Chapter 346 – Persuasion
Walter was a very intelligent man. He wouldn't have created Blue Angel otherwise. Being called the "Stark of the chemistry world" wasn't for nothing.
Thinking back on the shift in Frank's attitude, Walter quickly identified the key variable—
Pinkman.
Everything had changed because Pinkman quit.
If Pinkman hadn't walked away, Frank would never have talked about dissolving Heisenberg. And with Pinkman around, Walter wouldn't have to worry about all those "trivial" operational matters.
So Walter came to persuade him. He needed Pinkman to stay. To help him keep Heisenberg alive.
"I'm not coming back, Mr. White," Pinkman said, shaking his head.
"You're making a mistake. You should listen to us. We would never harm you," Walter tried, shifting to an emotional appeal.
"Mr. White, you should go home," Pinkman cut him off, clearly signaling that the conversation was over.
"It's because of that girl. You're making a mistake—"
Before he could finish, Pinkman shoved him outside and slammed the door shut.
"Fuck! Pinkman! Pinkman!!" Walter pounded on the door, shouting his name.
The noise drew out the Jane.
"What do you want with Jesse?" she asked coldly.
Walter glanced at her and snorted dismissively. He didn't want to waste another word on her. He turned and left.
"Psycho," she muttered, watching his retreating back.
She then walked into Pinkman's place.
"No matter how many times I see it, it still gets my heart racing," she said, picking up a stack of cash from the table. The sight of it quickened her breathing.
"He wants me to stay," Pinkman said, sitting in a chair and lighting a cigarette.
Truthfully, for a brief moment, he had wavered.
People are creatures of habit. That's why there's a saying about how hard it is to leave one's homeland.
Work is the same. When you've stayed somewhere long enough—grown used to the workflow, the people—jumping to a new environment is intimidating.
Let alone moving to a foreign country. A foreign city.
Pinkman wasn't particularly brave. He wasn't the type who thrived on bold, ambitious leaps.
"He only wants you to stay so he can use you," the girl said bluntly, seeing straight through Walter's motive. "Otherwise, why didn't he say any of this sooner?"
"Don't overthink it," she continued, her tone softening. "We should think about our future."
"We'll move to New Zealand. Buy a house by the sea."
"Have a wedding. Nothing big. No guests. Just the two of us and a pastor."
The Jane straddled Pinkman's lap, facing him. She plucked the cigarette from his lips, took a drag herself, and exhaled slowly as she painted their future in the air between them.
"That sounds… perfect," Pinkman said. The hesitation in his heart gradually settled.
"Yes. Freedom." She smiled faintly. "With this kind of money, no one can stop us."
Pinkman pulled open a drawer.
"But if we want that future," he said quietly, "we have to quit this stuff."
"Yeah…" she replied.
Both of them stared at what lay inside the drawer. Their eyes lingered a little too long.
---
Walter, meanwhile, had returned home—but he hadn't given up.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized how essential Pinkman was.
To him, Pinkman might even be more important than Frank.
Ring, ring—
Walter's phone buzzed on the table.
He picked it up, glanced at the screen, saw Frank's name—
—and immediately rejected the call.
Lately, Frank had been calling constantly, trying to persuade him to quit. Trying to convince him to hand over the Blue Angel formula and let him sell it off.
But Walter had already made up his mind.
No matter what, he would keep Heisenberg alive.
Frank could talk until he was blue in the face—it wouldn't change anything.
At first, Frank had tried reasoning gently. Then persistence. Then relentless repetition. Eventually, Walter grew irritated. Now, whenever he saw Frank's name, he simply declined the call.
"Who was that? Why didn't you answer?" Skyler asked, walking over while holding their baby daughter.
"Just a telemarketer," Walter said casually. "Come here, let Daddy hold you."
He took the little girl from her arms.
Skyler hesitated before speaking again.
"Have you… had some kind of falling out with Frank?"
Recently, Walter's phone had been ringing often. Though he tried to avoid answering around her, Skyler had caught glimpses of the caller ID. She knew it was Frank.
And every time, Walter rejected the call.
"It's nothing," Walter said, shaking his head.
"Walter! That's Frank. He's seriously ill. Even if you two had a disagreement, you shouldn't treat him like this. You should be more understanding. Think about how he helped you when you were sick."
"And don't forget—he's still our children's godfather."
Skyler frowned. She knew about Frank's late-stage liver cirrhosis.
At first, she assumed it was just a minor disagreement between old friends—that it would pass. But it had dragged on. Now Walter wouldn't even answer his calls.
Frank was gravely ill. If there was a conflict, couldn't Walter take a step back?
Skyler had never forgotten what Frank had done for their family. Without him, who knew where they'd be?
She was one sentence away from calling Walter ungrateful.
"You're misunderstanding," Walter said smoothly. "It's not what you think. We didn't fight. He's just… discouraged. He doesn't want treatment anymore. He wants to give up."
The lie rolled off his tongue effortlessly.
Since founding Heisenberg, Walter hadn't improved much in other areas—but his skill at deception had skyrocketed.
In his version of the story, Frank had lost the will to live.
He had been calling Walter to ask for drugs—something to help him die peacefully. That was why Walter refused to answer.
Just like that, he shifted all the blame onto Frank.
"How could that be?" Skyler murmured. "I thought if they found a matching liver for transplant, he still had a chance. Marie works at the hospital—she's been asking around for him…"
She paused.
"Maybe we should go to Chicago and visit him. Junior misses him too."
"I was thinking the same," Walter replied gently. "But he's not in the right state right now. Let's wait a bit."
And just like that, Skyler was appeased.
As for Frank—
Walter pushed the thought aside.
Right now, he was only thinking about Pinkman.