Chapter 812 Always A Pushover
When those words reached Sofie's ears, she took a couple of steps back on the spot. She had not the slightest intention of questioning Kurt's words. After all, that guy was more than capable.
“Are you sure she's dead? That woman has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, so she won't go down that easily. She might pull a fast one on you and escape cunningly.”
A glint of darkness flashed across Kurt's eyes, and his gaze seemed slightly evasive.
Upon seeing the situation, Tucker hurriedly stepped forward and stated, “Bailey killed Kurt's elder brother, so Kurt hated her guts. He'll definitely go all out to finish her off. He'd never make mistakes and allow Bailey to escape from his clutches. Fret not, Ms. Carr. Bailey'll stay dead.”
He sneaked a peek at the woman on the floor upon dropping his comment. A ravaging lust flitted across his eyes. From there on out, that woman would completely belong to him. Just thinking about it filled him with gusto.
He could still remember the exhilarating sensation within when he first laid eyes on her.
A glance at her face was all it took to take his breath away. He had vowed to make this woman his own ever since then.
Even if he had to resort to keeping her confined in his domain for a lifetime and not letting her see the light of day, he was bent on making her a caged canary, a pet to be by his side.
These past few days, whenever he thought about how she would soon belong to him, he would become so excited that even sleep eluded him. Men from all over the world were obsessed with her, wishing to possess and keep her all for themselves.
Tucker had managed to be one step ahead of everybody else, and for that, he had every reason to be proud.
It was then that Philip pipe up out of the blue, breaking the oppressive atmosphere around them, “Since she's already dead, there's no need for us to be paranoid anymore. I'll leave the corpse to you, Tucker. Make sure to cremate it; only when her bones turned to dust that we could truly be at ease.”
“Don't worry, Dad. I'll have someone burn her body to ashes. Then, we'll scatter the ashes all over the flowerbed as fertilizer,” agreed Tucker then and there. Philip nodded and turned to Sofie, remarking, “Bailey's death is now a foregone conclusion. We shall discuss how to go after Tarragon Headquarters next. I heard that Holden's reigning control of Tarragon now, and it just so happens that his significant other is in your hands. Let's leverage this and force him into submission.”
Not a word escaped Sofie. Narrowing her eyes to slits, she pinned her gaze on the woman on the floor.
“Get me a pair of leather gloves.”
As soon as she issued her command, a black-clad bodyguard respectfully handed her a pair of black gloves.
Sofie reached out to receive them and immediately put both of the gloves on her right hand. She strode over to the so-called corpse and pinched the woman by the cheeks, starting to examine the body closely.
“What's wrong? Is there a problem?” asked Philip anxiously. Then came Sofie's frosty response.
“There's something in this world called disguise skill, which can change a person's appearance. I'm inspecting if she has a mask on her face. If she does, she's not Bailey.”
Philip's expression darkened on that note.
Disguise skill, she says?
Yet, it existed only in legends, for no one had ever truly mastered such a technique.
Could it be that there really are people in this world who've learned the mentioned disguise skill? Why haven't I heard of it before?
Sofie fiercely pinched both temples of the impostor Bailey with her fingers. In the end, the skin had turned as red as a tomato, but no traces of disguise were found. She could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“It seems I was overthinking it. She doesn't have a mask on her face, after all. Still, this totally puts my mind at ease. Were Bailey really to master the disguise skill, killing her would be an arduous task. She could've altered her looks at any time, leaving us with no opening to nab her.”
After saying that, she gradually rose to her feet, took off the gloves in her hand, and threw them onto the fake Bailey's face.
“Let's go. The grand era of Artemis and Bailey has come to an end. The future is ours to shape. Right now, the most important thing is to discuss how to attack Tarragon Headquarters and seize total control of this massive power.”
Philip hurriedly chased after Sofie.
After walking a few steps, he did not forget to turn his head back and remind his son, “Remember to cremate her body to avoid any future troubles.”
“Don't worry, Dad. I'll do as you say.”
After Sofie and Philip left, Tucker quickly said to Kurt, “Quick! Pass me the antidote! It's not easy to get my hands on such a delicate beauty, I can't let her die from the poison.” Kurt bobbed his head.
“She's not poisoned. It's a kind of stupefying drug that temporarily stops a person's breathing and puts them in a state of apparent death. Once the drug wears off, she'll wake up.”
Tucker finally felt at ease. Quick as a wink, he lunged himself at the unconscious lady to help her up, supporting and resting her upper body on his.
“At long last, Bailey, you belong to me.” On the heels of that, he abruptly leaned in and gave a few kisses all over her face.
“Ah... Delightful, indeed. It's the familiar scent from my memories. Back then, I was captivated by your intoxicating fragrance. Now that you belong to me, I'll surely reclaim all the longing I've had for you over the years bit by bit from your very being.”
Right after he was done, he carried the woman in his arms and marched toward the convoy.
“Return to my private winery.”
“Yes, Mr. Tucker.”
Later that night, Bailey eventually regained consciousness from her stupor.
She had forced herself to wake up because she could not stop thinking about Artemis. The second she opened her eyes, her mind was a complete blank. She stared blankly at the exquisite, luxurious crystal chandelier above her head, taking quite a while to react.
Her memory seemed to have deteriorated significantly; sometimes, it took her a long period of time to fully comprehend something she was thinking about. As her consciousness returned, she suddenly sat up.
“Artemis! Artemis...”
She swept her gaze across the spacious bedroom, but that familiar figure she had in mind was nowhere to be found. Her heart sank right away.
Did he choose to meet up with the other party?
“Artemis, you jerk...” she roared into the void ahead.
“Mm. I really am quite a jerk. If it weren't for me being such a jerk, you wouldn't have become so vulnerable.”
Bailey turned around straight away, only to find Artemis coming out of the study. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks.
She flipped up the blanket and leaped out of bed, rushing toward the man with her bare feet and jumping right into his embrace.
“Why are you always doing this to me, Artemis? You big meanie...”
As she spoke, she began bursting into tears.
Dreading that Artemis would leave her behind to meet the other party all by himself, she was truly terrified that he might never return to her side again.
After she put in so much effort to bring him back from the jaws of death, they had not even had the chance to enjoy life yet.
Artemis reached out to cradle her cheeks, leaning in to lightly kiss away the tear stains on her face.
Yet, tears kept rolling down from the corners of her eyes, and even after wiping them away, they continued to fall. After several attempts, he sighed softly and gently covered her eyes with his hands.
“Stop crying. My heart aches.”
Right then, Bailey recalled how he had drugged her, and a surge of rage rose in her heart. She shoved the man away in an instant.
“You promised before that you wouldn't use any more stupefying drugs or the like to knock me out, but you went back on your word. Are all your promises to me merely empty words?”
A bitter smile was all Artemis could muster.
“I had no choice, you know. I couldn't possibly let you take such risks. Those suicide attackers were specifically trained for carrying out special missions, after all. With them around, how could I put your life on the line? Had I done that, I would've been branded as nothing but a failure as the leader of Tarragon. Try to put yourself in my shoes, Bay. If it were me showing up at the meeting today, would you get a substitute to go in my place?”
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