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    Whenn came toward them, swinging a bloodied iron rod still dripping with flesh, Mannypletely broke down and screamed, “Don’t hit me! Please, don’t! I’ll talk. I’ll confess everything!”

    In the throes of a breakdown, her screams came out shrill and piercing, like shattering ss.

    Briar frowned, her hand pausing midair with the fork, but she quickly resumed eating with deliberate nonchnce, using the motion of taking a bite to hide the smile tugging at her lips.

    Ashton was always quick to notice every little reaction from Briar. He caught her subtle move just now, but only lowered his gaze and didn’t ask, letting it pass withoutment.

    Even though Briar had been acting all obedient ever since they returned to Dasmiec, Ashton wasn’t naive enough to believe she was truly that docile.

    He could still vividly recall the fury and killing intent Briar had unleashed back in theb on Bersy Ind.

    That kind of murderous aura was something Ashton was all too familiar with.

    It was even more ruthless than the edge Ian, a former mercenary, carried. Ashton felt Briar was more like a mercenary than the real thing.

    No, she was even more dangerous, like a battle–hardened ouw who’d survived countless life–and–death struggles.

    Reece and Hamish had both confided in him that there was a lot more to Briar than anyone realized.

    After all, people who gave off an even more dangerous vibe than mercenaries usually came from one of two backgrounds.

    The first was those elite special forces, like the one Reece and Hamish had once belonged to. Those all- rounder kings of the battlefield had survived countless firefights, and the aura they carried was downright intimidating.

    After leaving the military, Reece and Hamish deliberately crafted their yboy personas for a reason. The shadowy work they were involved in required them to appear wealthy and influential, but harmless. To mask the lethal edge beneath, they became the most notorious womanizers in Shoneport, a reputation that served as the perfect cover.

    The other ce that could forge such a ruthless aura was those underground arenas overseas, where people fought wild beasts for their lives. Anyone who managed to walk out of those ces alive carried an intensity that was simply off the charts.

    A flicker of pain and deep concern shed in Ashton’s eyes. ‘What kind of nightmare must she have gone through,‘ he wondered, ‘for a teenage girl to end up in a ce where you had to kill or be killed, where all your humanity got burned away, just to survive?‘

    The truth was, those arenas were pure hell. Even grown men who could handle themselves had no guarantee of making it out alive.

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    A cool touch on his lips jolted Ashton out of his thoughts. He looked down and met Briar’s soft, beautiful gaze. The dim light above cast a shadow over her profile, making her features a bit blurry from his angle, but he could still sense the gentle vibe she gave off.

    Her delicate grace now stood in stark contrast to the ruthless ferocity she’d shown moments before.

    “You’ve been eyeing the fruit in my hand for a while. Lucky for you, I’m pretty generous. You can have a piecei,/i” Briar said with a yful smile, looking up at him.

    Ashton leaned in and took the fruit with his teeth. “Okay.”

    Briar’s interruption swept away the gloom in Ashton’s heart, and his expression softened. He hooked a chair over with his long leg, sat down beside Briar, and together they watched as Manny,pletely unraveled, started spilling her guts.

    “My grandpa and my parents have been working for some mysterious person for a long time…” Manny confessed.

    Just that first sentence was enough to give her a shot at surviving.

    Ian shot Briar a subtle look, and when he caught the slightest nod from her, he asked coolly, “Some mysterious person? Who exactly? Spell it out!”

    ‘As expected, Geoff isn’t the mysterious Ben everyone has been whispering about,‘ Ian thought.

    “I don’t know who that mysterious person is,” Manny sobbed, her face streaked with tears and her makeup a total mess. “All I know is he’s Dasmiecian, but he’s always hiding overseas… I’ve told you everything I know, so please, don’t hit me, okay?” Her pitiful act was so fake that it was honestly an eyesore.

    Ian was never the type to show mercy to women, especially not to someone with a face like that. Without a second thought, he swung the iron rod at her. “You think you can get off easily by spouting such vague nonsense? Have you no shame?”

    Still, Ian held back a little. He aimed the blow at Manny’s back, the spot that could take a beating, painful, but least likely to do real harm.

    After all, now that Manny had started confessing, it wouldn’t be long before the other three caved too.

    Especially Qeturah, who looked like he was itching to say something.

    “Ouch!” Manny yelped as the iron rod knocked her to the floor, tears streaming down her face from the pain. But at least she didn’t get the same brutal beatdown Geoff had. After a bit, the pain faded enough that she could slowly sit up again.

    Qeturah must’ve realized what Ian wanted from them, because he gritted his teeth, crawled over without a shred of dignity, andtched onto Ian’s leg. “I’ll talk! I’ll spill everything! I know way more than my daughter

    does…”

    Geoff, barely clinging to life, forced out, “You… You…” He coughed violently before he could finish his

    sentence.

    19:14 Thui, /iSep 18 d.

    After a violent coughing fit, he gasped for air, then copsed, unconscious.

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    When Qeturah felt Geoff’s intense re, guilt gnawed at him. After all, Geoff had drilled it into him a thousand times that he should never, ever spill anything about Ben, or it would bring doom down on the

    Garzas.

    But if he didn’t talk now, they’d all be dead in no time.

    Qeturah thought, ‘Who cares if Benes for meter? I want to survive this moment. At the very least, let me live long enough for Ben to show up and kill them.

    Norma was desperate to confess, too. The way Ian waved that blood–smeared iron rod around was just too much. Chunks of flesh still clung to it, swinging right in front of her face like a headsman’s axe, just waiting toe crashing down on her neck at any moment.

    “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I even have a recording of Ben’s voice on my phone…” she cried out, her voice trembling with

    fear.

    “No, let me confess first!” Qeturah shouted, trying to cut her off.

    “No, I’ll spill everything first!” Norma shot back, just as frantic.

    True to the saying “every man for himself,” Qeturah and Norma nearly came to blows over who’d talk first.

    Their shameless scramble and ugly desperation leftn staring in disbelief.

    It had been a long time since he’d seen people turn on each other like this, a real dog–eat–dog mess.

    So Ian stepped back, no longer in a hurry. He gave them space and let them tear into each other.

    “Briar, let’s enjoy the show a bit longer,” he said, strolling over to the table. He grabbed another fork, speared several pieces of fruit at once, and stuffed them all into his mouth. With his mouth full, he mumbled, “Let’s wait until they ‘work things out‘ before we grill them again.”

    Briar’s smirk had been glued to her face ever since Manny started confessing, and now her whole expression was full of swagger. “Sure thing. In a bit, we’ll drag them into separate rooms and grill them one by one. Whoever spills the most gets to walk free.”

    As soon as Manny heard that, she dove headfirst into the frantic scramble with Qeturah and Norma.