The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

137 The Allegations Are True

Suddenly, Emma’s brows furrowed. She even pulled her car to the side of the road and dimmed the maroon car’s headlights. A few meters ahead, she saw a familiar motorbike. The red motorbike she knew belonged to Calvin Lee. After a few seconds, a man with slightly blond hair appeared and approached the motorbike with a food plastic bag he was carrying.

Fortunately, Emma’s eyes were so sharp that she could still see a bit of the man’s face, which was obscured by the helmet he was wearing. It was Calvin Lee, even though his hair had changed colour. She could see Calvin starting his motorbike engine and turning the red sports motorbike around before driving away.

Emma immediately put her car into gear and stepped on the gas pedal. She followed Calvin’s motorbike from behind. But, it didn’t take long for Calvin to realize a car was following him. Finally, he pulled his motorbike over as soon as he was out of Redvalley Street.

At first, Calvin thought it was a problem he was forced to face on New Year’s Eve. However, that thought soon turned into a feeling of joy when he could see the maroon car clearly as soon as it stopped beside his motorbike. Calvin immediately took off his helmet while the windshield of the car was also open.

“It’s really you,” Emma said with a little laugh.

‘Ough! Dammit! My hair!’ Calvin exclaimed in his heart. He forgot that he still hadn’t blackened his hair. He regretted delaying such an important matter. Now, he must look ridiculous in front of Emma Hilland.

“Hahaha.. I tried dyeing it yesterday,” He replied by rubbing his neck trunk awkwardly.

Then, Emma got out of her car door, after closing the window, and walked over to Calvin who looked like he had just turned off the engine.

“Buying dinner out again?” Emma asked.

.....

Calvin nodded, “I told you, I can’t cook.” he laughed. Then, he raised his eyebrows, “What are you doing this late on the street? Did you buy dinner too?” he asked. He knew that Redvalley Street was filled with shops and taverns selling lots of good food.

Emma thought for a moment, then nodded, “Why don’t you just eat at the shop?”

“Actually, I thought so. But I saw that the shop was empty of visitors. Maybe the owner would close soon to celebrate new year’s eve with his family, so I take away this food for me to eat at home.” He explained.

“Oh.. I see,” Emma mumbled, lowering her gaze.

Stupid! Emma forgot one thing. She thought that she was the only one who didn’t have a loved one to spend New Year’s Eve with. She forgot there was Calvin Lee who had no one in his life. It was true that Emma isn’t close to the rest of her family, but at least they were still alive. Unlike Calvin, his entire family was gone. He was completely alone. Emma should be more grateful.

Like what Levi had told her, she should not measure how big the problem she was facing, because she didn’t know there were bigger problems that people out there were facing.

Calvin looked at Emma who looked brooding. Subconsciously, his lips formed a sweet smile, “Am I wrong if I think you’re alone this New Year’s Eve?”

Emma woke up from her daydream, then, looked at Calvin with a slow smile, “Want to eat together?”

Calvin chuckled and nodded.

On that cold night, a maroon car and a motorbike with matching colours were parked side by side. Not far from there, the two vehicle owners were sitting on a bench in front of a mini-market whose white lights lit up the deserted road.

It was New Year’s Eve, and almost all the shops were closed. Only the mini market was still open 24 hours as usual. Calvin and Emma sat in front of it with a glass of hot tea accompanying them.

“Sorry if we have to eat here,” Calvin said in an uneasy tone. He really wanted to take Emma to a nice restaurant, but the circumstances didn’t allow him. After all, Calvin could see that Emma was a girl who never cared about where she ate and played. Despite her shopaholic nature, she had a simple soul.

“At first, I thought I’m the only one who will spend New Year’s Eve alone. However, I forgot that you also experienced the same thing.” Emma said by taking the warm fried chicken drumstick which they didn’t take out from the plastic bag so it wouldn’t get cold by the air.

Calvin nodded, “I was thinking I’d hang out with Troy or the guys. But it turns out that each one of them is going to spend it with their families.” Then, he sighed so the steam gathered in front of his mouth, “Hh.. I just realized that even though I already have friends, doesn’t mean I won’t be alone anymore.” he chuckled as he shook his head.

Emma looked at Calvin for a long time, “For someone who has lost a lot, you look very strong. If I were standing in your shoes, I don’t know if I could still put on a smile like that.”

