Holy shit!” Reece blurted out in shock. “Seriously?”
But Ashton’s calm, faintly amused smile had answered it all. Reece was at a loss for words, so he could only join Hamish in applauding.
“Impressive! Ashton, you really struck gold! Briar’s been hiding her identity far too well, hasn’t she? First, she turns out to be the miracle doctor, Tristan’s sole apprentice, then the Speed Queen Bree, and now she even knows how to hack!”
“Not only that, Briar can also fight,” Hamish chimed in.
Meanwhile, the subject of their praise, Briar, was speeding on a deserted road on her motorcycle with fan.
lan patted his chest, still shaken, and said, “Damn, that was close! We almost got caught red–handed by Ashton and the others.”
It turned out that when Briar hacked into the military base’s surveillance system, she had kept a trick up her sleeve, allowing them to watch as Ashton
and the others chased them to the dock.
“Yeah, that was way too close,” Briar agreed, relieved that they had managed to escape in time. Otherwise, being caught on the spot was a whole different ballgame from trying to explain things later.
lan hesitated, then braced himself and asked, “Briar, does this mean your hacker identity’s been exposed?”
‘Since they didn’t manage to catch us, it’s not completely exposed, right? After all, we never left a trace of evidence behind. Even if Ashton suspects something, it’s just a hunch. He can’t prove a thing,‘ lan thought.
Briar shot him an exasperated look and said, “You really think the big shot of Shoneport built his power on solid, irrefutable evidence?” lan shut up immediately.
‘Of course not. Big shots like Ashton don’t need solid evidence. If he’s got even a hint of suspicion, you’re guilty as far as he’s concerned.
‘If people like him really have to do everything by the book like the cops, that’d be way too much trouble,‘ lan thought.
“Alright, lan. Don’t blame yourself. It’s only a matter of time before I expose my identity. Honestly, this doesn’t mess up my plans anyway,” Briar said, trying to comfort him.
lan felt even worse, guilt gnawing at him. Then, an idea struck him./’Briar, to make it up to you, how about I get rid of Beatrice for you tomorrow?”
The motorcycle screeched to a sudden halt, nearly throwing lan off the back seat. He barely managed to grab onto Briar’s waist in time.
Briar putted off her helmet and looked at him. “What, your hands getting itchy because you haven’t killed anyone in a while?” she asked.
‘Why is he suddenly talking about killing again out of nowhere?‘ Briar thought.
lan gave her an awkward but polite smile and said, “Well, I thought since I messed up, I could make it up to you by getting rid of someone for free.”
Briar was speechless. “Thanks, but there’s no need. Beatrice can’t die just yet,” she then said.
‘That was one hell of a way to try and make up for it,‘ Briar thought to herself.
lan asked again, “If I can’t kill Beatrice, what about Halle? She seems like an easy target.”
“No need,” Briar replied flatly.
lan said again, “Then how about Edgar? Although you said he’s got someone behind him and we can’t kill him, we won’t know unless we give it a shot, right?”
Briar lowered her helmet visor. “Seriously, there’s no need. Let’s keep these people around for now. If they die, who’s going to help me fish out the ones
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Chapter 206
hiding in the shadows?”
“Nobody tried to rescue Zayne when he was caught. That shows he isn’t that important in the eyes of the people behind the scenes:
‘Even Sawyer didn’t have anyone protecting him after Zayne was caught. We could even take him away effortlessly.
All of this just proves that the real core members of that organization are still lurking in the dark, nowhere near the surface yet.
‘Zayne’s value as a pawn is gone, and it’s even less likely that Sawyer would get anywhere near the inner circle. So for now, Edgar and the rest of the Jennings family must stay alive,‘ Briar thought.
“If they can’t die for now, how about I just teach them a lesson to help you blow off some steam?” lan offered.
Worried Briar would turn him down again, he said, “Don’t worry, Briar. I promise I won’t go too far.” Briar, thinking for a moment, didn’t say anything
further.
As they took a back road on the motorcycle, by the time they got back to Moonspring Estate, Ashton and the others still hadn’t arrived yet.
Briar parked the motorcycle in the garage and turned to lan, saying, “Alright, it’s almost dawn. You should head home and catch up on some sleep. Just remember, no matter what Ashton or the others ask you…”
lan raised his hand like he was taking an oath. “Don’t worry, Briar. I’d rather die than give in.”
His words made Briar laugh. “Don’t worry. Ashton’s not unreasonable. You’re my friend; he won’t give you too hard a time,” Briar said. lan grinned and left.
Ashton had left a bodyguard guarding the next door, so no matter how quietly Briar and lan tried to sneak back, the guard still noticed and immediately informed Ashton.
By the time Briar finished her shower, changed into pajamas, and was lying in bed preparing to sleep, Ashton slipped in through her half–open window.
Briar was speechless. ‘Climbing through my window in the dead of night? Seriously?‘ she thought.
Ashton didn’t show the slightest bit of embarrassment about sneaking in like some shameless rogue. He strode right over to the bed, breathing a little heavily. Briar couldn’t tell if it was from the climb or from being pissed about her sneaking out in the middle of the night.
He stood over her by the bed, looking down at her with a blank expression. Briar couldn’t tell if Ashton was angry or amused, so she just looked up at him, eyes wide, waiting.
After a while, Ashton gave in. He crouched down by the bed, reached out, and gently pinched her cheek, still rosy from the shower. “Wifey, you’re really good at keeping your secrets, huh?”
He didn’t ask why she kidnapped Emily and Sawyer. Nor did he question why she beat their faces to a pulp. Ashton just sighed, a mix of fondness and helplessness in his voice.
Briar felt a bit embarrassed. Since Ashton put it that way, it was clear he already knew she was the one who hacked surveillance near the military base.
“Ahem… I mean, I was kind of hiding it from you on purpose…” Briar topic and said, “It’s all Emily’s fault. She’s way too despicable.”
wanted to explain, but didn’t want to admit it so soon. So she quickly changed the
Ashton let out a helpless laugh, both amused and exasperated. “Babe, did you plan to keep playing dumb like this if I didn’t lay it out clearly?”
Briar smiled faintly and said, “What are you talking about, Ashton? I honestly have
no clue.”
Ashton pulled out his phone and played the surveillance footage. “Xavion said that being able to do something like this with surveillance footage would put you on the international hacker rankings. However, your name was nowhere to be found,” he said.
“Is that so?” Briar asked.
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Ashten put his phone away. “So, anything you want to explain to me, Legendary Hacker Bree?” Briar was silent.
45%
The last three words shocked Briar, and her eyes slightly constricted. “Wait… How did you know I was Legendary Hacker Bree? What if you were wrong?”
AD
