Chapter 275 I Want to See Jessica
Chapter 275 I Want to See Jessica
Jessica looked at him, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Joseph understood her too well—understood her to the point where she had almost nowhere to hide.
Before she even spoke, he had already thought of the reason she hadn't yet voiced.
"Benjamin won't stop. He beat Nathan, and I'm next. I need time, I need people, I need to completely seal off that place."
Joseph immediately understood what she was referring to—the fighting arena.
Benjamin was there now. He had those children, that experimental equipment, and those things he was unwilling and unable to let go of.
If he felt unsafe outside, if he thought Joseph and Jessica would make a move against him, he might very well do something extreme before anyone could react.
"I've already talked to my dad." Joseph's voice was calm. "The Williams family's people will be in position tonight. All the roads outside the fighting arena will be completely blocked. He won't be able to get out."
Jessica hugged him. There was no need to say anything more.
When Benjamin asked to see Jessica, Joseph was standing at the entrance to the mountain road outside the fighting arena.
He wore a black trench coat with the collar turned up, covering half his face.
Behind him stood a whole row of people in black uniforms—the scene itself was oppressive.
The call came through the arena's internal communication system, Benjamin's voice coming through the speaker, deep and hoarse.
"I want to see Jessica. Have her come alone within an hour. If she doesn't come—" He paused. "I'll release poison gas. Everyone in here will die."
Joseph's fingers immediately clenched.
He knew Benjamin wasn't making empty threats—he was stating a decision he could execute at any moment.
Those children, those kids locked in iron cages, injected with unknown drugs, treated as test subjects—their lives and deaths were, to Benjamin, nothing more than the distance of reaching out to turn a valve.
He didn't care if he would die, didn't care if those children would die, didn't care if there was anything left in this world worth caring about. He just wanted to see Jessica one more time.
Joseph closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The mountain wind rushed into his lungs, carrying a rotten smell, nauseating and cold.
He could make the decision directly, but he was willing to give the choice to Jessica.
He opened his eyes, took out his phone, and dialed Jessica's number.
"Benjamin wants to see you."
There was a long silence on the other end. "Okay."
When Jessica arrived, there were still fifteen minutes left before Benjamin's one-hour deadline.
Joseph stood in front of her and reached out to gently touch her face. "I'll go in with you."
Jessica shook her head.
Joseph looked at her for a long time.
Finally, he withdrew his hand and nodded.
Joseph wasn't worried that Benjamin would hurt Jessica—that was why he dared let her go in.
He didn't say anything extra.
He knew she didn't need any of this empty comfort, and he knew she was tougher than he had ever given her credit for.
She was like someone who had clawed her way back from a living hell, and Benjamin was nothing more than an old scar in her long life, fully healed and no longer capable of hurting her.
When Jessica walked into the fighting arena, the main lights in the corridor weren't on. Only the emergency lights were lit, their greenish-white dim glow falling on the iron cages on both sides.
Strangely, all those cages were empty.
Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, one after another, like knocking on a wooden floor in an empty house, making her heartbeat lose its rhythm.
Benjamin was waiting for her in the innermost laboratory.
The door was open, the lights bright, blindingly bright.
He sat in a chair wearing a dark gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, the ring of scabbed-over bite marks on his wrist clearly visible.
His hair was cut short, the lines of his face harder and colder than before, his whole being like a blade that had been repeatedly forged and lost all warmth.
Jessica walked in and stood in front of him, separated by a table.
On the table were two documents—one was the equity transfer agreement for the fighting arena, the other was an inventory of all assets under Benjamin's name. The stack of papers was thick, showing a slightly yellowed color under the light.
"You still came." Benjamin's voice was soft, so soft it seemed like he was talking to himself. "I thought you wouldn't come."
Jessica didn't answer.
She looked at him, looked at that face she had hated for so many years, looked at those expressions she thought she would never see again in this lifetime.
His eyes were red-rimmed, his lips trembling slightly, his whole person like a support beam about to snap at any moment.
She had never seen him like this. Not in her previous life, not in this one either.
She didn't know if he was acting or showing genuine emotion. She didn't care.
"I'm here," she said. "Go ahead."
Benjamin lowered his head, looking at his own hands. Those hands had done many things—drawn her blood, taken away her child, signed the surgical consent form to remove her heart.
His hands were shaking, his fingers stiff and tense, as if those memories were crawling up along his bones.
If he could, he would rather have never remembered those things, so he wouldn't have to carry this suffocating guilt.
"I've remembered everything from the previous life." His voice was low, so low it was like muttering to himself in the room. "From the day you were bought back by the Martinez family to the moment you closed your eyes on the operating table. Everything, I've remembered it all. The things you remember, I've remembered. The things you don't know about, I've remembered those too."
Jessica didn't interrupt him.
She stood there, hands in her coat pockets, her expression as calm as a mirror without any ripples.
"I did many things to you." Benjamin's voice was trembling. "Those things, I can't make up for them. I know you hate me in this life. You should hate me. If you didn't hate me, I wouldn't know what to do with this debt."
He stood up, walked around the table, and came before her.
The distance suddenly closed. He could clearly smell that faint scent on her.
He reached out his hand, wanting to touch her face, but he stopped, as if burned. His fingertips froze for a moment, then withdrew.
Perhaps it was because of Jessica's cold eyes filled with disgust.
Benjamin turned his head away, not daring to look directly at her, yet still couldn't help wanting to look at her for a few more seconds.
"In this life, when I first recovered my memories, I was especially happy. Do you know why?" Benjamin looked at her, his eyes so red they seemed ready to crack. "Because I thought, I could finally be good to you once. But I discovered you didn't need me anymore. You have your family's love, you have Joseph's care. You don't lack anything anymore."
He turned back to the table and pushed those two documents in front of Jessica. "The shares in the fighting arena, all my assets, I'm transferring them all to you. The transfer documents are in the safe, the password is—"
He paused, looking down at his hands.
"The password is the child's birthday. That child's birthday."