“I just chose not to dwell in the sadness because it would do me no good and would only make me worse off.” He answered.

“Well.. I think you are right. It seems I have a lot to learn from you.” Emma nodded.

“How’s the chicken? Is it good?” Calvin asked.

Emma nodded, “This is from the chicken shop I used to go to with Kathy. Since then, I’ve often ordered chicken delivery from that shop. It tastes really good.”

“I see.. Looks like you already know a lot of places in Handway City, huh? Nice to know,” Calvin replied. “Actually, I want to take you to many places but...”

“I understand that you have many things to do. I also have many things to do. So.. there is no need to feel a burden,” Emma smiled.

“Thank you. Just wait until I destroy all of those thugs. Then, no one else will have the fear of going out and people like me won’t lose their time worrying about someone getting hurt on the street.” Calvin said.

“Although I agree with you, in reality, they are very difficult to eradicate. It seems there are fewer good people than bad people in this city.” Emma muttered to herself.

“Actually, there are a lot of good people. But they are not strong enough to fight back. Maybe the story will be different if those good people already have the power.” Calvin replied, then, he turned casually to Emma while chewing on his fried chicken, “Seems like you know a lot about thugs, don’t you? You weren’t involved in any of them, were you?” he asked jokingly.

Emma immediately swallowed her chicken and gulped down her tea with difficulty, “Haha.. Of course not. Incidentally, I sometimes listen to the 37.1 AM radio channel while driving to avoid dangerous roads.”

“You heard it too? Hm.. You put it to good use. I never even thought about using it for that.” Calvin muttered.

“Anyways.. How are you doing with Troy and his friends? Have you guys succeeded with that mission?” Emma quickly changed the subject.

Calvin shook his head wearily, “It’s far from succeed,”

“Hmm.. Looks like the problem is very serious, huh? I’m curious about what happened,” Emma muttered with hidden intent.

“You should have known that Troy is the leader of a group called Jita Kyoei. They are experiencing a problem related to the number of Judo studios that have lost students. After investigating, it turned out that not only Judo studios have experienced this, but all martial arts studios in Handway City. We found that the students were hired by several groups of gangsters. It was a strange wave. We’re still investigating why they did this. But we already have the names of groups that are aggressively recruiting martial arts students. Do you still remember Hell Gate? The group that framed girls like Poppy Castonia?”

Emma immediately nodded, “Of course, I won’t forget. The bastard group that made my friends suffer.” she answered with a furious mumble at the last sentence.

Calvin looked at Emma sadly. If she knew that the real culprit of Roger Timothy’s murder was still out there, she would be very sad and disappointed. But, Calvin deliberately kept his mouth shut to keep Emma’s feelings at bay. He really didn’t want Emma to get involved in some dangerous gangster stuff. “You can feel relieved now, Emma. It’s because Hell Gate has fallen. They no longer exist. So, no more girls will suffer the same fate as Poppy Castonia.”

Emma turned her attention back to Calvin, “That’s great. Thanks for beating them down.” She said with a sense of humour in her heart. The truth was she also helped defeat the group. It felt like she was thanking herself. Then, Emma cleared her throat, “Then, since that Hell Gate group is gone, does that mean you’re chasing another group now?”

Calvin nodded again, “Actually, we’ve talked about it in the old radio room that time when you were there. But you didn’t seem to be listening. It’s a group called RJC. You don’t have to worry because they don’t do what Hell Gate does, so it will have absolutely nothing to do with you or your girl friends.”

Emma smiled, “They are not? What a relief..” But, she had a follow-up question, “RJC huh.. That’s a pretty cool name. Sounds like an abbreviation. Was my guess right?”

“You’re right. It stands for Red Jack Commander.” Calvin answered.

“Red.. Jack.. Com..” Emma muttered to herself while thinking. Her eyes stared blankly ahead with a frown. Red Jack? Jack? Marcel Douglas’ brother’s name was Jack Douglas. Wasn’t that clear proof that the RJC that Calvin was pursuing was the group that Marcel led?

“The abbreviation is a bit odd. Probably there’s a story behind it.” Calvin chuckled, “You don’t have to think about it like that, Emma. You’d have forgotten this unimportant information in days, I think.”