bChapter /bb203 /b

    Frank waspletely stunned on the spot, thinking he must be seeing things. He watched the video again just to be sure.

    The footage showed exactly how Emily had secretly met up with Sawyer to plot their dirty deeds. The whole thing was recorded.

    There were faces, voices, and undeniable proof. There was no way any of this could be faked. ‘Is Emily out of her mind? She actually teamed up with someone who might be a terrorist? Does she really think she’s untouchable? With brains like hers, she’d probably get sold off and still help count the money,‘ Frank thought.

    After a long moment, Frank finally managed to speak. “Ashton, so Emily was actually involved in trying to hurt Briar too?i” /i

    Ashton let out a sigh. “Yeah. And as for why Brandon came back to the country, you can probably guess. He was chasing after a guy named Zayne.”

    “Zayne? Oh, I know who that is. He’s the guy you all caught a few days ago, right? And he’s also Sawyer’s biological father…” Frank said.

    At that, Frank paused. He might be simple at heart, but his mind worked fast. In ino /itime, he put the pieces together.

    “So, Emily secretly let Zayne back into the country? And those murder cases that got uncoveredter… don’t tell me she was mixed up in those, tooi?/ii” /iFrank asked, his voice full of disbelief.

    Ashton didn’t say a word, but the look on his face said it all.

    Frank was furious. “But why would she do something like that? Isn’t the Wade family already giving her enough shelter to mess around as she pleases?”

    Frank just couldn’t get it. ‘Has she got shit for brains or what? Is she really trying to get herself killed? Does she honestly think Ashton can’t see right through her?‘ he fumed.

    And now, everyone in the Wade family knew that Briar was Ashton’s girlfriend and the future mistress of the Wade family. Even the family head had tacitly agreed to it. ‘Does she really dare to go against what the family head and Ashton have decided?‘ Frank thought.

    “The people from the second branch have been harboring ulterior motives for ages. They just never found a chance to break away from the Wade Group’s protection, until Saywer showed up. His arrival was exactly the opportunity Emily had been waiting for,” Ashton exined.

    As Ashton spoke, he kept sneaking nces at Briar, afraid she’d take it the wrong way or get upset.

    “Damn it, that stupid woman! Doesn’t she ever stop to think why anyone would help her for no reason? Her only real value is being a member of the Wade family,” Frank cursed.

    Frank was about to lose his mind over how dumb Emily was. He’d seen idiots before, but never anyone this hopelessly stupid. She was practically running headfirst into iher /iown grave.

    Compared to all ithe /istupid things she’d done, the fact that she tried ito /istir up trouble between me and Brandon didn’t even matter anymore. That was nothing.

    No wonder Brandon left so decisively. Frank had thought he was just heartbroken and ran off to the border to lick his wounds. It turned out he never gave a damn about Emily’s little tricks in the first ce.

    Yeah, Brandon didn’t even have to lift a finger. Emily was doing a fine job digging her own grave.

    Once his folks found out about all the dumb stuff Emily pulled, all that bias against Brandon would just fall apart.

    ‘That bastard, making a big deal out of nothing and pulling a disappearing act just to mess with me! Next time he shows up, let’s see if I let him banywhere /bnear my bed!‘ Frank fumed to himself.

    “So, what are you guys going to do about Emily? If you can’t handle her yourselves, I can always lend a hand,” Briar said bluntlyb, /bbnow /bbthat /bbFrank /bbhad /b

    bChapter /bb203 /b

    finally bwrapped /bhis head around everything.

    Ashton reached out and pulled Briar, who was trying to scoot away, right back to his side with a grin. “Why are you trying to runb? /bYou really think bI’d /bbever /bstick up for her?”

    Briar curled her lip. “You never know. Everyone in Shoneport knows you always protect your own, right or wrong. What if I make a thove and you get bin /bmy way?”

    Ashton was almostughing at how feisty Briar was being. “Babe, we’re tied together now. Same rope, same fate. You can’t just take it out on me because of some other woman. I’m totally innocent here.”

    Briar gave a cold, mocking smile. “Don’t be so sure. What I have in mind for Emily is way more than just sending her to jail.”

    Frank, sitting off to the side, couldn’t help but kick her while she was down and egg everyone on. “Exactly! Just sending her to jail is letting her off bway /btoo easy. With the Wade family’s name in Shoneport, she’d still be living it up behind bars, eating and drinking like a pampered princess. Why not just tie her up and toss her into the sea to feed the fish?”

    Frank had heard Brandon say that those ouws running wild along the border never left any loose ends.

    Sometimes they’d tie people up and dump them in the wilder

    by wild animals.

    to be eaten by wolves, leaving them wide awake to watch themselves get torn apart

    Other times, they’d bind them up, tie stones to their feet, and throw them into the ocean, sinking straight to the bottom, their flesh rotting away and turning into fish food.

    Sounded pretty terrifying, but honestly, it was just right for Emily. She really was just in evil.

    “Don’t be so ruthless, kid,” Ashton said, giving Frank a smack on the back of the head. “We’ve got this. Leave it to us.”

    Frank nced at himself, already 22, and then at Briar, who was only 18 but somehow had all the ‘talents‘ for bloodthirst, brutality, and violence.

    He couldn’t help but think, ‘Man, how can people be so different?‘

    Briarughed and patted Frank on the shoulder. “Lighten up, senior. You grew up pampered, but I was raised wild. Of course we’re not the same.”

    Those words, “raised wild,” made Ashton’s heart clench. He quickly waved Frank off. “It’s gettingte, you’re about to bete for ss. You know what you need to know, so just pretend you never heard any of this. Stay away from Emily and focus on your studies.”

    Frank thought, ‘Seriously? Wait, I’m about to bete for ss, and Briar’s in the same ss as me. Isn’t she going to bete too?‘ He was speechless.

    But before Frank could even protest, the vi’s bodyguards politely escorted him out and arranged for a driver to take him to Shoneport University.

    “Babe, we need to take our time and n this out. You can’t just go off and act alone,” Ashton said, now that the troublemaker was gone, trapping Briar between the sofa and his arms.

    Briar struggled but couldn’t get away, so she gave in with a sigh. “Alrightb, /balright, I’ll listen to you, okay?”

    Ashton still looked doubtful. “You mean it?”

    Briar nodded. “I mean it. I’m with you all day, every day–when would I even have a chance to sneak off and do anything?”

    That finally put Ashton at ease. “Good point. We’ve all got our eyes on this. When it’s time to catch her, I’ll bring you along, alright?”

    “Alright,” Briar replied without hesitation.

    With Briar’s endless reassurances and yful charm, Ashton found himselfpletely wrapped around her finger, never even considering bthat /bbjust /bbecause she had no chance to act during the day didn’t mean she couldn’t pull something off at night.

    Briar really did y the obedient girlfriend–she went to ss on time during the day, and at night, she’d even show bup /bon her bown /bbto /bbcoax /bbAshton to /b

    45%

    sleep.

    But then, two dayster, at 3:30 in the morning, Brandon urgently knocked on Ashton’s door, waking him from his sleep. “Ashton, something’s wrong! Our people just reported. Emily and Sawyer have both disappeared at the same time…”

    AD