Chapter 9
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"What happened? Was it the debtors again?"
The slight look of panic on her mother's face was enough of an answer for Liz, whose expression had turned from joy to seriousness.
Seeing this, Derek's smile also vanished, but Liz was looking into her mother's eyes, making it so that she didn't see this.
"What did they say this time?", she asked with a morose tone.
"The-they said that if we don't pay in a week, they will confiscate the house…."
"I told you they weren't a good op-!"
Feeling a tugging beside her, Liz stopped speaking and looked down to see Derek with tears shining in his eyes.
Since he was a kid, Derek didn't like conflicts. Hence, he always reacted in this way whenever it looked like an argument would break out between his sister and mother.
Seeing the wide-open puppy eyes, Liz's heart melted like it always did.
Shooting a glare at her mother to indicate that they would continue their 'discussion' later, she picked the little kid up and said, "All right, all right, don't cry. I promise we won't argue. Oh, someone's been eating up all the cookies! If you grow this tummy more, I won't be able to pick you up anymore!"
Hearing his sister's slight teasing tone, Derek's face took on a look of indignation as he bit his lip and turned away after folding his arms while still being held by Liz.
Laughing again, she turned around and started walking to the bedroom while saying, "Ok, I was joking! Now, let sis tell you all about the new perks she has..."
...
Meanwhile, in the apartment opposite Liz's.
As one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York, most of the buildings were dilapidated with many even being empty because the owners couldn't afford repairs.
Yet, this one was 'occupied' by a family which seldom appeared outside during the daytime.
This was because they had taken up residence here without permission to make drugs in the daytime before peddling them during the night to make a quick buck.
Armed with handguns for safety, their habit of not making trouble for anyone had allowed them to stay out of harm's way for the most part.
Today, after an hour after Liz's return from the headquarters of Happle, Inc., the family of 5 brothers heard a knock on the door.
This made all of them immediately take out the handguns they hid under their loose shirts, as they were all already present in the only room in the building which was at least habitable.
As one of them was nudged forward to go open the door, he did so while shakily holding the gun in his hand.
Opening it, he was greeted by the smile of a 6 foot 2 scarred man wearing a black t-shirt and pants.
"Lovely day, don't you think so?", he asked, startling the man who opened the door, leading him to tense and almost press the trigger.
Yet, the next second, he felt a dull pain in his hand as it went numb.
As the gun thudded to the floor, he fell to the ground and started howling with the pain of having his arm broken.
The scarred man didn't even give him a chance for this. Moving his hand at a dizzying speed, he knocked the kneeling man out in barely a second.
"Regrettably, not so much for you."
ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.
Even as the other 4 looked on with bewilderment, he took out a stun gun from his hip before firing at each of them with pinpoint accuracy.
THUD.
All 4 bodies fell to the ground, motionless, as they wondered just who they had offended to bring down such an expert on them.
A few minutes later, the 5 men were nowhere to be seen, while the room had a few new additions: 3 tables had state-of-the-art surveillance equipment on top of them and the fourth had a laptop on which a video call with a masked man was going on.
Sitting in front of the laptop, the scarred man said, "Surveillance in place. Relocation likely, so I will quickly gather as much information as possible here. The 5 former residents have been shipped off to the police station."
In a muffled voice, the masked man replied, "Good. I've spoken to the commissioner, those 5 will be taken care of. Keep a close watch. Maybe we can finally get someone who can be our pawn against the Bradshaws."
Nodding and cutting off the call, the scarred man walked to the window before using a binoculars to observe the window of Liz's apartment.
....
That night, after putting Derek to sleep, Liz finally sat down with her mother to resume their 'discussion' from before.
"What did they say, Mum? Were they rude?"
Although her mother opened her mouth to speak, she closed it again with a helpless expression and only nodded.
With fury appearing on her face, Liz closed her eyes and controlled herself for a bit before saying, "They will soon have what they want. But there's no way I'll leave them so easily after all the harassment they've put us through."
