Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 180: Miss Alice, calm down

The mob is still the mob, and Ryan realized just how naive he had been all this time.

Ryan and Alice had always been close, and there was a reason for that. To him, Alice was just a slightly snobbish heiress, but behind the scenes, she was the ruler of this dark underworld.

They were fundamentally different, and their time together was bound to be short-lived.

“What do you think, Miss Alice?”

After hearing the middle-aged man’s words, Dante nodded slightly, then turned to Alice to give her the floor.

Alice frowned slightly, displeased. She didn’t understand Dante’s intention in bringing her into this at that moment.

It was just a routine matter, why the need for her comment?

Dante’s expression was benign, his gaze deep as if pondering something. Alice couldn’t figure it out, but not responding would obviously make Dante look bad.

All eyes were on Miss Alice, the new successor of the mob, each look varying from respect to indifference to mockery.

Ryan watched Alice too, his heart tightening after hearing the man’s description.

“You’ve done well. Your efforts for the gang over the years are there for all to see. I, personally, am grateful,” Miss Alice said as she stood and gave a slight bow.

The middle-aged man was overjoyed and spoke even more enthusiastically about dedicating his life to the gang.

Dante watched Alice and clapped his hands in satisfaction, prompting everyone else to applaud. Only Ryan, standing behind Alice, had a grim expression.

He could feel that Dante’s actions were aimed at him, and he had to admit, they worked.

Dante had just shown him what the real Alice was like, and Ryan felt helpless.

Alice was the daughter of the former boss, Richard Sinclair, and the new leader of the mob. Ryan had always deliberately ignored this fact, as it made it easier to help Alice without feeling guilty.

But now, forced to accept this reality, Alice was no different from the other mob members, turning a blind eye and even participating in their dirty deeds.

Ryan looked down at Alice sitting there and sighed almost inaudibly, harboring an unrealistic hope.

Being close to Alice, especially when she had pulled him from behind earlier, that hope had felt incredibly strong.

If only Alice were different from these guys, if only she were special.

Ryan’s gaze dropped, and Dante, observing all this, seemed even more amused.

The middle-aged man sat down, and the next person began to speak.

Feeling Dante’s gaze on him, Alice seemed to realize something and quickly looked back at Ryan, but he had already masked his expression by the time she turned around.

His face was normal, his smile just slightly stiff. Ryan looked at Alice, wondering if something had happened.

He shouldn’t be thinking about these things,his focus should always have been on his mission.

Being killed by Alice should be the real concern,the more ruthless she was, the better for him.

Whatever Alice did… it really had nothing to do with him.

Alice couldn’t read anything from Ryan’s face, and as the meeting continued, she couldn’t just ask outright, so she turned back with a sense of unease.

The second person finished speaking, and this time Dante didn’t bring up Alice, but his expression as he watched Ryan grew more intrigued.

He didn’t need to manipulate the situation anymore,as the stories unfolded, a vast underworld was revealed bit by bit before Ryan.

Correspondingly, Ryan’s gaze grew colder, his fingertips trembling slightly, forcing him to clench his fists.

He couldn’t understand how human trafficking could be discussed so openly, as if lives were just numbers.

For money, was everything else really just ignored?

Alice hadn’t been paying attention to the meeting,her focus had been on Ryan from the start.

Now she understood Dante’s intention. The old man had seen Ryan’s naivety and was deliberately stirring up trouble between Ryan and her.

She regretted deeply,if she had known earlier, she would have preferred to confront the issue directly rather than say those encouraging words.

She hated those things too, but had been forced to speak words of encouragement, which were clearly the last thing Ryan wanted to hear.

This time, Alice immediately sensed the subtle changes in Ryan standing behind her.

A sense of unease slowly rose in her heart. She wanted to explain things to Ryan, but every time she turned around, he started to avoid her gaze, which left a bitter taste in her heart.

She had two reasons for not wanting to bring Ryan out before. One was that her current life was dangerous, and the other was the fear of exactly this kind of situation arising.

Ryan had promised to help her with such conviction, but now that he knew all this, would his heart waver?

Even if Alice hadn’t done those things, even if what she was doing now was so morally opposed to Ryan’s beliefs, she was born into this life and carried that original sin. How would Ryan see her now?

This thought grew more intense in her mind, like a wildfire spreading across a prairie, becoming an unstoppable force that she could no longer resist.

No, she couldn’t go on like this. Alice’s knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists, her expression growing more anxious.

Should she clear things up with Ryan?

But if she gave him the choice, he would undoubtedly leave without hesitation, and then she would be alone again… No, that couldn’t happen…

Alice could tolerate Ryan misunderstanding her, but she absolutely couldn’t allow him to run away from her.

He should have considered this when he saved her,he planted the seed, and now he must bear the fruit.

Alice’s mind was in turmoil, trying to focus on the person currently speaking, but finding herself unable to do so.

[Alice Mood Level-3]

[Alice Mood Level-5]

Alerts popped up on Ryan’s side, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He had only looked away from Miss Alice for a moment, and now her Mood Level was dangerously close to dropping below twenty.

What happened!

Ryan anxiously observed Alice, whose state was clearly not right, and the meeting was still going on,he definitely couldn’t just drag her out of there.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Ryan’s mind, though he hesitated to implement it.

To say that Alice’s mob identity had no impact on Ryan would be a lie. Even though he had started to feel some affection for Alice, he couldn’t deny that he didn’t understand the Miss Alice before him at all.

That conversation had already created a barrier in his heart, and their relationship, already delicate, now had additional strains.

But, after a moment’s hesitation, Alice’s Mood Level had already dropped to 15. If it went any lower, it would be truly dangerous.

Forget it, stabilizing Miss Alice was more important right now.

Biting the bullet and putting his previous thoughts aside, Ryan mimicked what Alice had done before and caught her small hand from behind.

“Miss Alice, calm down.”

Ryan bent down and whispered in her ear, the words he had repeated many times before now not coming out as smoothly.

Alice’s heart trembled sharply. She detected a faint resistance in Ryan’s voice, and an inevitable sense of grievance enveloped her.

Her hand, as always, held no warmth.