Chapter 503 I Am A Killer
“Why should I? He obviously—” Suddenly, Margaret’s expression changed, and she stopped talking mid-sentence. A thought had occurred to her.
That night, without any rhyme or reason, more than a hundred members of the Smith family had been kidnapped by Timothy and taken to the warehouse. That night would have been the end of the Smith family if Jonathan had not shown up. The entire Smith family had almost been wiped out of Jazona that night.
Margaret shivered in horror at that thought.
“Mom…” Josephine tugged at Margaret’s sleeve pleadingly. The atmosphere had turned sour. Margaret softened her tone and said, “I’m doing this for your own good. You’re pregnant. You’re in a very delicate state, and he’s your husband. Shouldn’t he be taking better care of you?”
“Mom—”
Josephine’s head was pounding. However, just as she was about to speak, the doorbell sounded, interrupting her.
Ding-dong!
Everyone turned to look at the door.
The door flew open, and a young woman walked in, smiling brightly. She had her hair in a bun and a lollipop in her mouth.
“Hello! I’m looking for Jonathan!”
The entire Smith family turned to look at Jonathan.
Josephine’s eyes, in particular, were almost burning right through Jonathan’s head. She looked as if she were ready to swallow him whole.
“Xiara?” Jonathan called out in surprise, staring at the petite young lady standing at the door.
It was none other than Xiara, one of the top ten killers on the Dark Web. He had just seen her the day before.
“Jonathan, what are you guys eating? I’m hungry!”
Xiara strutted casually into the room, ignoring all the eyes staring at her. She sat down at the table, picked up a fork, and began helping herself to the food.
“Wait a minute. How did you get in? I have a lot of guards posted outside,” Jonathan asked, staring at Xiara in shock.
“Huh?” Xiara was sucking on her lollipop. She looked at Jonathan with big eyes and said, “Well, I brought down all those guards, but don’t worry! I would never dream of killing anyone on your territory!”
As she spoke, she picked up an empty plate and handed it to Jonathan.
“Get me some pasta, would you? I haven’t eaten all day. I’m starving!”
Jonathan was still lost in his daze. Before he could react, Josephine snatched the plate out of Xiara’s hand.
“Jonathan, who exactly is this?” Josephine asked in a low voice, stepping on Jonathan’s toes angrily.
“She is someone I met in Lumonburg,” Jonathan replied, trying not to wince from the pain in his toes.
Xiara flashed a cat-like smile at Josephine.
“You must be Mrs. Goldstein. When we were in Lumonburg, Jonathan was always talking about you. Your beauty blew me away when I first laid eyes on you earlier. If I were Jonathan, I would miss home all the time too.”
“Stop talking nonsense! I have never spoken about Josephine to you. What do you want?” Jonathan glared at Xiara.
He was racking his brain for ways to deal with Xiara.
If he really wanted to, he could kill Xiara in the blink of an eye. However, Xiara had the knack for using poison anytime and anywhere. No one else in the room, besides him, would be able to withstand her.
He had to think about his family before making any moves.
However, as he was contemplating his options, a realization dawned upon Margaret.
“Oh!” Margaret jumped to her feet and pointed accusingly at Jonathan. “I see what’s going on here. Have you been going to Lumonburg to meet this shameless woman? You heartless man! Don’t you know Josephine is pregnant now?”
Xiara coughed at Margaret’s words and almost choked on her food.
“Hey, excuse me, Madam! Don’t go around accusing me like that! I’m not Jonathan’s mistress. We are both innocent.”
“Am I supposed to just take you at your words?” Margaret asked. “Then why don’t you explain to me how you met Jonathan?”
Xiara threw her fork down on the table. With a flick of her wrist, a pistol suddenly appeared in her hand.
“I am a killer, and Jonathan is my target!”
Everyone froze at the sight of the pistol.
Josephine had been kidnapped before. Upon hearing the word “killer,” she was stunned. She stood up hurriedly as panic overwhelmed her.
Jonathan had sharp eyes and quick reflexes. He quickly reached out and pulled Josephine into his arms before she could fall.
“Xiara! What are you trying to do here?” Jonathan glared at Xiara.
“What do you think?” Xiara swallowed the half-chewed food in her mouth. She returned Jonathan’s glare and said, “I just don’t like people making up stories about me!”
Noticing Margaret’s frightened face, Jonathan casually twirled the fork in his hand.
Although Jonathan had never liked Margaret, she was still Josephine’s mother and the grandmother of his future child.
If she really died in front of him at that moment, he could not just sit back and do nothing.
“Xiara, you’d better behave yourself. If you dare fire that pistol in front of me…”
With those words, a blanket of powerful energy emitted from Jonathan’s body and completely enveloped Xiara.
Xiara could feel the weight of the energy pressing down on her.
The arrogant look in her eyes faded into obedience. She tossed the pistol in her hand to Emmeline, who was seated next to her.
“Ah, Jonathan! She—” Emmeline called out to Jonathan in a panic.
