Villain’s Favorite 223

Chapter 223 The String 

“I thought you were going to follow him. Go save him.” 

The system’s voice was cold, cutting through the quiet room. 

“I’d be useless out there,” Maya said. “If I followed him, I’d only get in his way.” 

The real issue was that the system wouldn’t let her change the process. The process meant George’s death. 

She couldn’t stop him, didn’t know how many people were coming for him, and with the clock running out, her showing up would only make things worse. All she could do was wait. 

Wait for the plot to play out, wait for it to happen, then once she knew exactly what had gone wrong, reload and make changes before it was too late. 

She’d already made up her mind to let him walk into it. 

But when he reached for his jacket, her hand shot out and grabbed him before she could think. “George.” 

She didn’t call him by anything else. Just his name. 

He paused, looked down at her fingers twisting into the hem of his shirt. “What’s wrong?” 

Maya opened her mouth. 

“Can you just…” 

Don’t go. 

She wanted to hold on. She wanted to say it, wanted to shout it, reckless and desperate and loud. 

But her throat sealed shut like something had clamped over it. Her tongue pressed flat against the bottom of her mouth and no sound came out. 

The comic’s plot wouldn’t even let her say goodbye. 

She swallowed and forced different words out instead, gripping him tighter, her eyes wide with barely contained panic. “Can you just come back soon?” 

George leaned down and pinched her cheek. “Of course. I’m not gonna leave you behind. Be good and wait here. When I get back, I’ll take you somewhere fun.” 

Maya couldn’t hold it together. She threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his jacket. The fabric was cool against her cheek. 

The thought of what was supposed to happen made her chest tighten so badly she could barely breathe. She kept repeating herself, the words tumbling out in a rush. “You have to come back, George. If something happens to you, Mom’s gonna cry. Dad’s gonna cry…” 

He went still for a second with her arms locked around him, then brought his own arms down and held her 

close. 

10:15 Tue, May 12 

Chapter 223 The String 

“Hmm…” He thought about it, and a quiet laugh escaped him, lighter than air, carrying a tenderness he rarely showed, as if he were afraid of breaking something. “Dad’ll cry. Mom’ll cry. What about you?” 

Maya pressed her face deeper into his jacket and gave the answer she’d rehearsed a hundred times in her head, the one she’d had ready long before this moment. 

“I’ll cry myself to death.” 

His hand stopped on the back of her head. 

“Okay. I promise.” He could feel it, the way she clung to him, and it surprised him more than he expected. He hugged her gently, his voice soft. “I’ll come home.” 

George had never been the serious type. The two of them spent most of their time at the base stealing each other’s snacks and bickering. 

He was less of a big brother and more of an overgrown kid who’d never fully matured. He was that careless, that reckless, and in the end, he’d probably die in some equally stupid way. 

Maya reached up, right in front of his face, and pressed a tracker the size of a fingernail onto his clothes. Then, muffled against his chest, she said, “I’ll be waiting.” 

George replayed the image as he walked. The girl standing in the doorway, fingers wound tight in his shirt, her face crumpled like she was fighting back tears. Small and pitiful. 

He’d almost not walked out. Almost turned around and stayed. 

When he pushed through the door of the bar, Liam was already waiting. A drink sat in front of him, a couple of sips taken, a faint flush already creeping across his face. Everything about him tonight felt wound too tight, raw and jittery. 

“We just saw each other this month. What’s so urgent you’re calling me out again already?” George dropped into the seat across from him and draped his jacket over the back of the chair with a grin. 

“Yeah. You want a drink?” Liam asked. 

George looked down at the glass. Amber liquid swayed under the light. He blinked. “Nah.” 

Liam didn’t push it. He poured himself another, took two small sips, his fingers tracing the rim of the glass back and forth. It looked less like drinking and more like something to do with his hands. 

George tilted his head and watched him. Liam was different tonight. Too quiet. Quiet in a way that didn’t fit. 

Usually when they met up, Liam had a thousand things to say. School, work, family, and the same recycled speech about turning his life around. But tonight he said nothing. 

“I’m leaving.” Liam’s voice dropped low, almost swallowed by the noise of the bar. “Moving to another city.” 

“Yeah?” George leaned back, fingers resting against the chair. “Somewhere specific?” 

“There are other reasons too.” Liam was noncommittal, staring into whatever was left at the bottom of his glass. 

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10:15 Tue, May 12 

Chapter 223 The String 

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Then, after a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. “George. We’ve known each other since we weeorge nodded. “Yeah.” 

Three years. Liam was one of the few friends he still talked to regularly. 

“I’ve told you so much about my life. But you never talk about yours. Your past, your family, your work.” 

Friends, sure. But never truly close. 

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