Take My Breath Away

Napier thought as long as he had money, he could get any woman he wanted. So Gillian was nothing to him.

"Of course. I'll do my best!" said Gillian, beaming.

Three days later

As she agreed, Evelyn arrived at the cemetery. Felix insisted on coming along, so the two made their way to Melody's gravesite.

She hadn't been here since Napier tried to **** her in her apartment. She was ashamed and scared of upsetting Melody.

It had been nearly three years. The tombstone was still clean, but she couldn't see Napier. The house he lived in looked abandoned.

Standing in front of the tomb, staring at Melody's photo, Evelyn had mixed feelings.

'Melody, please be strong in your next life.'

A few minutes of quiet contemplation later, she asked Felix to place the briefcases of cash at the spot where Napier used to sit.

Just then, a man in a denim coat holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums came out of nowhere. It seemed that he also wanted to pay his respects to the dead. When he walked past Evelyn, he suddenly changed directions and charged at her.

But Felix had been watching her like a hawk. Before the man could pounce on Evelyn, the bodyguard stepped between them.

The man moved quickly and hit Felix with an axe kick. It caught the bodyguard by surprise, and he fell to his knees.

Felix pushed through the pain and got up quickly to rejoin the fray.

Nearby, several snipers took the safeties off their weapons, and began sighting through their scopes. They all were hoping to get a clear shot at Evelyn's mysterious attacker.

But the attacker also had a gun. He called out in a loud voice meant to carry his words to all concerned, "I'll count to three. I want everyone gone except me and Evelyn. Stay, and she dies."

Evelyn looked at the man but she didn't recognize him. But that voice... It was strange. He didn't look like Napier, but the voice was unmistakable. "Napier?" she asked.

With a weird smile, he answered, "Yes, it's me."

He had undergone plastic surgery to change his appearance. He figured with a new face he'd be able to get closer to Evelyn and her family. The Huos would be none the wiser. Now, he had succeeded in abducting Evelyn.

At this moment, Sheffield walked in through the gate of the graveyard. As if he hadn't seen Napier, he greeted her. "Hi, honey."

Evelyn turned to look at the man walking towards her. She wondered what he was doing there.

Napier panicked when he saw Sheffield. He yelled at Evelyn, "Don't move!" The next second, he pulled Evelyn closer, using her as a human shield. His gun was pointed at her head.

Sheffield's expression turned ice cold. "Okay, so you kidnapped her. But don't ever touch my wife!"

Napier was taken aback. He didn't think that Sheffield would put jealousy over the safety of his wife. He asked, "What the hell are you trying to pull, Sheffield?"

Sheffield put on his poker face and answered, "What am I trying to pull? Nothing. I just got bored staying at home, so I came here to see if my wife was safe. And look at that—you got to her."

He walked slowly towards the briefcases of money. As he moved, Napier turned and gazed at him cautiously.

"Stop!" Napier didn't want Sheffield that close to the containers of money, afraid he'd set them alight, and burn the bills to ashes!

Sheffield stopped and turned to look at him, saying scornfully, "What kind of man takes a woman hostage? Let my wife go. Take me."

"I have something better—two of your women. You won't do a thing. If anything happens to me, Gillian gets it!"

But the husband of Evelyn Huo didn't care what he said. He took a single step forward. Napier moved back. Sheffield said, "Hey, you know I don't have a relationship with Gillian, right? I have a wife. So what are you doing talking about her? Trying to mess with my marriage? Not cool!"

Evelyn was puzzled. 'Okay, I guess he's not nervous. That's good. But why is he taking the time to talk to this guy?'

"Cut the crap! And get the hell out of here!" He pressed the gun tighter against Evelyn's head.

Evelyn remained calm the whole time. She winced when he jammed the gun against her head. It was starting to give her a headache.

"Fine, I'm gone. But don't hurt her, okay?" Though Sheffield said he was leaving, he still stood there.

"Fuck off! Leave now, or we'll die together today!"

At that moment, Sheffield spotted a signal out of the corner of his eyes. Maintaining his calm, he asked, "Fine. But before I go, tell me something. Why didn't you kill Calvert?"

'Is there a connection between Napier and Calvert?' Evelyn looked at Sheffield, who was not nervous at all.

"You know a lot. You're good, you know that? But it doesn't matter if I tell you now. Calvert knows too much. He has a bunch of dirt on my uncle, and my uncle doesn't want me to touch him. The first time I attacked you, it was after he called me." Under the circumstances, there was nothing for Napier to hide, and he told them everything.

"Oh, I see." Sheffield pretended it was news to him. In reality, he had known that for some time. "But he ran off because he didn't want to get caught," Sheffield said. "He abandoned his parents, his wife, everything. Did you know that?"

Napier didn't know that. Calvert's parents pressured him into another relationship. And he married her. He never talked to Evelyn again. The canceled engagement was embarrassing enough. "That's none of my business!" Napier said impatiently.

"Okay. Then let me ask you another question. Why did Evander quit his job? He had an easy position at the Huo manor."

Napier sneered, "You really did your research. You even know about Evander!"

"Of course, because I found the transfer order online!" An expert in computers, Sheffield was able to track down everything done on the Internet.

Evelyn looked at him in shock. 'Did Evander have something to do with Napier too?' She never knew.

"He saw me in Keegan Guan's car. That night, I killed Keegan. In order to stop Evander from turning me in, I threatened the lives of his wife and son, and then he left the Huo family."

So that explained it.

Keegan Guan was Evelyn's third ex-boyfriend, a prosecutor. He was killed on his way home after dropping her off at the Huo manor.

"Chief Tao told everybody his name is Neale, but his real name is Penley Tao. After he killed his twin brother, he assumed his identity. He's been living a lie for 19 years. And of course I know you're his nephew. After you committed those crimes, he buried the evidence. Then, he told the victims' families and the Huo family that nothing could be done. He also manufactured evidence to mislead everyone." Carlos trusted Penley. Maybe too much. So he had never figured out that Napier was the murderer.