Katelyn’s hands trembled violently as she gripped the report. “How come?”
Among all the scenarios she had played out in her mind, this revelation was beyond anything she could have imagined.
Without wasting another moment, she clutched the damning document and rushed to see Vincent.
When she burst into the holding room where Sophia was detained, Vincent sprang to his feet. “What’s going on?” he demanded, concern etched across his face.
Wordlessly, Katelyn thrust the report into his hands.
As Vincent’s eyes scanned the results, deep furrows carved themselves into his brow.
Meanwhile, Katelyn approached Sophia’s bound form. Despite the gag, dark crimson stains around Sophia’s teeth bore testament to her fierce resistance. It was clear how hard Sophia had struggled.
Meeting Sophia’s gaze directly, Katelyn cut straight to the heart of the matter. “Was the poison in your body administered by someone from the T Organization?”
A visible tremor ran through Sophia’s frame, her eyes widening with unmistakable shock at Katelyn’s precise deduction.
Katelyn’s lips curved into a grim smile—she had hit the mark. Drawing closer to Sophia, frost crystallizing in her voice, Katelyn spoke with quiet authority. “Sophia, if you come clean with me, I can neutralize the poison coursing through your system.”
Her words hung in the air, deceptively gentle yet carrying the weight of steel.
Noting Sophia’s stillness and apparent willingness to communicate, Katelyn removed the blood-stained gag and tossed it aside with distaste.
She cast a meaningful glance at Vincent. “Vincent, would you give us a moment? I’ll join you shortly.”
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Understanding the unspoken request, Vincent nodded without protest. He didn’t delay or ask questions, simply replying with a curt, “Okay.” Vincent turned smoothly on his heel and strode out of the room, pulling the heavy door shut behind him with a soft click.
Inside the sterile confines of the room, harsh fluorescent lights cast unforgiving shadows, revealing every minute detail of Sophia’s injuries with brutal clarity. In that fragile moment of silence, that fleeting instant of hesitation, Katelyn caught the telltale flicker across Sophia’s face.
“Take your time to consider,” Katelyn said with calculated precision. “Nothing supersedes the value of your own life. Without treatment, this poison will subject you to a slow, agonizing death within the year.”
Sophia’s eyes locked onto Katelyn’s, her lips twisting into a bitter sneer. “Do you really think you’re some kind of savior?”
Nothing irked her more than Katelyn’s insufferable demeanor. The way Katelyn operated with that air of pristine control, as if uncertainty and failure were concepts that existed only in lesser mortals’ worlds. This version of Katelyn awakened a primal urge in Sophia—an overwhelming desire to shatter that perfect fa?ade.
They had poured their blood, sweat, and tears into their work, yet they couldn’t hold a candle to Katelyn’s natural brilliance. That raw inequity fueled Sophia’s deep-seated hatred for Katelyn.
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