<b>Chapter </b><b>9 </b>
<b>“</b><b>So </b>what am I supposed to do?” Tristan had calmed down a little. “I don’t have many old friends left, and who knows how much time <b>I’ve </b>got You can’t <b>let </b>me die with regrets.”
“Guilt–tripping me won’t get you anywhere,” Briar said tly. “You do remember people are still hunting you down on the Dark Net, right? There are hitmen after your head. You really wanna test how fast they can find you, huh?“.
Tristan sighed, totally deted. “How sure are you that you can help?”
Briar’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “About fifty–fifty. I don’t have the good stuff with me right now<i>, </i>you know.”
Tristan asked immediately, “What do you need? Just make a list. I’ll send it all over.
“Don’t regret saying that.” Briar grinned and immediately sent over a massive list detailing over a thousand rare and costly medicinal herbs.
Tristan stared at the list in silence, and his voice trembled. “Briar, can we talk? Maybe cut back on a few of these, okay? I’m down to myst few rare herbs. as well, you
know.”
Briar shrugged. “Sure, but I’ll have to skip a couple of treatments for him. And as for how effective that’ll be-”
“Fine, fine! I’ll get everything,” Tristan muttered, clutching his heart like she’d just robbed him blind. His years of carefully hoarded herbs were gone, <b>just </b>
like that.
Briar looked satisfied. “Good. Once I’ve got the herbs, Griffin will start getting better. I’ll wait for your delivery. Good night.”
She hung up before Tristan could yell at her.
The whole world was still looking for Tristan, but no one had guessed he’d been hiding on an ind in North Bofloria for over a decade, dodging
assassins.
Briar’s expression darkened a little. When she became Tristan’s student, she learned that the same people hunting him had also been involved in her mother’s disappearance.
To protect him—and herself–she helped Tristan vanish. Since then, Tristan had stayed off the gridpletely.
Feeling pretty pleased about scoring those herbs, Briar shut herptop and got ready for bed.
She’d been taking on tough gigs nonstop to prep for this trip home. A good night’s sleep was overdue.
She drifted off quickly,pletely missing the text that lit up her phone screen.
[I’ll send someone to pick you up at 2 PM tomorrow. We’ll meet at Wade Mansion.]
When Briar woke up at 6 AM the next morning and saw Ashton’s message, she just replied with a simple “Okay.”
She wasn’t the least bit surprised he knew where she lived. If Ashton couldn’t even track her down, the Wade family would’ve been eaten alive by their
rivals years ago.
Briar got up, freshened up, changed into workout clothes, and tied her hair into a high ponytail. She headed downstairs for her morning run. The house was still quiet. Only the servants were moving around. Briar jogged out onto the tree–lined paths of the fancy neighborhood. She didn’t bother greeting any of the neighbors she passed. She wasn’t nning to stay here long anyway. Her goal was to find a <b>ce </b><b>of </b>‘ Shoneport University soon.
Briar always went for a run whenever she wasn’t working. She kept a steady pace, knocking out 6 miles in just 40 minutes.
‘wn <b>near </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>9 </b>
Out <b>of </b><b>habit</b><b>, </b><b>she </b>never wore headphones because she liked to stay alert. It helped her keep an eye <b>on </b>her <b>surroundings </b>and <b>spot </b>frouble before i
close<b>. </b>
On her thirdp, she noticed someone tailing her. Her eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint shing in them.
She <b>didn’t </b>speed up or slow down. Instead, she casually changed her route, leading the follower into the wooded trail. They took the <b>bait </b>and followed
her in.
A few minutester, Briar strolled out of the woods like nothing had happened. Not even a strand of hair was out of ce.
She dusted off her hands–more out of habit than need–and kept running. She ran the full 6 miles and headed home with a slight smile tugging <b>at </b>the
corner of her mouth.
Nothing looked out of ce–aside from the unconscious man with twisted limbs now lying deep in the woods.
By the time Briar got home, the Jennings family was already up and eating. Edgar was sitting at the table, reading the paper and chewing his food. Halle sat beside him, looking as graceful and polished as ever.
Across from them sat Camden and Beatrice. It all looked picture–perfect–four people eating breakfast,ughing, acting like the perfect family.
But whatever they were talking about left Briar deeply irritated.
“Dad, why isn’t Briar up yet?” Beatrice said with a smug look. “If she sleeps in like this after transferring schools, she’s gonna bete all the time.”
Camden scoffed, “She was always skipping ss or picking fights when she was abroad. You really think she’ll wake up early now<b><i>, </i></b>huh?<b>” </b>
“Hey, don’t talk about Briar like that. She just got back. Maybe she’s still jetgged,” Halle chimed in, sounding sweet but clearly fake. “Besides<b>, </b>the Grant family probably didn’t teach her properly. But don’t worry. I’ll help her adjust and teach her how to act like a realdy.”
Edgar snorted, not looking up from his paper. “Tell Sara to wake her up for breakfast,” he said. “If she can’t even get out of bed, what makes her think she’ll ever get into Shoneport University?”
None of them noticed the girl standing quietly in the doorway, arms crossed, listening to every word.
Halle turned to the maid. “Sara, go wake Briar. She can go back to bed after she eats.”
Sara nced at Briar, who was still leaning against the doorway, smirking like she’d just watched something funny. Then she looked at Halle, who was smiling sweetly but clearly fuming inside. She hesitated.
Halle frowned. “Why are you just standing there? Go!”
Sara pointed toward the doorway. “Briar’s been up since six. She just got back from her morning run.”
All four turned to look–and froze. Briar stood there, calm and distant, arms still crossed. Nobody knew how long she’d been standing there or how much she’d heard.
But from the smug, untouchable look on her face, they figured it was probably everything.
Edgar cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Briar, go get changed so you don’t catch a cold. We were just waiting for you to eat breakfast together.”
It sounded nice, but their half–empty tes told a different story.
Briar raised an eyebrow and gave them a crooked smile–sharp, sarcastic, and a little mean. “No, thanks. I don’t eat with trash. It ruins my appetite<b>.</b>” Without another word, she turned and headed upstairs, <i>not </i>bothering to look back at their stunned faces.
<b>Chapter </b><b>10 </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>10 </b>