After some time, the cab driver woke Ralph. They had traveled far, reaching the suburbs. Unsure of the apartment's exact location, Ralph found himself in an area lacking the usual bustle. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around in surprise.

"Lucens Apartments, just like you said," the driver replied. "It's too dark now, and the streetlights are sparse—poor infrastructure, you know. You'll recognize the place better during the day." He stopped the meter. "That's thirty dollars, thank you."

Ralph searched his pockets, finding only a few dollars. The driver showed him a QR code. "You can scan this to pay."

Ralph searched again in vain. "How about credit cards?" he asked. He usually paid with cash or credit cards, rarely using his phone for payments. His hasty departure from the Russell Estate, however, had left him short of cash.

The driver gave him a skeptical look.

Ralph felt his pockets again, finally removing his watch. "Will you take this? It's expensive, about forty thousand dollars."

"Forty thousand?!" The driver examined the watch suspiciously. He was hesitant, but it was late, and Ralph clearly couldn't pay. To avoid further delay, he rubbed the watch's face and said, "Forget it. It's just my unlucky day."

Bewildered, Ralph insisted, "It really is worth that much..."

The driver scoffed. "Would anyone pay a thirty-dollar fare with a forty-thousand-dollar watch? All right, all right, whatever. Just get out!"

"Don't lose the watch," Ralph called out as he exited, knowing he faced a difficult situation and couldn't afford to lose such a valuable item. "I'll get it back when I have cash."

The driver waved him off impatiently, rolled up the window, and drove away. He glanced at the watch, tossed it into the door pocket, and muttered, "Nutcase."

Ralph stood at the entrance to the residential area, gazing at the apartment buildings. The place was new but distant from the city. He'd never considered buying a house, having always lived on the Russell Estate, expecting to inherit it. While the family owned numerous commercial units and villas, he'd never visited them; they were managed by others. Now, separated from the Russells, he feared losing them all.

He doubted Alexander would let him keep them and worried about the humiliation of visiting these places now. "I tried to outmaneuver him mercilessly, and now that he has the upper hand, he won't show me any mercy either," he thought.

He hadn't even checked his debit cards, assuming Alexander had frozen them.

He looked at the key in his hand, questioning whether Heather had been truthful; her behavior had always seemed strange. "Well, since I'm here, I might as well check the place out," he decided, entering the compound. He located the apartment building, took the elevator, and pressed the button for the ninth floor.