Chapter 169 - 106: Retribution

When Leanne Walsh opened her eyes, she felt a momentary flash of elation.

She wasn’t dead. She was still alive!

’Someone must have saved me!’

Soon enough, however, she realized she was still lying on the hard ground by the road. Her body ached, weak and motionless. The only improvement was that she was lucid again.

She opened her mouth and rasped, "Help..."

She clung to a sliver of hope. ’Maybe someone will find me and save me!’

Just then, a nearby voice asked, "Who do you think is coming to save you?"

Her eyes shot wide.

A familiar face appeared before her. It was Paige Summers, the woman she hated to her very core.

"It’s... you..."

"That’s right, it’s me. What, are you surprised?"

Leanne Walsh was indeed surprised for a moment, but it didn’t take long for her to realize. "It was you!"

Paige Summers chuckled. "So you’re not completely stupid."

Though she was smiling, she didn’t feel any real joy—just the lightness of impending release.

"It’s finally almost over. I went to a lot of trouble to make sure you died," Paige Summers said nonchalantly.

It was true. Kevin Howell had protected Leanne Walsh extremely well. Paige had scouted the villa herself and couldn’t find a single opening. Though she preferred a direct, clean approach to finishing off her enemies, she’d had no choice but to orchestrate a complex scheme.

For that, she had her teammates to thank. The internal mission she posted had been a great success; they had cast a wide net through their contacts to find and bribe the right people for her.

There was Ian Nolan, for instance, a rather famous Spiritual Ability User in the underworld. His superpower was Charm, particularly effective on women. A master of disguise, he specialized in seduction. Countless matriarchs of Noble Houses were his clients—he was practically a women’s best friend!

And then there was the young maid who served Kevin Howell’s fiancée, Clara Shields. It was thanks to her that the news of Kevin keeping a mistress was successfully and discreetly passed along.

Of course, Clara Shields herself was another crucial part of the plan.

The young heiress was the same type as Leanne Walsh—she looked like a delicate, pitiful flower, but was in fact incredibly jealous and absolutely could not tolerate her fiancé’s infidelity. It was precisely this trait that Paige had targeted when she devised her plan to kill with a borrowed knife.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was that Leanne Walsh would take the bait so easily.

She had thought it would take much longer.

But the plan had progressed with unexpected speed and smoothness.

She smiled again, but there was no mirth in her eyes. "Leanne Walsh, you’re about to die." ’If she hadn’t been given my medicine, the woman might have lingered on for a while in a stupor. But I wasn’t going to let her die so comfortably! When Hugo Perry was mauled to death by that Mutant Beast, his expression was one of absolute agony. The horrifying image was burned into my memory! Now, the boy who once protected and cared for my original self can finally rest in peace!’

"So... I still lost to you..." Leanne Walsh struggled to force out the words. She no longer had the strength for resentment; her eyes were filled with a black, deathly stillness.

’I thought I was so experienced with men,’ she lamented internally, ’but in the end, I fell for a man like that. If only I hadn’t been seduced... If only I had stayed quietly by Kevin Howell’s side.’

’Perhaps one day, our positions would have been reversed!’

But now, it was all too late.

She took a labored breath and said suddenly, "Don’t be so smug. Even if you kill me again, you’ll never have Shawn Monroe. In the end, he belongs to Nora Lowell. You and I, we’re just supporting characters in their story!"

Paige Summers tilted her head, a hint of mockery in her voice. "Who wants to be the protagonist in someone else’s life? Shawn Monroe, Nora Lowell... in my life, they’ll only ever be supporting characters."

’Something’s wrong...’

In that moment, Leanne Walsh felt her mind become incredibly clear.

’Her expression is too calm, her eyes too clear... She didn’t even question what I said about ’again’...’

’Could she be a reincarnator, too?!’

’Is that possible?’

"You... you’re not the Paige Summers I knew!"

’So she figured it out...’ Paige said dismissively, "Are you starting to hallucinate?"

Leanne Walsh gasped for breath, her conviction growing with each thought. She gathered all her remaining strength and screamed, "You’re a reincarnator too, aren’t you?! I knew it! How else could you have stopped loving Shawn Monroe! How else could you have avoided Nora Lowell’s attacks! How could you not repeat the same mistakes...!"

"Shut up!"

’And here I thought she’d gotten smarter, that she’d seen the difference between me and my original self. Guess I overestimated her.’ Paige raised her foot, about to stomp on Leanne’s face to shut her up, when she suddenly sensed something amiss. She dove down, whipping out her Crossbow and firing an arrow into the darkness!

Two figures emerged from the bushes in the darkness.

One of them immediately demanded, "What did you do to Leanne?!"

When Paige Summers heard the voice and got a clear look at them, her brow furrowed tightly.

’Shawn Monroe? Nora Lowell?’

’What are they doing in Central City?! They’re like stubborn ghosts you can’t shake off!’

She felt a surge of anger well up inside her.

Not bothering to answer them, she unhesitatingly fired off several more arrows.

Nora Lowell let out a cold snort and waved her hand, casting Thunder Strike. Flashes of light erupted, deflecting some of the arrows.

Meanwhile, Shawn Monroe formed a wind wall with his superpower to block her attack. "Paige Summers, don’t be impulsive!" he said. "I think we should sit down and talk this over!"

But Paige Summers turned a deaf ear.

By now, however, she had also noticed that their strength was on a different level than before. They must have Promoted.

’Shawn Monroe was originally Sixth Rank, so now he must be at least Seventh Rank...’

’Two against one. A direct fight would be foolish.’

Paige Summers hesitated for two seconds, then decisively turned and fled.

As for Leanne Walsh on the ground, when she heard Nora Lowell’s voice, her eyes bulged and a gurgle rattled in her throat, but she couldn’t manage to speak a single word. Then, upon hearing Shawn Monroe’s voice, a strange smile crept onto her face as she finally breathed her last.

Paige Summers was so fast that even a Seventh Rank like Shawn Monroe couldn’t catch her, to say nothing of the Sixth Rank Nora Lowell.

Nora could only glare hatefully in the direction Paige had vanished.

By this time, Shawn Monroe had walked over to Leanne Walsh’s side. He gazed at her silently for a moment, then sighed to himself as he reached out and closed her bulging eyes, which refused to shut on their own.

He didn’t actually have a strong impression of this woman.

He vaguely recalled that when she had first seen him, she had worn an expression of pure ecstasy, as if they were long-lost lovers.

But they had clearly never met before.

If she hadn’t provided information on supplies, he likely wouldn’t have let her stay with them.

Back then, both he and Ace had thought she was a dual-system Superpower User, possessing not only a Water Ability but also the rare prophecy ability. As it turned out, they were both wrong.

’Reincarnation...?’

He stood up, gazing into the distant night, an enigmatic smile touching his lips.