Chapter 7

She lifted her head and saw the man leaning by a window with his hands in his pockets. He turned towards the doorway and his gaze landed on her. Her first instinct was to rush out the door, but her body was like a prey that was carefully being observed by a predator. She stiffened on the spot and was unable to move.

He, on the other hand, nodded at her and politely greeted her, “Hello, Miss Carraway.”

Her colleague did not notice Vivian’s abnormal state and gave her a simple introduction about the situation, “This is your student’s older brother. He’s here to handle the termination procedures for his sister.”

Vivian did not reply and simply stared at the man. Her mind was in the middle of a heated argument between two voices. One voice was screaming madly, “It’s him! It’s that criminal. They have the same voice and the very same face!”

The more rational voice was telling her, “Vivian, please calm down. That criminal has already been sentenced to death row. This is something that Liam’s confirmed. Dead men can’t come back to life. This is another person, a man who has nothing to do with it. He just resembles that criminal.”

The man chuckled gently with slight helplessness. “Miss Caraway, I’m not a tiger. I don’t eat people. I’m Noelle Jones’ older cousin. My name is Edward Levin. Here, look. This is my identity card,” he said, pulling out his identity card from his wallet and walking towards Vivian, intending to show it to her.

However, Vivian instinctively shrunk back. He could see her flinching, so he paused midway, leaned forward and put his identity card on a table between them. Then, he extended his arm and gestured to her. “You can have a look.”

Her colleague was muddled by all of this. She eyed Vivian suspiciously and asked, “What’s wrong, Miss Carraway?”

Nevertheless, Vivian did not answer. She picked up the identity card on the table and glanced at the man warily, then lowered her head to inspect the identity card. Name: Edward Levin, male, twenty-eight years old. The address indicated that he was a local in Golden South City. The man in the picture looked very young as if he were in his early twenties. He had short hair which complied with societal norms, a handsome face, and a warm and kind mien.

She carefully examined the back of the identity card, which stated the date of issue. After a bit of calculation, it coincided with the identity photo of him in his early twenties.

This young man with such a warm and kind mien really did not seem like that criminal from the underworld.

Vivian heaved a sigh of relief, calmed her emotions, and pushed the identity card back to him. “My apologies, Mr. Levin. It’s me. Perhaps I’ve caused some kind of misunderstanding. I’m truly sorry,” she said apologetically.

Edward gave her a mild smile and did not ask about the misunderstanding. “Miss Carraway, Noelle has been on sick leave due to an illness. After some discussion, the family has decided that she might as well drop out of school and seek medical treatment abroad. Her home is out of town, so it’s inconvenient for her parents to come by, hence they’ve entrusted me with handling the termination procedures for her,” he explained in a clear and concise manner.