Chapter 979:

Rylie threw open the back door and half-dragged, half-lifted Lucilla from the car. The recent explosion had plunged the underground garage into chaos, the air thick with acrid smoke and the shouts of terrified people echoing through the concrete space.

Supporting Lucilla’s trembling form, Rylie gently patted her face, whispering with mounting panic, “Lucilla, it’s all right. I’m here. I’m right here with you.”

But her words seemed to vanish into the void. Nothing she said pierced Lucilla’s panic. Desperation seized her, and before she could think, she gripped Lucilla’s cold hand tightly and cried out, “Mom!”

That single word—not only startling Rylie herself—made Brad whirl around in surprise. Lucilla’s chaotic gaze immediately locked onto her, sharpening with sudden focus.

Amid the chaos rippling through the ruined garage, Lucilla’s quivering eyes fixed unblinkingly on Rylie, as if the rest of the world had faded from sight.

Then, without warning, her convulsions ceased. Her voice, suddenly steady and lucid, cut through the surrounding noise.

“There was a third person in that car.”

Rylie’s breath hitched, her eyes flying wide. “What?”

Reаd t𝘩e 𝗅𝖺𝗍еs𝘁 𝗍𝗿e𝘯𝖽𝗌 on g𝗮𝗅𝘯𝗈vеl𝘀.c𝗼m

Lucilla pressed on, her tone unnervingly calm. “It wasn’t only Laurel and Terrance. Someone else was with them.”

Rylie’s pulse surged. Acting on pure instinct, she yanked out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen as she pulled up a webpage and typed in Carter’s name. Turning the display toward Lucilla, she asked in a tense whisper, “Was it him?”

Lucilla’s gaze darted toward the screen, her panic twisting into raw, burning hatred. Her teeth clenched audibly as she spat out, “Yes, it’s him! It’s him!”

By the time Brad confirmed that their pursuers were nothing more than charred wreckage beneath the flaming debris, he hurried back to Rylie’s side and dropped to one knee. “How’s Lucilla?” he asked, his tone tight with concern.

The surge of emotion that came after seeing her enemy’s face had been too much for Lucilla to bear. Overwhelmed, she had slipped into unconsciousness.

Rylie shook her head, her voice low and worried. “I don’t know. She needs to be examined at the hospital. She only came to for a second.”

Several passersby had already called the authorities, and soon whispers rippled through the growing crowd as people began recognizing Rylie and Brad, both well-known faces. Within moments, they were encircled by curious onlookers, phones raised high, flashes flickering, and live streams starting one after another. The throng pressed in from all sides.

Brad moved without hesitation. He shrugged off his suit jacket and gently draped it over Rylie’s head to shield her from the cameras. Then he stepped forward, using his body as a barrier between her and the tightening ring of people.

The shrill wails of sirens soon pierced the noise, and flashing lights painted the chaos in red and blue. Only when the police cleared a path and paramedics arrived did they manage to lift Lucilla onto a stretcher and rush her toward the ambulance.

Moments later, Felix’s car screeched to a halt beside them. He swung open the door, urgency written across his face. “Hurry, get Rylie inside.”

Without wasting a second, Brad gathered Rylie into his arms and carried her into the back seat.

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