Chapter 775: Deadly Joke (Part 2)_1

"Hollywood?" Bruce asks with heightened tone. "What are you doing in Hollywood?"

"None of your business," Selina says, turning around to pack her stuff. Bruce sighs, steps over the pile of clutter at the doorstep, walks in, and hugs her from behind.

Usually at this point, Selina would turn her head, stare at him with wide eyes, then turn around and wrap her arms around his waist, her face pressed against his chest.

But this time, Selina shakes off his hands, strides forward a few steps, then turns around and says, "Bruce, let's just break up."

Bruce is frozen in place, his hand still hanging in the air. He asks, "Why? What happened?"

Selina flicks her hand and says, "No reason. I'm sick of you. You're annoying. You're dumped, get it?!"

With that, she walks past Bruce, continuing to pack her suitcase. Bruce turns around and asks, "Selina, what exactly happened? Why are you suddenly…"

He pauses, then continues, "Okay, I have been a bit busy lately. I didn't spend time with you and I ignored your feelings. But now, I have time. The first thing I did was to come see you…"

Bruce glances at his watch and says, "I booked your favorite restaurant. If we leave now, we can still catch the sunset."

Selina freezes, then she squats down slowly, starts to speak, "My favorite restaurant... right, the French one in the city center. On the busiest commercial street, the best location, with the most professional staff. They're using the most expensive ingredients and they have the best chefs…"

She stands up, touching her own arm and says, "Without you, I wouldn't be able to afford such things in my life. I should be grateful, right?"

"Selina, what's wrong, exactly?" Bruce steps forward, looking at Selina's face. She is still beautiful, but looks a bit weary.

Bruce feels something is off, he says, "Have you been running into any trouble recently? Did someone say something to you? Or have you come across any danger?"

He takes a deep breath. "Are you angry? But I…"

"No, it has nothing to do with you." Selina turns her head away. "Recently, I've been thinking about a lot of things, so I'm planning on leaving the city for a while."

"What exactly happened?" Bruce asks again.

Selina takes a deep breath, recalling what happened at the police station.

Back then, Leon approached her, hiding his intentions. He just wanted her to cooperate and woo the social elites on the West Coast for the achievement of the Great King's cause.

The fiercely independent Catwoman would never follow his guidance. In the interrogation room, she fights Leon with sharp words and scorns, describing his efforts as daydreaming and telling him to get lost.

Leon is relentless and tries to get closer to Catwoman, getting scratched in return.

The pain sets Leon off. He starts by attacking Catwoman's looks; but such allegations are ridiculously false. Catwoman's beauty is undeniable, no fault to be found.

So, Leon's words get increasingly obscene, making some baseless assumptions and bringing up Catwoman's parents and her background.

If Catwoman has a weakness, it would be her mother.

Something Leon said must have triggered Catwoman; it ignited the violent streak in her personality. She forced the door of the interrogation room, almost stabbing a knife into Leon's chest.

Luckily, Gordon arrived on scene and stopped Catwoman. However, his reaction further upset Selina. His first reaction was not to comfort her, but to have someone call Bruce.

Gordon wasn't wrong, after all. Catwoman may be a thief, but also one of the most dangerous ones in Gotham. A sudden loss of control, and the ordinary police wouldn't be able to handle her, only Batman could.

Plus, although they were not sure why Catwoman lost control, Batman was her boyfriend. It might be better to have him come to reassure her.

But this only further upset Catwoman. She breaks free from the police and runs out of the Gotham Police Department, running among Gotham's tall buildings.

That day, the storm in Gotham never stopped. After exhausting all her energy, Catwoman, at the brink of collapse, arrived at Maggie's new residence.

Maggie was shocked to see her. Catwoman's suit was all covered with mud, the face mask was ripped, revealing utterly wet hair clinging to her face.

Her face was pale, her lips almost bloodless. When Maggie grabbed her hand, she found Catwoman's limbs ice cold.

Maggie quickly pulled her inside, serving her hot water and letting Selina cup the warmth with her hands. She dried Catwoman's body with a warm and dry blanket.

Seeing Selina shivering, Maggie heart ached. She asked, "What happened? It's such a big storm, why did you go out?"

Selina remained silent. But Maggie knew her friend well, she asked, "Did you lose control again? Who provoked you?"

