“Holy shit! What’s that?” Johnny’s startled shout caught everyone’s attention.
Everyone dropped whatever they were doing and looked up.
In the opposite building, the man lounged on the sofa, elbows propped on the armrests, watching the surveince feed with amused interest.
The camera slowly panned, settling on Aria’s head.
She tilted her head up, her face unreadable, a carefully restrained chill in her eyes.
Her icy gaze silently used the drone of ruining the festive atmosphere.
The music stopped dead. Allughter ceased as their cheerful faces turned guarded.
‘That’s more like it. It’s just a party. What’s there to be so happy about?’ Flynt thought.
Flynt didn’t get to enjoy his triumph for long. Through the camera feed, he saw Aria suddenly lunge upward with her knife, striking at the drone overhead.
The screen flickered, then wentpletely dark.
“Too bad,” Flynt chuckled coldly.
The drone crashed down. Johnny was about to approach it when Silvia instinctively grabbed his arm. “Mr. Oconnor, what are you doing?” she asked, her voice tense.
“You go check it out,” Johnny said.
Silvia said nervously, “What if… there’s a bomb? That’s what always happens in TV shows.”
Johnny tensed up, staring at the fallen drone. “You’ve got a point,” he said cautiously.
“It doesn’t have a bomb,” Owen said curtly.
Owen strode over, picked up the fallen drone, and carefully detached a small box from one of its rotor arms.
Owen was about to open it when Kim, standing closest, grabbed his wrist. “You don’t even know what’s inside and you’re just going to open it?”
Kim snatched the box from Owen and opened it.
Cloe shot Kim a look, both exasperated and amused.
Inside the boxy a tightly rolled banknote.
Cloe recognized it immediately. “It’s a Torrenian note-the old currency from Torrenia, It’s been out of cirction for six or seven years.”
The drone was strange, but that banknote was even stranger.
Someone asked, “Who sent this? And what do they want?”
Flynt watches the scene through his binocrs.
When Aria didn’t spare the banknote a single nce, Flynt’s eyes turned icy cold.
19
Aria said, “Let me see,” reaching out her hand.
Owen took the banknote from Kim’s hand and passed it to Aria.
Aria gently rolled the banknote between her fingertips. Its edges were yellowed with age, but it was remarkably well- preserved-clearly kept with great care.
Derek waspletely baffled. “Is this a prank? Or did it just end up here by mistake?”
“Probably not,” Caleb said, shaking his head, his tone turning cold. “It looks like someone’s targeting Aria.”
Going through all this trouble just to deliver a banknote via drone was a bizarre thing to do.
Aria pocketed the banknote, then abruptly turned to stare at the high-rise opposite.
Flynt’s fingers tensed, a faint smirk ying at the corners of his lips.
‘She’s quite sharp, Flynt thought.
The next moment, Aria handed the banknote to Owen, murmuring something too low for the others to hear.
Owen pocketed the banknote.
Flynt’s smile froze, his lips pressing into a thin line.
Has she really forgotten, or does she just not care… Flynt wondered, frustration flickering in his eyes.
Cloe picked up the drone beside her. “I’ll track down where this came from and find out who’s behind it.”
“I’ll handle it.” Kim took the drone and said, “Just keep an eye on Julia.”
Cloe sighed. “Fine then…”
Luckily, they’d already eaten their fill and had their fun-the strange incident didn’t ruin their good mood.
If that drone had shown up any earlier, it would’ve totally killed the mood.
They couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching them from behind.
Cloe nced at Aria, feeling slightly relieved.
Soon enough, their investigation led straight to Flynt.
‘He’s just trying to get attention, Aria thought. ‘He’s not going to stir up any real trouble for now. She told everyone to ignore it.
Flynt waited and waited, but no one came knocking. His patience finally wore thin.