Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 810: Late Twilight

“Hailey, where are you going? The changing room is over here!” The security guard pointed in the direction next to them. Before this, ‘Hailey’ seemed to have walked in the wrong direction.

Upon hearing this, Arnold instinctively reached for his glasses—only to realize they had been taken by Caroline. He quickly shifted to scratch his nose instead and hurriedly said, “I know, I was just planning to use the restroom.”

The security guard shrugged. “There’s a restroom inside the changing room.”

“Ha… is that so? Yeah, there is, hehe.” Arnold nodded.

“Hailey!” Suddenly, the security guard stared at Arnold, his eyes unblinking as he approached. “Could it be that you…”

“What… what’s wrong with me?” Arno turned his head away.

“Could it be that you…” The security guard nearly pressed his body against Arnold, making him instinctively back up until he was against the wall. Only then did the guard say, “You’re not planning to steal from the bar, are you?”

“Steal alcohol?” Arno was taken aback.

The guard glanced around and lowered his voice. “Let me tell you, the manager has noticed a lot of good alcohol is missing. I don’t know who tipped him off, but they said someone has been sneaking the alcohol out to sell... It’s been a while since I last did something, and now that you’re back, don’t go getting yourself in trouble!”

“Oh… oh, okay, thanks,” Arnold nodded.The guard smiled this time. “Alright, hurry in and grab your things, then go take care of your lady boss… By the way, Hailey, don’t you look a bit different?”

“Really?” Arnold quickly pushed the door open, leaving the guard with just his back. “Maybe my hair’s gotten longer; I haven’t had a haircut recently.”

“Is that so?” The guard shrugged, not thinking much of it.

He quickly unlocked the locker for ‘Hailey’ and leaned in, seemingly curious about what was inside. However, Arnold closed the locker door while looking at the guard.

The guard laughed and whistled as he walked away. “I’ll be waiting outside; hurry up!”

Arnold nodded and then shone the flashlight inside the locker. He noticed a black bag and directly used it to gather everything inside, regardless of size, checking to make sure nothing was left behind...

Not long after, Arnold exited, and the guard was outside smoking. When he saw ‘Hailey’ come out, he chatted and laughed while accompanying him out of the Cata Club.

Caroline seemed to be getting impatient, walking up with an unhappy expression, which made the guard feel a bit gleeful.

“Buddy, good luck to you,” the guard patted his shoulder and returned to the security booth.

Seeing Caroline approach, Arnold patted the bag in his hand, indicating that he had retrieved the items. Caroline nodded, seemingly relieved.

Suddenly, Arnold said, “Oscar owes you a little golden statue!”

Caroline shot him a glare, snatched the bag from his hand, and then lowered her voice, saying, “Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Arnold nodded, and the two quickly left while the streetlights were dim, planning to find a safe place to check the contents of the bag.

However, they had not walked far when several men in short-sleeved floral shirts appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

Are we being robbed? Caroline's first thought was this—only to quickly dismiss it, as locals rarely experienced robberies.

Generally, it was foreigners or tourists who faced robberies more often.

“What do you want?” Caroline, being someone who operated in the gray market, at least didn’t panic completely when confronted.

One of the men sneered, “So you finally dare to show up, Hailey? Grab them!”

With a sudden wave of his hand, several big men rushed forward, and within moments, they had Arnold and Caroline subdued, leaving them unable to struggle.

“What do you want! Let go of me! Let go of me!!” Caroline attempted to bite the hand of the man holding her, but soon she felt a bag being pulled over her head and upper body.

All she could hear were screams, the cries of Arno—he seemed to be getting beaten by these men.

Ah—!! Ah—!!

“I’m not Hailey… Ah—! I really am not…”

“Scum! You swallowed our stuff, thinking if you didn’t show up, we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it!”

“Take them! Bring them back, and I’ll deal with this guy properly and make him spit out what he has!”

Caroline grew increasingly terrified; she couldn’t see anything and could only feel herself being pulled along. Eventually, it seemed she was forced into a vehicle, where someone reached in to cover her nose with a hand, pressing a cloth against it.

She smelled an almond scent before losing consciousness.

……

……

Sizzle—sizzle—sizzle!

The car radio only emitted static, no matter which station it was tuned to. Alfie shook his head and simply turned off the car audio.

The traffic situation was terrible—the power outage had caused the traffic lights on the main road to stop working, leaving only the police to direct traffic manually; it was strange if the road conditions were good.

The car stopped on the road, and Alfie irritably took a sip from a bottle of mineral water, then casually tossed it onto the passenger seat—where it hit something.

It was a work ID with Alfie’s photo and identification—he was the Minister of Security for this country.

After some persuasion from his secretary, Alfie finally decided to take a break from his work, intending to go home to rest, take a shower, and change clothes.

However, he felt that he would probably waste a lot of time stuck in this congested traffic.

At this moment, Alfie's phone suddenly rang—since he had been at the control center of the Ministry of Security, the strange pulses from the storm outside had not affected his phone.

“Hello, this is Alfie.” He activated his Bluetooth. “Barbara, what’s going on?”

The caller was Barbara, a Filipina maid he employed.

“Oh! My God, Mr. Alfie, I finally got through to you! It seems the communication has been restored; I’ve been looking for you!” Barbara said happily.

“It should be that some areas are starting to restore; I'm just in a service zone,” Alfie replied casually. “What’s the matter?”

“Sir, school has been canceled. I picked Louis up from the school dormitory and just got him to sleep.” Barbara said dutifully. “Sir, you haven’t been home for several days. I wanted to ask if you’re coming back tonight. If you’re not, I won’t clock out yet.”

