Dickson sighed, rubbing his forehead as if this entire situation was draining the last bit of patience he had left. Still, without much of a choice, he extended his phone toward Liam.
"Here. Take it. Just don’t get involved in any of your crazy shit."
Liam smirked slightly as he took the phone and imdiately brought it to his ear.
"Lilith."
A second of silence passed before a familiar, unimpressed voice rang through the speaker.
"What do you want, schoolboy?"
Liam ignored the mocking tone, going straight to the point.
"I want to et up."
There was no hesitation. No pause.
Just a simple, flat reply.
"No."
Liam frowned. "Why not?"
Lilith sighed dramatically, as if the re question annoyed her.
"Because I don’t want to."
Liam exhaled sharply, his fingers tapping against the side of his leg.
He expected her to be difficult, but not this difficult.
Clearly, the direct approach wasn’t working, so he decided to change his strategy.
"What if I could take care of one of your problems?" he asked casually, his tone calculated.
Lilith let out a small chuckle, amusent lacing her voice.
"Oh? And what problem do you think I have, little Liam?"
Liam’s expression remained firm as he spoke two words.
"The Crimson Hand."
A pause.
For the first ti since the conversation started, Lilith actually went quiet.
Liam knew what that ant.
She was listening now.
But just as quickly as the silence ca, it was broken by the sound of her laughing.
Not just a short chuckle.
A full-on, amused, borderline condescending laugh.
"Oh, that’s adorable," she finally said, still giggling a bit. "You really think you can take care of The Crimson Hand? Do you even know what you’re talking about?"
Liam’s grip on the phone tightened slightly.
Lilith sighed as if she had wasted enough ti on him already.
"Listen, kid. The Crimson Hand isn’t so little street gang you can just ’handle.’ They aren’t your average thugs. They aren’t so idiots you can shoot up and call it a day. Now, do yourself a favor—grab your school bag, go to class, and stop embarrassing yourself."
Click.
She hung up.
Liam slowly lowered the phone, staring at the screen for a mont before tossing it back toward Dickson.
Dickson caught it, shaking his head as he let out a deep, satisfied sigh.
"I told you, man. Lilith is a dead end."
On the outside, he tried to act annoyed, but internally, he was relieved as hell.
Now that Lilith had shut Liam down, there was no chance they’d be getting involved with her ss.
At least, that’s what he thought.
Because the next second, Liam suddenly turned to him with that look.
Dickson knew that look.
That ’I have another idea’ look.
And before Dickson could even react, Liam spoke.
"Give your car key."
Dickson’s head snapped up. "Hah?"
"Your car key," Liam repeated, extending his hand. "Hand it over."
Dickson squinted at him, suspicious as hell.
The car he drove wasn’t even his—it was his father’s second cab.
"Yeah, that’s not happening," he said flatly. "No way in hell am I letting you drive my father’s car."
Liam, however, didn’t miss a beat.
"Fine, then drive there."
Dickson blinked. "Drive you where?"
Liam smirked slightly. "Just start driving. I’ll tell you on the way."
Dickson imdiately took a step back.
His eyes widened as realization slapped him across the face.
He pointed a finger at Liam, his voice almost accusatory.
"Don’t tell —we’re going to Lilith’s place?"
Liam furrowed his brows in irritation.
"Bro, I don’t even know where Lilith lives."
Dickson stared at him hard for a few seconds, trying to gauge if he was lying.
Then, after what felt like a long ntal debate, he finally let out a loud groan.
"Fine."
He shoved his phone into his pocket, pulled out his car key, and turned toward the door.
As he stepped outside, Liam followed behind, locking the door as they left.
Dickson stopped in front of the car, glancing at Liam with a mix of annoyance and exhaustion.
"I swear, you better not be looking around for trouble this ti."
Liam just smiled.
But he didn’t say a word.
And that silence?
That damn silence was enough to make Dickson regret everything.
---
Dickson had been driving for what felt like an eternity, but in reality, only about twenty minutes had passed. The farther they went, the less civilization there was, the once-busy roads now turning into long stretches of empty asphalt with barely any cars in sight. Liam’s house was already on the outskirts of the city, so now that they had driven even deeper into the outskirts, there was almost nothing around. The only thing that passed by occasionally were trains, their distant rumbles filling the silence between them. The buildings had thinned out long ago, replaced by open fields and scattered industrial warehouses, most of them looking abandoned or barely in use.
Dickson kept his hands on the wheel, his fingers tapping restlessly against it as he occasionally glanced at Liam, who had been sitting there with an annoyingly calm expression the entire ti. The silence between them wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it also wasn’t tense—at least, not until Liam suddenly spoke.
"Stop here."
Dickson furrowed his brows, his grip on the steering wheel tightening slightly. "Here? The hell do you an ’here’?"
Liam didn’t bother explaining himself. He simply nodded toward the side of the road. "Just stop the car."
There was sothing about the way he said it that made Dickson feel uneasy, but he did as he was told, slowing the car down until it ca to a complete stop. The second he did, he looked out the window—and the mont his eyes landed on what was in front of them, his entire body tensed.
Parked on the side of the road were three black SUVs.
They weren’t just any SUVs, though.
The one in the lead stood out the most—not because it was larger or fancier than the others, but because it was customized.
And written in bold black lettering on the side of it was a na that made Dickson’s stomach drop.
"Black Lotus."
His breath hitched as his brain imdiately recognized the vehicle.
"Oh, fuck no."
His hands curled around the steering wheel as his heartbeat picked up.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
His entire body stiffened as he turned to Liam, his voice rising in panic.
"Liam, are you trying to get us fucking killed?! You told you weren’t going to et Lilith! You swore up and down that we weren’t dealing with her, so why the hell are we here?!"
But instead of answering, Liam simply smiled.
A slow, almost smug smirk that made Dickson want to punch him in the face.
And then, with the most casual tone imaginable, Liam shrugged.
"I lied."
Before Dickson could even react, Liam reached for the door handle and pushed the door open. The cool night air rushed in as he stepped out of the car, his movents completely unhurried as if he was strolling into a café and not toward a group of dangerous people.
Dickson sat there for a second, completely frozen, his mind racing a mile a minute.
And then, pure survival instincts kicked in.
He didn’t think.
He didn’t hesitate.
He slamd his foot on the gas.
The engine roared as the tires screeched against the pavent before the car took off at full speed.
Dickson didn’t look back.
He didn’t need to.
All he knew was that he was not about to stick around and see how this ended.
And as Liam watched the car speed off into the distance, disappearing down the long stretch of road, he simply shook his head with mild amusent.
"Coward."
But he didn’t bla him.
If their roles were reversed, Liam probably would’ve done the exact sa thing.
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