Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Briar’s heart skipped a beat. Given Ashton’s sharp instincts, it was only a matter of time before he started questioning lan’s identity.

Still, she answered the phone, “Ashton?”

There was a lot of noise on Ashton’s end, and she could hear him ask, “Briar, is lan with you?”

Briar glanced at lan, who looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. She replied, “Yeah, he’s at my place. Are you looking for him?”

“Yeah, pass him the phone. I need to talk to him,” Ashton said.

“Sure thing.” Briar handed the phone to lan, a faint, teasing smile tugging at her lips as she caught his terrified gaze. She stated, “He says he wants to talk to you.”

lan fell silent as he braced himself before taking the phone. “Ashton, did you need me?” he asked.

“Why couldn’t I reach you on your phone? You need to get over to the lab right now. The cops want to talk to you,” Ashton said.

lan’s face drained of color, and he asked, “Ashton, do I have to go? Can’t we just talk on the phone?”

lan was feeling really nervous. His true identity was something he needed to keep secret. What if the police finished asking him questions and decided to investigate him even further? He’d never caused any trouble in Dasmieca, but the police here made him uneasy. Their instincts for uncovering the truth were quite intense.

Right now, he didn’t want to see Ashton, the most influential guy in town.

lan couldn’t shake the thought that Ashton might have already figured out who he was.

“What do you think?” Ashton asked, his voice dripping with confidence, as if he understood lan’s fears perfectly. “Just relax and come over. I’ve got your back.”

lan hesitated before responding, “Okay, just… give me a moment.”

Ashton’s following words made lan even more anxious. “I’ve already sent Connor to pick you up. He should be there in about ten minutes. Just go wait at the front gate.”

lan felt he had no choice but to agree, “Okay.”

Ashton hung up, looking satisfied.

Briar, who had listened to the whole conversation, patted lan on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. She reassured, “Relax. If Ashton says he won’t make things hard for you, he means it. Maybe the police just want to ask you a few questions. Don’t panic over nothing.”

worried. He whined, “Briar, do you understand how intimidating Ashton can

laugh, “Come on, he’s

as he thought, ‘Who in their right mind would dare ignore the ‘reason‘ of one

shuffled over to the front gate, looking completely defeated

out to join him, and the two of them stood there together. Sure enough, ten minutes later,

pulled up right

coming too?” Connor asked, though he was already out of the car and holding

look that made it clear he was supposed to sit in the

1/3

Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 170

the car as she replied, “I heard what lan said, so

“Got it. I’ll let

the lab were far too bloody and brutal for Miss Jennings to see, he inwardly

partly because she wanted to see what kind of live experiment lab lan had gotten hunself mixed up in and partly because… well, she was genuinely

lab,

tape marking off the lab. Her brows drew together, and a cold shiver

University. It was so close, and yet two innocent girls

Ashton waved Briar over as

by his side, he suddenly seemed far

ruthless Ashton was, there was no way he’d

determined to pretend any old

to Ashton as asked, though she kept trying to get a better look at the lab, her face

tape. Ashton calmly stepped in front of Briar, shielding her from the prying eyes. “It’s pretty serious,” he said. “They’ve confirmed the organs came from at least ten different people. The earliest was an unidentified victim from five years ago, and the

face darkened as she asked, “These people are absolute monsters. What about Sawyer?

Sawyer had already been forcibly replaced. They’re still checking footprints and fingerprints at the scene, hoping to find

out a

and they’re pros in a lot of ways. If we can’t recover the surveillance footage, I’m afraid lan’s

rush to save the victims, lan ended up disturbing the scene slightly, which gave the lab personnel

time. It was Sunday, so the school doctor wouldn’t be on duty. At this hour,

shouldn’t be too hard.

his hand hovered, itching