“Oh… sorry, Barbara, I’ve been too busy.” Alfie rubbed his forehead. “Let’s do this: I should be home soon, and when I get back, you can clock out.”

“Sir, do you need me to prepare dinner for you?”

“No, I’m not hungry. Just tidy up a bit; you can leave when I get back.” Alfie casually instructed, then asked about Louis's situation.

The child was attending a full-time boarding school, and he could only come home during holidays. It wasn't a holiday now, but it was normal for school to be canceled if there was a power outage.

“Louis is very good; he hasn’t made any noise; he just wants you to come back soon,” Barbara sighed. “Sir, you know, Louis is still very young, and with you so busy and Dr. Franky often not coming home, Louis feels lonely.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Barbara.” Alfie seemed reluctant to dwell on the topic and quickly said, “I’m driving now, let’s talk later when I get back.”

……

“Well then, I’ll head home. I want to go back and check on things too.”

Barbara, nearly forty, nodded to Alfie before riding away on her bicycle. After watching her leave, Alfie yawned and returned to his room.

He went upstairs and arrived at his son Louis's room. Alfie quietly entered the room without turning on the lights, using the light from the hallway to guide him to the bedside.

He leaned down to kiss his sleeping son's forehead and tucked Louis's arm back under the covers, only to touch something inside the blanket.

Alfie pulled it out to see it was a photo frame.

His expression grew somewhat complex, and he sighed before placing the frame on the bedside table. He then closed the door and went back downstairs—this residential area had already restored power.

Alfie took a sparkling water from the fridge, took a couple of gulps, and drank nearly half of it. He planned to take a shower but heard a noise—someone had opened the front door.

He frowned and walked into the living room.

He saw a swaying figure stumble inside… holding a bottle of alcohol that was more than half empty, and the person just sat down right at the entrance where shoes were changed, appearing quite drunk.

The person was Dr. Franky.

“How did you get back?” Alfie walked up to Dr. Franky but seemed unwilling to help him up, just standing there.

Dr. Franky looked up when he heard the voice, his eyes half-open and bleary. He belched, “Alfie… oh… you’re back…”

Saying this, Dr. Franky leaned against the wall and struggled to stand up, but he immediately lost his balance and was about to fall. Alfie frowned, reached out to catch him, and then pulled him over to the sofa in the living room.

He pushed Dr. Franky onto the sofa. “Look at you! School is canceled, and Barbara brought Louis back! So hurry up and get rid of the smell of alcohol; I don’t want Louis to think his grandfather is a drunk!”

For a moment, Dr. Franky seemed to stiffen, but he quickly turned over and lay down on the sofa, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Alfie gritted his teeth, feeling an unnamed anger rise within him but unable to vent it. He paced back and forth in the living room, walking quickly, and finally rubbed his face with both hands before sitting down.

The single sofa was only an arm's length away from the long sofa, and he scrutinized the alcohol-soaked Dr. Franky. He knew the old man wasn’t really asleep.

“Two days ago, you met Billy at the theater. What was it for?” Alfie asked, frowning.

He had some guesses in his heart but still wanted to hear Dr. Franky’s answer. However, the doctor remained silent, as if he had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Alfie rubbed his face again. “Actually, even if you don’t say anything, I can guess a bit. This government will no longer fund your project; at least not in the next few years. Billy probably has plans to sponsor you, right? Yes, if we could launch a satellite of our own, it would indeed have a significant impact on the future situation.”

The sound of snoring came from the doctor.

Alfie sneered, “Hmph, look at you now; you probably got shut down by Billy, right? With the Senate president dead, various factions need to reshuffle. Plus, the theater case has put the current leaders in a tough spot; it’s a great opportunity for those in the opposition. Give it up; with this opportunity, Billy won’t invest a large amount of money in you for the time being. Don’t think those politicians are that patriotic; they are only interested in kissing up to their benefactors!”

The snoring seemed to get louder.

Alfie let out a heavy sigh, leaning back against the sofa's backrest, staring at the ceiling. After a long silence, he slowly said, “I know that’s your dream. But… we are just mortals; some things are indeed impossible. So let it go. Letting go of yourself is also letting go of others. If it weren’t for your stubbornness and insistence on conducting launch tests back then, such a tragedy wouldn’t have happened.”

The snoring quieted down significantly.

“Every time Louis asks me where his mother went, I never tell him the truth…” Alfie looked at Dr. Franky’s back, bitterness in his voice. “What do you expect me to say? That his mother, your student, my wife, insisted on launching an unstable rocket without obtaining all the safety data because of her grandfather's authoritarianism and stubbornness, which led to the whole…”

“Forget it!” Alfie suddenly stood up. “You just keep sleeping in your dreams; don’t wake up… After all these years, I’ve gotten used to it. But I beg you, what you research is your business, but you’d better not get involved in this power struggle. You’re not young anymore; if you want to retire, you can do so at any time.”

“I’m going to take a shower; I have to go back later. Things have been hectic lately; the president issued a strict order…” Alfie walked toward the stairs. “School is on break these days, and Louis is at home. If you have time, spend some time with him. If you don’t, I’ll have Barbara come over earlier. That’s it… Good night.”

The sound of footsteps going upstairs gradually faded, leaving only a wall lamp lit in the living room.

He curled up on the sofa like a homeless person on the streets.

Suddenly, the doctor pulled the cushion over his head, plunging the world into complete darkness.