The Villain's Sister - Chapter 87

When Tristan appeared, his colleagues stared intently at the two of us.

“Let’s move somewhere else first.”

“With that kind of scandal out, if it’s just the two of us, your colleagues will get the wrong idea too.”

“You care about public opinion, so at least we can talk.”

An older-looking man approached behind Tristan.

He tried to hide his irritation, but Tristan wasn’t the type who could mask emotions well.

“Our team leader.”

“Logan Goldman, Organized Crime Division team leader.”

The team leader held out his hand.

“For reference, the police official mentioned in the article is him.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. Thanks to you, my morning was entertaining. I’m Giselle. And this is my bodyguard, Johan.”

I deliberately ignored his hand, but the team leader spoke calmly without any sign of embarrassment.

I heard the clinking sound of handcuffs from him.

So this was a battle of nerves.

Like a superior throwing a report at a subordinate to humiliate him, I flicked the lawsuit envelope I had brought at him.

The team leader made a peculiar face after checking the contents.

“Why don’t we go somewhere quiet to talk?”

“No.”

His suddenly polite manner was amusing.

Before the real conversation started, Johan pulled over a chair and sat beside me.

Sitting closer than usual, he took off his jacket and draped it over my lap to cover my knees, which were exposed when my skirt rode up.

Tristan’s expression turned sour when he saw it.

I smiled at him and handed over the prepared lawsuit.

“Sorry for the trouble because of me.”

“A lawsuit against the Daily Issue. This isn’t our jurisdiction. Go to Room 307.”

“Please, let’s cooperate as fellow victims. And I have another request…”

I glared at the team leader who stood behind Tristan with his arms crossed, observing.

“We’re not lovers, and I’m not colluding with a criminal. You don’t seem to know much about your subordinate.”

“For that, you were locking arms with him quite affectionately.”

“I used some skinship to seduce him. But he didn’t fall for it.”

Tristan’s mouth fell open.

Beside me, Johan ground his teeth audibly.

“I thought if Raphael met a policeman like Tristan, he might repent.”

A man who dropped out of Cerberth and became a police officer.

After that, he became a hero patrolling the city at night.

I thought if it were him, maybe it was possible.

It was a meaningless hope now, but back then, I dreamed of it.

“Since my beauty trap failed and exploiting his status as a policeman failed too, please don’t hold Tristan accountable. He’s done nothing wrong.”

Feeling sorry, my head bowed on its own.

My heart felt heavy. I didn’t want him to suffer because of me.

My mouth went dry as I brought up my last request.

“And I want to apply for protective custody.”

“Alright. I’ll look for a house where you can hide in another city. There should be some government-owned residences for protection.”

“I don’t need a house. I need someone beside me 24 hours a day to protect me.”

Tristan gestured toward Johan with his eyes.

As if to say, what about that guy next to you?

“Your home address is definitely compromised. I thought about it, and it’s good for you to hide until things settle down, and good for me to have someone else protecting me.”

When I wrinkled my nose at Tristan and smiled, a reaction came immediately.

“Giselle?”

“Do you have a problem with me?”

Johan and Tristan spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping.

I had expected this, so I hadn’t told Johan in advance.

Johan, gritting his teeth, spoke with barely contained annoyance, “I don’t think that policeman has anywhere to stay.”

“There’s Raphael’s safe house. Want to go there?”

“How do you know that place hasn’t been compromised?”

“Then we’ll stay where I am now. Even if it’s cramped, we’ll manage. Tristan alone is too vulnerable.”

“Tristan Lindbergh?”

“Me?”

Tristan looked deeply offended, while Johan gave a short laugh.

Big Bear had put a bounty on me, and regardless of the truth, Tristan was now known as my lover.

If this wasn’t dangerous, then you’d have to be out of your mind.

“Hey, not just that guy. I can protect myself too.”

“Sorry, but… the Daily Issue exposed my face, so out of spite, I contacted the Mist Island Times.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It means that tomorrow, the whistleblowing I did will come out.”

Death Adder members would go wild to punish a traitor, and Sunshine would join the frenzy, aiming for Death Adder’s secret funds.

With that money, he could easily rebuild his organization.

Soon, the entire underworld would be my enemy.

I didn’t have the strength to beat them. I wasn’t strong enough to handle them.

‘If Tristan becomes known as my lover, he’ll lose not only his position as a police officer but also a normal life.’

That’s why I planned to turn him into the hero of this city.

As the symbol of the police force, so villains wouldn’t dare touch him.

“The first target will be me. If they can’t find me, you’ll have to bear the burden instead. No matter how capable a policeman you are, life will be miserable if you make the underworld your enemy.”

