The leaves rustled, and a woman in a black leather bodysuit jumped down from the tree. She stood beneath it, watching the man behind the window from afar, turbulent emotions swirling in her eyes.
"Bill..."
Adrian Desmond hated this na; he really hated it! It signified a past he didn’t want to rember, a mory he desperately wanted to sever ties with.
Adrian turned his head and glanced at the woman sleeping soundly on the bed, his eyes gentle. Alice recalled the private scene she had just witnessed: him smiling brightly and charmingly at that woman, the corners of his mouth curving into a warm, beautiful arc. She had never seen Bill smile before. The smiling Bill from monts ago was a stranger, as if she had never known him at all.
Bill seed to be living a happy life. Having stayed in the darkness for so long, she no longer knew what kind of life ordinary people led. She couldn’t believe that soone who had walked out of Death Island could still find happiness. Andrew had said they were all destined for hell, Adrian included. But how could he still be so happy?
Adrian closed the window and went to the dressing room to change. He spotted a black bag in the closet, picked it up, and opened it. Inside was a black T-shirt. He rembered what Sienna Johnson had said and knew it was the matching family outfit she had bought.
For so reason, he suddenly felt a strong urge to wear this family outfit. He would wear it to see Alice and show her that they were different now, that they no longer belonged to the sa world.
So, when Adrian went to see Alice, he wore the black Mickey T-shirt, a choice that clashed completely with his usual cold and hard deanor.
「...」
In the Johnson family’s garden, a deep darkness had fallen, and the crescent moon hung in the sky like a hook.
They stood facing each other. Neither showed any joy of reunion, only the weight of a past they preferred not to speak of.
"Bill..."
"Adrian! My na is Adrian!"
Alice fell silent, her gaze fixed on him, filled with a sorrowful longing. Adrian’s expression remained as cold as ever.
"How did you end up here?"
"On a mission!" she replied coldly.
Adrian’s lips pressed into a thin, cold line. There wasn’t a trace of joy at their reunion; they were worse than strangers.
"...When did Sileria City get such a formidable figure? It seems that person has quite a background, enough for the organization to send you." Alice was, after all, one of the organization’s top operatives. After a pause, Adrian continued, "Don’t tell I’m the one you’re supposed to kill!"
"No! It’s a defector!"
"The target... you killed them?"
"Yes! Killed him, his wife, and his daughter. I reunited their happy little family in hell. ...Those who betray the organization never et a good end!"
Adrian looked deep into Alice’s eyes. She was ruthless; to her, killing was as easy as slicing a waterlon. People from Death Island had no concept of right or wrong.
A cold smirk touched his lips. "Are you implying that I’ll end up like him too?"
Alice stated, her voice devoid of emotion, "People like us are weapons, tools made for killing. We have no future. Bill, do you really think you can achieve happiness?"
"My future is in my own hands! I will protect my own happiness!" Adrian’s gaze was firm, exuding an air of dominance and composure.
"What did you co to see for? Surely it wasn’t to reminisce?"
"You... seem very happy now."
"Yes!" And he would destroy anyone who dared to threaten that happiness. Murderous intent glinted in Adrian’s eyes as he looked at Alice.
Alice looked at Adrian, her eyes reddening, her gaze filled with sorrowful reproach. "Your wife is very beautiful..."
"Alice, I don’t want to see you. Leave here! Go back to your own world!"
Alice walked towards him. Adrian pulled out his gun and aid it at her. His marksmanship was impeccable; even Alice, renowned as the "Gun God," couldn’t match him.
"Leave here! Stop disturbing my life!"
Unafraid of the cold muzzle of his gun, she stopped right in front of him. Even in ten-centiter heels, she only reached his shoulder and had to tilt her head back to et his eyes.
They had once been partners, the most seamlessly coordinated duo. Together on missions, they had never known failure.
"Bill, you said you’d take with you. Why did you abandon ?"
"..."
"We were a unit, partners! You knew perfectly well that if you left, they wouldn’t spare . Yet you still abandoned ..."
A flicker of emotion crossed Adrian’s face. His selfish decision back then not to take Alice with him had stemd from his desire to completely sever ties with that place. Bringing Alice along would have been a constant reminder of those dark mories, those miserable and desperate experiences. He just wanted to live a normal life, no longer a human weapon. Now, with a wife and child, he was even more determined to have no connection whatsoever with that past.
"Go back!" he ordered, his voice like ice. He chambered a round, and Alice had no doubt he would kill her.
They were devoid of emotion, strangers to kindness or rcy. For them, killing was instinctual; anyone who threatened their interests deserved to die.
Alice grabbed the zipper of her leather jacket with both hands and yanked it down hard. She wore no bra underneath. The zipper slid to the bottom in an instant, baring her pale upper body to the air.
"Bill, do you see?"
Adrian’s cold, hard expression faltered for an instant upon seeing Alice’s chest, and his gaze shifted.
"Do you see these scars? They’re all because of you!"
Crystal-clear tears welled in Alice’s eyes. She looked into Adrian’s dark eyes, which no longer held the sa icy vigilance but now showed a trace of pity.
"How did this happen?" Adrian asked, his voice softer.
"Night Owl didn’t die..."
"But I’m absolutely certain the bullet pierced his heart! He can’t possibly be alive!" He had unwavering confidence in his marksmanship.
"Night Owl got an artificial heart."
"No wonder..." Adrian sneered. He had underestimated Night Owl’s resources. He should have decapitated him back then and thrown his head into the swamp.
"Night Owl swore to capture you, torture you to death, and dig out your heart!"
Night Owl was the only son of Death Island’s leader. Years ago, Adrian, despising Death Island’s brutal ways, had seized an opportunity during his escape to kill both Night Owl and his father.
His reasoning had been that without its leaders, Death Island would descend into chaos, leaving them no ti to hunt him down.
"Do you know who killed Aiden Howard?" A bold suspicion ford in Adrian’s mind.
"Night Owl!"
If Night Owl was responsible, then it would explain why Aiden Howard had died so easily.
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