Chapter 27

The banquet drifted toward its end almost without her noticing.

As the crowd began to thin and guests slowly prepared to leave, Suzy forced herself to stay alert.

She had to be vigilant.

In her dream, Leonard Kale had died in a car accident after his birthday celebration. The death report she had received stated the time of death was late at night.

The cause: loss of vehicle control, collision with a roadside tree.

At the time, the incident had spread widely online. Some people had even mocked him—calling it drunk driving, saying he had brought it upon himself.

Tonight, Suzy had noticed that Leonard had indeed been drinking a lot. Not hard liquor, but still—surprisingly too much alcohol. Enough that he shouldn’t be driving.

She had just strengthened her resolve when raised voices broke out ahead.

Leonard and Monica were arguing.

Suzy couldn’t hear exactly what had triggered it, but Monica stormed off with her handbag, her expression sharp with irritation.

Leonard remained where he stood, not chasing after her immediately. He let out a weary sigh, his shoulders visibly heavy.

Suzy and Adam Bennet approached him one after the other.

"Another fight?" Adam asked calmly.

Leonard gave a wry smile and nodded. "Nothing serious. Sorry you had to see that."

Adam’s lips parted slightly. He had clearly intended to say something—but when he saw Leonard’s expression, he closed his mouth again.

There was no point. Anything said now would fall on deaf ears.

The banquet wasn’t fully over yet. As host, Leonard still had responsibilities to wrap up.

Suzy, however, had no intention of leaving him alone. Everything that followed tonight was critical. She had to stay by his side—no matter what.

Only by doing so would she have a chance to change the fate of that fatal accident.

A plan had already formed in her mind. The core issue, she believed, was Leonard driving after drinking. So this time, she would drive instead.

And not just that—she would insist on using her own car. Leonard’s vehicle was out of the question. Every possible risk factor had to be eliminated. No variables left unchecked.

***

When the last guest finally departed, Leonard let out a long breath of relief.

Even though it was his birthday, it hadn’t felt celebratory at all.

Hosting required energy—smiles, conversations, constant attentiveness. And the earlier argument with Monica had drained him further.

The moment the final guest disappeared, the polite smile fell from his face. Without a word, he turned and headed toward the exit.

Suzy immediately followed, but before she could take more than a few steps, Adam suddenly appeared beside her and caught the back of her collar, gently pulling her to a stop.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She whipped around instinctively, trying to shake him off—but he had already released her.

"Why did you grab me?" she demanded, eyes flashing with accusation.

Of course she was going after her uncle. This was precisely when she needed to stay close.

"Idiot." Adam delivered the word flatly, expression unreadable.

Suzy stared at him, feeling personally attacked.

Excuse me?

How was she an idiot?

Adam continued, his tone even. "Give your uncle some space."

She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t deny there was sense in what he said. Leonard’s shoulders had looked stiff, and his steps slow and heavy.

Perhaps what he needed wasn’t surveillance—but solitude.

Suzy hesitated. Then slowly, she withdrew her foot and turned back.

Silence lingered between them.

After a moment, she tilted her head slightly and glanced sideways at Adam.

Only to realize, he seemed to have been looking at her the whole time.

Her heart skipped faintly.

Why is he staring at me?

A ridiculous thought surfaced.

Don’t tell me... I’ve gotten prettier lately and he’s dazzled?

The idea made her cheeks heat instantly.

Okay, that’s enough imagination.

Ah. It must be because her skin had improved recently. That tiny boost in confidence had clearly gone to her head.

Adam had seen every kind of beauty there was—how could he possibly be dazzled by her? Rumor had it his family owned a major entertainment company, one that signed countless celebrities and supermodels.

Suzy forcefully dismissed her ridiculous train of thought and returned to what she had originally wanted to ask.

"Why haven’t you left yet?"

Adam was still looking at her—openly, unhurriedly. Those pale gray eyes remained as cool and unreadable as ever.

"I’m worried your uncle might do something stupid," he said flatly.

Suzy almost replied, agreeing with him, but then she remembered what Adam had said earlier—Leonard might even forgive Monica’s infidelity.

...On second thought, maybe it wasn’t impossible.

That was what blind devotion looked like.

They exchanged a look and fell into silence once more.

A short while later, Leonard walked toward them in hurried strides, a cigarette pinched between his fingers. He had just washed his face; droplets of water still clung to his hair. His eyes were clear.

He didn’t look like someone who had been drinking at all.

"Suzy, let’s go home." He greeted her briefly and moved quickly toward his car.

Suzy froze for a second, then hurried after him. "Uncle—you’re not driving, are you?"

Leonard nodded. "Something urgent came up at home. You head back too."

"You’ve been drinking," she reminded him.

His gaze flickered. "It wasn’t much. I’m basically sober now."

Her brows knit together. "You can’t drive after drinking––it’s a crime."

If she hadn’t come to C City—if things had followed the original course of events—he would have driven off just like this.

But Leonard wasn’t careless by nature.

"Let me drive," she said firmly.

Leonard hesitated briefly, then nodded. "Fine. Let’s go."

There was a note of urgency in his voice that unsettled her. It was just going home. Why the rush?

"Uncle, what’s so urgent?" she asked.

He didn’t hide it. "Your aunt called. She left something in my car and wants me to bring it to her right away."

The moment she heard the word aunt, Suzy felt a wave of dizziness.

Monica again. Was it the same in her dream?

Did Monica urge him to hurry? Was that why he had driven after drinking—rushing to deliver something to her?

Suzy didn’t even know what to say anymore.

Just then, Leonard’s phone rang. As he lifted it, Suzy caught a glimpse of the caller ID: "Monica."

He answered.

"Yes, I know. I’m on my way."

After a few brief exchanges, he hung up and looked at Suzy.

"Suzy, get in."

"What’s so urgent, for God’s sake?" she pressed.

"She didn’t say exactly. Just that it’s important and I need to be there within half an hour." Leonard rubbed his temple, looking faintly irritated.

Suzy stared at him quietly.

"If I wasn’t here tonight... would you have driven yourself?"

He knew she was right about the drinking. His eyes shifted slightly. "Let’s not get into that. We should go."

He opened the passenger-side door, about to get in.

Suzy’s eyes sharpened.

"Uncle, let’s take my car."

To eliminate every possible risk, she had to remove every variable.

Leonard paused. "No need to complicate things. Let’s take mine. The items are in my car—I don’t even know exactly where they are. No point wasting time."

A strange feeling flickered through Suzy’s chest.

Something about this felt wrong.

As though invisible hands were nudging events along a predetermined path.

No.

She couldn’t let things unfold the same way again.

Not this time.

She would change it—no matter what.