Jules pushed himself up from the ground, every breath scraping raw against his injured throat. "You..."


    Their rescue hadn''te from some heroic squad-it was just one guy, maybe seventeen or eighteen, dragging Jules in one hand and Meryl in the other. Somehow, in the storm of gunfire, he''d taken on both ra and Charles by himself and pushed them back.


    The scarred man finally broke the silence. "So, Jules, what do you think? Satisfied with my new prototype?"


    Jules clutched his chest, spat out blood, and shot him a re. “If I die, you can forget about seeing a single cent."


    "Oh,e on now. You''re putting up ten billion. Least I can do is make sure you get your money''s worth. This one-he''s my masterpiece."


    ra couldn''t help staring at the so-called prototype. Was it just her imagination, or did he look a lot like Charles?


    Charles hadn''t moved at all, like he was frozen in ce. He''d noticed it too-their faces were almost identical.


    "Hey, you okay?" ra whispered.


    Charles lowered his head, voice quiet. "Yeah. It''s just... he looks a lot like me."


    Seven or eight tenths the same, except for one thing: the prototype''s eyes were empty, t, like he didn''t feel anything at all. The perfect experiment, just like the scarred man imed.


    A cold chill tightened in ra''s chest. She couldn''t shake the feeling they''d stumbled onto something huge-something nobody was supposed to find out.


    The prototype looked up, meeting both their eyes.


    The scarred man gave azy wave. "Take them. Jules is your master now."


    The prototype moved. He was fast-faster than any normal person could be. Whatever experiments they''d done, it wasn''t just in ab. He''d been trained, maybe tortured, to be this way.


    Charles''s mask hit the floor. He was strong, but next to the prototype, he didn''t stand a chance.


    Jules caught sight of Charles''s face. For a split second, surprise flickered in his eyes, then he let out a cold, mockingugh. "Well, if it isn''t you. Didn''t expect to see you here you


    bastard


    s


    ra saw Charles on the verge of being pinned down and rushed to help, but


    Charles shook his head. "Don''t, ra. We can''t beat him."


    She stopped in her tracks, helpless.


    The prototype wrapped a hand around Charles''s throat and looked to the scarred man, waiting for his next move.


    The scarred man grinned and turned to Jules. "So what''s the n? These two came in with you. My guys searched everywherest night and all day today. There''s nowhere you Could''ve hidden them except here."  s


    Jules shot Charles a look of pure disgust, sneering, “Funny, isn''t it? This guy looks


    a hell of a lot like your precious prototype."


    The scarred man looked like he


    man


    expected Jules to just kill them both. But Jules pressed his lips together "Get rid of the girl. Keep Charles alive. He''s worth a fortune to the Chester family, Let''s see how much you can squeeze out of them. The Chesters have money to burn. Charles is worth billions, easy."  s<fn492e> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on find{n}ovel</fn492e>


    The scarred man waved his hand, signaling the prototype to finish ra.


    The prototype grabbed a knife, poised to drive it straight into ra''s heart, but the scarred man stopped him. "Take her to the cliff. No blood in here."


    The prototype grabbed ra and started dragging her outside.


    ra didn''t fight. She just turned, searching for Charles''s face.


    He was pale, and for the first time, she saw something she''d never seen before- real fear in his eyes.