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.”

“Briar, do

laugh, “Come on, he’s not that bad. He’s pretty

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

gate, looking completely defeated as

the two of them stood there together. Sure enough, ten minutes

pulled up right

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

look that made it

1/3

Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 170

as she replied, “I heard what lan said, so I figured I’d come along and see what’s

nodded in response, “Got it. I’ll

scenes at the lab were far too bloody and

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

lab, and it was just a

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

three blocks from Shoneport University. It was so close, and yet two innocent girls

got out of the car, Ashton waved Briar over as he called

by his

how ruthless Ashton was, there was no way he’d lay into

today, lan was determined to

she kept trying to get a better look at the

with a crowd of onlookers gathered outside the police 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

“These people are absolute monsters. What

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

a sigh,

response, “Yeah, these people are highly organized and disciplined, and they’re pros in a lot of ways. If we can’t recover the surveillance footage, I’m

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

Sawyer?” Briar asked as she glanced at the time. It was Sunday, so the school doctor wouldn’t be on

shouldn’t be too hard.

around, his hand hovered, itching