bChapter /b327

Xylía felt a sudden panic at Holt’s words.

She’d been shut in for two days straight, stuck with the same nd food and zero sunlight–her chest felt so heavy she could hardly breathe.

Maybe this was just Richard’s way of trying to mess with her head first.

After Holt left, the bedroom fell silent again.

Xylia ignored the food he’d brought; instead, she propped herself up against the headboard, gazing at the chandelier above, her mind reying every little moment she’d shared with Joshua.

Joshua, will youe for me?‘ she thought.

Holt found Richard in the garden at the back of the estate.

Richardid a bouquet of fresh flowers at the foot of an unmarked grave, moving like he’d done bit /ba thousand times before, with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

“Boss,” Holt said.

“How’s Xylia doing?” Richard asked.

“Just like you said, she hasn’t left her room in two days, and the windows are all sealed shut,” Holt replied.

“Has she been eating?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, she’s been eating the burgers and Coke we’ve been bringing her,” Holt said.

Richard whipped around to re at Holt, his stare icy and full of usation. “This is what you’ve been feeding her?”

Holt felt a cold chill run down his spine under Richard’s menacing re.

“I… w–we’ve been eating the same stuff…” Holt stammered, voice trembling.

His words came out shaky, his nerves showing in as day.

Without warning, Richard snatched up a stone from the ground and sent it flying straight at Holt’s forehead.

“She’s a delicate girl–noparison to you tough guys! Get her some proper Alvend dishes. Pamper her with real good food and drinks!” Richard said, his tone ice–cold.

Richard’s voice was frosty.

Holt nodded quickly.

He hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t hold back his curiosity, and finally blurted out to Richard, “But boss,

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891

Ms. Sadler is Joshua’s girl. You aren’t actually catching feelings for her, are you?”

As far as Holt knew, Richard was never the kind to go soft over a woman.

Holt mped his mouth shut under Richard’s icy stare.

He hurried off to get some real food ready for Xylia.

Richard turned his gaze back to the grave.

His smile grew icy once more.

“Love? What’s that? Dad, I’m going to use the blood of Joshua’s beloved as a sacrifice, and take Joshua with you as yourpany in the grave!” Richard muttered under his breath.

His ruthless words lingered in the corner of the garden.

The cold wind whipped at Richard’s coat, making the murderous air around him even thicker.

Graham and Joshua arrived in Odell State together.

There was a private mountain range in Odell State, and halfway up, an estate marked Richard’s exclusive territory.

The ce was locked down with heavy security–all ess depended on Richard’s permission. Without it, nobody stood a chance of getting in.

Graham and Joshua stood on the outskirts of a small Odell State town, gazing toward the mountain range rising in the distance.

Graham turned to Joshua, saying, “Richard uses some pretty ruthless methods around here. Sure, he’s powerful, but he’s made plenty of enemies over the years–so the defenses around his estate are tight. Getting close won’t be easy.”

“If we try to storm the ce, we wouldn’t even make it halfway up the mountain before getting ourselves killed,” Graham warned.

Joshua stayed silent, just listening to Graham and didn’t say anything at first.

He was quiet for a long time before finally turning to Graham and asking,

“Richard didn’te back to Daltonia just for Xylia. There’s got to be some hidden agenda behind that messed–up flight, something else we haven’t uncovered yet,” Joshua said.

Graham had heard about the incident with the Alvend flight, but he wasn’t clear on the details.

He turned to Joshua, curious if he knew anything more. Joshua said, “There was a bomb on the ne. When it went off, it blew one of the wings clean off and the whole thing went down. Everyone aboard was killed.”

If Joshua’s hunch was right, there had to be someone on that ne who was on Richard’s hit list.

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So Joshua wasn’t the only one gunning for Richard anymore. fn7da3 N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on fin?novel/fn7da3

“I remember there’s an underground ring here that’s run by Richard, isn’t there?” Joshua asked Graham.

Con

Graham nodded. “Yeah, but the deals that go down there are seriously dirty. I’d warn you not to get mixed bup /bin that stuff.”

