The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

"Miss Aliyah, you don't have to do this. I'm fine. Go home now and leave."

Elle could only bite her lower lip. She didn't want to leave. 

Erick saw the reluctance in Elle's eyes as well as the gleam of sadness. He wanted to take his words back but… it was hard for him to face her like this. It would be best to avoid each other for a while.

"I don't-"

Before Elle could finish her sentence Erick cut her off.

"Miss Aliyah, I have a question for you," Erick mumbled.

Elle was stunned for a moment hearing the seriousness in his tone. After she recovered, she just nodded her head and waited for him to tell her his question.

'Is he going to confront me about my relationship with James?' Elle thought to herself, preparing what excuse she would give him.

However, instead of confronting her directly about James, Erick asked her a different thing that made Elle lose her ability to speak.

"What is more painful… knowing the person you love died and she would not be coming back or knowing the person you love was alive but she didn't love you anymore?"

Erick told her that question while staring intently into her eyes. Erick's lips turned up into a bitter smile. The sorrow and unimaginable pain were reflected in his eyes.

Those words coming from him were like a sharp knife stabbing Elle's heart right on the spot. At that moment she understood how miserable Erick was feeling right now. And it was all because of her… because of her lies.

But the last sentence bothered her more. If Erick was still thinking that she was Elle then now he believed that she didn't love him anymore because of the incident last Saturday wherein James introduced her as his fiancee.

Elle opened her mouth. She wanted to tell him that he was wrong… that everything was just a misunderstanding. He was still the man she truly loved. The only man in her heart.

But her words were stuck in her throat. She couldn't utter any words. She stood there in front of him wearing her complex emotions.

Should she just admit everything to him to clear this misunderstanding between them? All she needed to do was to speak of the truth so that Erick could understand what was happening.

Why was it very hard for her to do that? What was stopping her as of this moment?

"Erick… I…" She finally found her voice but still had difficulty completing her words. 

Erick saw that Elle was still hesitating. She was undecided. That made Erick feel more disappointed. He finally looked away.

"Aliyah… I am asking you this favor. If you have no words to say to me then… can you just go and leave me alone, please?" Erick begged her using his stern cold voice.

He clenched his fists. Elle's action was making him more miserable. He couldn't figure out why she kept on coming to him even though she already had James as her man.

'Why is she doing this to me? To punish me more and make me look pitiful? I have already suffered a lot in the past two years. Is she that clueless about what I truly feel by seeing her with another man?'

After a while, Elle just remained frozen in her spot. She looked down as she couldn't look at Erick's eyes. Erick already told her to leave so there's no reason for her to stay. 

Then suddenly, Carl entered Erick's ward holding a plastic bag containing food.

"Chief Lee, you are-" Carl was not able to continue his words as he sensed the strange atmosphere inside the room.

The silence was deafening. Erick was looking in the opposite direction while Aliyah was just standing beside his sickbed, looking down the floor.

'What's wrong with them?' Carl wondered to himself.

"I brought breakfast…" Carl mumbled once again to catch their attention. But no one glanced at his direction.

Then after a few seconds, Elle slowly turned around, tracing her steps going out of Erick's ward. Her eyes were dull and blank. She slowly walked out with heavy footsteps. She seemed absentminded as she continued walking without looking back.

Carl looked at her worriedly. He wanted to approach her but he didn't know what to say. In the end, he just watched her silently while she was leaving the ward.

'Did the two of them fight?' Carl moved his gaze back to Erick.

Erick squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm the storm of emotions swirling around within him. He didn't want to push her away but he had no choice. This was the only thing he could think of for him to lessen the pain.

But, why is it he felt like it was not effective? Sending her away, he felt another kind of pain. Could he really let go of her and forget about her? Could he really give her up now for him to move on?

"Chief Lee?" Carl called him out anxiously.

Erick gathered his thoughts and concealed his emotions. He opened his eyes and glanced at Carl.

"How is it, Sergeant? Did you catch him?" Erick immediately asked him about Catseye, diverting his attention away from Elle.

Carl paused for a moment. He wondered how Erick was able to change his mood in an instant as if the strange scene he just witnessed between Aliyah and Erick didn't happen a while ago.

"I'm sorry, Chief. Catseye escaped. We also checked the CCTV of the hotel and it seemed that Catseye hacked their system. No camera recorded his coming in and out of the hotel."

Carl sat down on the vacant chair where Aliyah was sitting before. He placed the plastic bag on the table near the side of Erick's sickbed before he continued speaking.

"Afterward, we found Samuel's three bodyguards in the room opposite to Samuel's room. They were unconscious and being tied down. Catseye booked that room using a fake identity. Samuel was fairly beaten up and he was also admitted to this hospital."

Carl paused for a while and he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Chief, you scared us to death. We were glad that nothing bad happened to you. We saw blood on the floor. Did you manage to hurt Catseye? Did he inject sedative on you so that he could escape?" Carl asked him curiously.

"Good thing, he ran away before you fell unconscious, or else he would be successful in harming you. After all, he wanted to kill you, that's why he gave you a death threat." Carl added.

Erick frowned as he remembered what happened last night. Then he shook his head.

"I think Catseye was not the one who sent me the death threat." Erick promptly said.

"Huh? What do you mean, Chief Lee?" Carl asked him in confusion.

"I already fell unconscious before Catseye fled. He had the chance to kill me at that moment but he never did. I think he has no plan of killing me." Erick explained to Carl.

"Then, how do we explain his motive of sending you the bloody notes and the death card? Did he send it just to frighten you?"

Erick shook his head once again, dismissing Carl's assumption.

"My speculation is this… someone wants to kill me but he is trying to frame-up Catseye. He used Catseye's death card to let us think that Catseye is after my life but the truth is they just want to cover up their crime and blame Catseye for my death."

Carl was startled after hearing that. That made sense. That scenario was possible and he believed Chief Lee. Besides, Catseye didn't harm Erick even if he had the chance to do it.

"By the way, the blood you saw in the hotel did not belong to Catseye. Kevin Azumi was also there last night. He came in using the adjacent door while Catseye and I were fighting." Erick's statements surprised Carl once again.

"Kevin tried to shoot us while we were engrossed fighting each other. Fortunately, Catseye was able to notice his presence. He also saved me that night. Kevin looked like he was targeting me but Catseye reacted quickly. If not for him, maybe I should have been shot by Kevin already."

Carl's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what was happening now. 

"[email protected] This case is becoming more complicated each day. Now, Kevin Azumi appeared in the picture. But Catseye's identity was really a big mystery. At first, he was fighting you, then the next thing he did was saving you. Do you have any idea who could this person be, Chief Lee?"

Erick fell silent because of Carl's last question. Even he, himself, was asking the same question. Who was this Catseye? Why is it he had the same ability as Elle? 

He could hack computer systems, he could fight and he was good at hitting his target using his dagger. He was strong. He was brutal to his victims but he saved Erick. Why? Why did he do that? What is he thinking?

Erick was having a headache just thinking about it. He couldn't be Elle since that person was surely a man. Was it Charles? But his aura was different from the Charles he knew.

Elle had also mentioned to him that her accomplice never killed a person before that's why she wanted him to have a new life and asked Erick not to chase after him. So, he was fifty percent in doubt if Charles was the current Catseye.

Could the person be Elle's savior… her Master who trained her to become a full-fledged assassin? Erick didn't meet him that's why he had no clue about his attitude and behavior.