Chapter 38

Looking at my determined expression, Virio didn't say anything, just let out a sigh.

I could feel that when he stood up and took my hand, his fingers were actually trembling slightly.

This had never happened before.

And as I looked at him, I was still wondering what was wrong with him.

As Virio led me out the door, he spoke softly in my ear. "Elvira, I've always known you would grow, but I just didn't expect it to happen this fast."

These words warmed my heart.

"Compared to my uncle, you've already protected me so much more."

After I lost my father, Killian didn't give me any space to grow or grieve for the past.

Instead, he forced me to grow up too fast.

He never taught me any survival instincts—never showed me how to fight back or protect myself. But he did teach me a whole lot about how the world really worked.

During that time, almost all my energy was taken up by these things. Now facing some normal "protection," I didn't know how to react for a moment.

So as Virio led me out the door, I kept saying to him, "Thank you."

Virio had said before that I didn't need to be polite with him, and now he asked me why I was thanking him.

I said softly, "Because you've taught me so much. Thank you for teaching me to shoot, thank you for teaching me to treat wounds, and everything else."

Yes, these past few days when Virio was teaching me, he didn't just teach me how to shoot.

When he took me to the shooting range, he also taught me more survival instincts for self-defense.

I knew this was because he worried about my safety, so he wanted to help me protect myself as much as possible.

These past few days, I felt myself growing rapidly.

This was something I never got when I was with Killian before.

I was very grateful for all of this.

I said to Virio, "As long as you're with me, I'm not so scared."

Virio seemed to take another deep breath, gripping my hand and leading me to one of the doors.

Looking at the tightly closed door in front of me, I seemed to hear muffled groans and various cries coming from behind it.

I knew it was those people being tortured.

Virio pushed open the door and led me in. I saw Luca and Charles were both there.

They were watching one of the men who was strung up. The man was wearing a hood and had already been beaten until he had no strength left to struggle.

Besides the person I had killed, they had actually killed quite a few people in the chaos. Only three people were left.

These three people were strung up by them, and Virio's men kept asking who sent them.

One of them couldn't take the pressure and told them it was Alberto.

But the other two kept their mouths shut tight.

During the interrogation, except for that one person spitting out some fragments for us to guess at, the other two remained silent, even trying to bite off their tongues to kill themselves.

If Virio hadn't used some methods to prevent them from doing so, we would have already lost our interrogation subjects.

Soon these three people were separated.

When I saw those two people being dragged away, leaving a trail of blood on the floor, I immediately felt physically sick and turned away.

Virio patted my back and led me to stop in front of one of the men. "If you can't handle it, tell me anytime, okay?"

I nodded, indicating I could manage.

As soon as I got close, the smell of blood from the man's body filled my nose.

I thought about the moment I pulled the trigger today—actually, I hadn't thought that much.

In the actual moment of shooting and killing someone, what flashed through my mind were just fragments.

Like how I used to stay by Killian's side, how he taught me.

And how Virio taught me to shoot.

All the ways he was good to me were also reasons that finally enabled me to pull the trigger.

When I finally left the interrogation room, I looked back once.

Virio seemed to sense my emotions and put his arm around my waist, leading me back to the original lounge.

We sat together and talked about many things.

After today's events, I could feel Virio's attitude toward me getting better and better.

Charles and Luca also expressed their admiration for me one after another.

"Your reaction was very quick at the time. If it weren't for you, Mr. Soren might have been in trouble. So in this matter, we all feel we owe you one!"

I could feel that they actually trusted Virio very much. Their loyalty to Virio came from the heart.

Because I saved Virio, everything they said to me was very sincere.

Listening to their compliments, I just shook my head. "In that moment, I was only thinking about saving him; I really didn't think that much."

"Either way, you've already done what you should do." This was what Virio said.

When I went home with him that day, I was still shaken.

In the car, I couldn't help asking, "Do you think those people will come back again?"

Virio had already found out that these people were sent by Camorra.

The squad was even their elite squad, originally coming with the mission to capture Virio.

With me interfering like this, after they go back, they might report this matter about me to Alberto.

"If that Alberto finds out, Freya will know soon too. She might tell my uncle about this with some exaggeration." I was worried that after Killian and Freya knew about this, they would restrict my authority in the company.

Although we had just had a family meeting where everyone was dissatisfied with Freya.

In this situation, Killian should treat me well on the surface, so as not to anger everyone.

After all, at the end of the meeting, I specifically brought up the matter of my father's accident.

The whole family cared about reputation. Of course they wouldn't embarrass me. Even if they were pretending, they had to act like they were all good to me.

That way, people wouldn't criticize us for having some problems in our family.

Thinking of this, I felt dazed. "If they take away my authority in the company, then my investigation will be very difficult going forward."

My assistant Sebastian was a very smart person, but all of this was based on the premise that he was ambitious and I happened to have the relevant authority.

If I lost this authority and couldn't continue investigating, would he still help me as loyally as before?

I thought the answer was no.

Hearing my speculation, Virio pressed his lips together. "Camorra has been our enemy for a long time. This time they're just making a small test, maybe trying to catch us off guard."

"Of course they'll come back, but I can't say when. If it were before, I would think they'd be careful, considering every step. But now, I suspect there's very likely a mole in the family."