“I’m not here to get involved–I just need to find someone,” Joshua replied, keeping it short.

He didn’t exin any more, just nodded at Graham to lead him to the ce.

Graham just couldn’t say no to Joshua, so he went along and took him there.

The underground den was smoky and suffocating, chaos swirling everywhere.

The air reeked of heavy dope and cheap cigarettes, with casinos, fight pits, and sleazy backroom deals all smashed together under one filthy roof.

This ce was enough to make your stomach turn–a stinking cesspool where every kind of vice thrived.

Joshua walked in, his brow furrowed.

He stopped in front of an ornate door.

Two bodyguards guarded thevish doorway, eyes shing with deadly intent. No way these guys were from any official security outfit.

They watched Joshua’s every move as he strode closer, sizing him up with razor–sharp caution.

“Stop right there! What do you want?” One of them barked, his voice rough and the tension palpable.

Both bodyguards red at Joshua and Graham, snapping the words out in perfect Daltonian, every syble edged with menace.

Joshua answered in fluent Daltonian, “Philia. I’m here for Richard.”

The guards didn’t recognize Joshua, but the name Philia rang a bell.

Philia and their boss were sworn enemies–if they let him in, Shaw would probably skin them alive. No way they were taking that risk.

Without a second thought, they leveled their guns straight at him.

“Get the hell outta here, or we’ll put a bullet in your skull!” one of them snarled.

Graham stepped up beside Joshua, face stone cold as he stared the guards down.

Joshua gave Graham’s shoulder a cool tap.

They locked eyes for half a second, then moved like lightning.

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b6913 /b

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The guards never saw iting–a sharp pain to the neck, and they went down instantly, out cold before they could react.

Joshua tossed the unconscious guards aside in utter disgust, then mmed the ornate door open without a second nce.

But he didn’t bother stepping inside. Once they’d made their point, Joshua grabbed Graham and strode straight out of that filthy underground den.

By the time the guards came to, Richard was already standing over them, his expression cold and unreadable.

The guards broke out in a cold sweat, scrambling to their knees in front of him. “B–boss…”

“Who was just here?” Richard’s voice came out cold as death, his eyes locking onto them like a snake circling its prey.

That venomous gaze slid over both men, cold and unnerving, making their skin crawl.

For all their size and muscle, both bodyguards shrank back under that stare, nerves jangling for no reason.

“He said his name was Philia,” one of them said, voice trembling.

‘Philia. Richard ran the name through his mind.

‘Philia… That name rings out in my head, he thought.

‘He’s actually alive?‘ Richard’s mind reeled.

‘Could he have dodged getting on that ne?‘ he wondered, suspicion mounting.

‘No way!‘ Richard denied it to himself, refusing to believe it.

‘I watched him board the ne–there’s no way he could’ve survived,‘ Richard thought grimly, his mind spinning.

‘If I hadn’t seen it happen with my own eyes, I never would’ve believed it. Hell, I wouldn’t have left the ce at all,‘ he muttered to himself.

Richard’s face clouded with rage. “Sweep every security feed in this town. Hunt that man down–now!”

With that barkedmand, he strode quickly into the room, mming the door behind him.

Inside, everything looked perfectly tidy, not a single thing out of ce or any sign that someone had broken in.

But Richard’s gut was still churning. He nced up at the security camera in the corner, then pulled out hisptop and tried to pull up the surveince footage.

But the instant he opened the file, the entire screen went ck.

Richard started clicking furiously, his fingers rattling over the mouse like a machine gun, but nothing

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???

happened–the screen just stayed dead.

A few secondster, a giant hand appeared on the screen, flipping him the middle finger.

Richard’s face was so dark with fury it couldn’t even be called a thundercloud anymore–he looked ready to blow his top any second, like a volcano on the brink.

He smashed theptop down onto the desk, the sickening bang echoing through the room.

‘Who the hell is this? What kind of monster has the skills to break into my system?‘ Richard thought, a chill running down his spine.

Holt walked in, looking grim. “Boss, we checked every security feed in town. No sign of Philia anywhere. And some of the cameras were busted.”

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