Facade of Love

Chapter 51 The man from five years ago reappeared

With that, the man landed a kick squarely on her chest. The woman, who was already frail, was sent sprawling backward in a heap of limbs.

Despite the blow, she made no protest. Instead, she picked herself up and continued her plea, “Alex, please, have some mercy. Just a little bit, I promise I’ll leave right away, I won’t be a bother.”

With that, she crawled towards him again.

Disgusted, the man drew a knife from his pocket, pointing it menacingly at her. “You don’t plan on leaving, do you?”

At the sight of the knife, the woman recoiled, scrambling to her feet and stumbling away.

Surveying the scene, I had no intention of lingering. I was ready to find an exit and leave. As I was about to look away, my eyes caught the snake pattern on the knife in the man’s hand.

My mind buzzed, and a flood of familiar memories surged forward.

I knew that knife. Five years ago, in a Mandala hotel, that man had pressed it against my throat, threatening to slit my veins and make me bleed out if I dared to scream.

The snake pattern on the knife handle was etched into my memory. It was something I would never forget, not even in death. Pushing down the wave of emotions, I watched as the shoe–shiner put away the knife, glanced around, picked up his tools, and headed towards an alley on his right.

That dark, indistinct

Alex Martinez.

nearly killed me at the border,

had been searching for him for five years, dreaming of the day I would find him. I wanted him to explain, word by word, to

him to tell my father himself that

here. This time, I would not let him escape, even if it cost me my life. With that thought, I started to follow him, but after only a few steps,

screamed, but looking up, I saw it was

pleasantries. I pushed him away and

back, his voice low. “Yvette, are you trying to get

him. “How

where the man had vanished before he let go of me. “He’s armed with a knife, and that shoebox is filled with opium. Why

what was in the shoebox, but Idris’s reminder brought it back to me. Alex had been involved in illegal activities inland, including abducting young

knee–deep in all of

who had been begging him on

her skeletal

and now that I had finally found him, I was not

51. The man from five years

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