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Chapter 331 c
🕑 Added 2025-07-25 15:34:06 +0000 UTCChapter 331 c
2-in-1-chapter
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“The roar of engines and the Badlands—that was his whole life. He wasn’t cut out for being tied down at home. Hmm… maybe that sounds vague—let me tell you a story.”
“One time, her husband took Dorian into the city to handle some errands. It was just the two of them—oh, Dorian’s Joss’s other kid, Randy’s younger brother.”
“And then I found Dorian alone at a bar.”
Leo was speechless.
A father takes his young son into the city, then the kid ends up alone in a bar while the father vanishes?
Never mind that a parent shouldn’t abandon a child anywhere—but to leave a young kid in a bar?
What kind of parent does that?
“His dad wasn’t nearby?” Leo asked.
River spread his hands. “Nowhere. I asked Dorian where his dad was, and the kid didn’t even know. All he could say was that his dad told him to wait at the bar for a bit while he went off to do something.”
“Oh—and Dorian was only ten at the time. And this happened years ago. You can imagine, Leo.”
Leo nodded slowly. “Yeah… I can imagine.”
To abandon a kid that young in a bar… Leo didn’t even know whether to call Joss’s husband careless or just plain stupid.
Was he really not afraid of human traffickers at all?
Even if he didn’t love his child and had a cold relationship with him, that was still his own son.
No wonder River said Joss wished her husband would just stay out all the time. A man like that—he’d be better off absent. The more he “cared,” the more trouble he caused.
“So what happened after that? Did you wait at the bar with the kid for her husband to come back? Or did you just call him and curse him out?”
“Neither. I took Dorian home and handed him over to Joss. A bar isn’t a place for a kid—I wasn’t going to let him suffer there. Later I heard Joss had a huge fight with her husband. And her husband blamed her for calling the cops.”
“Wait—Joss was the one who called you to go find him?”
“No. I just happened to be there. But her husband assumed she sent me.”
Leo was speechless.
What a world-class “good” husband.
Her brother-in-law helps get his kid back, and the man has the nerve to blame his wife for calling the police.
Leo genuinely didn’t know whether Joss’s husband was just stupid or plain rotten.
Did he really have no awareness of how serious it was to leave his kid in a bar?
Some might argue—maybe something came up unexpectedly. Maybe the bar owner was a friend, and he asked them to watch the kid. That wouldn’t be totally unreasonable, right?
Leo didn’t see it that way.
First, if something had come up, JoAnne’s husband shouldn’t have taken the kid out in the first place.
Second, according to River, the guy came home totally drunk.
If he came home completely wasted, then clearly he hadn’t been “delayed by something important.”
And finally—even if he did know the bar owner and left the kid in their care…
That still didn’t change anything.
He dumped his son on an acquaintance, went off to get smashed, and acted like that was fine. That alone made him a deadbeat who had no idea what responsibility was.
And on top of that, he had the gall to blame his wife afterward.
How the hell did he have the nerve?
“Maybe it’s not polite to comment on someone else’s family,” Leo said, “but I still want to ask—why did your sister marry someone like that?”
“Of course, if it’s inconvenient to say, forget I asked.”
Truthfully, someone like Joss’s husband had no business getting married in the first place, especially when it came to a hard-headed woman like Joss.
Didn’t River say the guy was into bikes and the Badlands?
Then don’t get married. Stay free. Live how you want.
It’s not like modern-day adults face any pressure to settle down. There are tons of unmarried people—nobody points fingers behind their backs for it.
So why did he still get married?
If he didn’t want the responsibility of family, why drag someone else into it? Why get someone else caught up in misery?
“There’s nothing inconvenient about it,” River said. “They got married because one day Joss’s husband found out Joss was already pregnant with Randy.”
Now Leo understood.
Shotgun wedding. Got her pregnant first, married afterward.
Sure, staying single was fine. Nobody in America would say anything.
But abortion? That was a different story. There were a lot of conservative Americans who held firm anti-abortion beliefs.
River continued, his words spilling out now that the topic had opened up.
“Joss’s husband is a piece of shit, a straight-up white-trash loser. But at least he was something to lean on—even if you couldn’t actually lean on him.”
“In those first few weeks, Joss cried every night. And that was when Randy started to go bad.”
“It’s not that Joss didn’t want to take care of Randy. But you’ve seen it—there’s no man in the house. She has to work. And she’s got two more kids to raise…”
“Honestly, it wouldn’t have made much difference whether her husband stayed or not. The real issue was always money. Tell me, Leo—do you believe in the saying, ‘There’s only one disease in the world—poverty’?”
River turned to look at Leo.
Leo shook his head.
“Me? I don’t agree or disagree with that saying. If you’re poor, it’s not your fault. Life’s already hard enough—there’s no need to make it worse by listening to what people online say.”
“You’re a good guy, Leo.”
“What a coincidence. I think so too.”
River almost choked at his response. "You aren't supposed to admit it, Leo".
.....................................
...............
.
River pulled the car up to the entrance of Afterlife. Leo didn’t get out immediately. Instead, he asked:
“You ever been to Afterlife before?”
“I’ve been by, but I’ve never actually gone inside.”
