"Do you think, if he was sent by someone, who could be behind it? I have not offended many, and even fewer have the ability to pull this off. It’s impossible that he’s Yiren’s man, otherwise, what happened at the cemetery wouldn’t have occurred. So, whose man is he?"

Ling Kong was shocked: "It must be the godfather, Su Feiman!"

"Right, indeed, there’s no need to coerce a confession out of him; we can pretty much guess. Apart from the godfather, who else would be so eager to capture me? I’m important to the godfather, hence the person he sent to catch me must be someone he trusts and who is of high status and capable. However, Shadow, with his strength, should have easily captured me, but due to an unexpected error, he failed to complete the godfather’s mission and ended up in our hands instead."

Ye Lu’s tone was sardonic and crafty, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

"Since he is a spy and has fallen into our hands, logically, even if we don’t kill him, we should imprison and torture him. However, we did nothing of the sort and let him go instead, allowing him to return to the godfather unscathed. What do you think the godfather will make of this?"

Ling Kong, being extremely intelligent, suddenly widened his eyes, feeling a tad sympathetic towards Shadow.

Having been an assassin himself as a child, he knew full well that such an identity seldom earned the complete trust of a master, as assassins are naturally wild, unbridled, and rebellious.

For a top-tier assassin like Shadow, failure would have been acceptable, as death is clean and trouble-free.

But it was particularly bad luck that he didn’t die and came back unharmed. The fact that the other side didn’t even torture him could lead the leader to doubt him, and even if not suspecting betrayal, there likely would be a lingering unease.

With this move, Ye Lu was probably aiming to plant seeds of mistrust and division between the godfather and Shadow.

"Don’t worry, there’s no downside to this." Another thought in Ye Lu’s mind was that she always felt that Shadow’s behavior, since being awakened, might not have been entirely an act.

If it really was an act, he wouldn’t have intervened when Yiren tried to capture her; and even if he did intervene, he would not easily reveal the distinctive skills of an assassin. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Such an instinctive reaction, almost carelessly unleashed, was uncharacteristic for a highly vigilant assassin; one wouldn’t expose such a huge flaw that would reveal his identity to an observer.

Isn’t that illogical?

Moreover, with such skills at his disposal, he could have found a way to abduct her during their time together; it shouldn’t have been difficult.

She remembered the confused and innocent look in his eyes, sighing. Could a person so utterly evil and dark truly muster such an expression?

Even though she had seen a lot of evil people and deeds, in her heart, she still believed that no matter how wicked a person might be, entirely black-hearted, there’s still a trace of humanity’s softness deep inside.

...

In the blink of an eye, the day of the Huas’ gala had arrived.

In the Hua family’s main estate villa, the lights were dazzling, the scene was bustling with fabulous luxury, and at the villa’s entrance, there was a constant stream of luxury cars, with prominent families and individuals from North American high society stepping out of their vehicles.

The Hua family’s gala was a high-profile event, with invitations sent to various important figures; and given the Huas’ status and reputation, many families gave face and attended, and indeed, they were genuinely curious about what the female heir of this Eastern family was like.

Yiren sat in a stretch limousine, leaning against the sofa, her face pale. The makeup artist was desperately applying makeup, dusting on blush to give her cheeks a rosy, more lively appearance.