Night, on a relatively quiet road.
Karen had the gas pedal practically floored, the engine of the second-hand BMW roaring.
In no time at all.
Karen returned to North Wallace Street, not far from the Gallagher house.
She decisively eased off the gas to quiet the car down.
Soon.
Parking the car on the side of the road next to the Gallagher house, Karen got out decisively, closed the door gently, and walked quickly toward the house. at the same time, she texted Dexter: [I'm here. Go straight in?]
Thanks to the feedback from Little Black (the crow), Dexter knew Mandy and Lip were in the heat of battle. He replied instantly: [Yeah.]
Karen saw the reply and didn't delay. Moments later, she was at the Gallagher front door.
Karen believed that with people home, Lip, who never had the habit of locking doors, wouldn't suddenly start now.
Facts proved her right.
The door wasn't locked.
Karen grabbed the handle, twisted it gently, and once it turned, she grinned brilliantly. Then, she immediately applied force, shoved the door open, and rushed in.
Because Lip and Mandy were playing right on the living room sofa on the first floor, they did hear the noise in time. But the battle was underway; calling a ceasefire takes time...
Simply put, it was too late.
Karen moved extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, she was in the living room, seeing Mandy and Lip in all their glory.
Instantly, Karen, whose acting skills were already quite refined, changed her expression dramatically, her face becoming a chaotic mess of darkness.
Caught red-handed by Karen, both Lip and Mandy panicked a little.
Driven by panic, the two hurriedly separated, instinctively grabbing clothes to cover themselves.
The next second.
"Karen, it's not what it looks like..." Lip lied instinctively, trying to explain.
Mandy, on the other hand, calmed down rapidly. Thinking this was actually good, she widened her eyes and glared provocatively at Karen.
Karen noticed Mandy's gaze and immediately wanted to curse her out. But the words reached her lips, and she remembered Dexter's warning. She had to forcefully hold it back, compelling herself to ignore Mandy and focus only on Lip.
Lip was still trying to explain, but both his words and his performance were incredibly ridiculous.
Karen kept her face dark, deliberately waiting for two seconds before finally speaking. "We're done. Don't look for me again."
Coldly dropping this sentence, Karen turned and walked away, her movements full of decisiveness.
Hearing this, Lip's brain buzzed instantly. He truly couldn't accept this outcome. Anxious, he hurriedly stood up, ignoring his clothes, and limped after Karen. "Karen! Don't do this!"
Karen didn't look back. She walked out of the Gallagher house and headed straight for her car.
Lip chased her out, shouting, "Karen!"
Karen got in the car, slammed the gas, made a sharp U-turn, smiled, and headed back to the Alibi Room.
Seeing the car drive away, Lip stopped walking and shouting, watching Karen leave with his brain still buzzing.
Just then, Mandy walked out, arrived at Lip's side, and handed him his clothes. "Let's go back inside first."
Lip, standing there naked, heard this, blinked, and glanced at Mandy. Honestly, hatred for Mandy rose in his heart!!!
If not for Mandy, maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this...
Yeah, totally logical.
Even in a normal state, Lip would rarely admit he was wrong, let alone Lip in this moment of heartbreak and regret.
In this moment.
Lip, who truly loved Karen, experienced the very real taste of loss.
It tasted bad, terrible.
Lip didn't want to keep tasting it. Just like when he faced similar situations with Fiona, he wanted to escape, wanted to pretend it didn't happen.
So.
"Yeah, go back. We continue!" Lip said, wanting to use this to escape, to vent.
Mandy wasn't smart to begin with. Now, filled with joy because Karen had buggered off, she flawlessly failed to notice Lip's motive and nodded simply. "Okay."
A minute or two later.
On the sofa in the Gallagher living room.
Mandy and Lip's battle restarted.
Lip, his mind full of Karen and his heart aching, vented.
---
Meanwhile.
The Alibi Room welcomed a barfly who had been missing for a long time.
"Butterface" pushed the door open and walked in.
Behind the bar, Kev saw her first and was truly startled. His eyes widened a bit, and he habitually wanted to greet her with "Butterface," but the words reached his lips, and he realized in time, making a correction. "Jesus, Dottie. Long time no see."
Butterface smiled. "Cheated death. Rested for a few months."
At this time, the barflies in the bar greeted Butterface one after another.
Butterface responded with a chuckle, then sat at the bar. "Kev, get me a beer."
Kev was truly a good person. Hearing this, he immediately looked at Butterface's heart. Instead of pouring, he advised, "Maybe you shouldn't drink. Not everyone gets lucky enough to have a second chance."
Butterface might be ugly, but she was actually quite sensible. She didn't mind Kev's words at all and smiled at him. "Just one glass, to satisfy the craving. The doctor said it's fine."
Hearing this, Kev hesitated slightly, then moved.
Since the doctor said it was fine, what could he say?
Placing the beer in front of Butterface, Kev grinned. "Anyway, congratulations on your new life. This one's on me."
"Thanks," Butterface thanked him, picked up the glass, took a small sip, then turned her head slightly to look at Frank and Monica sitting at a round table behind her to the side.
After watching for two seconds, Butterface withdrew her gaze, shook her head with a laugh, and remembered Frank's attentive behavior during those few days.
In the months after the surgery, Butterface thought a lot—about her previous terrible life, about her lifestyle... and about Frank's behavior those days, and Frank's encounter.
Frank suddenly getting his arm chopped off outside her house... was it really a coincidence?
Butterface thought, or rather believed, it wasn't a coincidence, but God giving her a chance to live...
She knew exactly what kind of scumbag Frank was, and she knew Frank approached her back then to plot for her things...
She imagined what would have happened if Frank hadn't suddenly gotten his arm chopped off...
She felt that, probably, she wouldn't have gotten this heart currently beating in her chest. She would have died at Frank's hands.
After all, a scumbag like Frank never had a bottom line. To achieve his goals, he would do anything. And during that period, she was extremely weak and very easy for Frank to exploit...
Butterface thought through it unconsciously, shook her head gently with a smile again, raised her glass, took a small sip of beer, and muttered to herself, "Thank you, God."
Just then.
Karen arrived and walked into the bar.