Chapter 193: She Lives With Xavier Reed?
As the SUVs unlocked, Emily looked at April, a tiny, genuine smile finally curling the corner of her lips despite the dark cloud above her head.
"April?" Emily whispered softly.
"What is it?" April asked, opening the car door and helping her twin into the plush leather interior.
"I think I like your army," Emily murmured, looking back at the absurd, terrifying, and insanely powerful group of men falling into formation around them. "They seem very reliable,"
April nodded and said, "Yes, they are indeed efficient but... They are my clients. You should get used to them acting this way. It’s the norm around here."
"I see," Emily whispered, a subtle tint of satisfaction on her cheeks as she got into the back of the SUV with April.
"We’ll take this one," April said, making sure they did not try to squeeze themselves into the car with her. "You guys can ride the ones in back." And then just like that, she shut the door, shutting them all out.
Xavier cleared his throat, wasting no time as he went to get into the passenger’s seat.
Nat had his hand in his pockets, his head slightly tilted. He missed his chance by a beat but it was fine. He turned around and went to get into the car with Samuel and Alexander, taking the drivers seat as he brazenly smirked and said,
"I’m driving."
Alexander furrowed his brows together. Seriously, is it the right choice to let the lunatic take the wheels? It wasn’t like he could speak up so he kept his mouth shut. Well, if we perish, we all perish together. Including him. So he won’t be too careless.
He leaned his back into the leather seat, crossing his legs and dropping his elbow on the side arm of the door, taking on a carefree and arrogant pose, fitting of his persona.
Dr. Oliver Baxter had not pushed his luck by attempting to squeeze into the vehicle with them. Recognizing the volatile hostility radiating from Nat Collins, the surgeon had simply entered his own white sedan, following at a precise, unwavering distance behind the escort detail.
He maintained his strict three-pace boundary even on the road, taking mental notes of the surroundings—a bad but handy habit—as his tablet rested on the passenger seat.
The vehicles formed a tight, impenetrable convoy as they sped onto the main highway.
Inside the quiet, heated interior of the lead SUV, the one April and Emily occupied, Emily sat close to April, her frame practically sinking into the leather seat.
She kept her fingers tightly intertwined with April’s, as if letting go for even a single second would cause her to slip back into the dark attic where her mother’s cold body had laid.
Emily looked around the luxurious vehicle, then out the tinted windows toward the passing landscape.
"April..." Emily whispered softly, her voice barely breaking the silence. "Where... where are we going?"
"To the Reed estate," April answered smoothly, her eyes staring straight ahead.
Emily blinked, her mind churning through the name. She had heard the men mention it earlier, but hearing it directly from April’s mouth made her brows pull together in quiet confusion.
"The Reed estate...?" Emily murmured, her brown eyes flicking toward the front passenger seat where Xavier Reed’s broad, formidable silhouette sat. "Why... Why are we going there? Can’t we just go to your house instead?"
"That is where I live," April replied flatly, her voice carrying a quiet, unshakeable certainty. "I am very comfortable there. So don’t worry. No harm will come to you there."
That is where you live?
Emily went still, her mind reeling. She lives with Xavier Reed?
She glanced timidly at the back of Xavier’s head, then toward the trailing vehicles carrying Nat, Alexander and Samuel. She couldn’t help but wonder if April’s relationship with the corporate tycoon was something far more profound, far deeper than with the rest of the powerful men surrounding her.
Yet, seeing how all of them looked at April—with a mix of fierce protection, absolute respect, and undeniable devotion—Emily felt a strange, overwhelming sense of awe.
Emily leaned back further into the leather seat, her weary body relaxing just a fraction. She kept her grip on April’s hand tight, her thumb lightly tracing her sister’s knuckles.
"April..." Emily’s words slipped from her lips, quiet and heavy with lingering confusion. "There are still a lot of things you said... that I do not understand."
April turned her head, her brown eyes meeting her twin’s wide, questioning gaze.
"It will all make sense eventually," April assured her softly, her tone devoid of its usual sharp edge. "And I’ll explain it well later, so don’t worry yourself right now."
"Okay..." Emily whispered.