Before leaving, I had to settle things.

Dispose of Death Adder’s secret funds, change my identity…

“I’d prefer Tristan to protect me rather than a stranger.”

“You won’t regret it?”

“The only regret I have is not putting Raphael in prison sooner.”

I put my sunglasses back on to hide my eyes.

I spoke casually about imprisonment, but imagining Raphael spending a lifetime in the sunless underground brought on a pain that made me want to sob bitterly.

‘It’s still better than dying from a bullet on the street.’

My hand, gripping the bag too tightly, had gone white.

I quickly loosened my grip and lifted my head again.

What was my role again? Right. A liar.

A pathetic actress who had failed every time, but I still had a chance to make up for it.

I hung bitterness at the end of my voice, so calm it was worrying, and asked, “Let me use you just once. I don’t want to die yet.”

***

By the time our conversation ended, two hours had passed.

When I left the Organized Crime Division office, I had no energy left.

I stealthily glared at Johan.

It was clear that being cooped up all day in the small house where even circling the living room wasn’t enough exercise had left me in this bad shape.

“Tomorrow morning Johan will come pick you up. Don’t forget to bring whatever you need.”

“Don’t use words like ‘pick up.’ It’s disgusting when the subject is him.”

“Hmm. I didn’t know you two had a friendship of your own. Neither of you is the type to easily get close to others with such bad personalities….”

“You’re being too rude today, aren’t you?”

“Giselle. Stop. I think I’m getting angry.”

See? They got along surprisingly well.

I held back laughter as we headed for the stairs.

— Intruder in Cell 201!

— Intruder in Cell 201!

When the sirens blared, Tristan’s face went pale, and he hurriedly said goodbye.

“Hey. Take care and see you tomorrow.”

His huge back was full of urgency as he ran out.

Police officers from other offices rushed out as well, running downstairs.

As the hallway filled with people, Johan shoved me into the emergency stairwell.

“Cell 201, that’s Raphael Moltke’s room!”

“Who’s the intruder? Big Bear? Sunshine?”

“Liam Fabian has escaped from his cell! We’re tracking his current location!”

“Damn it! If it’s him, he’ll try to rescue Raphael!”

‘Raphael? Liam?’

Was this an escape attempt from the police station?

Or was someone else breaking in to kill Raphael?

I drew in a sharp breath and grabbed the wall before my body collapsed.

If Raphael is trying to escape…

“I—I have to go.”

“What can you do if you go?”

“I have to stop Raphael.”

“He’s not someone you can stop. Giselle. Don’t make me step in.”

“What?”

My eyelids trembled.

He was telling me to go straight home so he wouldn’t have to put on the mask.

“I don’t want to hunt your brother. So let’s go back home like this.”

“I can go. If I persuade Raphael—”

“If your persuasion worked, Death Adder wouldn’t have expanded like this.”

Johan reached out, brushed the hair from my cheek, and tucked it behind my ear.

The hand brushing my ear was so tender.

But the eyes glowing in the dark stairwell were as fierce as a beast’s.

“The only reason I haven’t put on the mask is because your safety is more important. But if you approach Raphael… that place won’t be safe, and I’ll have a villain to hunt.”

Goosebumps raced across my skin.

Right. I had forgotten. This man was a predator.

I was such a weak existence that even a grazing claw could tear my skin, yet what delusion had I been under?

It had been over a week since I woke from the dream, but I was still intoxicated by it.

‘Even if time turned back, the fact that Raphael killed wouldn’t be undone.’

Smack.

I slapped away the hand brushing my ear and hair.

“You don’t know me.”

Raphael and I shared more than affection; we shared guilt.

That’s why I reported him and put him in prison, why I ran away to shock him.

But Raphael didn’t change.

My brother became a murderer to protect me, broke out of prison because he didn’t trust the facility I was in.

With no options left as an escaped prisoner, he fell into crime, becoming one of the top three villains on Mist Island.

Such a man could never change as long as I existed.

It was all my fault.

Since I was the one who made Raphael carry the shadows, I had the duty to share his end.

“If Raphael dies, I’ll die too. I won’t survive alone. Either we die together.”

Or Raphael survives alone.

In an instant, Johan’s eyes twisted.

The moment he opened his mouth, my body suddenly dropped down.

Through the black hole, I saw Johan reaching out to catch me.

Smoke wrapped around him, but the hole closed.

“Ah!”

I landed hard on my backside.

In front of me—

“Hello, Giselle.”

A red-haired man with round glasses hanging from his nose.

Sunshine was grinning from ear to ear.