Selina still stayed silent. Maggie sat next to her, saying, "Even if nobody wants to listen to you, I'm always willing to. Just like when we first met…"

"She'd rather talk to a cat..." Selina stared blankly ahead, "I was sitting next to her, filled with anticipation, but she just held the cat, calling it her treasure…"

"My existence means going to work, earning money, and buying food for her and the cat." Selina's entire face was pale, only her eyes were red as if she wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

Like every other Gothamite, Selina adhered to a baseline of never showing weakness. But she was more unyielding than the others, because cats were always proud.

"Since I can remember, I've always been an accessory, never the first to attract anyone's attention... always so…" Selina continued to mutter softly. She said,

"When I was at home, my mother treated me as part of the cat. When I was a thief, mom treated me as part of the jewel necklace, and now, I became a part of Bruce Wayne."

Accompanied by the drizzle outside the window, a rain line fell from top to bottom into a dark alley. A little girl with black hair struggled to drag a bag of cat food into the house.

A woman rushed out of the bedroom, screaming with joy, "Oh, my little Selina! You've brought more food for my darlings! You'll always be mommy's favourite child!"

Little Selina put down the cat food, looked up at her mother and asked, "Really? I'm your favorite?"

"Of course! Without you, my darlings would starve!" The woman picked up the cat food, without looking back, walked into the bedroom. Selina, standing in the dark living room, only saw a pair of shining cat's eyes through the crack in the door.

In there, she saw savagery, terrifying indifference, as well as baseless pride.

Standing there, little Selina wondered, why can cats take it for granted? Why do they firmly believe everyone likes them? Why can they act solely upon their own wishes? Why are they so attractive?

If I became a cat, would I be given a higher priority?

Selina had no idea. All she knew was, on that rainy night, she curled up in a corner of the living room, dreaming that she became a carefree cat.

For the first time, her mother held her up, kissed her forehead, and said to her, "You are my darling, Selina."

She danced amongst the rain lines in the Gotham sky, leaping between the iron jungle like the wind blowing through dense woods. A little figured hopped off a rooftop, jumped into a balcony, opened the door, and excitedly held up a gemstone necklace, saying,

"Mom! Look! I just stole this!"

"Oh, my God!" A scream rang out, a chubby woman came rushing in, snatched the pearl necklace from Selina's hand, and said, "My little Selina! You are the cutest child in the world, I love you so much!"

Soaked to the skin in the rain on the balcony, young Selina stared at her and asked, "Really? Am I your favorite?"

The chubby woman, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the pearl necklace in her hands, kissed it, then turned around, moving her obese body as she mumbled, "I must put this darling in the deepest part of my safe... absolutely mustn't let anyone else discover it..."

Selina saw the glitter of the gemstones in the slowly closing door as cat eyes, always the last to extinguish in the dark.

She thought, shiny things always attracted people's attention; when put with other things, they were always the first thing people noticed.

Back in the small, dark room, little Selina curled up, thinking about becoming a jewel that everyone loved; certainly, then people would prioritize her.

In her dream, she saw countless jewels forming a large castle in the iron jungle, it was the most eye-catching existence.

"I don't want Bruce to love me, but I want to be his favorite. If I'm not, then stay away from me." Selina wiped the rainwater from her temples. "Maggie," she said, "I told you before that I yearn for freedom, but it's actually because, other than freedom, I get nothing…"

"No one ever puts me first. They never see me as a complete person. If they don't care about me, then I don't care about them. I say I long for freedom because it's impossible for me to beg them..."

Selina's eyebrows furrowed, but tears still didn't fall from her eyes. She whispered,

"Because I've tried. No matter how much I beg, it doesn't result in more love."

"So, I say I don't need it. At least so, I can keep some dignity, and if anyone makes me feel the urge to plead for their affection, I will run away immediately…" Selina's lips moved, "... Do I look like a mental patient?"

Maggie hugged her and said, "Don't say that Selina, it's not your fault. During this time, Bruce may have been too busy. He doesn't disregard you; he may really just not have the time..."

Selina stopped talking then, no matter how Maggie consoled her. Maggie knew that this was not the first time Selina had done this. At least dozens of times during the time they'd known each other.

Even though Maggie didn't fully understand psychiatry or psychology, she knew something wasn't right, but she didn't know how to fix it, so she could only stay with Selina through the night.

It wasn't until the wind stopped and the rain had ceased that Selina suddenly returned to normal and departed as usual.

Now, standing in the room, Bruce found that he couldn't understand Selina's emotions from her body language. He felt that she was like a cat—unpredictable, incomprehensible.

"Why did you choose Hollywood?" Bruce asked.

Selina's movements paused for a while, then she looked up and smiled, lowering her head to say,

"Maybe, there, I can be the leading role."