After finishing the message, Paul grimaced and pressed his thumb toward the send button.
Before he could touch it, something cold and hard pressed against the back of his head.
Paul instantly froze.
It was a suppressed Glock 20.
A single 10mm round was more than capable of punching through the thick bones of a human skull.
“I really wish I hadn’t seen that.”
Jason’s voice came from behind him, icy cold and brimming with murderous intent.
“Boss, calm down…” Paul slowly raised both hands.
Jason snatched away his phone and glanced at the message on the screen.
“Hmph. The Russian mob is nothing but a bunch of useless drunks. I even killed Vladimir’s brother. What exactly do you think bringing them here is going to accomplish?”
Paul’s entire body began trembling at Jason’s cold snort.
“Boss, I’m sorry, I—”
The muzzle shoved harder against his skull.
“I don’t want to hear that bullshit. Tell me. How did you find out about Vanessa and me?”
“Because… because of the perfume on you.”
“Perfume?”
“Yes. When Kingpin went out with Vanessa, I guarded them a few times. I remember thinking Vanessa’s perfume smelled really good. I figured I might buy Lisa a bottle someday, so the scent stuck with me.”
“And then… you smelled the same perfume on me.”
“Yes.”
“Shit! I kept telling her not to put so damn much of it on, but that bitch never listened.” Jason cursed furiously.
Never in his wildest imagination had he expected to be brought down by a bottle of perfume.
“Keep talking.”
“Boss, there’s a certain rumor about you in the underworld. So when I smelled it, I started wondering if maybe you and Vanessa had hooked up.”
“And then you had people follow me? You put a tail on the boss who spent six years looking after you?”
“I could spend the rest of my life repaying what I owe you and it still wouldn’t be enough. But I didn’t have a choice. I wanted money. I wanted territory. I wanted to be a boss too. As long as you were alive, I’d spend my whole life under your shadow and never get the chance to rise.”
“Good. Very good. Keep going.”
“I knew you were careful about surveillance, so I paid a team of professional paparazzi to follow you. Ten cars, twenty people. They had high-resolution cameras and tracked you from more than a hundred meters away while taking pictures.”
After hearing Paul’s explanation, Jason finally understood.
Everything he knew about counter-surveillance had come from movies.
It was good enough to deal with ordinary gangsters, but against professional paparazzi, it was practically useless.
“You really spared no expense.” Jason sneered.
“And then you sent the photos to Kingpin.”
“That’s right. At first, the photos only showed you two acting intimate, so even Kingpin wasn’t completely convinced. But yesterday, you and Vanessa spent the whole afternoon together in the apartment, and you didn’t even close the curtains properly. The paparazzi caught definitive proof, and then… well, Boss, you know the rest.”
[Quest complete: Don’t Die Without Knowing. Reward: 500 Villain Points. Current progress: 1,015/3,000.]
After hearing the whole story, Jason was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions and remained silent for a long time.
The apartment fell completely quiet.
Creak—
At that moment, the master bedroom door suddenly opened.
Jason immediately came back to his senses and put away his gun.
A young Black woman with a slightly heavy build stepped out of the room.
Jason raised a hand in greeting.
“Hey.”
A delighted smile appeared on Lisa’s face.
“Jason! It’s so good to see you. Paul told me something happened to you. I’ve been worried sick.”
Jason smiled back.
“I’m fine. Doing great.”
Lisa looked him up and down before wrinkling her nose in disgust.
“You’re doing great, all right. You’re also filthy. Go take a shower. I’ll find you some clean clothes.”
As Lisa approached, Paul’s heart leaped into his throat.
Terrified that Jason might hurt her, he quickly frowned and said, “Lisa, go back inside and get the kids to sleep!”
“It’s fine. They’re already asleep.”
Lisa completely failed to notice the tense atmosphere or the worry in Paul’s voice.
She continued over to the closet and started looking through the clothes.
“Jason, what size do you wear? Paul bought an Armani suit a couple days ago, but he looks like a monkey in it. If it fits you, you can have it.”
“Lisa! Go back inside!” Paul was nearly frantic now, and his voice suddenly rose.
Lisa jumped at the shout.
A few seconds later, the sound of a baby crying came from the bedroom.
“Damn it! When are you going to learn to keep your voice down?”
Lisa angrily scolded Paul a few times, then stormed back into the master bedroom.
The moment the bedroom door closed, Paul let out a huge sigh of relief.
The smile on Jason’s face disappeared as well.
“Paul, what do you think I should do to punish you?”
Paul’s expression changed instantly.
He dropped to his knees.
“Boss, please. Don’t hurt my family.”
“That request I can grant.” Jason drew his pistol and aimed it at Paul’s head.
Paul hurriedly added, “And please don’t hurt me either!”
Jason stared at him.
Paul slammed his forehead against the floor.
“Boss, the kids are only a month old. I want to stay with them. I want to watch them grow up. I’ll do anything you ask. Please, don’t kill me!”
Jason replied calmly, “Why didn’t you think about that when you hired paparazzi to follow me? Why didn’t you think about that when you sent those pictures to Kingpin?”
Paul said nothing.
He simply kept kowtowing, desperately begging for forgiveness.
[Ding! Two Quest triggered!]
━━━━━ QUEST ━━━━━
[Karmic Retribution]
Paul, your trusted subordinate, betrayed you.
He must be punished.
🎁 Reward: 500 Villain Points
━━
[Strike First]
The Russian mob are your sworn enemies.
While they still haven’t found you, hurry up and kill them all.
🎁 Reward: 500 Villain Points
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Looking at the two quests issued by the system, Jason suddenly came up with an excellent idea.
He crouched down and used the muzzle of his pistol to lift Paul’s chin.
“Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is whether you have the courage to face the consequences.”
Paul’s face was streaked with tears.
“Boss, I don’t want to die.”
Jason’s expression remained cold.
“You betrayed me. There’s only one way this ends for you.”
“But if you do something for me before you die, I can at least make sure Lisa and the kids live comfortably for the rest of their lives. They’ll never have to worry about money again.”
Paul shook his head frantically.
“I don’t want to die.”
Jason pointed the pistol at his head and sneered.
“Think about it. Once you’re dead, what happens to Lisa and the kids?”
“She can’t make the mortgage payments, the bank takes the apartment, and they end up on the street, freezing in the cold.”
“To earn enough money for baby formula, maybe Lisa ends up working in a brothel, getting passed around by a bunch of disgusting old men.”
“And when the kids grow up, there won’t be enough money to send them to a good college. They won’t be able to find decent jobs. They’ll end up stuck at the bottom of society, just like you.”
“And then—”
“Enough!” Paul shouted.
“Stop! I’ll do it!”
Jason patted him on the head, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.