Under the Veil of Night

Jay followed after these girls with a bored face. He could not understand what these girls saw in the place that could be called interesting. He found it to be rather boring and treated it as the usual. He already visited the site very often because their clan had to clean up the mess they created.

"Jay, your clan doesn't oppose the construction?" Kanae asked when she saw that this boy was bored beyond belief.

"Not really. This is at the border of our and also the other two clans' territories. They didn't voice out any complaint and we also don't feel like voicing out any. Besides, the government says that this place belongs to them."

"You don't sound very happy."

"Not really," Jay shrugged. When this matter was first brought up, it was his brother who supported the construction very much. They didn't want to create more enemies, so his brother said that they had to cooperate with the government in this building project.

He didn't believe that his prideful brother wanted to bow down to anyone. The only explanation was that his brother wanted to take advantage of this chance to get a better ally. Their relationship with some clans had worsened, and they had just burned their bridge with Fiore Group.

As for what his brother really wanted from the government, he was not clear about it. Even the elders didn't know anything about it. They could only speculate about things and so on.

He wanted to try opposing his brother, but he found out that he didn't have any grounds on which to speak up. This made him feel rather frustrated. Since his father didn't say anything in the past, he decided not to speak up too.

"Kanae, there are more people there," Misae pointed forward.

Alice giggled. "Are you trying to find boys here too?"

"Nonsense!"

They laughed as they already knew Misae's habit. Jay shook his head in amusement as he walked back and leaned against some construction material. It was tiring to follow these energetic girls around here and there.

Kanae looked towards the construction machine not far from them. There was a bunch of material blocking the way and the head of the machine was looking away from them, so she didn't pay much attention.

Her eyes grew wider when she saw the machine turning around. At the end of the raised arm, there was a big metal block hanging from a chain. She saw that the one who drove it was a girl. Her face was somewhat familiar. As she was contemplating, her instinct kicked in as she sensed immediate danger.

"Move back!" Kanae saw that the block stopped over them. She hurriedly pushed Misae and Alice out of the way. There was no way she would allow them to get hurt.

BAM!

Jay noticed too late, and he was too far from the three of them. He could only run forward with the hope that the three of them were fine.

"Kanae, Alice, Misae, are you three fine?"

The commotion caused Tommy and Neo to realize that something was wrong. Upon hearing the yell from Jay, Tommy's heart turned cold. The two of them immediately ran towards the area. This time, Tommy no longer cared about the fear that had held him back.

Jay found the three girls collapsed on the ground to the side of the block. Alice and Misae were below with Kanae on top of them.

Kanae immediately positioned herself into a sitting position. "I'm okay. What about you two?"

Alice and Misae sat up. Their hearts were still filled with fear. They didn't realize that they were in danger until they heard the sound of something falling heavily near them.

"I think, I'm okay," Alice whispered. Her hand was trembling. If Kanae had reacted late by even one second, she could not imagine what would have happen.

Misae nodded her head slowly. Her eyes were locked on the metal block beside them. If it hit her, there was more than a 90% chance that she would be injured badly and possibly even have died. When her thoughts reached this point, her body shuddered in fear.

"Are you alright?" Tommy noticed that Kanae was sitting up straight, and the lump in his heart immediately disappeared. He was afraid that Kanae would get wounded in front of him again. If that happened, he would never be able to forgive himself anymore.

Kanae nodded her head. "Don't worry. We are alright, but I think we need some first aid."

Neo's gaze landed on Misae and Alice's knees. They were scraped a little. It was not bad, but it must hurt for them.

"Wait for a moment."

"What about you, Kanae?"

Kanae smiled bitterly. Her reflexes were too good as she controlled how she fell very well. There was some dirt on her feet, but her skin was mostly fine. Still, she nodded her head.

"I think I need a bit too."

"I'll ask…" Tommy was about to move when he realized where he was. He couldn't possibly walk around this place. When his heart calmed down, the fear he suppressed welled up once again.

"I'll be the one who asks," Neo patted Tommy's shoulder. He ran towards the office to call the manager.

Jay looked towards Tommy in bewilderment. "Do you have fear towards the construction site?"

"Not the construction site," Tommy paused for a moment. "It's this place that I'm afraid of."

Jay didn't understand, but he knew that Tommy had his own reason. He kept quiet as he helped the girls stand up and move towards a safer place.

…

The moment she released the metal block, Amanda felt rather ecstatic. She wanted to teach them a lesson so that they knew their place. It was unfair for her to get a bad ending while they still played around as usual. She wanted them to taste the pain she had experienced. It was hard for her to accept the fact that she was now only an errand girl.

She leaped out from the machine as fast as possible. Her feet brought her back to her previous spot. Beads of sweat streamed down her face, but her eyes showed a big smile.

Tap! Tap!

Amanda looked towards Sakura who came towards her with bewilderment. Wasn't this girl busy talking with the manager just now?

Sakura raised her hand and slapped Amanda on her cheek as hard as she could.

SLAP!

"Why?" Amanda held her burning cheek with a confused expression.

Sakura was talking with the manager when they heard the loud 'Bam' from outside. After that, a worker came to inform them about the incident that had happened. Seeing their panicked expressions, she knew that this might blow up.

Upon realizing that Amanda was not around her, she immediately knew what had happened.

"You're too foolish, no wonder you always lose to them in school," Sakura sneered. "If you want to harm them, you should have prepared a perfect plan. This is just the same as doing a favor to them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't think that I'm stupid, Amanda. You better follow my words quietly. One more time and I'll send you back to your father with the charge of betrayal," Sakura said ruthlessly.

Amanda's face turned pale instantly. The punishment for betraying the families in this city was extreme, and her father wouldn't be able to bear it. They would lose all of their prestige, money, reputation, and everything.

"No, please don't!"

"Then follow after my words carefully. I will only give you one more chance. If I say that you can't speak, you are not allowed to speak. If I tell you to bark, you will do that, understand?"

Amanda gritted her teeth. "Yes."

"Good, now follow after me," Sakura sneered and walked back.

Behind her, Amanda looked towards Sakura with a heated gaze. It was indeed a mistake for her to follow after Sakura's order in the past. If not because of this girl, she would never have to experience this humiliation.

'Just you watch, I won't let you go!'