Surviving In This Filthy World As A Novel Villain

That single promise from Alex caused panic. All of the Kleinberg Industries's business partners backed out almost overnight. Logan himself started desperately selling everything he owned, clearly trying to scrape together cash and make a run for it.

Then, Logan disappeared. The Kleinberg Industries was suddenly adrift without a leader. That's when Sera swept in, bringing a team from Reid Industries with her.

They completely cleaned the house, firing a ton of the company's senior managers. Later digging showed that every single person fired was someone loyal to Logan or one of the other members.

Alex claimed he was just 'lending Sera a hand.' But look at the result: all those high-level positions left empty by the purge? Filled immediately by people from Reid Industries.

They called it 'temporary help,' naturally.

The official story was that once Sera hired suitable replacements, the Reid people would step back and return the jobs.

'Yeah, like hell they would!' Jed didn't buy it for a second.

He'd investigated thoroughly, but hit frustrating dead ends. He couldn't find a single shred of evidence linking Alex to the Logan Disappearing… Nothing.

Yet, his gut feeling screamed otherwise. He was almost certain Alex was the puppet master behind the kidnapping of Logan's family.

But gut feelings weren't proof.

Making things even harder, the higher-ups at the police station had explicitly warned him off investigating Alex. Any digging he did now had to be strictly off the books, kept completely secret.

"Mr. Alex, you wouldn't happen to remember Logan, would you?" Jed decided to just ask directly. Trying to be subtle clearly didn't work with this guy; Alex was just too slick with his words.

Alex answered coolly, "Of course, I remember him. Sera's dear uncle, isn't he? Haven't seen him around in for weeks. Sera actually misses him, you know."

'Oh, she 'misses' him alright,' Alex thought with dark amusement. 'She gets those daily video updates of dear uncle getting roughed up. Watches them with such deep feeling, tears practically streaming down her face.'

"…." He didn't believe a single word coming out of Alex's mouth.

If Sera hadn't come to him first, crying her eyes out, saying she suspected her own uncle was behind her parents' death... And if Jed hadn't later uncovered evidence pointing straight at Logan as the one who ordered the car 'accident' that killed Sera's parents...

Sera would miss the man who likely murdered her parents?

What kind of sick joke was this?

This guy was incapable of telling the truth.

"He's gone missing," Jed stated plainly, locking eyes with Alex, searching for any tiny reaction, any flicker in his expression.

But, as expected, nothing.

Alex's face was a perfect mask. He knew exactly how guys like Jed operated, always looking for tells. He wasn't about to give this crime-solving protagonist anything.

"Really? Since when?" Alex asked, feigning genuine surprise perfectly.

Jed kept staring. "It's been over two weeks."

"Oh, Sera will be heartbroken when she finds out," Alex sighed, sounding deeply concerned for her. "Officer Jed, please, do me a favor and don't tell her just yet, alright?" He paused, then added smoothly, "You know, Officer Jed, Sera mentioned you before. Said you were a good guy."

[The Protagonist 'Jed' has a Mentality Crack. Congratulations! You've earned 60 Critical Points.]

Being unexpectedly slapped with the 'good guy' label left Jed wanting to snap back, but he was speechless.

'Sixty points? So cheap! Not very generous for a System-using Protagonist!' Alex grumbled inwardly. He was actually starting to miss Eric Vaughn and his much bigger point payouts.

Just then, a different notification popped up:

[The Protagonist 'Eric Vaughn' has a Mental Breakdown. Congratulations! You've earned 600 Critical Points.]

Huh?

Alex blinked in surprise.

'What happened with Eric Vaughn now? What did those five hospital doctors do to his... uh... delicate parts this time?'

Those doctors are seriously vicious!

"About Miss Sera..." Jed started to ask another question, but the lead officer finally stepped in.

"Kid, that's enough questions!" the senior officer interrupted sharply. "Mr. Alex is a respected businessman in this city, not some criminal you're grilling! Show some respect!"

Turning to Alex, he apologized quickly, "Mr. Alex, really sorry about him. He's new, still figuring things out. Hope he didn't bother you too much."

"No worries. The rookie's got passion, I'll give him that," Alex waved it off easily. He paused, pretending to recall something. "Actually, Officer Jed, I heard you've only been here less than a month but you've already cracked three murder cases? That's pretty amazing!"

Jed forced his polite smile back on. "Thank you, sir."

"You know," Alex went on, looking thoughtful, "before Officer Jed showed up, I honestly didn't even realize our city had this many murders." He put on a look of slight worry.

"It feels like years since I heard about any killings in the City. Those culprits must have been hiding really deep. Then Officer Jed arrives, and boom! Three cases solved just like that. Incredible, truly incredible."

[The Protagonist 'Jed' has a Mentality Crack. Congratulations! You've earned 100 Critical Points.]

Without giving Jed any room to reply, Alex rubbed his temples, feigning exhaustion. "Look, Officer Jed, let's wrap this up for tonight, okay? It's been a crazy long day with business stuff, and I'm beat. We can talk some other time. I need to crash."

With that, Alex brushed past Jed and walked back into the bar, Lane following silently behind him.

Jed watched Alex disappear inside. The moment Alex was out of sight, the friendly, easygoing smile dropped from Jed's face, replaced by a sharp, calculating coldness.

He rested his chin on his hand, his eyes narrowed in thought. 'What exactly did Logan do to you, Alex? What grudge was big enough to make you spend serious resources hiring someone all the way in another country? Was it really just about Sera?'

He knew Alex was chasing after Sera, but could it honestly be love?

No. No way.

Guys like Alex didn't operate like that. They didn't orchestrate something this big, this risky, just for a woman.

Feelings like love? They were irrelevant, maybe even weaknesses, to men like Alex.

Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the cold look vanished. The warm, approachable smile slid back onto Jed's face as if it had never left.