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"What happened? Was it the debtors again?"
The slight look of panic on her mother's face was enough of an answer for Liz, whose expression had turned from joy to seriousness.
Seeing this, Derek's smile also vanished, but Liz was looking into her mother's eyes, making it so that she didn't see this.
"What did they say this time?", she asked with a morose tone.
"The-they said that if we don't pay in a week, they will confiscate the house…."
"I told you they weren't a good op-!"
Feeling a tugging beside her, Liz stopped speaking and looked down to see Derek with tears shining in his eyes.
Since he was a kid, Derek didn't like conflicts. Hence, he always reacted in this way whenever it looked like an argument would break out between his sister and mother.
Seeing the wide-open puppy eyes, Liz's heart melted like it always did.
Shooting a glare at her mother to indicate that they would continue their 'discussion' later, she picked the little kid up and said, "All right, all right, don't cry. I promise we won't argue. Oh, someone's been eating up all the cookies! If you grow this tummy more, I won't be able to pick you up anymore!"
Hearing his sister's slight teasing tone, Derek's face took on a look of indignation as he bit his lip and turned away after folding his arms while still being held by Liz.
Laughing again, she turned around and started walking to the bedroom while saying, "Ok, I was joking! Now, let sis tell you all about the new perks she has..."
...
Meanwhile, in the apartment opposite Liz's.
As one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York, most of the buildings were dilapidated with many even being empty because the owners couldn't afford repairs.
Yet, this one was 'occupied' by a family which seldom appeared outside during the daytime.
This was because they had taken up residence here without permission to make drugs in the daytime before peddling them during the night to make a quick buck.
Armed with handguns for safety, their habit of not making trouble for anyone had allowed them to stay out of harm's way for the most part.
Today, after an hour after Liz's return from the headquarters of Happle, Inc., the family of 5 brothers heard a knock on the door.
This made all of them immediately take out the handguns they hid under their loose shirts, as they were all already present in the only room in the building which was at least habitable.
As one of them was nudged forward to go open the door, he did so while shakily holding the gun in his hand.
Opening it, he was greeted by the smile of a 6 foot 2 scarred man wearing a black t-shirt and pants.
"Lovely day, don't you think so?", he asked, startling the man who opened the door, leading him to tense and almost press the trigger.
Yet, the next second, he felt a dull pain in his hand as it went numb.
As the gun thudded to the floor, he fell to the ground and started howling with the pain of having his arm broken.
The scarred man didn't even give him a chance for this. Moving his hand at a dizzying speed, he knocked the kneeling man out in barely a second.
"Regrettably, not so much for you."
ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.
Even as the other 4 looked on with bewilderment, he took out a stun gun from his hip before firing at each of them with pinpoint accuracy.
THUD.
All 4 bodies fell to the ground, motionless, as they wondered just who they had offended to bring down such an expert on them.
A few minutes later, the 5 men were nowhere to be seen, while the room had a few new additions: 3 tables had state-of-the-art surveillance equipment on top of them and the fourth had a laptop on which a video call with a masked man was going on.
Sitting in front of the laptop, the scarred man said, "Surveillance in place. Relocation likely, so I will quickly gather as much information as possible here. The 5 former residents have been shipped off to the police station."
In a muffled voice, the masked man replied, "Good. I've spoken to the commissioner, those 5 will be taken care of. Keep a close watch. Maybe we can finally get someone who can be our pawn against the Bradshaws."
Nodding and cutting off the call, the scarred man walked to the window before using a binoculars to observe the window of Liz's apartment.
....
That night, after putting Derek to sleep, Liz finally sat down with her mother to resume their 'discussion' from before.
"What did they say, Mum? Were they rude?"
Although her mother opened her mouth to speak, she closed it again with a helpless expression and only nodded.
With fury appearing on her face, Liz closed her eyes and controlled herself for a bit before saying, "They will soon have what they want. But there's no way I'll leave them so easily after all the harassment they've put us through."
