stairs.
During this period, Winona had been diligently restoring the painting in the study, becoming intimately familiar with the room. She preferred bright, airy spaces. Emerson, despite his apparent dislike for her, had remembered this and ensured the curtains and windows were always left open whenever she visited.
But tonight was different.
The faceless man was there.
Winona knocked gently on the door and waited for a muffled response before entering. As she stepped inside, she was immediately struck by the oppressive gloom. She squinted, struggling to discern the outline of the figure standing by the curtains amidst the thick shadows.
"Sir, there's just a little left to restore tonight. Do you want to leave, or may I turn on the light?" Winona asked, discomfort seeping into her voice. The dim light imbued the room with a menacing aura, as if monsters lurked within the pools of darkness.
"You can leave." he replied. The man was cloaked in anonymity, his hat, sunglasses, and mask concealing every inch of his face, his attire an all-encompassing black.
Winona sensed his displeasure, though his features were obscured.
Pointing to the desk strewn with her tools, she remarked, “If I have to move all this, I’ll finish the painting by the time I’m done.”
Of course, that was an exaggeration.
The faceless man glanced briefly in the direction she indicated but said nothing. After a tense pause, he sighed and made his way to the door. “Be quick. This painting has been delayed for too long.”
Winona replied, "Got it, Sir, I'm more eager than you."
Hurrying towards the desk, she suddenly felt her ankle twist. Losing her balance, she crashed forcefully into the faceless man. He instinctively tried to step back but stopped after a step and instead reached out to steady her.
Winona's hand gripped his arm, and seizing the moment, she swiftly yanked off his mask, knocking his sunglasses askew in the process.
The instant the mask came off, the man grabbed her wrist with a vice-like grip. Pain surged through her arm; she could feel the grinding of bones. This strength clearly belonged to someone with special training.
Winona let out a genuine scream, unable to hold onto the mask any longer.
"You're asking for it." The man's cold voice echoed word by word in her ear, reverberating in the already quiet study, making it sound even more menacing.
Using his strength, she leaned sideways and looked up at the familiar face in front of her, "So it's you, Rodolfo."
Rodolfo looked down at her, raising his hand to remove the skewed sunglasses. "How did you recognize me?"
Before this, he had only met her three times in this identity, always in the dimly lit study, keeping his distance and exchanging only a few words. He had also gone out of his way to hide his usual mannerisms. As Rodolfo, he spent a lot of time with Winona, but she had never shown any suspicion.
Winona said, "When I called the faceless man outside the museum last time."
Rodolfo released her hand and pursed his lips. "I showed you my caller ID then, it wasn't you."
"That just raised my suspicion. Actually, I wasn't sure until you helped me. It was purely a woman's intuition. When you saw me fall, your first reaction was to step back, then to help me. So, the faceless man wouldn't help me, but Rodolfo would," Winona said confidently, "He knew I twisted my ankle, so he wouldn't think I was faking it."
Rodolfo said, "Foolish, if I were a bad guy, you'd be dead by now."
Winona brushed off his cold sarcasm. "Sometimes you have to take risks to break out of unfavorable situations."
Since she dared to pull off Rodolfo's mask, she was certain he wouldn't harm her. If Rodolfo really wanted to do something to her, he wouldn't go to such lengths to disguise himself as a bodyguard and stay by her side.
Winona straightened up and asked, "What about the person on the third floor? Shouldn't I meet him?"
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