Chapter 241 - 158: Living Punishment

After a good night’s sleep, Paige Summers felt completely refreshed!

It was the next day, and Marcus Monroe had already left early in the morning.

Paige Summers felt a pang of disappointment when she learned he was gone.

She remembered the gentle look on his face as he watched her close her eyes yesterday. A faint blush crept onto her cheeks, and she let out a contented sigh.

It was a strange, subtle feeling.

It dawned on her then. ’This... this must be what it feels like to be in love...’

She hadn’t been lost in this newfound feeling for long when someone came to get her.

Liam came to her room, carrying her breakfast on a tray.

She thanked him, a little self-consciously, but Liam quickly waved it off. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Something seems off with Ryan Faraday. He won’t eat or drink, he just stares into space. Our guys tried talking to him, but he’s completely unresponsive..."

Paige paused, suddenly remembering what Erin Quinn had said before she left yesterday.

"I used a talisman on him. He’ll be like this for at least a day, maybe even two or three. Don’t worry, it won’t kill him, but he’ll definitely learn his lesson!"

So, she nodded at Liam. "Don’t worry about it. Let him be. Just keep a close watch on him."

"Got it!"

After finishing her breakfast, Paige put the matter aside and went to see Levi Young.

His injuries had healed significantly, and he was now in the recovery phase.

But this phase wasn’t easy to get through. The wounds on his back itched unbearably, and even a man as stoic as him couldn’t stop his brow from furrowing, his expression twisting in discomfort.

Paige silently patted his hand in a comforting gesture.

No amount of worrying from others could help with something like this. He just had to endure it on his own.

What caught her attention, however, was Nadia.

The young woman’s gaze hardly ever left Levi Young. Only when Paige touched him did Nadia spare her a glance, and it was a very strange one. Was that... reproach?!

It wasn’t until Paige left the room that she began to piece things together.

She glanced back at the closed door and raised an eyebrow. Whatever was going on, Nadia’s eagerness to see her out just now was definitely genuine!

’Could it be what I think it is...?’

Paige shrugged and headed back to her room.

’If it’s true, that wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?’

She didn’t see Ryan Faraday again until another day had passed.

According to Liam, he seemed to have returned to normal and had asked to see her.

Paige’s expression hardened as she went to his room. But the moment she stepped inside and saw him, she froze.

She had expected him to be in bad shape, but not this bad.

After two days without a drop to drink, Ryan Faraday was emaciated. He sat in a chair, his face ashen, looking so weak he might collapse at any second.

At the sound of the door, he struggled to lift his gaze. Once he was sure it was her, he uttered a single sentence. "Kill me..."

Paige raised an eyebrow.

She paused for a long moment. Seeing the look of someone about to be granted release, she suddenly changed her mind.

’As an accomplice in the murder of the Summers Family, death is too good for him!’

’Living with guilt?!’

’What good is that!’

’Is it useful?’

’Can it bring the dead back to life?’

’No!’

’So it’s useless, and it won’t erase any of his sins!’

’But... she didn’t want to kill him anymore.’

’Death is an easy way out.’

’For him, the best ending would be to spend the rest of his life remembering what he did, with that sharp thorn forever piercing his heart!’

Paige’s gaze lingered on his face, which seemed to have aged years. "Killing you would be letting you off too easy," she said suddenly. "Go."

Hearing this, Ryan Faraday gasped for breath, a bitter smile touching his lips.

Paige, however, turned and walked briskly out the door.

Still, letting him go didn’t mean just dumping him on the street. Sheldon Reid’s men would probably find him in minutes.

Paige thought for a moment, then called Marcus Monroe.

"Are the guys who brought Ryan Faraday back here available?"

"Of course. Why?"

Paige said nonchalantly, "Have them go to the trouble of taking Ryan Faraday out of the city."

Marcus hesitated on the other end of the line. "You’ve made up your mind?"

"I have." Paige’s lips curled into a cold smile. "It’s better for him to live like this!"

"...Fair enough." After a pause, Marcus said, "But there’s no rush. I’ll be back in a little while. There’s something I’d rather not discuss over the phone."

After hanging up, Paige was a little puzzled.

’Marcus’s tone had been a little strange. I wonder what he wanted to say. Could it be that Sheldon Reid has a new trick up his sleeve?’

Only when Marcus returned did she realize she was wrong.

"You’re saying Milton Faraday came to you, wanting to work together?"

Marcus nodded. He hadn’t planned on telling her about this, but when he heard she’d decided not to kill Ryan Faraday, he had a new idea.

"With us, to be precise. He said he owes you his life, and you can take it back whenever you want. But before that happens, he can’t let Sheldon Reid have an easy time. So, he wants to cooperate with us to eliminate our common enemy first."

Paige narrowed her eyes. "He’s surprisingly capable, managing to escape from under Sheldon Reid’s nose and even daring to return to Central City..."

"I agree," Marcus said. "He spent a fair amount of time with Sheldon Reid, so he has some idea of his methods. It’s not that strange he was able to escape. But to return to Central City so quickly... I have to say, the man’s got guts!"

Paige mulled it over for a moment, then asked, "What’s the deal between him and Sheldon Reid, anyway? Do you think we can trust what he says?"

At this, a rather peculiar expression crossed Marcus’s face.

’How was he supposed to explain this?’

He had asked Milton Faraday point-blank what kind of grudge he had against Sheldon Reid to be willing to go to such lengths. The man’s answer had completely blindsided him. It was... all for the woman named Nora Lowell...

The way Milton Faraday told it, Nora Lowell was practically a goddess, while Sheldon Reid was a sadistic pervert in human skin who not only possessed Nora but also abused her in countless ways... Recalling Milton’s obsessive infatuation when he spoke of Nora and his endless outrage at Sheldon, Marcus shuddered.

If the man hadn’t been Sheldon Reid’s former second-in-command, with a great deal of inside knowledge about The Power Corps, Marcus probably would have kicked him all the way to the hospital.

’You can’t fix that kind of crazy!’

He organized his thoughts for a moment before finally giving Paige the short, less nauseating version. "He claims he’s fallen in love with Nora Lowell. But, Nora is Sheldon Reid’s woman now."

’Nora Lowell...’ Paige froze. She hadn’t thought about that woman in some time. ’She’s actually in that kind of relationship with Sheldon Reid! Does this mean she’s completely abandoned Shawn Monroe?!’

Then, a sudden thought struck her.

’The female lead’s champion has finally appeared!’

’Quentin Sutton, from the original story, has already gone off the rails, and now Milton Faraday has shown up...’

’The female lead’s plot armor really is indestructible!’

Sparing Milton Faraday’s life for now and working with him wasn’t out of the question. But the thought that it was all for Nora Lowell made her feel as if she’d swallowed a fly. The idea was just revolting.