This Time, I'll Be the Villain's Favorite Daughter novel Chapter 425

Chapter 425 A Family Built for War

At least, that was what they claimed publicly.

Finched

Their impassioned declarations always revolved around the same ideals: justice, fairness, and making the world a better place.

Countless young people were willing to fight for that cause in private.

They were young and idealistic, convinced the world could change and that they could help change it.

Asterio gave them an outlet and a way to act on those beliefs.

In Ned’s eyes, they were nothing but clueless kids.

He’d seen far too many organizations like Asterio. They all made young people pay the same price, only to collapse under the same infighting and corruption.

Asterio was nothing special.

The only unusual thing was that Ned’s people kept failing whenever they ran into Asterio’s members.

Every operative the Silent Archive sent out was among its best, yet one unexpected mishap after another derailed their missions against Asterio.

Every time, some coincidence or lucky break helped Asterio’s people escape.

It was almost as if some unseen force was working against the Silent Archive.

Ned couldn’t understand it.

Maya, however, knew it was the so–called plot at work.

She refused to sit back and wait for the worst, so she took matters into her own hands and asked her mother for help.

The plot’s influence could be overwhelming at times.

But in a comic–book world, even the plot couldn’t easily control the strongest character.

Wendy was curled up on the couch at home, hugging a pillow. On the TV, a man was shouting out his love in the rain while the heroine sobbed her heart out.

Wendy was completely absorbed.

Maya rushed home and called out as soon as she opened the door.

“Mom!”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Wendy casually ruffled her hair. “Did you get caught in an explosion while digging a

12:10 pm

Chape Family Built for War

Tuite?

Tanteed

Maya’s curls were unruly enough on a normal day, but now tufts of hair stuck up in every direction.

She looked like a scruffy puppy that had picked a fight with a blow–dryer and lost.

Maya instinctively tugged at one of the carls sticking up. “Huh?”

“That’s not important.” She casually tugged at her frizzy hair again. “Mom, we’re planning to take down an organization. Can you help?”

Wendy kept her eyes glued to the TV. The male lead was pounding the rain–soaked ground and sobbing, making the whole scene look utterly tragic.

“Mom!” Maya latched onto Wendy like a giant koala and refused to let go as she begged.

“Please, please! We really need you, Mom.”

“Sure.” Wendy grew dizzy from all the shaking but readily agreed. “When are you making your move?”

Maya brightened. “Once George and Ernest track down their people and bases.”

“All right, got it.” Wendy asked, “What organization has you this worked up? Is it Asterio again?”

Asterio had been around for a long time.

Wendy had learned firsthand how troublesome its members could be when she was younger.

Back then, she’d casually killed a few small–time members who got in her way, never expecting the organization to still be causing trouble all these years later.

Raymond poked his head out of the kitchen, one hand still dusted with flour.

“Remember to be careful. If anything goes wrong, go to your uncle. Don’t do anything reckless. Your safety comes first.”

He came out and touched Maya’s cheek with the back of his clean hand.

“If we can’t beat them, we run. Let someone else handle them. We can take a loss, but we never try to be heroes.”

Over his many years in the underworld, the first lesson Raymond had learned about making it out alive was to sell out his teammates.

He sold them out, then ran.

His motto was simple–leave no trace after a kill and never look back after an explosion.

Raymond followed that principle to the letter.

After stirring up trouble, he’d leave his teammates to deal with the mess and disappear without a second thought.

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