In the blink of an eye,however,things took an unexpected turn.
A cloud of fine powder was suddenly seen floating around the door,causing the bodyguard who leaned out to shudder and collapse,losing consciousness instantly.
“There’s someone out there!” the other bodyguard exclaimed in shock and attempted to close the door quickly.
However,it was too late.The bodyguard who fell blocked the doorway,causing the bodyguard behind him to also inhale the powder.His body also trembled as he fell to the floor,powerless also trembled as he fell to the floor,powerless and unwilling A disdainful sneer was heard from outside the door.
Britton’s expression changed completely.He rose from his seat vigilantly,fixating his gaze on the figure that had emerged at the door,and roared in a hoarse,aged voice,”Jeremy!What’re you up to?”
Corinne,too,stood up and retrieved the concealed pistol from her waist.She positioned herself next to Britton,keeping a vigilant gaze fixed on Jeremy who stood by the door.”Don’t move!If you do,I’ll shoot!”
Seeing the pistol in Corinne’s grip,Jeremy raised his hands with a sigh,feigning innocence. “Mr.Scott,didn’t we have a pleasant discussion this morning?Why’s your granddaughter suddenly pointing her gun at me?It’s really hurting my feelings.”
With a scowl,Corinne snorted,”Shut up!No matter how hard you try to create a rift between us,it won’t work.My grandpa has decided to cooperate with Brandon.If you had any sense,you’d surrender now,and maybe we’d spare your life!”
“Cooperating with Brandon?”Jeremy raised an eyebrow,pretending to be surprised.”Mr.Scott, didn’t you say you would cooperate with me this morning?Why change your mind and team up with a man who has already betrayed you once?Aren’t you concerned that Brandon might betray you again?”
Jeremy’s sarcastic tone caused Britton’s face to darken.”It’s none of your business!”
With a dejected look on his face,Jeremy shook his head and said,”You’ve really disappointed me,Mr.Scott.I’ve made countless drugs for you in recent past.”
He paused briefly before continuing in a cold tone.”Since you’ve broken your promise, however,don’tblame me for showing no mercy!” Britton’s frown deepened,and he asked with an uneasy expression,”What’re you going to do?” With a strange smile on his face,Jeremy replied slowly,”You’ll find out soon enough.”
Before he completed his sentence,both Britton and Corinne staggered and fell weakly into their chairs.
“You…you … “
When did he drug them?Britton stared at Jeremy,observing the grin on his face,as he lay on the table weakly.
Observing the situation,Brandon and Frank exchanged glances and then both pretended to be feeble,lying on the table as well.
Britton’s eyes rolled as he lay on the table helplessly.Upon taking a glance at Brandon and Frank and noticing their clear eyes,he immediately surmised that they had already taken the antidote.
He desperately signaled to Brandon,silently urging him to give him the antidote so that they could confront Jeremy together.
Brandon,however,didn’t even acknowledge him.
Indeed,Jeremy had done many evil things,but Britton,who had been working with him,was no saint either.The pair had a history of scheming against each other,and now,had turned on themselves.
Brandon refused to help either of them.
Brandon lay on the table with his back to Jeremy,concealing his facial expression.Jeremy,convinced that he had successfully poisoned everyone in the room,burst into maniacal laughter.
“How dare you use me as a bargaining chip for cooperation? You brought this upon yourself.
I’ve defeated all of you!”
With the situation falling into his lap like an obedient puppet,Jeremy strutted to Brandon’s side,his gaze descending upon him like a vulture circling its wounded prey.His lips curled into a haughty and malevolent grin.
“Brandon,you’ve decimated all of my strongholds and laid them to waste like fields of ashes.Yet your thirst for destruction seems insatiable.Plotting with that senile old man to end my life?I’ll end him first,and then I’ll subject you to a torturous demise.No one leaves this place alive today.Escape is but a dream you won’t live to see,”Jeremy hissed venomously.
Jeremy took a moment to drink in the sight of Brandon,squatting down with his gloating gaze,anticipating the delicious taste of panic on Brandon’s face.
Yet the stark calm etched onto Brandon’s face came as a sucker punch to Jeremy’s pride.He was unflinching,even in the shadow of imminent doom.
“Still putting up the facade of stoicism,even when death is on the horizon?”Jeremy snorted derisively,rising to his feet.”Prostrate yourself and beg for mercy;perhaps I’d consider making your death less painful.”
A sardonic smirk played at the corner of Brandon’s lips.His gaze fell on Frank,whose fingers were stealthily unscrewing the cap of a small vial,the scent of a potent drug subtly filling the air.
The two men shared an unspoken understanding:Jeremy would taste his own poison.
Britton oblivious to Frank’s maneuver,dismissed any help from Brandon as a futile endeavor.He pushed every muscle in his body,drawing nearer to Jeremy with the help of his survival instinct.
