bChapter /bb197 /b

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    Briar sat by the window, already dressed, but no matter what anyone said, she wouldn’t step outside. It wasn’t for any specific reason–just a mix of embarrassment and frustration. The only time she’d ever slipped up handling a weapon was back when she first started training. She never imagined she’d face a very different kind of unexpected discharge today.

    Ashton had gone to the guest room and taken a cold shower for half an hour. When he returned, he found Briar still sitting by the window and couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one feeling embarrassed here?‘ Ashton

    thought.

    Caught off guard and nearly losing control, Ashton’s emotions were on a tumultuous rollercoaster. Fortunately, his strong willpower enabled him to suppress his desires, allowing him to walk away just in time.

    Ashton approached and gently adjusted Briar’s hair as he asked, “Briar, are you still upset?”

    Briar stayed silent, her lips swollen and tender, each movement bringing a faint ache. She still couldn’t believe it- Ashton had kissed her with such intensity it felt like he was trying to consume her whole. If that phone call hadn’t

    interrupted him, she might’ve truly been swept away by his hunger.

    “No,” Briar muttered. She was mainly frustrated with herself for constantly losing herposure around Ashton, and since bing his girlfriend, these moments of weakness had be increasingly frequent. The possibility of things continuing to spiral left Briar feeling quietly unsettled.

    “Now that you’re no longer upset, how about we head downstairs together and see what Connor and the others

    uncovered during the interrogation?” Ashton suggested, crouching down to help her with her shoes.

    Briar stared at Ashton in silence, unsure of what to say. “Alright,” she finally agreed. He was being so humble and

    trying so hard to please her that she couldn’t ignore him any longer. She nodded, put on her shoes, and followed

    Ashton downstairs.

    In the living room, Brandon and Connor were sitting on the couch, chatting. When they saw Ashton and Briar

    Ashton pulled Briar down onto the couch and nodded at Connor. “How did the interrogation go?”

    Connor nodded. “We’re almost done with the questioning. Based on Zayne’s confession, he and Sawyer are involved in an undergroundb overseas, where they both hold senior professor positions. Zayne has been part of this undergroundb for twenty–five years…”

    As Connor reported the results of the interrogation, Briar felt a surge of anger welling up inside her. Her suspicions were confirmed–Zayne was one of the researchers behind that new drug all those years ago. The project for this drug officially received funding and began twenty–five years ago.

    Three yearster, this depression–inducing drug was sessfully developed. However, without any clinical trials, no one knew the potential side effects or the severity of harm it could cause to the body. Consequently, they ced ads on obscure websites seeking volunteers. Rosalia Jennings was one of the first participants in these

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    experiments, and among all the victims, her death was the most tragic.

    Edgar, Rosalia’s ambitious new husband, signed up for the drug trial, not Rosalia herself. To ensure everything went smoothly, Edgar kept the truth from her, falsely iming it was merely a special health supplement he had purchased for her.

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    Back then, Rosalia was still reveling in the bliss of newlywed life,pletely enamored with Edgar. She epted his words without question and took the pills he suggested without hesitation. As a result, Rosalia lost her sanity, fled from home, and ultimately died alone in a psychiatric hospital.

    It wasn’t until Rosalia lost her mind and was sent to a mental hospital by a so–called “good Samaritan” that the undergroundb where Zayne worked discovered she was the heiress of the Grant family, one of the most powerful families in Shoneport, Dasmieca. At that time, the Grant family’s influence in Shoneport wasparable to that of the Wade family today.

    Fearing that the truth would be revealed and that the Grant family would seek revenge, the undergroundb had promptly ceased all clinical trials of the new drug and had destroyed all rted evidence. It was also why, to this day, the Grant family had been unable to locate any trace of that undergroundb.

    During her initial interrogation, Briar hadpelled Zayne to disclose the precise location of the undergroundb overseas. She had already shared this information with the DDC Vanguard Base and her two uncles. Nowi, /iall she could do was wait and hope that they would return with good news.

    Connor captured Zayne because the undergroundb he worked for had been using the corpses of members from

    the 121 Mercenary Organization for their experiments. They even went so far as to hire hitmen to acquire washed-

    up or discarded mercenaries from the 121 Mercenary Organization, all to achieve better experimental results.

    As chaos unfolded, Ashton ordered a hunt for every researcher connected to the undergroundb. Zayne became

    the first target for Connor. However, no one anticipated that a seemingly insignificant researcher like Zayne would uncover so many concealed secrets. Considering what happened to Briar’s mother, Zayne and everyone in that undergroundb were as good as dead.

    “Briar, the individual behind that undergroundb, is certainly not someone to be taken lightly. Don’t act rashly,” Ashton warned, concerned that Briar might engage in reckless behavior given her current emotional state.

    Briar’s face grew solemn as she nodded. “I know. I won’t do anything reckless. Don’t worry.”

    ‘As if!‘ Briar scoffed inwardly. Now that she knew where the undergroundb was–and had Sawyer as leverage- she wasn’t about to let this chance slip by. The only reason she hadn’t moved yet was because she was waiting on word from her uncles. Once that came, those people wouldn’tst the day.

    Ashton studied Briar’s calm gaze, feeling uneasy. He had once seen her as innocent, but now he knew how capable she truly was. After watching her steady demeanor while interrogating Zayne today, his view of her changedpletely.

    “Mr. Wade, should I take Zayne back now?” Connor quickly said, having noticed the tension simmering beneath Briar’s calm appearance.

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    Ashton pulled his gaze away from Briar and nodded. “Yeah, get him out of here as soon as possible. Keep a tight watch on him–don’t let him die too easily.”

    Connor immediately stood up. “Understood. I’ll get Zayne out of here right away.”

    Not wanting to risk anything going wrong, Connor knew he had to leave immediately. Brandon was watching Briar closely and noticed that when she heard they were taking Zayne away, she showed no reaction at all.

    ‘This isn’t right,‘ Brandon thought. ‘With how much Miss Jennings hates Zayne, she should’ve at least tried to stop us, or at the very least, asked a few more questions.‘

    However, Briar didn’t bat an eye, as if she couldn’t care less about what happened to Zayne–whether he stayed or left, lived or died, it was all the same to her. ‘If Miss Jennings doesn’t care about what happens to Zayne, then whose life does she want?‘ Brandon couldn’t help but wonder, suspicion gnawing at him.

    “Wait a second… Could it be that Briar’s true target was never Zayne from the beginning?” The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. That same thought raced through Ashton, Brandon, and Connor’s minds simultaneously, causing their hearts to pound wildly in shock.