Chapter 309

Chapter 309

"You think Owen will just let you go?"

"He won't." Kate shook her head. "No one escapes him. When he trained us, it wasn't just about teaching skills."

Under their startled gazes, Kate turned her wrist over, revealing the pale underside.

"'Cicada.'" Kate spoke the name quietly. "A slow-acting poison. Every 'nightingale' gets injected the day training ends. You don't feel it at first, but you need Owen's antidote regularly to keep it suppressed. Stop taking it for more than a month, and it wakes up in your bloodstream—eating through your nerves and organs, bit by bit. You don't die right away. You just... wither. Like autumn leaves. And the process? Excruciating."

"I've laid everything on the table—my life, and my one shot at betrayal. I'm not betting you'll save me. I'm betting you want to destroy Owen completely. And I'm the only one who can lead you straight to all his weak spots."

"In exchange," Kate paused, "I want to live. Like a normal person."

Milo stared at the wrist hidden beneath her cuff.

Lucas turned to Juliana.

"Can you cure it?"

"I don't know." Juliana shook her head. "Chronic neurotoxin combined with some kind of biological agent—sounds complicated. Without a sample and a full analysis, it's all guesswork."

She hesitated. "But there's no such thing as a perfect poison. If it's man-made, there's always a way to reverse it. It's just a matter of time."

"Your bargaining chip isn't enough." Lucas turned back to Kate.

"One act of disobedience in exchange for your life, plus a shot at taking down Owen? I'm getting the short end of the stick here."

Kate's body went rigid, barely noticeable.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to keep being a 'nightingale.'"

Lucas's words made Milo shoot to his feet. "Are you insane? You're sending her back to die!"

Lucas didn't spare Milo even a glance. "Keep taking Owen's orders. Keep feeding him intel. Except from now on, the content of that intel? I decide."

"I want you to be a thorn turned backward—let him think he's got everything under control, that victory's in his grasp. I want him standing at the peak of his confidence when he realizes the ground beneath him isn't solid gold. It's a cliff edge."

Kate's breath caught.

"What if I'm exposed?" Her voice came out hoarse.

"That's your problem. This is a deal, not charity. You want to live? Then prove you're worth keeping alive."

"No! I don't agree! You know what kind of man Owen is—better than I do! He's surrounded by lunatics! One wrong step and she's dead!" Milo's voice cracked.

"This is her only option." Juliana spoke suddenly.

She walked over to Kate, meeting her eyes directly.

"You're not afraid of dying. You're afraid that when you die, Owen will go after him."

She pointed at Milo.

Kate's expression flickered violently.

"We can protect him. What Lucas wants is to rip Owen out by the roots—make sure he never crawls back. That's the only way you and Milo will ever truly be safe."

"A dead Owen is the safest Owen."

Kate looked at Juliana. There was no way out.

Either wither slowly under Owen's control and drag everyone she cared about into hell with her.

Or walk the tightrope Lucas had laid out and gamble on a future that might not exist.

Kate closed her eyes. When she opened them again, all the fear and hesitation had drained away. "I'll do it."

She looked at Lucas.

"But I have one condition. If I die, you save him."

Juliana held her gaze and nodded solemnly.

"Deal."

Lucas pulled his tablet over and slid it in front of Kate.

"This is the Sharp Group's recent internal personnel shifts and the real data from several failing projects. You 'accidentally' leak these to Logan. That man's mouth works better than a megaphone."

"Here's the timeline for Juliana's and my 'marital breakdown,' plus some forged asset division documents. Find a way to let Owen's people 'steal' them."

"Remember—you're playing a desperate castoff who got caught and is scrambling to prove her loyalty to her old master. Make him think you're worthless now, but maybe these 'scraps' you've got can still be put to use."

Kate stared at the tablet screen, at information explosive enough to tank any company's stock price. Her chest tightened.

Lucas was putting his all stuff on the line as bait.

"Understood." Kate nodded.

She pulled another phone from her small bag.

Her slender fingers moved across the keyboard without hesitation.

Following Lucas's instructions, she typed out a message.

It was short—reeking of desperation and the frantic eagerness of someone trying to prove themselves after being exposed.

[Boss, I've been compromised. Lucas planted something on my phone, and Milo knows. But I got some things. The Sharp family's a mess right now—Lucas and Juliana have completely fallen out over the Anderson family situation. They're filing for divorce and splitting assets. I stashed some documents in the usual spot. They didn't find them.]

Kate finished typing. She paused, glancing up at Lucas.

Lucas gave a slight nod.

She hit send.

The email from a desperate 'castoff' sat quietly in Owen's encrypted inbox.

Two days later, scattered intel coalesced into a complete picture.

Lucas and Juliana had completely broken ties and were dividing their assets.

The Sharp Group was in chaos—major overseas project losses, a power struggle at the top, a marriage falling apart. Stock prices were volatile. Morale was tanking.

Everything matched exactly what Kate's email had said.

Beyond the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, lush tropical plants swayed gently. Owen poured himself a glass of whiskey, slow and deliberate.

"Ace." He spoke into the air.

From the shadows, a wiry man appeared without a sound. "Boss."

"Kate's line is burned. She got caught and now she's scrambling to prove her loyalty, hoping to buy herself a way out. Shame. She's worthless now."

Ace kept his head down, silent.

"Still, the things she sent over? They reminded me of something." Owen stood and walked to the massive world map on the wall, his gaze landing on a small red dot. "The Sharp family's ship just hit an iceberg. If we don't board now and start looting, we'd be wasting the opportunity Lucas handed us on a silver platter."

Owen tapped the red dot with his finger.

"Alert the 'Noctule' team. Tell them this isn't a drill. Bring everything."

"On the financial side, activate 'Tsunami.' Move all our overseas liquid assets in batches and funnel them domestically. Prepare for a full buyout of the Sharp Group's scattered shares and distressed assets."

Ace's head dipped lower. "Boss, that's nearly everything we have. If something goes wrong—"

"Nothing will go wrong." Owen cut him off, his tone laced with near-fanatical confidence. "I'm going back myself. I want to watch Lucas on his knees in front of me. I want to see the Sharp family's golden empire crumble, inch by inch, with my own eyes."

"Make it happen. I want to hear the first shot fired within three days."

"Yes, sir."

Ace's figure melted back into the shadows.