‘She’s a sick, ruthless murderer who uses chemicals and viruses as weapons.’With that thought in mind, Austin approached Rhea and grabbed her wrist to take her pulse. Rhea was surprised and struggled, yelling, “Get your hand off me!”She was relentless despite his firm grip. Since she continued to struggle, Austin could not focus on taking her pulse.At that moment, Mike, who had been waiting outside, rushed in and held Rhea down. “Stay still!”“Mike?” Rhea chuckled coldly upon seeing him. “I knew you were here too, you spineless piece of shit! You don’t have the guts to stand up to the organization, so you cling to Lily’s husband for protection.“If your son finds out what kind of sorry-ass loser you are, I bet he’d rather be dead!”“What did you say?!” Mike was outraged. He would not care if she insulted him, but cursing his son was unacceptable.“I said your son—”Before she could finish, Mike grasped her neck with both hands. He wanted to choke her to death instead of hold
“Do you need to do it again to make sure?” Alexander ignored Mike and looked at Austin. Austin glanced at the unconscious Rhea and gently shook his head. “No.”Since he said so, Alexander then turned and headed out. Austin followed closely after.Meanwhile, Mike glanced after them and then at Rhea before chasing after the two. The trio returned to the living room and felt like what happened just now was a dream. Nothing much had changed, yet everything was somewhat different now.Mike became listless, like a lost soul. He tried hard not to think about his son over the past few days, but when Rhea mentioned Nick, he could not control his emotions. The boy was his Achilles' heel. What terrified him more was his growing lack of confidence.“Do you know what kind of virus is inside her body?” Alexander poured Mike a glass of cold water and handed him a wet towel to help him calm down.Austin shook his head. “The viruses from the lab are more complex, so I can’t be sure for now.
Austin wondered why Rhea would want to put the virus into herself if the experiment’s purpose was to put people under control.“Well, that might not be,” After some thought, Austin said, “Rhea’s condition is more similar, yet also different to mine.”Alexander and Mike remained quiet. The latter left the cold towel around his neck and continued to hold his cold water as if it would calm him down. The duo waited for Austin’s further explanation.“Simply put, the virus inside her body acts as a catalyst for accelerating cell division and growth. It causes her cells to undergo faster metabolism.”“You’re saying…” Mike said hoarsely, “Will her body rapidly swell like you experienced before? It might even split apart?” Austin cleared his throat. Although he was sick and not in a clear state of mind, he later saw the surveillance footage from Dominic’s house. Those days were not only torturous for him but also shameful. Just the thought of him running around in the yard and leaping o
Alexander felt awful when he said that. He had never considered the concept of using humans as vessels.‘How can they disregard Lily’s life and treat her as a container for a new soul?’Alexander had never told anyone about it, but even a cool-headed person like him had several nightmares about it. In one of them, he saw a woman who looked identical to Lily. He called her name, but she ignored him.Shortly after, she slowly turned to him with a creepy smile. She tugged his arm and shouted like a maniac, “I’m your fucking wife! Don’t you know me?!”“No! You’re not! Where the hell is Lily? Return her to me!” Alexander jerked awake as he screamed, his back covered in sweat.It was dark outside, and he found the bed cold and empty without his wife. It made him panic as if he was about to lose her.“Yes, as a vessel, but Rhea has always envied that.” “What?” Austin’s jaw dropped, dumbfounded. “Rhea envies being a living dead?”He palmed his open mouth and looked at Alexander. Howev
That was why Austin was willing to believe something, even if it seemed far-fetched.Mike’s thoughts became clearer after calming down. He said, “Should we trust Rhea and make a deal with the organization?”Alexander did not answer because he also needed to consider their options.‘We’ve confirmed that Rhea has used the virus on herself. Still, we don’t know to which extent its effects have taken hold or if there will be any complications or aftereffects.’After a moment, Alexander decided to put the matter aside. “Let’s not make the deal first.” “You don’t trust her?” Austin looked at him. ‘Well, she hardly tells the truth. It’s understandable if Alex doesn’t believe her.’However, Alexander shook his head. “It’s the organization I worry about. So far, Lily has been important to them. Why? Because they treat her as a…vessel.”He paused toward the end because he found it hard to utter the word.“Will the organization let Lily go if they find a better vessel or know someone c
Mike licked his dry lips before saying, “I stole two bottles of the viruses when I was at the lab.”Austin and Alexander exchanged shocked glances. One of them asked, “What kind of viruses?”“Stuff they developed at the lab. I have no idea what they are, but I thought they might come in handy one day, probably for an exchange or something. Anyway, I just took them,” Mike spoke casually.“I didn’t tell you guys before for selfish reasons. As I said, I thought they might come in handy. I feel we can use them now.”Alexander disliked Mike’s plan and frowned, asking, “What are you planning to do?”“I want to use the virus on myself.” After a pause, Mike looked up with an unwavering gaze.“Have you lost your fucking mind? You don’t even know what it would do to you!” Alexander exclaimed. ‘What the hell is he thinking? How can he even consider such a thing?’ he thought.“I don’t, but he might,” Mike pointed his chin at Austin and said, “I’m okay as long as I don’t die. What matters
Mike would have some peace if Alexander cared for Nick.“Hey!” Alexander pushed Mike’s hand off his shoulder and said, “Take care of Nick yourself, got it? Just stay positive and stop worrying. Austin’s been through a lot, but he’s doing fine, right?”Austin was surprised. He did not expect Alexander to cue him to say something. The former shrugged and smiled awkwardly, saying, “Life goes on. Besides, it’s not the end of the world yet.“We might still have a chance to do something,” Austin paused momentarily and added, “Can you guess why they haven’t started the experiment’s last phase?” Mike blinked. “Why?”Alexander pondered for a moment. “It’s not the time yet.” “That’s right! I think so, too! They have Lily, and they’ve abandoned the lab. Why don’t they start the last phase now? It must have something to do with timing. Then what are they waiting for?” Austin rubbed his chin.Mike recalled what he knew, “They wanted Lily to recover from her delivery. They’re probably waiti
Lily did not get to spend much time with the queen because Fred returned. He no longer showed respect to the queen and strode into the outhouse. After glancing around, he turned and headed toward the bedroom.“Fred?” The queen noticed him ignoring her and shouted, “Stop right there!”However, Fred continued to ignore her and pushed the bedroom door open. “Fred…”“Just as I thought,” Fred sneered. He saw Lily sitting on a chair and went to pull her up. However, he caught himself and drew his hand back. “Do you think you can escape by hiding here?”“Escape? Why would I do that?” Lily raised her brow.“You better be telling the truth! There’s no escape for you, got it?” Fred spoke coldly. “Follow me!” “Why should I?” Lily asked, still looking as indifferent as before.“Don’t you want your children anymore? Don’t you care about their lives?” Fred threatened. Lily shook her head. “Well, don’t you care about your life? Don’t forget that you’ve taken—"“Your poison?” Fred chuckle