With two armed guards nking him, Hans forced his heavy legs forward toward the horrific, mangled wreckage.


    The ck sedan waspletely flipped upside down. The crushed roof heavily pinned the two suited men in the front and the lone woman in the back.


    Just a few feet away from the car, Hans abruptly froze in his tracks. His feet felt like they were cemented to the asphalt. He couldn''t take another step.


    "You two, go check it out first."


    He fought desperately to keep his voice steady, but the slight tremor betrayed the sheer terror devouring him from the inside out.


    "Yes, Boss." The two guards immediately rushed forward.


    Hans took deep, ragged breaths, blowing clouds of white mist into the freezing air that partially obscured his sharp, pale face. His fingers twitched uncontrobly. He balled them into tight fists, but he still couldn''t stop the shaking.


    His temples were screaming again. It felt like someone was repeatedly driving rusted ice picks straight into his brain.


    Those short two minutes felt like an agonizing eternity.


    "Boss, these two guys are definitely dead. Do you want toe verify?" one of the guards shouted.


    The drone hovered eerily in the air above them, like a silent ghost.


    Hans knew he couldn''t stall any longer. He forced his legs to move, walking rigidly toward the wreckage.


    The drone followed closely behind, matching him step for step.


    When Hans saw the two bodyguards-one with his headpletely caved in and unrecognizable, the other impaled through the chest by a steel rebar—a cold sweat broke out across his forehead. All the ambient sound around him faded into a dull ring. His blood turned to ice.


    He forced himself to take two more steps.


    Just then, a slender, heavily bloodied hand slipped out of the shattered rear window, dangling lifelessly in the air.


    Hans''s heart violently seized. He practically lunged forward.


    Dropping to one knee, his eyes instantly flooded with red. He immediately


    recognized the hand. It belonged to the Ashbourne family''s second wife. The woman who lovingly called him ''Hubery'', the woman who always teared up whenever she saw him, the woman who loved him unconditionally.


    Suri''s fingers were curled slightly inward. A blood-stained white-gold ne dangled from her grip, catching the bleak, wintry light.


    Breathing heavily, he reached out with a violently shaking hand and gently pulled the ne from her palm.


    Suddenly, Suri''s fingertips twitched ever so slightly.


    Hans''s pupils dted massively. His clenching heart practically exploded with adrenaline!


    She was alive.


    She was alive!


    A chaotic hurricane of pure relief, shock, and wild joy tore through his rapidly heaving chest. His throat closed up entirely, and tears


    instantly blurred his vision.


    At that exact moment, the wail of police sirens echoed from down the mountain.


    "Crap, the cops are here! Boss, we need to fall back now!" one of the guards yelled in a panic.


    The other guard looked confused. "That''s weird, how did the cops get out here so fast?!"


    "Ms. Alexia said this woman was a big deal. She''s the chairman of the Bright Group and an Ashbourne wife! The second she went off the grid. they probably knew! This car might even have a satellite SOS!"


    "Boss, we have to go!"


    Hans''s heart spasmed in agonizing bursts, hurting so badly he thought it might literally tear apart. His hand, clutching the bloody ne, shook uncontrobly.


    He took one final, deeply agonizing look at Suri before forcing himself up and sprinting back to the SUV with his men.


    The drone hovered for another few seconds before zipping away.


    The second Hans vanished, Suri''s blood-soaked eyelids fluttered. Her dry, cracked


    lips parted as she forced out a barely audible whisper:


    "Hubery..."


    ...


    Hans kept a death grip on the ne the entire ride back, not daring to look at it again. He waspletely hollowed out by the time he stepped back into The Genesis Lab.


    "Is the bitch dead?"


    He stopped dead in his tracks.


    Behind him, Alexia''s mocking, yful voice instantly sent a surge of pure, murderous bloodlust straight to his head. A roaring inferno ignited in his chest.


    "I don''t know. Probably. The police showed up before we could verify." "Tch, what a shame. But you know what''s really strange? How did the cops get there so perfectly on time?"


    Alexia slowly circled around to face him, her hands sped behind her back. Her dark, malicious eyes scrutinized hispletely nk, expressionless face.


    "You wouldn''t happen to be the one who called them, would you?"