Baldy didn't want to eat the pill, but he had no choice. The Glover family's men watched him closely, and the nine mercenaries behind Felicia looked ready to force the issue. Rather than letting them decide, he gambled on it himself. He swallowed with difficulty.
Two minutes passed, and he felt no discomfort. His excitement surged! He'd chosen the right pill! This white pill was completely non-toxic!
“You said it yourself, Ms. Fuller. A bet's a bet. Can you let me go now?”
Baldy's joyful expression betrayed his fear that Felicia might change her mind. Felicia merely gave a soft "mm," showing no intention of stopping him.
Baldy scrambled to his feet, ignoring everything else, and ran toward the gate, eager to escape before anything happened. Unpursued, he relaxed as he neared the Glover estate's exit, a malicious glint appearing in his eyes. He would repay today's humiliation a hundredfold! "Just you wait, bitch!" he muttered, stepping through the gates. But as his feet left the estate, a sharp, piercing pain shot through his chest. He coughed up black blood.
The pill… was poison! Realizing this, Baldy collapsed, his eyelids heavy. In his final moments, he saw Felicia's emotionless face. He understood—both pills were poisoned. She never intended to let him go.
“You… You tricked me…”
“Betting means accepting the consequences,” she said lightly.
With that matter settled, Felicia kept her promise, handing the five billion dollar reward to the nine mercenaries. How they divided it was their concern. The mercenaries left contentedly.
Before leaving, the female mercenary winked at Felicia, her smile flirtatious and captivating. “Miss—uh, I mean, boss—if you ever need help again, feel free to hire me. I may be expensive, but I promise you won't be disappointed.”
Felicia raised an eyebrow. “Want to leave a contact?”
“Sure.”
Lacking paper and pen, the mercenary tore off a piece of her sleeve and, using lipstick, wrote a phone number, handing it to Felicia. “We don’t have real names in our line of work, only codenames. I go by Scarlet.”
Scarlet? True to her name, she was as brilliant and fiery as autumn leaves. Felicia complimented her. “It suits you.”
Scarlet smiled wider. “See you again, boss.”
After they left, Felicia saved Scarlet's contact information. Having it was preferable to needing it later. She'd planned to return to Khogend immediately, but decided to see Maurice first and have the twin venomous creatures removed. However, Maurice seemed to have anticipated her and avoided her. She searched the Glover estate but couldn't find him. By nightfall, she missed the last flight back to Khogend.