Jack took a seat across from Megan, removing the box Jiejie had just handed him from his bulletproof vest's slip pocket and placing it on the table. He glanced at the time.
"Taking into account the traffic jam, your father won't be at this hotel for at least an hour. Of course, if necessary, I can temporarily disable the elevator to keep him inside longer.
So we have plenty of time. Don't you really want to say something to an FBI agent?"
"Say something?" Megan smiled sadly. "Will my words change anything? Those rich and powerful men will continue to do as they please, unpunished, and the FBI is nothing more than their lackeys.
Just like what happened just now, even if everything became public, reported in the media, or even brought to court, I would be labeled a psychopath by so-called psychologists like that man, and everything I've done would be meaningless."
But you do have some mental issues.
Jack suppressed his inner grumbling and opened the box, revealing a row of delicate pinhole cameras. He switched one on and pointed it at Megan.
"Ms. Megan Kane, as the person involved, do you object to the FBI recording any future meetings and conversations you may have with a third party in this room?"
Megan, who had previously not minded exposing herself to Jack, now subconsciously sat up straight on the sofa, wrapped tightly in her bathrobe, when faced with the small object in his hand.
She looked at Jack with a slightly wary look, her eyes filled with an unusually complex emotion, and asked word by word, "What exactly do you want to do, Jack?"
Wasn't what she had done obvious enough? Jack sighed, stood up, and attached the camera to the underside of the TV frame. "As you said, the men you're seeking revenge against, the men you want to expose, are all powerful.
Not only are they able to clear their names through elite lawyers, they can even silence the FBI. Well, at least they've managed to convince you that they are, haven't they?
So when this video evidence appears in court, or even leaks to the media, will you still feel that everything you've done is meaningless?"
Megan's previously expressionless face suddenly shifted to a riot of surprise, astonishment, and disbelief. Seeing Jack slowly raise his glass and about to take a sip, she lunged at him.
"Don't drink! It's poisoned!"
"I know." Jack was only pretending, holding the glass high with one hand to prevent it from spilling, while holding her in his arms with the other.
"Now, are you willing to believe that I'm here to help you?"
—
Ding Dong.
"Come in, the door's unlocked."
Hearing his daughter's familiar voice, Andrew Kane breathed a sigh of relief and entered.
Megan, curled up on the sofa, still draped in her robe, now sporting a black lace ensemble, seemed to accentuate her professionalism.
"What's wrong with you?" Andrew turned away uncomfortably.
He'd seen this scene countless times before, with different sexy women and alluring outfits, but when his adult daughter was the protagonist, the alluring atmosphere vanished.
"What's wrong with me?" Megan scoffed, her eyes flickering over the two glasses of red wine on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Am I disappointing you, dear Daddy?"
Andrew tried to sound affable. "How could you kill people, Megan? They were all innocent, good people."
"Innocent, good people?" Megan wiped away a tear. "Then let's talk about how innocent and kind these men are, Daddy."
"That's not what I came here to hear!" Andrew raised his hand in defiance. "The FBI could be here at any moment."
But Megan had no intention of debunking the subject. She flung open her robe.
"Joseph Fielding liked role-playing, but the bruises he left on me were real."
"Shut up!" Andrew lowered his voice and took a trembling step forward.
"Hoyt Asift was always your guest. He knew our whole family, right? Do you think he was so excited when he first slept with me?" Megan said louder and louder.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Andrew's face flushed with anger, his voice no longer suppressed.
"Thinking back then, I was so naive, I actually questioned your women about how they were better than Mom, until I..."
"Shut up, cousin!" Andrew, enraged, stepped forward and grabbed his daughter's neck, but then he came to his senses, loosened his grip as if struck by electricity, and stumbled back.
"Yes, isn't that the way you like it? Catherine told me how many times she thought you'd strangle her to death," Megan gritted her teeth.
Andrew, struck by lightning, stumbled onto the sofa across from his daughter, holding his head in silence for a long moment before slowly speaking, "If this is how you want to punish me, well, I'm telling you, you succeeded, my daughter."
Megan looked at her father coldly, her gaze seemingly unfocused, but it was directed over his head towards the closed bathroom door.
"I accept all of this because it's all my fault," Andrew's tone became calm. "I've wronged your mother. Not only did I leave her, I also deprived her of the property Ben Yin had given her.
But you, Megan, you're my daughter no matter what. I beg you, please don't destroy yourself in this way again. You're still so young, and you have a long way to go. This time, let me protect you."
"Protect?" Megan leaned back on the sofa, her head tilted back slightly, as if she had heard a joke. "How?"
"Turn yourself in. My lawyer will bail you out and send you abroad." As if sensing a wavering in his daughter's attitude, Andrew quickly unleashed the full message he had prepared.
"Oh, of course, just like before, right? Give me some money and let me travel the world, so that troubles can stay away from you," Megan scoffed.
"Oh my God!" Andrew cursed under his breath, looking up at Megan seriously, tears glistening in his eyes. "You're my daughter!"
"I love you," he murmured. "Please, just let me help you this time, let me do something for you. That's three counts of murder, and Texas has the death penalty."
As if reminded by her father, Megan finally realized her fear and instinctively curled up her legs. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Andrew, who was already weeping. "I'm so scared."
"I know."
Andrew stood up from the sofa, walked over to his daughter, and squatted down, softly comforting her. "It's okay, believe me, Daddy is here, and Daddy will protect you."
"Will you always stay with me?" Megan looked pitiful under the light, her previous pretentious air long gone.
"Of course." Andrew gently stroked his daughter's cheek with the back of his hand, wiping away her tears.
"Promise?" Megan sobbed.
"I promise." Andrew, equally moved, reached out to his daughter and pulled her into his arms.
However, this tender moment didn't last long. Andrew, holding his daughter, gently patted her back for a moment before speaking again, "I need one more thing."
"What?" Megan, still crying, gradually stopped crying, her expression gradually becoming colder.
"Your client list."
Upon hearing this, Megan's body stiffened and she slowly loosened her arms.
(End of this chapter)