Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 184

Briar nodded. “Yes.”.

Ashton frowned. “Is this person you're afraid of in Shoneport?”

+13

“Ashton, please stop asking,” Briar said, both amused and exasperated. ‘Is he always this obvious when he’s

trying to get information out of me?‘ she thought.

Ashton sighed. “Fine, | won't ask again. But promise me-if you're ever in danger you can’t handle, you'll tell me.”

Since Briar stayed quiet, he didn’t press further. ‘If | can’t ask her, I'll just investigate myself," he thought. Her

records in Qathana were wiped, but if he were determined, he'd find something.

“I promise that if I'm ever in danger, I'll cto you for help immediately,” Briar said earnestly. Yet, if that day

were to come, she was sure she would keep as far away from Ashton as possible.

Ashton looked at Briar for a long while before reaching out his hand. “Let’s go. Hamish and the others are still

waiting for us.”

Briar took his hand. “Okay.”

As they arrived at the club entrance, Hamish and the others were waiting in the car, while police cars flashed

their lights incessantly. Hamish approached, glanced at Briar, then grinned at Ashton. “Hey Ashton, everything

alright? You didn’t give Briar a hard time, did you?”

Ashton was at a loss for words. After handing them over to the police, the group got in their car and drove away.

Back at Moonspring Estate, Briar leaned against the car door and looked at Ashton. With a playful smile, she

said, “Ashton, how about I tuck you in and help you get a good night's sleep?”

Ashton raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. “Alright, I'll stay over tonight and wait for you.” With that, Briar

happily headed inside.

Connor asked, “Mr. Wade, what about Xavion?” Earlier, Ashton had sent Xavion a message indicating that he had

something for him to look into later, Connor guessed it was likely concerning Briar. ‘But if Mr. Wade is staying

here, he can't just let Miss Jennings find out about it so openly, can he?’ Connor thought.

Ashton rubbed his forehead. “Connor, let/ Xavion know to hold off on checking into Briar for now. She’s probably

already noticed something.” He'd underestimated entirely how clever Briar was. After witnessing her insane

shooting skills, it was hard to believe he'd ever thought she was just sordinary girl.

‘She probably offered to tuckin just now just to stall me,’ he thought.

“So, are we still going to look into Miss Jennings?” Connor asked, surprised. ‘She caught on that fast?‘ he

thought.

Ashton sighed. “We still have to check her out, but since it’s not a good idea for us to do it ourselves, let's just

pay

someone else to handle it.”

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Chapter 184

Connor immediately caught on. “Mr. Wade, you want to get someone from the Hacker Alliance to investigate for

us?”

+13

“Yes, the tracking capabilities of the Hacker Alliance are among the best in the world. While our Dark Net

primarily focuses on identifying dark organizations, the Hacker Alliance accepts any assignment. They often

gather information about individuals even faster than we can,” Ashton explained. Ashton truly acknowledged the

talents

of the Hacker Alliance.

Connor nodded. “Alright, Ill put in a request with the Hacker Alliance in a bit. How much are you willing to spend

to dig up Miss Jennings’ background?”

The Hacker Alliance worked fast, but their fees were steep. Briar’s nhad already shown up there once, and

Ashton had paid a hefty sum to bury it. With a group driven by profit, they'd likely charge even more this time.

“As long as they uncovered the truth, let them ntheir price,” Ashton said, radiating the confidence of

someone to whom money had never mattered.

Connor couldn't help but twitch his mouth. “Alright.” He thought, ‘Man, he’s begging the Hacker Alliance to rip

him

off. *

“That's it. You can head back; there’s no need for you to keep watch here,” Ashton said, opening the car door

and stepping out while waving Connor off.

Half an hour later, after taking a shower and putting on fresh clothes, Briar was just about to head next door to

tuck Ashton in when her phone rang with the special ringtone designated for calls from the Hacker Alliance.

Confused, Briar answered the call. “George?”

George's voice sounded just as confused. “Bree, we just received a client order and need to clarify something

with

you.”

Briar asked, “Clarify what?”

“Here's the situation-about ten minutes ago, Shoneport’s heir, your contact, placed a premium order with us at

the Hacker Alliance,” George said, sounding somewhat perplexed. “He wants us to investigate everything related

to your wiped records in Qathana.”

Briar was speechless and still confused.

George continued, “Given the high price and the Hacker Alliance’s motto-whoever pays is the boss-we never

refuse a job if the money is right. However, we discussed it and thought, should you take care of this one?”

‘Damn, George, do you even hear what you're saying right now?’ she thought. ‘So I'm supposed to take the job

and investigate myself?’

Recognizing how insincere that sounded, George cleared his throat slightly. “You know, you erased your records,

so it’s not our place to get involved. Since it’s your guy who's trying to dig for information, why not just give him

a hint or two? After all, he offered 30 million dollars!”

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Chapter 184

DA

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‘So that’s what matters, huh?‘ Briar thought in surprise.

“What do you say? Are you taking the job or not?” George pressed.

Briar rubbed her forehead. “George, if | turn it down, are you guys going to give the money back?”

“Of course not! The Hacker Alliance would never jeopardize our reputation, you know that,” George replied,

sounding earnest but insincere. “And con, with a guy like him who's so influential? There's no way we'd risk

offending him.”

Briar let out a helpless sigh. “Alright, alright, I'll take it. Just send the job over. I'll make something up for him

when | get a chance.”

“Awesome! Already sent it your way. Okay, | won't get in the way of you fobbing off your man. Later!” George

sounded super hyped and hung up in a flash.

Briar was at a loss for words. Five minutes later, she sat at the edge of the bed, staring at Ashton, who appeared

to be casually lounging in a bathrobe but was trying to provoke her. “Ashton, could you please put on some

clothes?”

‘How is this man managing this? Just twenty minutes ago, he spent 30 million dollars investigating me, and now

he’s lying there, chest out, acting all casually and trying to charmlike it’s no big deal,’ she thought.

“Like this?” Ashton tightened his bathrobe, attempting to put on an innocent expression. However, the

adjustment only made things worse-now even more of his skin was exposed, and Briar could see the designer

logo on his ridiculously expensive boxers.

Briar’s anger finally reached a breaking point. “Ashton, can you please behave for once? Every t| try to tuck

you in, you have to start flirting withagain. Seriously, if you keep this up-Oh?”

But before she could finish, the world spun. In an instant, Ashton had her pinned beneath him on the bed,

capturing her lips in a kiss that was both commanding and gentle, his hands holding hers firmly above her head.

With that one dominating yet tender kiss, he silenced all her thoughts.

After a while, Ashton, still hovering over her, spoke in a low, husky voice, “My love, isn’t this the perfect way to

tuck