Chapter 668 The Traitor and the Rat
As soon as the topic came up, Taylor grew frustrated. "I'm sorry, Yunice. I let him slip away. I had someone tailing him the whole time, hoping to use him to find the mastermind pulling the strings. Paul really was stopping and starting, like he was waiting for someone. But just now, while crossing an intersection, he suddenly got hit by a car. And what a coincidenceโan ambulance just happened to be passing by. They loaded him inโฆ"
Yunice cut in, "And now that ambulance has vanished, hasn't it?"
Taylor gave a short hum. "The ambulance was fake. Someone planned it on purpose."
Yunice chuckled. "Interestingโฆ now this is the kind of opponent worth facing."
"But Yunice," Taylor said, "we have no idea where Paul is now."
"If he won't show himself, it just means he's guilty and on the run. He's definitely going down for financial crimes."
Taylor ground his teeth. "He killed my father. He ruined so many people's lives. Prison is too easy for him."
"Who said anything about prison?" Yunice said calmly. "Letting him wander around out there, cold, starving, constantly on the run, living every day in fearโisn't that much more satisfying than locking him up?"
Taylorโs eyes were filled with bitter hatred. His voice turned icy. "The once-glorious little prince of Silverburgh, now reduced to a rat everyone wants to beat upโfighting beggars for clothes and dogs for scraps. Yeah, thatโs way more fun than prison."
Paul had burned every bridge. Lu Jingxiong had thrown him away like trash. The old man had his own problems. And the Powell family? Not a single relative would lift a finger for him.
The only person who might help him nowโฆ was that trusted strategist of his.
But who was this so-called strategist?
No matter how hard Taylor tried, she couldnโt figure out who Paul trusted so muchโenough to stake his entire life on them.
More importantly, where was he hiding now?
Paul limped out of the ambulance, his gait uneven, and scrambled into a car with Noraโs help. He moved his legs as fast as he could, ducking his head inside.
His eyes scanned the area nervously, full of fear. Nora stood by the door and said gently, "We're safe here. No one will look for me."
Paul glanced at the remote, deserted landscape and snorted. "You short-sighted fool. You think this place is safe? All it takes is one drone flying over, and they'll spot me! And this dump doesnโt even have water or electricity. What am I supposed to eat? Drink? How the hell do I take a shower?"
He still hadnโt grasped the reality of being a fugitiveโstill clinging to his pride.
Nora said nothing. She didnโt know where else to hide either.
Wyatt was hunting her too. She was just as much of a target as Paul.
She had nowhere else to go but the Johnson family.
Seeing her silence, Paul suddenly exploded, lashing out by grabbing her throat and yanking her violently into the car.
"Nora! Didn't you say you had a way to stabilize the Powell Corporation for me? You're the one who told me to go to that press conference! You opened the door for them! If it weren't for you, how would they have set me up like that?!"
His grip tightened. His expression was twisted, all cruel smirks with no warmth in his eyes. "Are you working for Wyatt now? Are they coming to get me?"
Noraโs eyes rolled back as she struggled to breathe, but she didnโt fight his hands away.
With the last bit of strength she had, she forced out, โโฆIโm still usefulโฆโ
Paulโs eyes narrowed. He let her go.
He didnโt trust Noraโnot even close. But after Wei Lin broke his hand at the press conference and the car accident injured his right leg, he was in no condition to go anywhere on his own. He had no choice but to keep her alive for now.
He sneered. "Iโm guessing you wouldnโt dare anyway. Iโve still got dirt on you."
Nora clutched her burning throat with one hand while her other hand, behind her back, silently bent the silver bracelet she had straightened earlier and slipped it back onto her wrist.
If Paul hadnโt let go just now, she wouldโve driven that straightened bracelet into his throat like a dagger.
She wasnโt going to die at the hands of someone like him.
Now that she had reestablished a fragile balance with Paul, Nora started proving her value. "Mr. Paul, arenโt you curious who scammed you out of your money?"
Paul gave her a long look, sensing she had more to say.
Nora continued, "Taylor has always been under the Powell familyโs watch. Even the Powells didnโt know youโd embezzled company fundsโso how would someone like her, a sidelined nobody, find out and expose you right on stage? She timed it perfectly. The second you got scammed, she rushed to report you, came out squeaky clean, and won over the internet. Now everyoneโs backing her to take over the Powell Corporation. She was the biggest surprise beneficiary of this whole setup."
Paul frowned. "You think Taylorโs the one who scammed me?"