The Heiress They Lost Came Back Overpowered
Chapter 40 - 39: Not Even a Dog Would Believe It

Chapter 40: Chapter 39: Not Even a Dog Would Believe It

Pausing as she passed Kyle Quinn, Yvonne Lowell looked at him and smiled. "Oh, right, thank you. If you hadn’t taken him in and caused such a huge commotion, I might still be looking for him."

The crowd’s lips twitched uncontrollably. ’She really knows how to twist the knife...’

Kyle Quinn: ’Don’t mention it. I had it coming.’

Once the elevator doors closed, Warren Lynch finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and started frantically asking Silas Lynch about Yvonne Lowell.

Silas Lynch then told him what he knew about Yvonne Lowell’s various identities and her activities since returning to Kingsland, leaving the poor guy completely stunned.

Warren Lynch scratched his neat buzz cut. After holding it in for a good while, he finally spoke, feigning a profound and mysterious air,

"I guarantee you, there’s definitely more to this Miss Lowell’s identity. Don’t you dare disbelieve me! Look at how ruthless she was just now. You can’t pull that off unless you’ve got a few kills under your belt. And that aura... I suspect she’s on the same level as the Boss. Seriously, you have to believe me."

Yvonne "A-Few-Kills-Under-Her-Belt" Lowell: ’Yes, yes, perfect. From now on, please use this to introduce me to everyone.’

Silas Lynch glanced at him as if he were an idiot. ’Who doesn’t know that?! Who can’t see that?! HUH?!’

’The rest of us,’ he mused, ’might be a tiny bit inferior to Warren Lynch in combat—and really, just a tiny bit—but at least our brains work a whole lot better than his!’

’I have no idea what the Boss was thinking, picking him as a trusted subordinate.’

’It’s one thing for your brain not to work well, but you at least need to *have* one in the first place!!!!!!’

’Oh, whatever. He’s a bit of an idiot, but at least he can take a punch. He’d make a good bullet shield, too. Guess we’ll just have to keep indulging him.’

Warren Lynch: ’What’s he mean by that? Is he praising my combat skills? Aww, stop it, you’re making me blush~’

...

After they got out of the elevator, Nolan Crawford and Leon found themselves falling behind.

Nolan Crawford nudged the man beside him with his elbow. "Hey, man, what’s the deal between you and her?"

"And what’s your relationship with her?" Leon shot him a sideways glance, his tone curt.

"Me? I’m her big brother, of course."

Leon rolled his eyes straight to the heavens. "You? Her brother? Even a dog wouldn’t buy that."

Dog: ’...Woof? Yeah, I don’t buy it either.’

"Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I really am her brother! Besides, I asked you first!" Nolan Crawford was so mad that even the curls on his head seemed to stand on end.

"She’s my big sister."

’Big sister? Yvonne Lowell is Leon’s big sister, and I’m sort of Yvonne Lowell’s big brother.’

’So, by rounding up, doesn’t that make me, Nolan Crawford, the big brother of Leon, the leader of the Mercenary Corps?! And if we round up again, doesn’t that make the Mercenary Corps mine?!’

’Hehehe. Mom, your son’s made it big!!!’

"Hehe." Nolan Crawford let out a foolish chuckle, patting Leon’s shoulder in a buddy-buddy way. "Lil’ bro, say ’big bro’ for me."

"Get the hell out of here!"

"Hey, by the way, do you have any idea what that ’Leogryph’ thing she mentioned earlier is?"

Leon glanced at him. "You wanna know?"

"Yeah, I’m pretty curious."

"Then go ask her. Aren’t you her ’big brother’?" Leon smirked.

"So you don’t know either, huh? Is that all you’ve got? And you call yourself her ’little brother’?"

"Reverse psychology doesn’t work on me. Not only do I know what it is, I’ve even seen one. But why would I tell you?"

"Tch, you’re so damn impossible..."

「Help! The grade-schoolers are arguing!」

Suddenly, a car pulled up beside them.

The front passenger window rolled down, and Yvonne Lowell swept a disdainful glance over them. "You two can follow in your own car. If you can’t keep up, just go play by yourselves somewhere. Those legs of yours look plenty long, but you walk so damn slow. All show, no go. Completely useless."

With that, she rolled the window back up. The car sped away, leaving only a cloud of exhaust in its wake.

