Chapter 216: I Still Love Your Unruly Spirit!
"Why is it impossible?" Caroline insisted. "Are you saying all three of them are lying?"
"They are lying!" After overcoming her initial shock, Patrick Kloster quickly composed himself and stated definitively. "They may not be famous, but they each have their own playing style, and that was their style just now!"
"What difference does it make whether they're playing or not?" Caroline asked curiously. "If they are playing, then you'll have a huge advantage against Chuck in these three unfinished games. If they aren't playing, then Chuck is directing them on his phone. You don't think they can provide Chuck with any 1+1>2 effect, do you?"
Seeing the somewhat offended expressions on the faces of the four top New York chess players, she quickly added in typical fashion, "No offense intended."
"..." The four top New York players remained silent, their faces dark.
The classic 'no offense intended' is precisely full of blatant offense!
However, they had to admit Caroline's logic. Even with Chuck as their team leader, they hadn't achieved anything. Their presence or absence made no difference; even though their style was theirs, the increasingly brilliant moves at crucial moments were completely different from what they had originally planned.
"Are we playing or not?" Chuck didn't dwell on this, simply looking at Patrick Kloster.
His goal was to shatter the confidence of this arrogant world champion grandmaster, to eliminate his notion of risking his wife's death to challenge him. Victory on the chessboard was merely a means, not an end.
If his opponent still backed down, then Chuck had already sent his message, and there was no need to waste time.
Wouldn't it be better to play chess with Anna?
Chess is about a battle of minds. One-sided domination of weaker opponents might have interested Chuck in his previous life, but he had long since moved past such basic satisfaction.
"Is it really you playing?" Patrick Kloster stared intently at Chuck, still somewhat doubtful.
Chuck didn't answer, but simply reached into his pocket. Then Patrick Kloster's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw the message: "Any more questions?"
Jane immediately smiled knowingly.
Chuck could not only read text through materials, but he could also type without looking. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Chuck would suddenly go blind one day—it probably wouldn't affect him much.
Patrick Kloster put down his phone and looked at the three unfinished games that he should have finished immediately, but Chuck's fast pace had prevented him from attending to them.
Although their playing style matched the three top New York players, he had previously been confident he could finish them quickly. But now, realizing that Chuck was remotely controlling them, even though he still seemed to have the advantage, he lacked the confidence to continue.
What if there was some 'trap' he didn't know about?
That would be a complete disaster!
"You've really given me too many surprises today." After much deliberation, Patrick Kloster gave up. "Whether you worked together or not, this game is no longer clean. I look forward to our next real one-on-one match, instead of this kind of ambush."
"No need," Chuck shook his head.
"Why not?" Caroline seemed to realize something and chimed in.
"Because I've already conveyed my message," Chuck looked at Patrick Kloster. "Mrs. Kloster, you're going home tonight... I still prefer your unruly side."
With that, ignoring Patrick Kloster's livid face, he led Jane out.
"What does this have to do with Mrs. Kloster?" Caroline caught up with Chuck, her eyes full of curiosity.
"It's like this..." Jane didn't want rumors to spread about Chuck and Linda having an affair, leading to some bizarre scandal. She also wanted to spread the word to ensure Linda wouldn't be murdered when she got home, so she patiently explained the whole story.
"Oh my God!" Upon hearing this bizarre story, Caroline covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filled with disbelief and excitement. "You mean Chuck defeated the World Champion Grandmaster just to shatter his confidence and stop him from killing his wife? That's incredible!"
"It really is incredible," Jane couldn't help but marvel. Even though she had known Chuck for a long time, he still managed to redefine her understanding of what was possible.
"Will he still kill his wife?" Seeing Chuck and the others about to leave, Caroline quickly followed and asked.
Jane also looked at Chuck—this was what she was most concerned about right now.
"I don't know," Chuck shook his head.
"You don't know?" Jane was shocked. "But didn't you say you'd let Linda go back tonight?"
"I've done what I needed to do," Chuck said calmly. "He knows who I am now. Whether he chooses to continue is his own choice. Since Mrs. Kloster doesn't want a divorce and still wants to go back to him, going back tonight or going back later makes no difference. This case is closed. We'll talk about it again if something happens later."
"..." Jane was speechless.
"Something happens later" meant Linda was dead.
However, she could only acknowledge that birds of a feather flock together; this world champion grandmaster was indeed extraordinary, but Linda was also quite peculiar and impossible to manage.
"Where are you going now?" Caroline enthusiastically invited. "I'll treat you to some fun! You can tell me all about this case, and I'll help you promote it."
Chuck ignored her. Jane was surprised that Caroline immediately understood her intentions, but considering she was Martin Channing's daughter, her intelligence and quick thinking were understandable. She jokingly laughed, "Sorry, I'm tired. I don't have the energy to play. Maybe next time."
"What are you tired from?" Caroline's face darkened as Chuck walked away, raising an eyebrow as she scrutinized Jane. "Are you trying to brag about how happy you and Chuck were last night?"
