Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 228

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When lan ctoward them, swinging a bloodied iron rod still dripping with flesh, Manny completely 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 cout shrill and piercing, like shattering glass.

Briar frowned, her hand pausing midair with the fork, but she quickly resumed eating with deliberate

nonchalance, 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 without comment.

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 the lab on Bersy Island.

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

It was even more ruthless than the edge lan, 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 outlaw 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 cfrom 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 playboy 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 becthe most notorious womanizers in Shoneport, a reputation that served as the

perfect cover.

The other place 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 places alive carried an intensity that

was simply off the charts.

A flicker of pain and deep concern flashed in Ashton’s eyes. ‘What kind of nightmare must she have gone

through,” he wondered, ‘for a teenage girl to end up in a place 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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Chapter 228

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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 piece,”

Briar said with a playful 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, completely unraveled, started

spilling her guts.

“My grandpa and my parents have been working for smysterious person for a long time...” Manny

confessed.

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

lan shot Briar a subtle look, and when he caught the slightest nod from her, he asked coolly, “Smysterious

person? Who exactly? Spell it out!”

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

“I don’t know who that mysterious person is,” Manny sobbed, her face streaked with tears and her makeup a

total mess. “All | know is he’s Dasmiecian, but he’s always hiding overseas... I've told you everything | know, so

please, don’t hit me, okay?” Her pitiful act was so fake that it was honestly an eyesore.

lan 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, lan 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 sbrutal beatdown Geoff had. After a bit, the pain faded enough that she could

slowly sit up again.

Qeturah must've realized what lan wanted from them, because he gritted his teeth, crawled over without a shred

of dignity, and latched onto lan’s leg. “I'll talk! Ill spill everything! | 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.

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Chapter 228

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

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When Qeturah felt Geoff's intense glare, 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 Ben comes forlater? | 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 lan 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 to

ccrashing down on her neck at any moment.

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

fear.

“No, letconfess 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 cto blows over who'd talk first.

Their shameless scramble and ugly desperation left lan staring in disbelief.

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

So lan 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.

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