Chapter 41

My distraction caught Hadrian's attention even more.

He looked at me, the gun slowly feeling around my waist. Through the thin fabric of my skirt, I could feel the cold, hard material of the barrel.

But I didn't show any panic on my face.

This was actually something Virio taught me last time. He said that if people got into close combat, a lot of unexpected things were bound to happen.

Most people watching underground boxing matches think the fighters look passionate and fired up, but actually, when they were in hand-to-hand combat with someone, the most important thing was to stay calm.

I kept reminding myself in my head to stay calm.

But right now we were too close together. He only needed to slightly squeeze his thumb to kill me on the spot.

I looked at the man in front of me, then after a moment spoke softly, "I heard everything just now."

There was no point in avoiding or denying it anymore.

If I admitted to hearing everything, it might make Hadrian keep questioning me, giving us room to talk and negotiate.

And giving Charles a chance to make a move.

But if I just refused to admit it, Hadrian might lose patience and just shoot me.

I started to regret why I had to wait here for him at such risk.

Why didn't I follow Charles's suggestion to deploy other people here and wait until someone came out to make a decision?

But there was no time left to think.

Looking at the person in front of me, I repeated my words, "Yes, I heard everything."

"So it was you who betrayed the entire family a while ago, it was you who betrayed Virio!"

These two sentences seemed to suddenly trigger Hadrian. His hand gripped the gun and slammed it hard against my waist again.

The hard gun made me wince in pain.

The muzzle rubbed against my clothes, and I could feel my clothes getting wrinkled from the friction.

Hadrian seemed to be treating the gun like a knife, almost trying to stab it into my waist.

I endured the pain and continued, "I heard everything. I'm just very disappointed in you. You know what? I thought you and Virio had a good relationship."

"A good relationship?" Hadrian suddenly laughed. "Ms. Lacey, I heard you have a sister, and she doesn't really like you, right?"

Hearing Hadrian suddenly bring up Freya, I froze for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"

But I quickly understood his intention.

He was saying that his relationship with Virio was probably like Freya's relationship with me?

After all, growing up, Freya was often compared to me too.

It wasn't until my father got into trouble that these comparisons gradually faded, and instead it became about how I wasn't as good as her.

But within the family, everyone knew Freya couldn't compare to me at all.

Whether it was brains or ability, she was far behind me.

I suddenly laughed coldly. "So you think you've been compared to Virio since childhood and have never accepted it?"

"You've always thought of yourself as someone superior, and being compared to Virio feels like an insult to you? Or do you look down on Virio from the bottom of your heart?" I knew I was speaking very fast right now, almost incoherently.

Hadrian stared at me and suddenly said viciously, "What do you know?"

"You and Virio being together is a meeting of kindred spirits. Do you think people like me, like your sister, how do we live?"

"Since childhood, no matter what occasion, as long as Virio was there, the two of us would definitely be compared, and when my father came home he would beat me hard and ask me why I wasn't as good as Virio!"

At this point, Hadrian suddenly burst out laughing.

And the moment he was shaking with laughter, I suddenly reacted, using my knee to strike upward, hitting his elbow just right.

Hadrian's wrist went soft and he almost dropped the gun. I seized this opportunity and grabbed his wrist.

The gun barrel's direction was immediately adjusted.

But my strength was no match for his after all. I could only hold his wrist, forcing him to be unable to shoot me.

"Ms. Lacey, I didn't expect you to have such good skills. Looks like you've learned quite a lot following Virio around during this time." Hadrian didn't seem to take my resistance seriously at all. With one hand holding the gun against me, his other hand was still stroking his chin, looking quite meaningful.

And his contempt for me ignited a raging fire in my heart. "You know me, why? You should know that day I shot and killed someone."

Hadrian's expression changed. "I know you killed someone. That's one of the reasons you gained Virio's trust, right?"

"But that person was arranged by me. Didn't expect that, did you?"

Hearing this, I was even more furious. "Do you know that every time Virio mentions you, he's happy!"

Hadrian's face darkened.

I don't know if my words affected him, but a trace of pain flashed through his eyes.

But the next second, his wrist slowly turned, pointing the gun at me again. "Now that you know my secret, you can't stay alive. As for Virio and me, this is the fate our family members have to bear. You're just an outsider."

His thumb was about to pull the trigger when another figure appeared behind him.

I saw Virio's handsome face.

That face was now full of pain, but seeing Hadrian's movement, he rushed over without hesitation and chopped down on the back of his neck with his hand.

The movement was extremely fast. The next second, several people surrounded Hadrian.

Only then did I feel relieved, taking a step back. That's when the sharp pain came from my waist.

That gun had been rubbing against my waist for who knows how long.

I looked at Virio in shock, and after Virio had people take Hadrian away, he walked toward me. "You dared to do this in such a dangerous situation?"

I shook my head. "Just thinking that he might hurt you, I really couldn't sit still."

"Don't ever do such foolish things again." Virio took me back to the casino's lounge.

The lounge had live feeds from all the surveillance cameras here.

That's when I learned this was how Virio usually operated when visiting his various businesses.

It wasn't as easy as I thought. He had to deal with so much.

I told Virio everything I had heard at the door.

Virio's face turned dark. "I thought he just didn't recognize you, so you two had a conflict."

"So what are you going to do next? I didn't lie at all. You can go investigate."

Virio shook his head. "I will look into this matter."