against his sister''s doubts, christian calmly tried to clarify his intentions.

    "well, we don''t need to. and, in the first place, this is just a possible choice. i never said i was leaning toward it." read new chapters at empire

    "i''m just stating that we have this possible option, to see your reaction. if you''re too attached to our current lifestyle, we can just stay here by doing that. no more than that."

    ''why am i feeling like punching his face?''

    annabelle couldn''t help but wonder. she stole a glance at eva, and seeing her chest heaving up and down, she felt like they truly shared the same sentiment this time.

    she also wanted to complain, but when she saw him innocently smile at her, the urge faded away.

    ''it seems that with just that smile, everything could be forgiven.''

    annabelle wasn''t the only one whose heart was stolen by that smile. eva, facing the same situation, was also affected by the power of love and christian''s handsome appearance. so, deciding to get over it, she said,

    "well, it seems that neither my opinion nor your sister''s aligns with this choice. so, are we running away in the end? or do you have another choice in mind?"

    ''so, is this why he told me to at least wait to have this discussion before i think of taking care of things at my house? because things will really change if it''s like this?''

    while eva wondered, christian, smiling brightly, had a gleam in his eyes, as he naturally had a third and final choice... the real one he had in mind at that.

    "actually, i have a third choice, and it''s not that different from the first one of running away. it''s just that, since we''ll be running anyway, why not do something before we leave... like retaliating?"

    both women''s expressions turned grim as they sensed the direction things were heading.

    "i don''t think i can bear to let that fucking trash live any longer, so i plan to kill him before we run away."

    seeing eva not only calm down but also fall silent, christian sighed and said, "you could have just asked me normally about these things. but... anyway."

    "if you''re worried about olivia, and if you want, we can bring her with us. i''m confident i could provide her with the essence technique and much more later, even more so than the supposedly famous academy could offer."

    ''though i doubt she''d agree,'' he thought.

    was he still prejudiced? he wasn''t sure, but christian doubted the possibility of olivia joining them.

    eva, who had become agitated too quickly, now felt a wave of embarrassment. she had initially thought that perhaps christian still didn''t trust her enough, unlike his sister. and this thought not only made her feel hurt but also made it hard for her to control herself... now, she couldn''t be anymore shameful.

    "is it really necessary to act now? can''t it be delayed until later?"

    interrupting the silence was annabelle, who decided to step in and save the situation, choosing not to make it worse upon sensing eva''s earlier desperation.

    at the end of the day, it was probably a communication issue, but annabelle felt that even though something needed to be said, now wasn''t the time. instead, she focused on the main issue at hand.

    also feeling grateful for his sister''s interruption, christian quickly shifted gears in his thoughts. most importantly, now that the conversation had turned to his revenge, he could already feel his emotions boiling. so, taking a moment to collect himself, he tried to calm down before finally speaking.

    "life is a series of ups and downs, where sometimes one needs to compromise for a better today... for a better tomorrow."

    "i thought the same too, but... is it really necessary for me to compromise this time?"

    "...i don''t think so, at least not in this situation. more than ever, i feel like i need to finish him, so i can truly be prepared to greet a better tomorrow."

    "i''ve already endured enough, by not just going after him and killing him in broad daylight, amidst all the people."

    christian felt that he had really made a great compromise, allowing him to live these past few days, even after everything he had discovered about him.