?Chapter 886:


    Back at the base, Elena and Lydia stood, ringed by assassins on all sides.


    Earle had slipped his mask back on, but his green eyes burned through the slits, fixed on Lydia with venomous calm. “Well, well,” he drawled, a smirk tugging at his lips. “If it isn’t my darling sister.”


    Lydia shot him a re. “I’m here to drag you down to hell, where you belong. That grin won’t save you.”


    Lydia detested Earle. This madman had murdered his biological father to im power over Shadow. A man like him didn’t deserve grace.


    Earle chuckled, low and dry. “Hell? I never believed in heaven or hell—so what’s there to fear?” He paused before adding, “Didn’t peg you as one of the old man’s loyal dogs. He used you, turned you into a killer, and you still defend him? Next time I’m at his grave, I’ll pass along your devotion.”


    “At least I didn’t kill him,” Lydia shot back. “That puts me leagues above you.”


    Earle lifted an eyebrow, unmoved—regret nowhere in sight.


    Lydia stepped forward and mmed her boot into him. “Where’s Casper?”


    Earle staggered,posure cracking as rage sparked behind his eyes. The smirk vanished. “Ask her,” he muttered as he turned to Elena, his voice like ice. Lydia traced his line of sight—straight to Elena.


    “Elena, do you know where Casper is?”


    No answer came. Elena’s gaze had drifted upward.


    Night had nketed the sky. Above them hovered a helicopter, and beneath it—swaying from a rope—hung a child.


    Lydia’s stomach dropped. This lunatic had hung Casper like bait. “Get him down!” she shouted at Earle.


    She lunged to strike again—but Earle moved first. In the blink of an eye, he slipped from Elena’s reach, struck like a serpent, and caught Lydia mid-motion. With a savage twist, he dislocated Lydia’s arm.


    Lydia gasped through gritted teeth but didn’t falter. Her good arm swung fast and hard.


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    Earle didn’t hold back. This wasn’t like dealing with Elena—this time, he fought to kill.


    The sh turned brutal, neither of them pulling punches or showing an ounce of mercy.


    Breathing hard, Lydia snapped, “I should’ve let you bleed out back then. Your father was right—you’re a snake. Taking you out is a service to everyone.”


    Earle bared his teeth. “Trying to y hero? Please. You never had it in you.”


    Lydia regretted the day she saved Earle from ck Fox’s clutches.


    As Shadow’s power expanded, so did the animosity from their rivals. The formidable ck Fox gang, second only to Shadow in Avaloria, had kidnapped Earle to leverage him against Shadow’s leader, who was Lydia’s foster father. At that time, Earle’s darker side had not yet emerged, and he had not yet fallen into the madness that would eventually lead him tomit patricide.


    Lydia had stormed ck Fox’s stronghold alone, emerging victorious but bloodied and close to death, just to save Earle. Had she known Earle was such a troublemaker, she would have allowed him to die. As it was, keeping him alive only meant more trouble.


    With a casual tone, Earle taunted Lydia, “Remember, you were once one of Shadow. You’re no saint. Getting out of Shadow doesn’t erase your past actions. Imagine what our father would think, knowing his darling foster daughter now serves Houis.”


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