Katherine, who had been silent ever since getting into the vehicle, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts at Lear's inquiry. She looked up at the man who had just displayed such overwhelming power.
Yes, Katherine had been inside the Orphanage the entire time. From the window, she had witnessed exactly how Lear "killed" that monster, a creature she believed was impossible to defeat.
In her eyes, Lear's actions were the definition of efficiency, perhaps even a form of violent aesthetics.
"My father told me to go to the Police Station to seek protection from Irons. Your Chief told me to wait for him here, saying he would send someone to get me. But I waited for over a day, and no one ever came." She paused, her eyes glancing at the Police uniform Lear was wearing before she continued.
"When I arrived, it seemed as if the place had already been evacuated. There wasn't a single living soul in the entire building, just bodies everywhere."
Hearing her answer, Lear understood immediately. Irons was supposed to come on the 26th to kill this girl and turn her into a taxidermy trophy. However, Lear had dealt with Irons ahead of schedule; by now, the man was likely wandering the Police Station garage as a zombie.
At this thought, Lear observed the Mayor's daughter through the rearview mirror. He found her remarkably calm—calmer than he could have imagined. She showed none of the panic typical of an ordinary woman facing such a situation; there wasn't even a hint of unease.
"Your dad really has some nerve," Jill spoke up from the passenger seat, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Leaving you all alone in a place like this and entrusting you to an idiot like Irons. God only knows what he would have done to you."
Lear turned to glance at Jill with a strange expression.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Jill arched an eyebrow, baffled by his reaction.
"Nothing, nothing. I just think you're absolutely right." Lear nodded silently. The seer's intuition was spot on.
"It doesn't matter. He never cared about me anyway," Katherine's voice rang out again, as flat as if she were stating a fact that had nothing to do with her. "Perhaps it's better for him if I'm dead. Leaving me to Irons was likely part of his plan."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Lear and Jill blurted out their confusion in unison. Even Sherry, who had been sitting quietly by Katherine's side, snapped her head up and stared at her in shock.
"Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he your biological father?" Lear asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.
Katherine nodded, her fingertips lightly tracing her palm. "He is. But ever since my mother disappeared three years ago, I've lived on my own. As for why he wants me dead... it's probably because I know things he doesn't want outsiders to find out."
As she spoke, she pulled a stack of photographs from her pocket and handed them over to Jill.
The photos showed the same man intimately embracing various women in different settings. The backgrounds shifted from lavish ballrooms to private apartments; the scenes changed, but the male lead remained the same. Jill looked through the pictures and said, "Uh, this is your dad, right? It doesn't seem right for you to just show us this."
"It doesn't matter. This isn't the first time. Besides, my 'father' stopped caring about this daughter a long time ago, didn't he?" A trace of mockery appeared on Katherine's face.
"He's afraid that once I leave Raccoon City, I'll hand these things over to my grandfather. If that happens, everything he has will no longer belong to him." Katherine smiled and pinched Sherry's nose.
"What do you mean, no longer belong to him?" Lear, who was driving, took the opportunity to ask.
"Because he started as an obscure clerk and rose to City Councilor, and then finally to Mayor, solely because he married my mother. My grandfather gave him everything he has."
Lear seemed to catch the scent of gossip. "Your grandfather?"
"Yes. Before she married him, my mother's last name was Rockefeller," Katherine said casually while teasing Sherry.
After that... the silence in the car was deafening.
Katherine seemed not to notice the quiet in the cabin as she continued her narration tonelessly: "Before my mother went missing, she mentioned wanting to divorce my father. I asked her why back then, but she wouldn't tell me no matter what. Then, not long after, she disappeared." Katherine's voice suddenly turned somber at this point.
"Later on, my grandfather wanted to end their marriage, but for my sake, the matter was just dropped."
"Well, you must carry a lot of weight then, huh?" Lear gave a dry laugh, trying to liven up the atmosphere.
"Maybe. It's probably because I'm the only girl in this generation of the family." Katherine shrugged, her tone returning to a flat calm.
Although Katherine sounded like she didn't care about anything, everyone in the car could sense it—when speaking of her father, this girl who constantly tried to remain rational still revealed a flicker of sorrow and anger.
"By the way, Sister Jill, how did you meet Sister Katherine?"
Sherry spoke softly, trying to shift the heavy topic.
"Oh, right." Hearing this, Jill snapped out of her thoughts and began to recount what had happened at the Orphanage. "I was fighting that monster and ducked into a room in the panic; Miss Katherine was hiding inside."
"I wasn't familiar with the place to begin with. If Miss Katherine hadn't helped me, I probably wouldn't have lasted until you guys arrived. That monster could smash through walls; once it spotted you, there was no escaping. The two of us had to play hide-and-seek with it in the building. By the time you arrived, it had pretty much torn the place apart."
At this point, Jill turned to look at Lear, who was holding the steering wheel, her voice carrying a trace of subtle concern: "By the way, Lear, are you okay now?"
"I'm fine." Lear looked straight ahead, his voice calm and even a bit relaxed. "And I suppose it's a blessing in disguise. My strength and speed are... a little bit stronger."
"A little bit?" Jill rolled her eyes, looking at him speechless. "The strength to pin a three-meter-tall monster directly to a wall, and you call that 'a little bit' stronger?"
Lear rubbed his nose and talked nonsense with a straight face: "Maybe... I was born with divine strength."
Jill was amused despite herself, shaking her head and choosing not to expose him further.
The tension in the cabin eased slightly. Lear changed the subject and looked at Sherry in the back seat with a smile. "Speaking of which, I have to give a big thank you to Sherry. She's a little hero; she protected me the whole time I was unconscious. If it wasn't for her, I'd be dog food by now."
"Wow! Really? Sherry, you're so amazing!" Jill cooperated immediately, looking at the girl with feigned shock and an exaggerated tone.
"It was nothing..." Sherry blushed furiously in the back seat, whispering shyly.
Watching the interaction between the three of them, Katherine, who had grown quiet in the back, felt a flash of envy in her eyes.
"You all get along so well," Katherine said softly.
Lear smiled. "I guess shared hardships reveal true feelings."
"Shared hardships reveal true feelings..." Katherine nodded thoughtfully.
(Translated by yourtl.app)