Chapter 932:
The jail was bleak, but someone had placed Deandre and Rylie in adjacent single cells on purpose. It was clearly meant to pressure them.
In the days before the trial, visitors came in waves, trying to probe Rylie’s motives and push her into giving them something useful.
No matter what they tried, Rylie and Deandre remained unnervingly steady. Their answers never changed, and they revealed nothing.
On the final day of detention, Kailee came.
She opened the cell door, stepped inside, crouched in front of Rylie, and asked in a low, cruel voice, “You took my grandmother, didn’t you? Where is she?”
Rylie looked up and smiled—small, calm. “What are you talking about? How could I kidnap your grandmother while I’m locked up?”
Kailee’s fingers brushed Rylie’s neck, the gesture a thinly veiled threat. “Cut it out. I could make your death look like an accident tonight. You know what we’ve done to those animals, but you have no proof. This is South Verdania, not Eshea. This is my friends’ turf, and they’ve already taken care of things. You can’t twist the courts here.”
She pulled out her phone, smug, and scrolled through the headlines.
“See these posts? Everyone’s against you. They say you hunted animals on purpose. Expect animal-rights protests outside your trial,” she declared triumphantly.
00:39 “Is that so? Then I suppose I should beg you for mercy,” Rylie replied, the smile on her lips cold enough to make Kailee shiver.
“Rylie!” Kailee grabbed her by the collar. “If this keeps up, you’re as good as dead. But we could make a deal. Help me get the Shaw family’s trust and stop helping Brad, and I might spare you. How about that?”
Rylie met her gaze without flinching. “Or you could confess to everything and admit your father is corrupt, and I’ll spare you.”
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“You—” Kailee realized she’d been outmaneuvered. She shoved Rylie away, straightened, and spat, “You’ll be begging me for forgiveness soon. Your brother will die because of you…and the guilt will eat you alive.”
After Kailee left, Deandre muttered from the next cell, “So what now? We just sit here waiting for the trial?”
Rylie soothed him. “Deandre. Hold on—just for today.”
Deandre looked up, puzzled. “What makes today any different? The trial starts tomorrow.”
She smiled with quiet confidence. “Because today my real fight begins.”
At exactly 10:04 p.m., across the world, giant screens in the busiest entertainment squares froze mid-ad. A shrill screech ripped from the speakers.
Technicians in control rooms scrambled. Before they could react, hackers had seized control of every billboard.
Crowds below recoiled, covering their ears. The screens went dark—then flared to life again.
No commercials returned. Instead, a recorded clip flooded every display.
The footage showed a secluded villa’s living room. Kailee stood at a podium surrounded by guests dressed in silk. She wore a sanctimonious smile as she addressed the camera.
“My dear friends,” her amplified voice intoned, syrupy and rehearsed. “We must cherish every wild creature. When I see rhinos shot for horns or elephants slaughtered for ivory—”
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