L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 140

The surroundings were silent. Koi stood frozen, just staring at Nelson. All of a sudden, he felt like he had been dragged right back to that time when he was nothing but pitiful and small. The young, terrified version of himself—who used to cower at the sight of Nelson—suddenly resurfaced. He had thought he had long forgotten, but clearly, he hadn’t. His mouth went dry, and his throat burned—he couldn’t make a sound.

It felt like a nightmare that should never have been possible. Koi couldn’t move; he just stood there, stuck in place. Time seemed to stretch on endlessly.

It was Nelson who finally broke the silence. Even though it was already nearly evening, he looked like he had just woken up from sleep, yawning lazily with a disheveled face, then stepped aside.

“Come on in.”

He muttered in a lazy, drawling tone, yawning again while scratching his head. Koi snapped out of it at last. He hurried inside, where a luxurious interior came into view. He had already seen from outside that the mansion was large, but the inside was just as stunning—so wide and extravagant it momentarily made him pause. Quickly pulling himself together, Koi spoke.

“Uh, where’s the area that’s broken?”

Afraid his voice might tremble, he kept it low. Nelson didn’t really react—just staggered away in one direction. The staircase split to the left and right, joined at the center, and then split again. Koi silently followed behind him, trying to calm his pounding heart.

He had never imagined he’d see Nelson again. Back before graduation, Nelson had gotten into trouble and left school. No one had seen him since. Yet here he was, on the East Coast. And judging by the mansion, he was clearly loaded. The massive house, with marble floors and gold trimming everywhere, practically screamed wealth.

But to Koi, there was something far more important.

Looks like he didn’t recognize me.

Nelson’s reaction had been completely ordinary. Just the kind of response you’d expect from a homeowner greeting a technician—nothing more, nothing less.

Well, Elle did say I’d changed a lot.

The most shocking thing was realizing that he was now looking down at Nelson’s head. Back then, Nelson had seemed so overwhelmingly big. But now he was shorter than Koi. Probably of average height or even a bit below. Koi had just been smaller—and far weaker. Thinking about that made him feel strange.

So, he's already balding...

When Koi noticed the thinning crown of Nelson’s head, the man opened a door.

“Here it is.”

Nelson had brought him to a lounge on the second floor. Judging by the mess of empty bottles and trash, there had been a party the night before. Scattered around were several men and women—drinking or passed out, still clearly hungover. Koi ignored them and rushed over to the small kitchen at the side of the lounge. The sink he was supposed to fix was «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» there. Of course, it was a complete mess, too.

Before repairing it, he started by clearing out the trash that had been tossed everywhere—when loud voices rose from behind him.

“What the hell, someone else showed up?”

The question, slurred by drunkenness, was answered in kind by Nelson.

“Here to fix the water. Just ignore it.”

“I thought someone was trying to crash our heaven or something.”

Another voice joined in with a giggle. As Koi happened to glance up while gathering trash, he saw it—they were snorting white powder off the table. He froze. His boss’s warning echoed in his mind, and it became clear how Nelson had come into this kind of money. freewёbnoνel.com

“Damn, your stuff is the best. Where do you even get this high-grade shit?”

The praise, laced with sniffles, confirmed Koi’s suspicions. There was no time to waste. He started moving faster. All he could think about was finishing the job and getting out of there. Behind him, Nelson giggled and said,

“Told you, right? Only I can get this stuff. Don’t get any funny ideas. If you mess with me, you won’t walk away unharmed.”

Despite his slurred speech, it was a pretty chilling threat. Of course, Koi had no intention of getting involved with drug dealers. He hurried to open the tap and assess the issue. Then another man spoke.

“Damn... it must be nice being a Hyper Alpha. I heard they can do all this stuff nonstop without any issues? They don’t get drunk, they don’t get addicted... Shit, plus they’ve got money to burn.”

A pungent smell spread through the room. Koi thought it might be cigarettes, but what he glimpsed in the corner of his eye didn’t look like a regular cigarette. Another guy lit it and asked,

“You went there, right? That pheromone party? Isn’t that where most of the drug use happens?”

“I wanna know what it’s like. They say it's full of Hyper Alphas. Do they all really have purple eyes?”

“Premium liquor and drugs everywhere. And they say people just screw whoever.”

“Paradise, man.”

“Heaven on Earth.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Laughter erupted loudly behind him. Koi silently detached the drainage pipe and inspected the buildup inside. Sure enough, there were chunks of food and unidentified gunk clogging the pipe. As he scraped it out, Nelson’s voice rang out again.

“They think they’re all that, but they can’t even remember a thing once their pheromones spike. Without my stuff, those parties don’t even get started...”

One of the women, who’d been listening to his bragging, asked,

“So even outside of the parties, you do deals with those Hyper Alphas? You have their contacts and everything?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am? Who else in this city can consistently supply this level of quality?”

Then, he proudly began rattling off names of well-known Hyper Alphas. Politicians, celebrities, CEOs, renowned professors—everyone listened with admiration as the names rolled out.

“Then even if something happens, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

At that comment, Nelson nodded smugly.

“Obviously. You know who my lawyer is?”

At the name that followed, Koi’s hands stopped moving before he even realized it.

“Ashley Miller. You’ve heard of him, right? That guy from the Miller Law Firm.”

“What?”

“Miller? Seriously?”

As if voicing Koi’s shock for him, the people around them started shouting.

“That place is crazy expensive! And Ashley Miller is your attorney?”

“No way. You’re lying, right?”

“Yeah, that’s pushing it.”

As the scoffing continued, Nelson immediately flew into a rage, his voice turning aggressive.

“You fuckers—what, you think I’m lying? Ashley Miller was under me back in high school!”

Ugh.

Koi nearly gasped out loud in horror. He barely managed to hold it in, but the others weren’t much different in reaction.

“Dude, too far.”

“Cut back on the drugs, man.”

“Seriously, it’s frying your brain. Like that guy.”

Laughter burst out again. Everyone was laughing loudly—except for two people. Koi and Nelson.

Face red with fury, Nelson suddenly stood up and stormed off. When he returned, he was holding a gun.

“Shut the fuck up, all of you bastards!”

Nelson screamed. Koi looked around in panic, but the others just laughed harder. Probably too high to understand what was happening. Koi, now pale as a sheet, watched as Nelson pulled the trigger—and then a deafening gunshot rang through the air.

Police arrived within ten minutes after a neighbor called in a report—and arrested everyone on the scene.

Unfortunately, Koi was among them.

*

Shouts, sobbing, and snoring filled the space from all directions. Crouched in the cramped cell, Koi still felt dazed. He couldn’t believe he was locked up in jail. All he did was go to fix a sink—why was he here?

He had been insisting he had nothing to do with it since the moment he was arrested, but the cops didn’t care. They just lumped him in with the rest and tossed them all in the same cell. Now he was stuck here, shoulder to shoulder with drug addicts—and Nelson.

What do I do...

His head was filled with images of the drugs they'd used. What if this gave him a record? The thought gave him a headache. He let out a long sigh.

“Nelson, do something!”

Someone suddenly shouted. Those who were at least partially coherent turned their attention toward Nelson. Koi, too, looked over reflexively. Nelson spat back in frustration.

“What the fuck do you expect me to do, huh? This is all your fault!”

The one who had yelled back wasn’t fazed.

“You’ve got connections, right? Call someone. Get us out of here!”

“Who the hell am I supposed to call?”

Nelson sneered, completely incredulous—until someone shouted out of nowhere.

“Ashley Miller! He’s your lawyer, isn’t he?!”

At the unexpected name, Nelson froze completely.