Everyone in Night City knew what kind of place the Afterlife was. And River, born and raised here, certainly wouldn’t be ignorant of that.
Rogue, the queen of the Afterlife, held far more power and influence than Fort, which was precisely why, under normal circumstances, Fort never allowed the NCPD to stir up trouble at the Afterlife.
Even though Director Fort represented the “legal” side of the city, and Rogue stood on the other, according to logic, the underworld should fear the light.
But in Night City, the line between black and white was often blurred.
More importantly, Director Fort himself wasn’t exactly clean—on occasion, he even had to ask Rogue for favors.
Naturally, he wasn’t looking to make an enemy out of her.
And in return, as a matter of mutual courtesy, Rogue typically didn’t put Fort in a difficult position. In fact, she held a level of respect for the NCPD and their ongoing effort to maintain order in Night City.
So River wasn’t at all surprised that Leo had access to the Afterlife.
After all, Leo was already the leader of a major mercenary group. And now a company.
The Afterlife was always a place for making deals, and its entry threshold existed only to filter out people too far below that standard.
…....................
A few punks squatting near the Afterlife entrance watched nervously as two people descended the stairs.
There was no need to introduce Leo. His reputation at the Afterlife was already near-legendary.
As for River, while he didn’t have Leo’s level of renown, he wasn’t like the NCPD cops who just talked and did nothing. He was the real deal—he’d personally hauled plenty of scumbags off to prison.
So even though River wasn’t a street figure, the street still knew his name.
Neither Leo nor River paid any attention to the punks at the door. They walked directly to the entrance of the Afterlife.
As always, the main door blocked out the noise, wealth, and fame inside. Standing before it was a tall, broad-shouldered figure.
“Hey, Emmerick.”
Usually stone-faced, Emmerick grinned the moment he saw Leo.
Some of the punks further from the door were visibly startled.
The veterans were used to it, but the newer ones had never seen Emmerick smile at anyone.
“Leo, it’s been a while.”
“No way—it wasn’t that long ago I dropped by.”
“Maybe we missed each other. I was off that day,” Emmerick said, arms crossed at his front, nodding at Leo with a rare friendliness. “Rogue’s already prepped your room. Claire will take you there.”
“Good, thanks. Tell me what you want to drink—I’ll have Claire bring it over. On me.”
Though Emmerick worked under Rogue, Leo wasn’t trying to poach him or anything. Still, Leo appreciated him. They’d fought together before—life and death.
Pouring a brother a cappuccino? Hardly too much to ask.
“Appreciate it, but I don’t drink on duty. Not because Rogue says so—I set that rule for myself. Alcohol dulls the nerves, and I need to stay sharp on shift.”
Seeing that, Leo said no more. He simply raised both thumbs and gave Emmerick a nod of approval.
…....................
Inside the Afterlife – NetOps Room
The room was dark, filled wall-to-wall with high-end equipment for netrunners.
Seated in a hacker’s rig, Lucy turned at the sound of the door and called out, “You’re here.”
“Why is it so dark in here? Couldn’t you turn the lights up a bit?” Leo said, gesturing at the room’s dim red glow.
There seemed to be some unspoken rule in the hacker world—or maybe just habit—that everywhere netrunners worked was either lit red or pitch-black.
Honestly now. Just because “netrunner” has the word “net” in it doesn’t mean the room needs to feel like a tomb.
Lucy chuckled.
“Some say it’s superstition. Most netrunners are extremely vulnerable while working. A lot of us think darkness or harsh red light keeps us safer.”
“I don’t completely believe it,” she added, “but I’m used to it.”
She blinked. “Anyway, enough of that. The guest’s getting impatient. Leo, introduce the friend you brought.”
Leo nodded and motioned between them.
“Lucy, this is River. River, this is Lucy—the electronic warfare specialist I told you about. Also one of my closest friends.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” River said politely. “I assume Leo’s already explained everything?”
Lucy nodded, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear.
“He did.”
River knew—if there was any chance of finding Randy, or even a lead—it all rested on the girl in front of him.
So his attitude was exceptionally respectful.
Leo hadn’t known River that long, but even he had never seen River this polite to anyone.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Of course.”
Lucy’s tone was equally courteous.
This wasn’t just part of her job—Leo had already briefed her that River would be joining them long-term.
Lucy didn’t know much about River. But if Leo trusted him, that was good enough.
River placed a laptop on the desk at Lucy’s signal.
“This is Randy’s laptop. But it’s locked—we couldn’t get past the password.”
“Alright, let me take a look.”
Lucy sat down, pulled out a black personal cable from her wrist, and jacked it into the laptop.
Leo and River stood behind her. River was so tense he held his breath without realizing.
He watched as Lucy’s eyes lit with that familiar, dangerous red glow—a sign she was working to bypass the system’s firewall.
He didn’t dare speak. He barely dared breathe, afraid to break her concentration.
But just as that thought entered his mind, the password screen vanished—replaced by the desktop interface.
“We’re in!”
River’s shout of excitement made both Leo and Lucy turn to look at him.
“Sorry—I got a little too excited.”
“Let’s start with the emails,” Lucy said calmly.
