Chapter 170

Chapter170.

Evan smiled faintly. If you don’t want to, forget it.”

Mena I took a deep breath and repeated myself, “Boss, I want to locate you, because you are very important to me.”

There! Satisfied? Are you happy now, my dear boss?

Evan’s smile finally deepened. “I can tell you’re sincere.”

He took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to me.

I silently took it and started to install the app. Gloria, beside me, covered her face with her hands, excitedly screaming quietly. He loves her! He really loves her!

Cody was excited, too. Good for you, Mr. Jones! Men should be brave. Don’t be ashamed!

་

I set up the two–way location sharing and gave Evan back his phone.

“Since you’ve shown genuine sincerity, feel free to ask for help anytime in life. Mutual sincerity matters, right?”

“...Right.”

I forced the response through clenched teeth. What other choice did I have?

Evan swiveled back in his seat, the back of his head radiating smug satisfaction. Gloria’s heart–eyed gaze could’ve powered a nuclear reactor. Cody’s hero–worship reached cult leader levels.

I gnawed my cuticles raw. These fools had turned our rescue mission into some twisted reality show.

Holden Building was a distance from the hotel. Because of my “can you go faster?” Cody shortened the thirty–minute drive to fifteen. That was still with traffic lights hindering him; he could have been faster. His final drift scared Gloria and me white as ghosts.

“Fast enough?”

Cody asked triumphantly.

I covered my mouth, and stumbled out to vomit. Gloria hit him with her bag, angrily saying, “...We could die, you idiot!”

Cody dodged her. Evan gave him a cold glance. He tapped his forehead, “She said faster, not warp speed. Pay your own traffic fines.”

Evan handed me a water bottle as I crouched by the roadside.

“I’m fine,” I rinsed my mouth and hurried into the decaying office building.

The building wasn’t tall, about twenty stories. It looked old, and the interior was desolate, with many empty shops, only a few sparsely scattered businesses.

Sherry’s location signal only pinpointed the building itself. We needed to find the exact place.

We found the building manager, a middle–aged, overweight man. Cody approached him, smiling and offering a cigarette, claiming he’d lost his wallet and wanted to check the security footage.

The manager looked at him, then at the three elegantly dressed people outside. Apparently, he didn’t believe Cody. “Honestly, what are you doing here? You have to tell me,” he said firmly.

“Looking for someone.”

Cody cracked his knuckles. His biceps, and tattooed arms, looked menacing when he frowned.

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< Chapter170 “...I’ll take you there now.”

Fat as he was, he moved surprisingly quickly. He took us to the security room, which was unmanned.

Marou “Uh, you should be prepared, there aren’t many people here usually, some cameras are broken and haven’t been fixed yet.”

We sensed something was wrong. It was more than wrong; it was disastrous. Most of the cameras were broken, and worse, the one at the entrance of. the first–floor elevator was also broken.

After struggling to check the few usable cameras, we finally spotted Sherry near a shop before disappearing around the corner.

This proved she was indeed here.

“We can only search floor by floor. Twenty–one floors isn’t bad if we split up,” Cody suggested.

“No, we can’t act alone.”

Evan rejected the suggestion. After previous disasters, even I knew solo exploration meant disaster. If something happened, we wouldn’t be able to help anyone.

Evan turned to the manager to understand the building’s layout, and then offered a generous reward for finding Sherry. The manager immediately perked up, detailing the building’s history, mentioning several small companies still operating there, and a few floors of residential apartments, though sparsely populated. He even mentioned the type of business and the names of the tenants.

“Why would Sherry be here?” Gloria murmured softly, puzzled.

I didn’t understand, but I believed Sherry wouldn’t act without reason.

Evan wondered why would Sherry turn off her phone.“Usually, only highly private clubs require this. Does this building have such a place?”

I anxiously scratched my hair. The manager’s eyes suddenly fixed on me, hesitant to speak.

Cody noticed that, forcefully putting his hand on his shoulder, “Speak up; don’t be evasive.”

Under our collective gaze, the building manager stammered nervously.“Y–yes! This gentleman mentioned shutting off phones beforehand, which reminded me–there’s Madam Huang the Mystic on the 18th floor. She’s very famous, and her rules: no phones or jewelry inside, absolute silence during consultations.”

“Famous psychic renting in this dump?” Gloria scoffed.

The manager bristled.“You don’t understand. The location’s feng shui aligns with her spiritual energy-”

I cut through the nonsense.“Get to the point; which floor is Madame Huang on?”

“Eighteenth.”

We immediately went to the eighteenth floor. As the elevator doors opened, a red glow and pungent smoke rushed out. The fog dissipated, revealing a green–faced, fanged face.

“Ah!”

Gloria, being close, screamed and clung to someone’s arm, terrified.

Cody smiled, taking off the ghost mask and waving it in front of her.“Don’t be afraid, Madam. It’s just a mask.”

“A mask?”

Gloria patted her chest, then realized something. Turning her head, she asked, “Madam? Am I that old?”

“I’m 22, how about you?”

“...Don’t talk to me!”

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< Chapter170.

Gloria angrily shoved him; despite her soft appearance, she almost pushed Cody into the wall.

A