“It’s just a water gun. You can play with it. Just don’t aim it at anyone’s face,” Xiara said, interrupting Emmeline with a smile.
Jonathan grabbed the pistol and inspected it. Then he casually tossed it onto the table and withdrew the blanket of energy emitting from him.
“Go on, tell me. Why exactly are you here?”
“No specific reason. I have no place to stay in Jadeborough, so I thought I’d come to stay with you for a few days. You wouldn’t turn me away, would you?” Xiara glanced at Jonathan with a rather playful expression on her face.
“That’s not—” Margaret said, but she stopped mid-sentence when she met Xiara’s cold, expressionless eyes.
Recalling what had happened just a moment earlier, Margaret decided it was better to stay silent.
Josephine grabbed Jonathan’s arm and shook her head discreetly.
Jonathan reached out to caress Josephine’s head. He knew she was frightened by Xiara’s presence.
“Don’t worry. I’m here,” Jonathan reassured her.
Then he turned to glare at Xiara.
“There are guest rooms on the second floor. You can choose one for yourself. However, you have to earn your keep. The safety of everyone here will be your duty,” Jonathan said.
His words could be interpreted in two ways.
To his family members, it sounded as if Jonathan was instructing Xiara to protect them.
However, in truth, Jonathan was warning Xiara not to harm any of his family members.
After all, one must keep his enemies close.
Since Jonathan had promised to allow Xiara, one of the top ten killers, to stay a few nights in his house, he had to take precautions.
Jonathan had his own plans and reasons for allowing Xiara to stay.
The Punisher had returned to his territory and was out of Jonathan’s reach.
His plans to lay down bait on the Dark Web had to be temporarily paused.
Jonathan had always had the vague feeling that Xiara would turn out to be that person.
“Jonathan, are you really going to let this shameless woman stay here?”
Margaret’s attitude had improved a lot since she learned of Jonathan’s true identity. However, she was now focused on making sure Josephine could hold onto Jonathan.
Naturally, Margaret was opposed to Xiara’s presence.
“This is my house. I don’t need to get anyone’s approval to allow someone to stay here,” Jonathan countered, throwing Margaret a sharp glance.
“Jonathan!” Josephine beat her fists against Jonathan’s chest angrily.
She freed herself from his embrace, then dragged Emmeline from the table and stomped away with her in tow.
Margaret huffed as she watched her two daughters leave. She tugged Connor’s arm and followed after them.
Jonathan smiled bitterly to himself as he watched Josephine’s retreating figure.
He understood Josephine’s feelings about the matter. How could she, the lady of the house, allow an unknown woman to stay?
However, Jonathan had no other options in this matter.
He had established Asura’s Office after fighting for three years. Only with the help of the Eight Kings of War was Chanaea finally stabilized.
However, now, foreign forces lurked everywhere, and troubles stirred among the family. He was playing a dangerous game.
The Dark Web was one of the few forces that could affect the entire world. Everyone in and outside of Chanaea was always hunting for information on the Dark Web.
The room was now empty, save for Jonathan and Xiara.
Jonathan reached out and grabbed the pistol lying on the table.
He fiddled with it, and a string of bullets clattered onto the table.
“Xiara, what are you really trying to do here?
“I’m obviously here to kill you,” Xiara replied with a cat-like smile. “The mission that I received was to kill you. As long as the mission is not completed, I can’t return.”
Xiara casually reached out for an apple as she spoke.
“Well, I’m off to choose a room for myself. Go and do whatever you want.” Xiara turned and sauntered upstairs.
She acted as if this was her house.
“Take your pistol with you.”
With a flick of his wrist, Jonathan tossed the pistol directly at the back of Xiara’s head.
Xiara turned and caught the pistol mid-air. Her movements were smooth and swift as if she had rehearsed countless times for this moment.
Jonathan watched Xiara ascend to the second floor.
He smirked to himself.
It seems she’s not just good with poison, but her martial arts skills are not bad as well!
Right then, the sound of a commotion outside the door interrupted his thoughts.
Jonathan peered outside. He saw Zachary rushing over with a group of men.
Jonathan had previously instructed Zachary to keep his identity a secret. At the faces of all the Smith family members, Zachary glanced around nervously.
He lowered his voice and said, “Mr. Goldstein, the guards that I’ve posted here have all been brought down. Are you all right?”
His forehead was gleaming with sweat.
Before he left, Jonathan had asked Zachary to ensure Josephine’s safety.
He had selected the strongest elite soldiers in his team and posted them on guard duty.
However, his men had informed him earlier that they had lost contact with the soldiers who were on guard duty.
Zachary had been worried about that news, so he quickly rushed over and brought his men with him in case he needed muscle power.
Jonathan shook his head when he saw Zachary’s flustered expression. “If something had really happened, you would’ve been too late! It’s Xiara. She’s here.”
“What’s that young woman doing here?” Zachary asked, puzzled. Then, he suddenly recalled something and continued, “By the way, Mr. Goldstein, there’s news from Yaleview. It seems that the Goldstein family is in trouble.”
