Juniper braced herself against the desktop, a sharp pain in her lower back making her grimace.
See? This is what happened when you trusted family. Her sister, yes. Her brother-in-w? Not a chance.
Then again, what brother-inw? There was no brother-inw. Not anymore.
So Warren had managed to figure out she was Specter. Impressive. He had some skills after all.
Warren held Celine close, his gaze like ice as he stared down at Juniper. He spoke each word with chilling precision. "The infamous Nocturne. Also known as Specter, the leader of Subterra Vanguard. You''re dating the leader of the Sigma Network. You came to Liberty Ind for the same reason he did for the A-NO nt strain, didn''t you?"
Juniper listened quietly, not denying a thing.
"What in the hell did you do to Celine?" Warren''sposure finally cracked when he mentioned his wife. Why wasn''t she waking up?
With her back screaming in protest, Juniper couldn''t be bothered to respond to him.
"Watch him. And get the other doctors over here," Warren ordered, his concern for Celine overriding his desire to confront Juniper for the moment.
"Yes."
At Warren''smand, a team of men filed in, dozens of bodyguards who quickly surrounded Juniper. Specter of Subterra Vanguard... The name alone was enough to inspire terror. They couldn''t afford to be careless.
Juniper nced at the arrogant goons surrounding her, guns raised, and let the corner of her mouth curl into a smirk. This was it? They weren''t even worthy of being her warm-up.
Unfortunately, she was exhausted today and had no interest in ying with them. He wanted to lock her up? Fine. It saved her the trouble of going back to her own ce, only to have toe back here tomorrow.
As for the truth, she''d tell him after she''d gotten a good night''s sleep. It was only fair. She''d tried to snatch his herb, and he was locking her in a cell. That made them even.
"Lead the way,” Juniper said, standing up slowly. She shoved her hands in her pockets, her posture radiating an effortless,manding aura.
“Huh?” The move left the on-edge guardspletely baffled. In their mind, capturing the head of Subterra Vanguard was supposed to be a bloodbath. But their target was just surrendering?
No way. If Specter was this easy to catch, how had the leader of the Sigma Network suffered such losses at his hands all those years ago?
"Her receptiveness to hypnosis is low. You have to proceed gradually," Juniperexined in a low voice, he eyes fixed on Celine who wa leaning against Warren. "She''ll be fine after she gets some sleep. It''s nothing serious."
With that, Juniper, hands still in her pockets, turned and walked out without a second nce.
Warren and the others were stunned. She just... left? Just like that, cool as a cucumber?
"My Lord, do you think he''s waiting for the leader of the Sigma Network toe rescue him?" one of his men whispered. "If so, and both forces attack at once, Liberty Ind might not be able to withstand it."
Warren gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red. "They went to so much trouble to get the A-NO nt strain. It must be critically important to them."
As far as he knew, Celine was the only person in the world who had sessfully cultivated this nt, and it was in its final, crucial stage. They wouldn''t dare make a move unless they were willing to gate it up Did they think he was still the same man from years ago? Did they think he would stumble in the same ce twice?
"Full of tricks,” Warren sneered, thenmanded, "Keep a close eye on him."
The doctors rushed in and, after a thorough examination, confirmed that there was nothing physically wrong with Celine.
“Have you heard of hypnotherapy?" Warren asked.
"Hypnotherapy?" The doctor''s eyes widened in disbelief. "It''s primarily used for psychiatric treatment. While many doctors around the world im to be able to perform it, the method has extremely strict requirements. The slightest mistake can have devastating consequences for the patient."