Xavier Young raced to his brother, who lay on the ground. Believing him dead, Xavier held him tight, tears streaming down his face as he cried, "Brother, I will avenge you!"
Sixth Master's gaze scanned the men sprawled haphazardly on the ground, his emotions more complex than anyone else's. He wanted to find Sienna Johnson, yet he dreaded seeing her "corpse." Fortunately, Sienna was not among them.
He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He was about to search upstairs, thinking she was hiding in some secret spot there, waiting for him to rescue her, when Little Ninth suddenly said, "They're not dead. They've just been drugged with a sedative."
The crowd was stunned for a moment, then turned to inspect the men on the ground, checking for breath and pulse. Indeed, they had merely been sedated.
"How could they be sedated? What on earth is going on here?"
Aaron Faber, a scholarly man with glasses, approached with a laptop. "Sister-in-law did it!" he declared.
Not only Sixth Master but everyone else was dumbfounded.
They would rather believe that their sworn enemies had infiltrated the island and slaughtered all their brothers than accept that Sienna was responsible. This… was impossible!
After a long silence, Xavier Young said incredulously, "How is that possible? Sister-in-law looks so fragile, like a gust of wind could blow her over. How could she have taken down so many men? And where did the sedatives come from? Sixth Master certainly didn't give her any." Everyone knew Sixth Master had been showering Sienna with gifts recently to win her favor.
Could Sixth Master, besotted by her beauty, have given Sienna the sedatives himself?
Questioning glances fell upon Sixth Master, whose face was grim.
Sixth Master commanded, "Pull up all surveillance footage from the time I was away!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Sixth Master strode upstairs, his composure severely rattled. Seeing his men incapacitated all over the floor felt like a slap in the face, delivered by a woman. Never in his life had he been so thoroughly outwitted.
His bedroom held traces of Sienna's presence and her scent. He walked to the dressing table where an open drawer revealed jewelry piled high. Sixth Master surmised that the woman hadn't taken a single piece.
Mai, you certainly know how to put on an act! He picked up an emerald necklace, recalling her supposed "joy" upon receiving these jewels. Only now did he realize her "joy" had been a sham, a ploy to distract him and make him lower his guard.
She was planning to escape from the very beginning!
"Sixth Master, Sister-in-law has escaped!"
Aaron Faber had not only retrieved all available surveillance footage from the island but had also located the speedboat Sienna had stolen.
For all her meticulous planning, Sienna had overlooked one crucial detail: the speedboat she stole was equipped with a global positioning system. Her location was known before she even had a chance to escape.
Sixth Master watched as his woman expertly dispatched his men and then poisoned the Tibetan Mastiff he had nurtured for years. He didn't know whether to praise her or condemn her. If this woman had been a touch more ruthless, none of his hundred-odd men would have survived.
"Sixth Master, shouldn't we go after her?" Aaron Faber asked. "If we don't pursue her now, and Sister-in-law reaches shore and alerts the police, things will get much more complicated." Sixth Master didn't immediately order a pursuit, leaving Aaron baffled by his intentions.
Sixth Master sneered. "Escape? Even if she flees to the depths of hell, I'll drag her out!"
Among the unconscious, one of the younger men, who had drunk less, began to regain consciousness. Walter Klein questioned him, confirming once again that Sienna was responsible. Sixth Master was in a foul mood, and so was everyone else.
For all fifteen of them to be taken down by a single woman—if word got out, they'd never live it down.
"Sixth Master, should Aaron and I give chase?" Walter Klein asked.
"I'll go myself!" Sixth Master bit out.
Everyone watched Sixth Master warily. Being outmaneuvered like this by his own woman was galling for any man. Still, Sixth Master appeared outwardly calm, which was a relief. Just as they were silently praising his composure, Sixth Master walked to the door. He lifted his foot and kicked it down, venting his fury.
Sixth Master was furious.
Sunrise at sea was truly beautiful.
The sky was still a pale blue when a crimson blush appeared at the horizon where sky met water. The crimson gradually spread, growing brighter. After a moment, the upper edge of the sun appeared, a vivid red but not yet dazzling. Slowly, the sun ascended, finally breaking through the clouds and leaping entirely free of the sea.
The rosy dawn light bathed the entire sea in a golden-red hue, and Sienna Johnson was cloaked in the same light.
However, Sienna Johnson was in no mood to appreciate the breathtaking scenery.
"Damn it, damn it!"
The boat's engine had died. Sienna tried several times, but it wouldn't start. Gazing at the boundless sea around her, her heart sank into its depths.
She was so close. If she could just reach the shore, she could go home to her father and Teddy. And she still had to get revenge on Frederick Stewart and Sabrina Johnson!
But now, she was trapped here!
Sienna refused to give in!
"Why am I always so unlucky? From the moment I was born, the doctor switched me with Sabrina Johnson. Our fates were reversed. I finally returned to the Johnson family, but my mother showed me no affection. And now, Sabrina Johnson and Frederick Stewart have driven me to jump into the sea…"
"Heh, is there any woman in this world more foolish and useless than you?!" She laughed grimly. Then, as her laughter died, she slumped over the steering wheel, sobbing uncontrollably.
She wept and wept, as if to cry out all her grievances. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, and her ears were ringing. Suddenly, she heard a man's voice.
"Beautiful lady, why are you crying?"
Sienna didn't hear clearly and thought it was a hallucination, so she paid it no mind. Not until her boat dipped suddenly did she jerk her head up. She stared in alarm at a strange man who had just jumped onto her boat. "Who are you?"
The man was tall and powerfully built. He had deep-set eyes and a handsome beard, but his own eyes held an unsettling 'unclean' look, and the tattoos covering his arms were unappealing. Sienna disliked him immediately.
"My name is Charlie Parker. And yours?"
"Mai!"
"Raelnian?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sienna nodded slightly, her hand hidden behind her back clutching a sharp dagger—it was Sixth Master's. If this man dared to make a wrong move, Sienna wouldn't hesitate to plunge the dagger into his heart.
I dissected many cadavers in school. I know the exact location of the human heart! One strike to kill!
There was only one man. Sienna suppressed her racing heart. She put on a fragile, tearful act. "I quarreled with my boyfriend. I stormed off in the boat in a fit of pique, and then I got lost. Do you… do you know where this is?"
"I'll take you home."