Chapter 829: Discovered

It was only when she sat down on the cold stone slabs that Chloe Reed’s breathing slowed a fraction, her tense body finally relaxing slightly.

Clutching the pistol tightly, she glanced back through the gap at the distant fire. From this position, she could see thick smoke billowing in mid-air, though the flames themselves were no longer visible. She closed her eyes for a moment, slowly steadying her erratic heartbeat and frayed emotions.

Preston Vance sat beside her. The thrilling tension of their escape had left his eyes exceptionally bright and his forehead glistening with sweat. Holding his own pistol, he looked at her with a gaze colored by admiration and respect.

"To remain so calm and composed under these circumstances is truly impressive," he said.

Chloe closed her eyes briefly and spoke softly. "I’ve... been through this... many... times."

Her words were broken and intermittent, but her speaking pace was at least much faster than before. Given a little more time, her vocal cords would fully recover.

Hearing this, a pained expression of sympathy surfaced on Preston’s face. "No wonder you’re so calm. You were conditioned to be. Chloe, you must have been terrified before, weren’t you?"

Chloe opened her eyes slightly, gazing up at the pitch-black night sky. Not a single star twinkled; it was as if a heavy, dark haze had settled directly over her heart.

Yes, she was terrified. She remembered the first time she had been drugged. Waking up in a car on an unfamiliar road, even though she had seen Walker Grant, she had still been overwhelmed by absolute terror in that moment. It was the crushing fear of the unknown. Later, after enduring life-and-death crises time and time again, she had simply grown bolder out of necessity. But this kind of growth wasn’t something she had ever wanted.

Closing her eyes again, Chloe whispered, "We... just have to... wait."

"Yeah." Preston gave a quiet sound of agreement. Though they were resting, he remained on high alert, keeping a constant watch on their surroundings.

Inside the stable, the horses seemed to sense the looming danger. They snorted incessantly, pacing back and forth in deep unease and swishing their long tails.

As the minutes ticked by, the prolonged peace didn’t help Chloe relax; instead, it wound her nerves even tighter. She wished for some kind of sound, anything that would allow her to roughly gauge where the mercenaries were and what they were doing. The current dead silence created a false illusion of safety. It was the kind of deception that made people drop their guard and fall straight into peril.

Preston pulled out his phone, his brows knitting together. "Still no signal."

Chloe nodded, her vigilant gaze never leaving the area outside.

"Waiting like this isn’t going to solve anything," Preston said. "Is there really no other way out of here?"

Chloe unlocked her phone to check the topographical map of the villa. The estate was situated halfway up the mountain, and their current location was already tucked deep inside. Further in was a sheer cliff face; there was simply no path out. She shook her head.

Preston let out a sigh. "Looks like all we can do is wait."

But a moment later, Preston pressed a firm hand against Chloe’s arm. He looked outside warily, immediately spotting two mercenaries heading in their direction. This time, the men hadn’t turned on their flashlights, and their footsteps were incredibly light. The only reason Preston noticed them at all was because the horses in the stable had grown even more restless.

Chloe spotted the two mercenaries as well. Raising her hand, she aimed the muzzle of her gun at one of them. Following her lead, Preston took aim at the other.

BANG!

Chloe fired a surprise shot, striking one of the mercenaries right in the head! The bullet grazed his temple, and the immense kinetic impact knocked the man straight to the ground.