"What happened? Was it the debtors again?"The slight look of panic on her mother's face was enough of an answer for Liz, whose expression had turned from joy to seriousness.Seeing this, Derek's smile also vanished, but Liz was looking into her mother's eyes, making it so that she didn't see this."What did they say this time?", she asked with a morose tone."The-they said that if we don't pay in a week, they will confiscate the house.""I told you they weren't a good op-!"Feeling a tugging beside her, Liz stopped speaking and looked down to see Derek with tears shining in his eyes.Since he was a kid, Derek didn't like conflicts. Hence, he always reacted in this way whenever it looked like an argument would break out between his sister and mother.Seeing the wide-open puppy eyes, Liz's heart melted like it always did.Shooting a glare at her mother to indicate that they would continue their 'discussion' later, she picked the little kid up and said, "All right, all right, don't cry. I promise we won't argue. Oh, someone's been eating up all the cookies! If you grow this tummy more, I won't be able to pick you up anymore!"Hearing his sister's slight teasing tone, Derek's face took on a look of indignation as he bit his lip and turned away after folding his arms while still being held by Liz.Laughing again, she turned around and started walking to the bedroom while saying, "Ok, I was joking! Now, let sis tell you all about the new perks she has..."...Meanwhile, in the apartment opposite Liz's.As one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York, most of the buildings were dilapidated with many even being empty because the owners couldn't afford repairs.Yet, this one was 'occupied' by a family which seldom appeared outside during the daytime.This was because they had taken up residence here without permission to make drugs in the daytime before peddling them during the night to make a quick buck.Armed with handguns for safety, their habit of not making trouble for anyone had allowed them to stay out of harm's way for the most part.Today, after an hour after Liz's return from the headquarters of Happle, Inc., the family of 5 brothers heard a knock on the door.This made all of them immediately take out the handguns they hid under their loose shirts, as they were all already present in the only room in the building which was at least habitable.As one of them was nudged forward to go open the door, he did so while shakily holding the gun in his hand.Opening it, he was greeted by the smile of a 6 foot 2 scarred man wearing a black t-shirt and pants."Lovely day, don't you think so?", he asked, startling the man who opened the door, leading him to tense and almost press the trigger.Yet, the next second, he felt a dull pain in his hand as it went numb.As the gun thudded to the floor, he fell to the ground and started howling with the pain of having his arm broken.The scarred man didn't even give him a chance for this. Moving his hand at a dizzying speed, he knocked the kneeling man out in barely a second."Regrettably, not so much for you."ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.ZIP.Even as the other 4 looked on with bewilderment, he took out a stun gun from his hip before firing at each of them with pinpoint accuracy.THUD.All 4 bodies fell to the ground, motionless, as they wondered just who they had offended to bring down such an expert on them.A few minutes later, the 5 men were nowhere to be seen, while the room had a few new additions: 3 tables had state-of-the-art surveillance equipment on top of them and the fourth had a laptop on which a video call with a masked man was going on.Sitting in front of the laptop, the scarred man said, "Surveillance in place. Relocation likely, so I will quickly gather as much information as possible here. The 5 former residents have been shipped off to the police station."In a muffled voice, the masked man replied, "Good. I've spoken to the commissioner, those 5 will be taken care of. Keep a close watch. Maybe we can finally get someone who can be our pawn against the Bradshaws."Nodding and cutting off the call, the scarred man walked to the window before using a binoculars to observe the window of Liz's apartment.....That night, after putting Derek to sleep, Liz finally sat down with her mother to resume their 'discussion' from before."What did they say, Mum? Were they rude?"Although her mother opened her mouth to speak, she closed it again with a helpless expression and only nodded.With fury appearing on her face, Liz closed her eyes and controlled herself for a bit before saying, "They will soon have what they want. But there's no way I'll leave them so easily after all the harassment they've put us through."