"...You're reading too much into it," Jane was a little unaccustomed to this sudden mood shift, her expression faltering for a moment, but she quickly recovered, saying with self-deprecation and sarcasm, "What right do I, a mere experimental subject, have to boast?"
With that, she smiled at Caroline and turned to leave.
"Damn it!" Although Caroline didn't know Chuck's habits, she keenly sensed what "experimental subject" meant, and glared at Jane as she walked away, muttering, "She got me!"
A week later.
In the office in Peaceful Pines.
Chuck was training Leonard's chess skills online.
"Linda's doing okay now—that's good news, right?" Jane, who had been watching the live stream of the Moscow World Chess Championship while texting, put down her phone and asked Chuck.
"Like I said, I'm not paying attention anymore," Chuck didn't even look up.
"Okay," Jane sighed, and could only continue watching the live stream.
For her, investigating a case after it happened was completely different from monitoring a dangerous person before the incident.
She wanted to be like Chuck and not pay attention, but she simply couldn't.
Suddenly, Chuck's phone rang. It was a voice call request from Leonard. Chuck answered, "Yes?"
"Chuck, you really, I..." Leonard, trembling with emotion, couldn't finish his sentence before bursting into tears.
"What's wrong?" Jane couldn't help but look away from the live stream and asked, "Don't cry! What happened?"
"These aren't tears of sadness, they're tears of joy," Leonard said with a tearful laugh. "Chuck, you're so good to me."
"..." Jane finally understood what had happened and muttered to herself, "What's going on now?"
She had noticed that Leonard completely idolized Chuck, and often found himself in situations where Chuck's thoughtful gestures would lead to 'I'm going to cry' moments.
"No need to pretend, I saw it all," Leonard wiped away his tears and said happily. "You must have convinced my mom and the others to throw me a birthday party, right? Although I have to accept this tradition because my mom doesn't like celebrating birthdays, I've always wanted to celebrate my birthday properly like other kids, even just once, even if it's just a birthday cake with 'Happy Birthday Leonard' written on it..."
"Oh, this." Jane stared in disbelief, repeatedly giving Chuck meaningful glances, conveying her meaning: "It's his birthday today? I forgot! You prepared a birthday party for him?"
She just didn't believe it!
"I didn't," Chuck said honestly.
"...You didn't?" Leonard, who was enthusiastically recounting his touching discovery, paused, then laughed. "I'm already standing at the corner of my street. I can see it! No need to keep pretending! I've always had this fantasy that one day my parents would suddenly change their minds and secretly prepare a surprise birthday party for me. I never thought it would actually happen today! Thank you so much, Chuck! You're truly my best friend!"
"What did you see?" Jane couldn't help but ask.
She was genuinely curious about what had given Leonard this illusion.
"I saw a lot of cars parked outside, and I could vaguely hear soft voices coming from inside the house. I could even smell the aroma of chocolate cake wafting in the wind," Leonard laughed. "This must be the surprise birthday party you prepared for me, right? It smells so good! This is my favorite cake! God, for a moment just now, I almost thought I was imagining things, haha, you almost fooled me! But you don't need to fool me anymore. I'll pretend I don't know about this surprise. Don't worry, I'm actually very good at acting surprised!"
"Chuck?" Jane had a very ominous feeling and looked at Chuck again for confirmation.
Anyway, she knew she hadn't received any information about this.
If this is wrong, it would be too cruel for a little kid!
"I never celebrate my birthday!" Chuck said bluntly. "I didn't prepare any surprise birthday party for you."
"Okay, okay," Leonard suppressed his joy and replied dismissively, his voice full of 'I know what you mean, I understand, I got it,' and said in a low voice, "I'm coming in now. Wait, let me first practice Sheldon's 'O' face—the shocked expression from his EEG test—and then follow up with his favorite 'D' face—the happy, smiling expression. See if I can nail it..."
Saying this, he put down his phone, adjusted his expression several times, and then pushed open the door.
"Could it actually be true?" Jane couldn't hear the voice on the other end anymore, and the image of Leonard's jaw dropping floated in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if Leonard's parents had really changed and prepared a surprise birthday party for him.
"Mom, what's this?" Just as she couldn't help but ask, Leonard's voice rang out again.
"Oh, it's nothing serious, honey," Beverly's voice, as always, was calm and detached on the other end of the phone. "Your grandfather is dead."
"...What?!" Jane and Leonard, in unison, were stunned for a moment before exclaiming.
"Your grandfather is dead," Sheldon confirmed on the other end of the phone.
"I heard you!!!" Leonard yelled at Sheldon frantically.
"You heard it and you still ask?" Sheldon didn't care about Leonard's yelling and frowned in disgust.
Just as Jane was considering how to comfort Leonard, the phone was hung up.
"Oh my God!" Jane exclaimed. "Poor kid, to have to go through something like this!"