The two men stood rooted to the spot, staring at each other in bewilderment.

’Seriously, were we wrong to slow down to give you two some space?! Is your lovey-dovey talk something we’re supposed to be listening to?!’

’We try to give you some privacy, and suddenly *we’re* the ones in the wrong???’

It dawned on Nolan Crawford a moment later. He pointed in the direction the car had gone. "So, why didn’t they just... let us get in the car with them?"

"How should I know? What are you gawking at?! Get in the car! If we don’t catch them, you’re buying me dinner!" Leon promptly yanked a mercenary out of a nearby car and slid into the driver’s seat.

"Hey, why am I the one buying? Why aren’t you buying *me* dinner?" Nolan Crawford protested as he hopped into the passenger seat.

The pair sped off in the direction Yvonne Lowell and Leo Grant had gone.

The Mercenary: ’...My own boss just carjacked me. If I call the cops, will they even take the case? Although... he is the one who paid for the car.’

Leo Grant played along with his companion’s prank, stroking her head indulgently. "Mischievous."

"Hmph, you’re an accomplice too, you know. You say that as if you weren’t the one stepping on the gas," Yvonne Lowell retorted, rolling her eyes at him.

"That’s right. I am your accomplice, and only yours," Leo Grant went along with her.

Yvonne Lowell froze for a second at his words, then hooked a finger around the strand of Buddha Beads on his left wrist. "I’m overwhelmed by the favor. In that case, thanks, I guess."

"The pleasure is all mine," Leo Grant said, resting his hand on the gear shift to make it easier for her to play with them.

And who was Yvonne Lowell? She was the type to take a mile if you gave her an inch. She had only meant to touch them tentatively at first—after all, most people treasured their Buddha Beads and wouldn’t let anyone else handle them.

But seeing his reaction, she went all in and began counting the beads right there on his hand.

Every now and then, she’d give his fingers a little squeeze, or deliberately graze her nail against a vein on the back of his hand.

’These veins are so defined,’ she couldn’t help but muse. ’Any medic would love them. A guaranteed stick on the first try.’

While waiting at a red light, Leo Grant turned to look at her. "Did you just get here this morning? Or did you drive through the night?"

"Yup, this morning. I had to get up at the crack of dawn and sneak past my second brother. I’m dead tired."

As if on cue, the moment she mentioned being "tired," Yvonne Lowell let out an involuntary yawn.

Leo Grant found this rather amusing. "The helicopter that took off from Tidalview this morning... that must have been you, right?"

"Hm? How did you know?" Yvonne Lowell’s head snapped up to look at him.

Still groggy from her yawn, her mind was a little slow on the uptake.

’Is this guy stalking me?! No, that’s impossible. My counter-surveillance skills are top-notch. There’s no way I could be followed without realizing it.’

As if reading her mind, Leo Grant poked her forehead good-naturedly. "What’s going on in that head of yours? I live right across from you. I just heard the helicopter’s propellers, that’s all."

"Then how did you know I lived there?" Yvonne Lowell shot him a suspicious look. She’d only stayed there for a single night when she first came back.

The light turned green, and Leo Grant started the car, continuing,

"At first, I actually wanted to buy your building. In terms of size and location, it’s the crown jewel of the whole development. But I was told it was a ’not for sale’ property, so I guessed the owner of Tidalview was keeping it for personal use. Later, I happened to see you driving out. I didn’t get a look at your face, but when Harrison started showing off your car on his social media feed, I figured it had to be you. After all, there isn’t another car like yours in the entire world."

Nolan Crawford: ’’Car’? ’Social media feed’? ’Showing off’? Why do those words sound so familiar? Wasn’t I the one who saw all that and told you about it?! You didn’t even glance at it at the time!!’

Leo Grant: ’Oh? I heard it, I remembered it, so I repeated it. Is that a problem?’

Nolan Crawford: ’Heh. Fine. You’re really something else!!’ [Through gritted teeth.]

===================

Bonus Skit:

Someone Else: "Let me touch your Buddha Beads."

The Great Beauty: "Tired of living and looking to die, are we? Come on. Right this way."

——————

The Great Beauty: ’I don’t let anyone else touch them. Only my wife gets to, hehe.’

Everyone Else: ...Damn.