The fireworks bloomed—massive, brilliant, and beautiful.
Dexter watched with his eyes wide open.
He saw seven or eight Mexicans, some in one piece and others... not so much, dancing in the air along with the fireworks before crashing rapidly to the ground.
That was fcking exhilarating!
Dexter couldn't help but think.
Just then.
[Merit Points +2354, +3452, +3654, +4524, +643...]
Holy cow.
The results were in. There were eight Mexicans in total. Judging by the merit points, it looked like four died on the spot, and four were crippled.
In this one wave, he had earned nearly fifteen thousand Merit Points.
Just one bomb, and he got this much!
Pure bliss.
Dexter was overjoyed.
Meanwhile, the commotion from the explosion stirred up the drunks in the area and many people living upstairs. Everyone started moving, looking toward the blast site.
Svetlana also climbed out of bed in confusion, turned on the light, and looked outside.
In moments.
The pile of bodies, blood, and the sounds of screaming and wailing at the intersection were laid bare before everyone's eyes.
Someone called the police.
Dexter looked up and checked both sides of the street. He decided to wait a little while longer, letting the chaos fully erupt before getting out of the car and leaving. After all, leaving right now might attract unnecessary attention.
Time flew by.
Ambulances and police cars arrived at high speed, one after another.
A crowd had already gathered around the blast site.
Seeing the time was right, Dexter pushed open his car door, got out, and walked toward his hotel with a cigarette dangling from his lips.
At the entrance of Dex Fruit Shop.
Outside the police tape.
Svetlana, wearing pajamas, stood in the crowd looking at the bodies on the ground. She recognized one of the Mexican men whose mask had just been removed by the police—he was one of the guys who had come by during the day. Her expression instantly changed, turning grave.
Svetlana was smart. Recognizing one of them, she immediately guessed that for these people to appear here so late wearing masks, nine times out of ten, they were here to cause trouble for Dex Fruit Shop!
But then, a massive explosion suddenly happened, and they were blown up?
No matter how you looked at it, something was off.
So...
Did these Mexicans bring the bomb themselves, and it accidentally went off early, blowing them up?
Or did someone blow them up?
Svetlana's mind raced. In the blink of an eye, she was basically certain it was the latter.
The reason was simple.
These guys were just street vendors selling fruit on the roadside. Where would they get the money or connections to get something as high-end as a remote-controlled bomb?
So...
Who would blow up a group of Mexicans in the middle of the night?
Thump.
A face that always wore a smile appeared in Svetlana's mind.
Svetlana's body trembled. Immediately, without hesitation, she moved away from the crowd, silently scanning the surroundings.
Scanning and scanning...
Svetlana spotted Dexter's Ferrari!
Holy shit!
Her gaze landed on the Ferrari, and she couldn't suppress a silent gasp. She glanced back at the corpses inside the police tape.
What exactly does he do?
Svetlana asked herself internally. Then, she decisively turned around and returned to the fruit shop.
A few minutes later.
A police officer walked into Dex Fruit Shop for routine questioning.
Svetlana was calm and composed, claiming ignorance to everything. She simply said she had been sleeping and only got up when she heard the explosion.
The police left.
Svetlana couldn't be bothered with the noise outside. She quickly locked the door, turned off the lights, and got back into bed.
As for reporting Dexter?
A ruthless man like Dexter...
She admired him; report him, my ass!
Svetlana closed her eyes, her heart pounding and her chest heaving as she drifted off to sleep.
---
The Gallagher House.
Kevin and Veronica had been busy until now. They had finally managed to soothe Debbie, who had been crying breathlessly since Tony brought her back. After getting her to eat dinner, they tucked her into bed.
What?
Carl?
Carl hadn't wanted to come back at all; he was still looking forward to juvenile detention. After being brought home, aside from feeling regretful about missing out on jail, he acted completely normal—eating when he should eat, drinking when he should drink, and sleeping when he should sleep.
"Sigh." Finished with everything, Veronica walked out of the Gallagher house and let out a long sigh.
Tony had already given them a rough idea of what was happening with Fiona and the boys.
Veronica and Kevin knew the fate awaiting the three of them.
"What are we going to do with those three kids now?" Veronica said, nursing a headache. "Monica is crippled, and even if she wasn't, she definitely couldn't take care of them."
Kevin had a headache too.
Ignoring Lip was one thing, but watching three kids suffer was a completely different matter.
"What can we do? We'll just have to suck it up and take care of them..." Kevin really didn't want to deal with this hardship, but there was no other way.
Hearing this, Veronica was silent for a few seconds. "I have to work every day, and you're busy with the bar. We can't take care of them. We can't just stop working."
Kevin scratched his head. "True... then what do we do?"
"Let's find them a nanny," Veronica suggested.
Kevin froze. "That's going to cost a lot of money... Damn Gallaghers!!"
Veronica gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "There's no other choice. If we don't step in, DFS will probably come and take Debbie and the other two away within a few days."
Kevin looked up at the sky. "Maybe them getting taken away would be better."
"Don't talk sht!" Veronica immediately shot that down. "After what happened with Kamala, you still trust DFS?"
Kevin was just joking. "I was kidding. Alright, let's do it. We'll find a nanny."
"Sigh," Veronica sighed again.
By then, they had reached their own door and went inside.
The day had been exhausting.
Before long, they were both asleep.
---
Inside the temporary holding cell at the police station.
Fiona sat on a cold bench, leaning against the wall. Her body trembled slightly, tears streaming down her face. She was still in a state of terror, without a shred of sleepiness. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the Gallagher house.
Is Debbie asleep?
Did Carl brush his teeth?
Is Liam okay?
Tomorrow, the day after, the next few months...
What will happen to the three of them?
Who will take care of them?
Will they even have food to eat?
...
Fiona's brain felt like it was running on a high-speed motor.
Countless questions popped up one after another, seemingly endless.
Accompanied by these terrifying questions, Fiona shook harder and cried harder.
As she shook and cried...
Uncontrollably, Fiona began to imagine...
What if I hadn't given up that job at Dex Restaurant because of Lip? What would things be like now?
I'd be like Veronica—going to work on time every day, doing an easy job, and making good money.
I definitely wouldn't have gone to burglarize a house. I wouldn't have ended up here. I wouldn't have to go to prison. I wouldn't have left Debbie and the others with no one to care for them...
If I had just made the right choice back then.
Everything would be different.
And so.
In this moment.
Fiona felt a gut-wrenching regret. And along with it, a gut-wrenching hatred for Lip!!!!