Seeing that Chuck's expression was still calm, she couldn't help but raise her voice to remind him. "Didn't you hear? He thought we had prepared his first surprise birthday party, but it turned out his grandfather was dead. This is just too cruel."
"What's cruel about it?" Chuck said dismissively.
"If this isn't cruel, then what is?" Jane exclaimed incredulously.
"Being stuffed into a locker in a fetal position, having my underwear pulled up so high it caused injury, having it stapled shut, having laxatives forced down my throat while being surrounded by a group of football players to prevent me from going to the bathroom, having walnuts smashed on my forehead, having urine added to my drink, being stripped naked and thrown into the girls' locker room, having a parrot stuffed into my underwear..."
"Wait, wait!" Jane interrupted, speechless, as Chuck calmly recounted countless horrific acts of bullying. "I know school bullying is cruel—you don't need to tell me every example you know!"
"I'm only talking about what Leonard experienced," Chuck corrected.
"..." Jane stared, stammering, "These, these are all examples of bullying Leonard experienced?"
"I'm just giving a few typical examples," Chuck said matter-of-factly.
Jane paused for a moment, then said with difficulty, "These bullying incidents are indeed cruel, but emotionally, they can't compare to this one. First, there was a wonderful surprise, then this reversal, and the worst part is how coldly his mother said it... Emotionally, it's absolutely the cruelest!"
"Leonard has never been hugged by his mother, so he invented the hug machine," Chuck corrected Jane's misconception. "Leonard did his homework, and because he didn't know his sister and brother had done similar projects, his mother publicly criticized him for plagiarism, to the point that he wet his pants in front of everyone..."
"Okay, I was wrong," Jane listened to Chuck's endless description of how Beverly 'loved' her son, Leonard, and decisively admitted her mistake.
Compared to those, just thinking there would be a surprise birthday party first, and then being coldly informed by his mother that his grandfather had died—suddenly, it didn't seem like such a big deal.
"He won!" Suppressing her sympathy for Leonard, Jane looked at the live stream again and couldn't help but comment. "It seems he's recovered from the blow you dealt him."
"No, he hasn't," Chuck glanced at it and said. "In the past, with this opponent, he wouldn't have needed 44 moves to win."
"Really?" Jane was surprised, then somewhat pleased.
She hoped this bastard would never recover.
At Patrick Kloster's villa.
The voluptuous Linda was putting on makeup in front of the mirror. Seeing the maid enter, she couldn't help but ask, "Is he back yet?"
"Not yet, ma'am," the maid replied. "The driver said he just picked him up and is on his way home."
Seeing Linda's nervousness, the maid couldn't help but add, "Ma'am, would you like David to make you a drink?"
David was another male servant.
That's right! The villa employed both maids and male servants, with as many as four people serving Linda and her husband. Jane, having never been to such a place before, lacked a true understanding of this kind of lifestyle as a wealthy woman; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so puzzled as to why Linda was willing to risk her life rather than divorce and leave, even under these circumstances.
"No need, Patrick will be back soon. I can't drink," Linda was tempted but refused, continuing her makeup; she wanted to greet her triumphant husband in her most perfect state.
Not long after, a luxury car pulled into the villa.
Linda, along with the servants, stood at the door to greet her husband as he stepped out: "Congratulations, darling, you've won the world championship again! I'm so proud of you!"
Patrick Kloster didn't speak, only scrutinizing his wife. According to the original plan, she was supposed to be dead when he returned in triumph, but now she was still standing there. A shadow crossed his eyes.
"Darling?" Linda's smile froze, and she called out awkwardly.
"Heh." The darkness in Patrick Kloster's eyes vanished. He chuckled and walked over, putting his arm around Linda's shoulder. "Darling," he said intimately, "don't you feel like something's missing from this house?"
"What's missing?" Linda stiffly allowed her husband to lead her inside.
"A child," Patrick Kloster smiled. "I think we should have a child."
"Really?" Linda was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.
When they were deeply in love, they had decided to remain childless. She felt wonderful then, wishing they could enjoy their life as a couple forever.
But now she desperately wanted to be pregnant. It wasn't that her mindset had changed, but rather that it represented a thaw in their relationship, greatly dispelling her fear of death.
"But I'm 42—can I still have a child?" After the initial surprise, she was worried.
"You don't need to!" Patrick Kloster laughed. "I can't bear to see you sacrifice your beautiful figure and suffer. We can adopt a child."
"Adopt?" Linda hesitated.
Would a child be useful if they weren't blood-related?
"Yes," Patrick Kloster's eyes flashed. "Remember that little chess prodigy? I think we could adopt her. It's not good for her to stay in the orphanage all the time."
He touched Linda's lips with his finger, adding meaningfully, "Besides, you need a child to keep you company, don't you?"
"Okay," seeing that her husband had made up his mind, what could Linda do but nod in agreement?
(End of Chapter)
[+500 Power Stones = +2 Extra Chapter]
[+10 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (50+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01