Chapter 3: Unspoken Connections
Half an hour later, Lenore snapped the car hood closed, walked around to the front, and tossed Kevin the wrench from her hand.
Glancing at the two men standing like signposts beside her, she said lazily, “I replaced two parts. $1,700. Pay in cash or by transfer?”
Lenore was undeniably attractive, and though her movements were rough while working, there was something compelling about watching her.
Wayne had already braced himself for the worst, thinking he might end up spending a lot of money just to enjoy the view of a pretty girl working. But when he heard the price, his eyes widened in surprise. He rushed over to check the car, clearly stunned. “Did you really fix it?”
Lenore ignored him, taking out her phone. Her left wrist, adorned with a black smart band, spun around as she coolly asked, “Who’s paying?”
When Silas saw the silver phone in her hand, his expression subtly shifted. His well-defined right hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his own phone, with a plain black ring on his pinky.
Just as he was about to scan the payment code, Lenore suddenly turned around and shouted to Kevin, “Collect the payment.” Kevin eagerly grabbed the shop’s QR code and ran over like a puppy.
Silas paused, almost imperceptibly, before lightly kicking Wayne. With a blank expression, he said, “Your car. You pay for it.”
Wayne was speechless, forcing a reluctant smile as he paid. Seriously? Didn’t you use it? he thought to himself.
Even if Troy hadn’t shown up today, Lenore was planning to head to Jinslenburg anyway. After explaining a few things to Kevin and the others at the shop, Lenore swung her long leg over her motorcycle, put on her helmet, and sped off like the wind.
Ten minutes later, she stopped outside a two-story white house near a bamboo grove at the edge of town. A black Bentley was parked outside.
It looked familiar. Lenore squinted, her eyes drifting to the small courtyard, and sure enough, she spotted Silas and Wayne.
Wayne’s eyes lit up with excitement when he saw her. “Hey, cutie! What are you doing here?”
Silas raised an eyebrow, a curious glint in his eyes.
Lenore shot Wayne a glance. “Idiot.”
Just then, Pedro, Wayne’s grandfather, came out of the house, his sunken, cloudy eyes flickering with interest. “Do you know each other?”
“Yes. We just met a moment ago…” Wayne began.
“No, we don’t,” Lenore cut in, her voice cool and detached.
Wayne and Lenore spoke at the same time—one with excitement, the other indifferent.
After hearing Lenore’s words, Wayne was left speechless.
She’s quite interesting, Silas mused, a meaningful smile forming on his lips. He explained to Pedro, “She fixed the car for us.”
In the town, Lenore was the only woman who could fix cars. From the moment Wayne described her as young and beautiful, Pedro had suspected it was Lenore. Now, hearing the confirmation, he wasn’t surprised.
Knowing Lenore to be odd and aloof, rarely coming around except for occasional meals, Pedro asked, “Did you come to see me for something?”
Lenore gave a lazy “hmm.” Her eyes were calm and indifferent as she spoke in a relaxed tone, “I’m going to Jinslenburg the day after tomorrow. I’ll visit you when I have the chance to go to Denisville.”
Both Wayne’s and Silas’s eyes narrowed with a hint of caution. Neither of them had mentioned being from Denisville.
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Lenore smirked mischievously and nodded toward the car outside the door. “A Denisville license plate. Mr. Garcia mentioned a few days ago that his grandson would come pick him up. The Garcia family of Denisville is one of the Big Four.”
Wayne’s mouth dropped slightly in surprise. “You figured it all out just by analyzing these clues?”
Lenore tilted her head slightly, looking harmless. “Wouldn’t anyone guess it if they used their brain?”
Wayne stood there, stunned. He suspected Lenore was indirectly calling him stupid.
Catching a glimpse of the black ring on Silas’s right pinky, Lenore subtly twirled the black smart band on her left wrist, waved casually to Pedro, and said, “I’m off.” Her slender figure appeared aloof and cool, almost ethereal in the sunlight.
Once she was out of sight, Silas casually buttoned the collar of his shirt with his slender, elegant fingers and asked indifferently, “Is she a good friend of yours, Mr. Garcia?”
Silas, heir to the Faulkner family, one of the most esteemed and mysterious figures in Draconia, would stop at nothing to uncover the truth. Pedro glanced at him with a serious expression. “She saved me.”
“Her? Saved you?” Wayne’s eyes flickered with disbelief. “Grandpa, are you joking? You’re a legend in biomedical science, and she saved you? And why had you never mentioned this before?”
Pedro shook his head, his gaze distant, and he seemed unwilling to elaborate.
A young girl from a remote town mentioning the Garcia family in Denisville so casually… Silas couldn’t help but wonder. He watched the direction where Lenore disappeared, his eyes deep and unreadable, a hint of interest lingering in his calm features.