Slowly, as if driven by a deep, instinctual need for warmth, Emily leaned over and gently rested her head against April’s shoulder, closing her eyes.
The subtle weight of her twin’s head against her shoulder sent a strange, cold ripple through April’s chest.
Sitting in the quiet car, April’s mind involuntarily drifted backward—reaching past the recent chaos, past the regression, and straight into the dark, bloody memories of her previous life during the apocalypse.
Lena.
In that horrific timeline, April had taken care of Lena with everything she had. She had treated the younger girl like a sister, carrying her through the mud, sharing her meager rations, and standing between Lena and the horrors of the crumbling world. Lena was younger, fragile, and terrified—so April had protected her without hesitation.
And yet, when the end came, when the team turned on April and demanded she be bound to a pole... Lena had offered nothing but silence. Lena hadn’t struck the blow, but her silent compliance was also a bitter knife in April’s back. She hadn’t even been able to look April in the eye.
She looked at the ground, folded her arms and his behind Cai the whole time. April felt some comfort to it at that time but now, it was sickening.
April had learned a brutal lesson that day.
She hated getting involved emotionally. It wasn’t merely because of her nature or her low emotional intelligence—it was because she despised the inevitable agony that came when the hidden knife was finally revealed.
She didn’t want the burden of holding another human being, caring for them, looking into their eyes, and using soft words to melt their worries, only to be betrayed when the stakes were highest.
In truth, she had often thought it was better to be like Nat.
Despite ruling a massive underbelly empire and trusting his men with sensitive, high-stakes missions, Nat Collins never allowed his feelings to sink too deep. In the underworld of syndicates and mafias, betrayal was as common as breathing.
Nat maintained a paranoid, ironclad wall of trust issues so that if a knife was ever driven into his back by someone he had exposed himself to, it wouldn’t break him—he could simply pull the blade out and shove it back through their throat.
Though... April thought, her eyes flicking toward the side mirror where Nat’s car trailed close, that crazy trust issue seems to completely vanish whenever he looks at me.
Her system had shown his trust value toward her hovering over an astonishing 89%.
I don’t think I can have such ironclad trust issues either, April reflected, her gaze shifting from the window to the front of the vehicle.
Her eyes met Xavier’s in the rearview mirror.
His dark, sharp eyes were watching her through the mirror, carrying a quiet, steadfast warmth that no amount of business negotiations could ever fake.
Because right now... even when I try to abstain... I don’t think I can disbelieve these men who I have grown fond of.
Business was business, but to Xavier, to Nat, to Alexander, and to Samuel, her presence was clearly far more than a transactional agreement.
Even when she wasn’t feeding them predictions of their immediate futures or calculating survival logistics, they remained glued to her side, teaching her, guarding her, and ensuring she knew precisely how much her absence disrupted their worlds. She was neither clueless nor blind. She felt it.
"Are you comfortable, April?" Xavier’s deep voice broke through the silence, his tone low and grounding from the front seat.
April met his eyes in the mirror, giving a subtle, genuine nod. "Yes, Xavier. Thank you."
Xavier’s lips pulled into a microscopic, satisfied smile before he turned his gaze back to the winding road ahead.
April looked back down at Emily, who was breathing softly against her shoulder.
A quiet, heavy prayer formed in the back of April’s mind—a rare, desperate hope that she hadn’t made a terrible mistake by choosing to be a sister once again to the woman who shared her face and blood.
She hoped with everything she had that she hadn’t grown soft, that she hadn’t misjudged Emily’s core nature. She hoped Emily would not turn out like Lena or the rest of the world—that human greed, discontent, and wickedness would not drive her to bite the hand that was pulling her from the dark.
If that time ever comes... April pondered silently, staring at her sister’s pale forehead, would I be able to turn my eyes away? Could I act like she doesn’t exist when the zombies come, knowing she would be ripped to shreds?
They had just met. Yet, holding her sister like this, sharing the exact same scars of trauma, abuse, and stolen years, it felt as though their lives had been bound together by an unbreakable thread just for this single meeting.
April quietly summoned her interface in her mind. In the end, there was only one way to confirm if she would regret it or not.
[Would you like to read Emily Gabriel’s Fortune regarding her future actions?]
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