Chapter 137 Deathis the Only Way Out
"Aren't you going with them?" Alison asked Cressida, who was clinging close to her.
Cressida replied firmly, "No."
Black Wolf glared fiercely at Alison. "Cressida is our partner. We won't hand her over to anyone! I knew you were up to no good, woman."
He tried to pull Cressida to his side. Alison looked at him with a sinister smile. Black Wolf flinched, and Alison raised her hand. He reflexively covered his thigh.
Alison thought she could add another reason for not joining the Aurora Syndicate. too many idiots.
The living room was already in chaos. Alison pushed open the kitchen back door and pulled Cressida. "Let's go."
Cressida followed her without hesitation. White Fox hadn't yet realized that Cressida had brought the attackers here. Gun in hand, he nervously walked behind Alison and Cressida, covering their rear.
"Where are we going?" Cressida asked Alison, while sneaking a glance at White Fox, hinting that Alison should ditch him.
Of course Alison wanted to find Oliver. He should be nearby. But they came out through the kitchen, and the villa's front entrance and outside were surrounded. The attackers spotted them through the windows and immediately gave chase.
White Fox knew the terrain around the villa well and made a quick decision. "Follow me!"
Cressida still looked at Alison. Alison pulled her along to catch up with White Fox. "Follow him for now. We'll figure things out once we're out of danger!"
This villa area bordered a natural forest, somewhat like a vacation resort, just in a remote location. After sunset, the temperature dropped sharply. Summer was over, and the early autumn evening breeze was chilly.
Alison was still wearing her midday water play outfit—a sun protection jacket and shorts over a one-piece swimsuit. When the wind blew, goosebumps rose on her skin.
White Fox pulled them into the woods. The dim light and shadows, uneven ground, and dense trees became natural cover. They ran ahead while the attackers chased behind. Fire Fox led his companions, falling behind a bit. The intense gunfire never stopped.
Cressida and White Fox's stamina wasn't as good as Alison's. The longer they ran, the more often they had to rest.
When Cressida stopped again, leaning against a tree trunk, Alison suggested. "Let's split up."
Cressida instinctively grabbed Alison's arm tightly, determined not to be left behind!
White Fox's suspicious gaze shifted between Alison and Cressida.
Those attackers didn't want to take Cressida away at all—they wanted to kill her! Continuing to run with Cressida now would be putting himself in danger.
White Fox weighed the pros and cons and decided his own life was more important.
Dorian was dead, so Cressida's value had decreased. And even if Alison died, it would be the attackers who killed her, nothing to do with him.
After thinking it through, White Fox said, "I'll go that way and draw them off for you!"
He put on a self-sacrificing act, but both Alison and Cressida knew what he was really thinking.
Cressida grabbed his sleeve. "No, it's too dangerous. We should stick together."
The gunfire was getting closer. White Fox shook off Cressida's hand. "It's decided! I'll draw them away, you two run in the opposite direction. After we escape safely, we'll meet up in the city!"
He hurriedly slipped into the night. The layers of tree shadows quickly swallowed him up. Cressida dropped her panicked expression and asked Alison. "What do we do now?"
"Keep running." Alison actually wanted to get rid of this trouble too, but Cressida was a very important witness.
Alison told Cressida to keep her steps light. Unlike White Fox running around aimlessly, Alison carefully observed the terrain, chose her route carefully, and even carefully erased traces of where they'd been.
She didn't know how big this forest was, how long it would take to cross it, or what was on the other side. So Alison chose to make a big circle and head back.
Meanwhile, White Fox, going in the opposite direction, really did draw the attackers away from them.
The gunfire and chaotic footsteps gradually faded. Alison saw that Cressida's face was very pale, though her cheeks were flushed. Guessing her stamina was reaching its limit, she took the initiative to stop and rest.
Cressida squatted on the ground. Alison looked around. Cressida's gaze was fixed firmly on Alison, afraid she would run off, while she didn't even have the strength to stand up and chase after her.
After walking around, Alison found a hollow tree. She helped Cressida up, and the two of them, both thin, could just fit inside the hollow together.
Inside the hollow was stuffy and dark, with a strange smell of damp rot, but it gave Cressida a great sense of security.
Alison asked her. "Were those people sent by Freya and Marshall?"
"I knew I couldn't fool you." Cressida smiled bitterly. "Dorian created a playboy image, treating the women around him like goods to trade away. Some were played to death, some were sold abroad. The sales channel was Santos's smuggling route. I was originally sent by Santos to monitor Dorian. I know too many secrets."
"You haven't been with the Aurora Syndicate very long, have you?" Alison felt that Cressida trusted White Fox even less than she trusted her.
"A little over a year." Cressida said mockingly, "The Aurora Syndicate has quite a few members and has caused plenty of trouble for Thomas Holdings, but they're just a mess, no leader. Everyone carries out revenge actions on their own, but they can't hurt the core of the company at all. Not even many people can successfully get close to Santos's children."
A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes. "They kept asking me for information but kept dragging their feet on my revenge plan! I couldn't wait anymore, so I had to do it myself."
"You want to work with the police now?" Theodore's self-exposure gave Alison an idea.
"More precisely, I want to work for Mr. West." Cressida had been wavering between three forces before.
Although she killed Dorian, she could have worked for Freya or Marshall. But those two sent people to kill her! The Aurora Syndicate was just a bunch of rabble who couldn't protect her at all.
She worried that Oliver or Alison wouldn't be interested in the evidence she had, so she simply admitted in the car that she killed Dorian. Even being locked up in prison would be a way to survive.
Alison shook her head. "Prison isn't safe either. Only if you're dead will they feel at ease. Otherwise they'll keep hunting you."
"Is there really no other way?" Cressida asked unwillingly.
"There is." Alison's eyes were very bright in the darkness. "Death is your sole chance at life."
In a flash, Cressida understood.
"How should I die?" she asked.
Alison didn't answer immediately. Footsteps came from outside the hollow, quickly surrounding them. Cressida looked alarmed, but when she looked out, it was Oliver and Taylor and the others.
She didn't know when they'd arrived. They seemed to have been nearby for a while.
Cressida was a bit dazed. Alison pulled out her phone, which had been on a call the whole time, and pressed the hang-up button. She took Oliver's hand and climbed out of the hollow.
Oliver checked her over and only relaxed after confirming Alison wasn't hurt. He took off his jacket and draped it over Alison's shoulders, then looked down at Cressida. "Come out. Those people need to see you 'die' with their own eyes."