<b>Chapter </b><b>239 </b>


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    Briar exuded a terrifyingly cold aura. If Ashton had not been standing beside her, she might have skinned Darius alive on the spot.


    But every pitiful person had a detestable side.


    People like Darius would never understand the true evil of their actions unless they were brutally tortured and made to experience the same vile methods they used to harm others.


    Boyden was jolted awake by Briar’s chilling aura. The moment he opened his eyes, he met her murderous gaze. He wished he could faint again, but Riley and Artemus, who were watching his every move, were not about to give him the chance.


    Seeing him try to feign unconsciousness again, Artemus threw a punch. Itnded on Darius’s chest, causing immense pain but failing to knock him out.


    Briar had many interrogation techniques. Most were merely vicious, not cruel. But for perverts like Darius, her methods were exceptionally twisted. If Ian had not witnessed these twisted methods before, he would have been terrified.


    That was too cruel.


    In contrast, Ashton watched with great relish. Riley and Artemus looked at Ashton, whose expression clearly read, “My wife is so amazing,” and found the sight utterly surreal.


    It figured. Any woman Ashton approved of had to have the same twisted “virtues” as him, no matter how sweet she looked.


    Wave after wave of screams echoed from the vi, unsettling everyone who heard them. Finally, after a full hour of torturing Darius and Boyden, Briar stopped.


    “Give me your hand.” Ashton pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood from each of Briar’s fingers.


    Briar let Ashton hold her hand and wipe it repeatedly. After a moment, she asked, “Ashton, don’t you think I’m terrifying? That my methods are cruel?”


    Ashton’s gaze was lowered, his deep eyes showing no particr expression. “Sweetheart, no matter how terrifying or cruel your methods are, you are still my


    wife.”


    Briar was stunned. She hadn’t expected that answer from Ashton. Staring intently into his eyes, she searched for any sign of a different emotion.


    But there was nothing,


    Ashton’s gaze remained perfectly calm from start to finish, as if granting her a special privilege no matter what outrageous thing she did.


    12:53 Sat, Sep <b>20 </b>


    Briar tucked her now–clean hand into Ashton’s and said, “Alright, I understand.”


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    Unable to stand the couple’s clingy disy, fan, along with Riley and Artemus, quickly carried out the unconscious Darius and Boyden.


    The interrogation wasn’t over yet. They had to be taken back for more questioning.


    As for the dozen bodies and the blood–covered floor in the house… At the border, there were cleaners who specialized in taking out the trash.


    Ashton checked the time. “Brandon and Connor should be on their way back. Let’s go, too. I’ll let them handle the rest of the interrogation. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a satisfactory answer.”


    Briar nodded. “Okay.”


    Several SUVs quickly drove out of the house’s surveince range. No one noticed that shortly after Ashton’s convoy left, a container truck disguised as a cleaning vehicle drove up to the house.


    They cleaned up all the bodies and bloodstains in the house before the real cleaners arrived.


    When the hired cleaners drove over, they discovered the house was already empty, with not a single piece of


    trash left.


    Clearly, someone had entered and handled the scene after Ashton and his group departed.


    However, none of the cleaners were surprised, and no one dared to say a word. After all, in this chaotic environment, everyone had a few secrets they couldn’t talk about.


    Just like that, Ashton narrowly missed a direct confrontation with the shadowy forces.


    When they returned to the manor, Ashton didn’t let Briar re–enter the interrogation room. He took her straight upstairs, telling her to <i>go </i>to her room to wash up and change while he headed to the study.


    Ashton still needed a detailed report from Brandon and Connor on the day’s events.


    Briar sat on the toilet lid, fingers flying across the keyboard. The screen showed surveince footage of a section of the vi, recorded after they had left.


    “It seems my guess was correct. Someone is definitely helping Darius behind the scenes,” she said.


    She saved a screenshot of the video and sent it to the DDC Vanguard Base. After thinking it over, Briar sent a copy of the video to Ashton as well.


    If possible, she didn’t want Ashton and the DDC Vanguard to have a direct confrontation. The two organizations were not on the same side, and a sh would be inevitable if they met.


    This was especially true since both Ashton and the DDC Vanguard Base were investigating the secret research facility and its mastermind.


    The DDC Vanguard had been investigating the research facility for five or six years. If Ashton’s people beat them to it, she worried some of them woulde straight to the border to fight him to the death.


    12:53 <b>Sat</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b>20


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    After sending the surveince video, Briar shut down her device and went to take a shower,pletely unaware of the shockwave her video sent through to Ashton and the DDC Vanguard Base.


    If Ashton hadn’t known Briar was in the shower, he would have rushed over to demand an exnation.


    Half an hourter, Briar walked out of the bathroom drying her hair, only to find Ashton sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her.


    Briar blinked her eyes and asked innocently, “Ashton, what’s wrong?”


    Ashton got up and approached Briar. “Sweetheart, am I so easygoing that you always forget I have a bad temper?”


    Briar yed dumb. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand a thing.”


    Ashton let out an exasperatedugh. “You don’t understand? Fine. Then let’s talk about something you can understand…”


    As soon as he finished speaking, Ashton lunged toward Briar, trapping her between his chest and the wall before she could escape.


    “Sweetheart, it seems teasing your man gives you a great sense of aplishment, doesn’t it?” Ashton asked in a deliberately low voice while pinching Briar’s smiling face.


    With her chin pinched, Briar’s words came out muffled, “No… I wudn’t dare…”


    “Still denying it? How do you exin the surveince video you sent me half an hour ago? You held something back, didn’t tell me at the time, and sent a video afterward just to pique my curiosity?” Ashton wasn’t about to let Briar get away with it so easily.


    Briar put on a pitiful look. “I only discovered it afterward and sent it to you right away. You could say I was pretty quick, right?”


    Ashton snorted. “Then promise me you only sent that video to me and didn’t share it with anyone else?”


    Briarughed awkwardly. “I can’t promise that.”


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