“Ahhh…”Choking on his words, Britton mustered all his strength to lift his head towards Jeremy,a desperate plea glinting in his eyes “Antidote…”he wheezed.
Jeremy’s derisive chuckle rang out reverberating around the room as he taunted Britton,”You old fool,are you so desperate for your life that you want the poisoner to be your savior?’
He stamped his boot on Britton’s face,his voice a searing whip.”You never saw this coming,did you?Your darling Brandon,utterly powerless to save you!’
Corinne’s heart shattered at the sight of her grandfather’s humiliation.Her fingers twitched towards the discarded firearm nearby,but the drugs coursing through her system rendered her as helpless as a rag doll.Her once defiant spirit was now a pathetic whimper.
Jeremy reveled in their despair,his laughter ringing out like a triumphant symphony.The pent-up frustration from his days in hiding was being purged,one cruel chuckle at a time.”Still dreaming of retaliation, even while incapacitated by my poison?Such sweet delusion!”
Britton’s desperation spiraled;the desire to switch sides with Jeremy and spill the secret of Brandon and Frank’s ruse was a fire in his heart.Yet his vocal cords were as feeble as the rest of him.
Jeremy,annoyed 16:47
by Britton’s whimpering,snarled,”Silence!”He booted the weakened Britton aside with a disdainful kick.
Violently discarded,Britton felt the icy tendrils of death creeping up his spine.His body convulsed in agony,and cold sweat drenched him.
Seeing her once-venerated grandfather being tossed aside like a ragdoll by Jeremy,Corinne’s cries echoed in the desolate room.She desperately tried to lunge at Jeremy,but her body wouldn’t obey.
Alarmed,Jeremy drew a wickedly sharp dagger, the gleaming blade pressing against Britton’s throat.”Another sound from you,and I end this old man’s misery now!”he snarled.
Britton felt the cold kiss of the steel against his skin,and a stark realization hit him:Jeremy was not bluffing.The threat of death hung in the air like a chilling specter.
Fearing Jeremy’s lethal intent,Britton’s pleas subsided instantly.He lay splayed on the floor, his breath hitching in terror.
Corinne,her eyes transfixed on the blood trickling down her grandfather’s neck,fell silent,her cries strangled by fear.
Having quelled Britton’s and Corinne’s protests,Jeremy nonchalantly sauntered towards Brandon,his dagger caressing Brandon’s face.
“Remember our last encounter in that forsaken school?My carelessness cost me dearly then.
Today,you won’t be as fortunate!”
Memories of their previous face-off sparked Jeremy’s wrath.He clenched his fists,the urge to strike Brandon down overpowering him.
“We’ve got debts to settle-old scores and fresh slights.This time,I’ll inflict a fate worse than death on you with my most potent poison!”he snarled,his voice echoing ominously in the room.
“Brandon,I’ll be your envoy to the afterlife, tasked with delivering your confession to my sister.”
Jeremy’s malevolent threat halted abruptly,his eyes widening in an unanticipated fear as he stammered at Brandon,”You’re not under the effect of my poison?”
A sly grin cracked Brandon’s face,illuminating his features with an air of triumph.
“Your so-called potent toxin is quite mediocre,” he retorted,leisurely sitting up and adjusting his attire.His icy gaze bore into Jeremy’s,each word laced with unyielding contempt. “Moreover,wasn’t it you who fled in terror after our last altercation?When it comes to fortune, it seems to favor you,hiding like a stray cur, continuously eluding death.”
In Brandon’s eyes,a cold,savage fire burned, devoid of any hints of intoxication.Jeremy, stricken with fear,retreated several paces, maintaining a safe distance.
“Did you anticipate my arrival today?”Jeremy inquired through gritted teeth,defiance written in every line of his face.
Resting comfortably against his chair, Brandon’s arms were folded arrogantly across his chest.In stark contrast to Jeremy’s growing panic,his demeanor remained unperturbed.”I was well aware of your refuge in the Darkmoon Assassin Group.I initially planned to lead Britton astray and send an execution squad after you.Alas,I underestimated your naivety in seeking me out.”
His words,dripping with sarcasm,made Jeremy’s fists tighten further.”You orchestrated all of this?The antidote to my poison,whose recipe I never shared—how did you come across it?’
Brandon threw a casual glance towards Frank and sighed,as if bored.”When do you plan to end this charade?”
“Perhaps a little longer.It’s entertaining to witness his foolish,self-satisfied demeanor,” Frank retorted,grinning faintly.
Jeremy,jolted by the revelation,shot an accusing glare at Frank.”It was you?You sabotaged it all!”
With a smile that barely hid his amusement, Frank rose with the grace of a cat and snapped his fingers.”Congratulations!You’ve nailed it.
But,alas,there’s no prize for your deduction.”
“Why?Why?”Jeremy roared,his face contorting in wrath.”Why stand against me?My quest is for vengeance-for my sister!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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