355: [Bonus chapter]Did you kill him?

[Bonus chapter]Did you kill him?

"That's what happened?"1

Heaven chuckled at Bear's reaction, which had a mix of surprise and disbelief. He was barely keeping the look on his face together, not to show his dismay.

"It sounds like a fantasy book, right?" Her chuckles sounded softer, relaxing her back on the reclining bed. "But that's what happened. I met Heaven Liu."

She slowly gazed down at her open palms again. "If she wanted to retake her life, she could easily have done so. However, that damn coward is afraid of her own pain. So she decided to follow her father."

"That means..."

"That means this life is mine now." Heaven turned her head to face him again. "And this body seems to match with my soul like never before."

"I don't understand..." Bear breathed out, a little confused about her explanation, even though it sounded so easy to understand. "But if it turned out great, then I'm glad."

A relieved smile turned up on his face, nodding at her in satisfaction. "I thought I lost you again."

"I thought so too, Bear." Her smile and eyes were soft. "I never felt that sort of fear in my life. It was... eye-opening."

"I know."

Heaven moved her hand and opened her hand, raising her brows briefly. His smile stretched as he reached for her hand, squeezing it mildly. 

"What did the doctors say about your condition?" he asked, squeezing her soft hands that were different from his rough hands. "Are you really okay now?"

"Yes, Bear. They're all going crazy since my injury is gone."

"How?"

"No idea." Heaven shrugged. "But does that really matter? The strangulation marks I had when I first entered this body gradually disappeared as well. So, this wasn't the first time. Maybe, another hocus pocus?"

Bear laughed at her remarks. "You're right. What's important is you're here and better than before." He slowly held her hand with both his hands, moving it to his forehead.

"Thank God," came out a whisper. "I know it's an irony, but I never felt so grateful in my life."

Her smile stretched wider, watching the old man calm down. If there was anyone who was beyond relieved to come back to this body and life, that would be her. However, she didn't want to invalidate everyone's feelings because she knew she would also feel the same if she were in their shoes. 

"Anyway, what happened to you?" she asked after some time of silence while Bear lifted his head to her. "I've been meaning to ask since you came here almost black and blue. It's strange to see you in a state as if your opponent gave you a hard time, so I'm guessing it's either Moose or the clown. Which one hurt my old man?"

A bitter yet relieved smile turned up on his face at her last sentence. 

"The latter," he said. "Joker and I had always been at odds ever since you asked for a mercy kill and I approved of it."

"He still blames you for that?"

"Can't blame him." Bear rocked his head. "He wanted to destroy me when you first... died. However, he postponed it after I lost Esme and our child."

"That sounds like him."

"I want nothing to do with him, to be honest."

"Then why did you go after him last night?"

Bear didn't immediately answer, looking her straight in the eye. "He tampered with the evidence."

The moment his answer rolled out of his mouth, her right brow arched. That was impossible, she thought. Joker would never help Paula for no reason. No. It was impossible that Paula had contact with the clown, knowing how elusive the man was. Even the biggest international government agencies couldn't catch Joker, even when the said man would once in a while mess with them for fun.

"Don't tell me..." Heaven narrowed her eyes, recalling a certain prick that was connected to Paula and the underworld.

"Yes." He breathed out, putting her hand back to her before he straightened his back. "Ever since you died as Hera, Joker had been accepting 'freelance' jobs. As long as the job is interesting enough or he can kill time with it, he will accept it. Recently, Joker's biggest and regular client is Primo Rossi."

"Primo, huh? I shouldn't be surprised."

"Joker didn't say it since he also didn't have an idea how did Primo get wind of the situation last night. However, he did receive a request to tamper with footage and Paula's medical records. He even went so far as to bribe a doctor to sign it."

"That's fast. How did Primo know that there's a crime that's happening?" Heaven rubbed her chin mildly. 

"I'm guessing he is stalking Paula Shen."

"He got no reason to stalk someone he tossed aside."

"Boss, don't forget that Paula Shen is their test subject." As soon as Bear mentioned that, realization instantly dawned on Heaven. "They needed data and thus, I'm certain Paula Shen is under surveillance. Or maybe they bugged her place, which is more possible at this point if they want to study the effects of the drugs."

Heaven slowly folded her arms as everything Bear spewed made more sense. 

"And he could be tailing Dom," she added in a whisper. "He can monitor Paula through a screen, but for him to be in the same area, I'm pretty sure he was following Dom, for whatever sick reason."

"Could be, but I don't think he was in the area last night. Did you see him?"

"No." Heaven snapped her eyes back to him. "But considering his sick mind, he wouldn't miss the show."

A moment of silence befell them as they pondered about Primo and how the man would once in a while contribute to everyone's suffering. He was close enough to stir up trouble, but far enough to make him hold accountable.

What a sly motherfvcker.

"So, did you kill him?" she asked after a long silence, studying Bear solemnly. "Did you kill Joker?"

Heaven and Bear stared at each other in silence, and yet, his silence was enough to get her answer. 

He didn't. 

As expected of the Bear. He had grown soft… but who was her to judge? Heaven, or rather, Hera, also knew she had grown soft after having Dominic and Sebastian in her life. And never had she ever thought it was a weakness. If anything, she just got more reason to live and to be stronger to protect those two. 

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