Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

In the dingy old neighborhood, several police cars and an ambulance converged. The local residents looked on cautiously,
having heard that there had been a break-and-entering.
Worried, Cyrus had his men send the killer back to the station before going to the hospital in the ambulance with Xavier and
Maggie. Cyrus also notified Alyssa and Jasper of what happened.
The medics had strapped an oxygen mask on Maggie's face. Her body had passed out from shock after being asphyxiated. Now
that the blood had stopped rushing to her face, her skin appeared stark white.
"You... You have to be okay, Maggie," Xavier said worriedly. He could care less about how injured he was right now. He kept on
checking up on Maggie's condition, holding onto her hand.
"Her vitals have stabilized, so there's no need to worry anymore," Cyrus consoled him. He could tell that Xavier's concern for
Maggie extended beyond her role as a key witness in the case against David Schmidt.
"Why. Why were you guys on the scene so suddenly?" Xavier asked curiously after calming himself down.
"Lyse had me come over to check up on Maggie and her mother as well as talk some sense into her about letting Maggie be a
witness. Maggie is still underage, after all, and this is an important matter. It's only right to inform Maggie's mother about it. Lyse
also thought Maggie's mother might find the police more trustworthy."
Cyrus couldn't imagine what would've happened if he had come a second later. His expression was cold and stern. "Who knew
this would happen? Looks like someone has grown impatient."
Xavier was stunned.

Jasper had sent him, whereas Alyssa had sent Cyrus. Though neither Jasper nor Alyssa had discussed this, their thoughts and
intentions were still aligned!
Xavier had heard about couples looking similar before but not about thinking similarly!
"By the way, this is. here you go." Xavier reached into his pocket with a trembling hand and took out the butterfly knife from
within. He handed it to Cyrus. "You forgot to take it."
Cyrus felt touched seeing how Xavier was still considerate of him even in such an injured state. He held the knife in hand. "My
memory really is shit. Thank you, Xavier. Thank you so much."
"I remember Madam had a knife like this too."
"Yes. It's the same as mine. Jonah gifted them to us."
Warmth surfaced in Cyrus' eyes as he reminisced about his childhood. "Jonah was like a War of God to us. His weaponry skills
are actually far better than Axel's.
"While other children's brothers played games with them, Jonah played knives with Lyse and me. He loved all sorts of blades
and knives. In fact, there are over thousands in our family's collection."
Cold sweat beaded on Xavier's back as he stayed silent.
He would need to remind Jasper once Jasper married into the Taylor family to never fight with Alyssa. Jasper would need to take
great caution before doing things. Otherwise, he might end up losing his own life.

"When Jonah realized Lyse and I was gifted when it came to working with blades, he graciously gifted us each a butterfly knife."
Cyrus gazed at the delicately crafted blade, his smile deepening.
He continued, "Lyse is far more skilled than I am. I usually don't use it, nor do I have the heart to. But the situation earlier was an
emergency. Using my pistol in a neighborhood would only cause chaos, so I had no choice but to use this blade. Luckily, my
skills haven't really deteriorated."
Xavier gaped in shock.