Chapter 422
Just then, a pirate shoved Marsha into the room. He held out a small button with both hands. “Found a hidden camera in this. Don’t know if she’s yours. Brought her to check. If not, I’ll take care of her.”
Rylie took the button and waved him off. “She’s with me.”
Marsha’s cheeks were streaked with tears. She hadn’t expected this side of Rylie—someone with enough power to command pirates. Her voice shook.
“Please… Don’t kill Ronan yet. He still has the photos. They’d ruin me.”
Rylie nodded. “Stop.”
Ronan, bloodied and barely conscious, pushed himself off the floor—teeth missing, head swollen. Then, he struck. From his pocket, he yanked a remote and let out a wild, broken laugh.
“Haha! You want the photos? You think you can still walk into high society like nothing happened?”
His eyes glinted with madness as he raised the remote. “I forgot to tell you guys! There’s a bomb on this ship! You kill me, and we all go down together!”
Ronan thought that Rylie would panic. Instead, he caught a flicker of mockery on her face.
She let her legs swing lazily, her mouth curving into a faint smirk. “Go ahead. Push it.”
“I’m not bluffing!” His voice cracked. He couldn’t understand why she stayed so calm. One finger hovered over the trigger. “If you don’t let me walk out of here, I’ll do it. We’ll all go down together!”
Marsha’s face turned pale. Even the crew backed off a step, thrown off by his outburst. But when Rylie started laughing, the tension snapped. They relaxed immediately. Everyone knew VS wasn’t the kind to let anyone else hold the leash.
Without warning, she leapt from the table. Her hand shot out and snatched the remote from his grip. She turned it over in her fingers. “This the one?”
Before he could answer, her thumb pressed the red button.
Ronan squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, his voice raw.
Not a sound followed, other than the wind scratching at the walls and the sea lapping in the distance. Tommy exchanged a glance with one of the men beside him. Both looked confused—and then laughed.
“Ha! The idiot’s bomb didn’t even go off!”
“Think someone disarmed it?”
Rylie placed the remote back into Ronan’s palm. Her tone was almost gentle. “Looks like it’s broken.”
Their laughter tore through Ronan like a jagged blade—dull but cruel. He stared at the remote like it had betrayed him. His hands trembled. His voice came out in pieces. “Broken? That’s not… that’s not possible…”
She stood inches away now. Her face wore that same cold sneer—hard and sharp like chiseled ice. She leaned in just slightly. Her voice dropped to a hush, sweet and cruel all at once. “Playtime’s over. You don’t get another move.”
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