By the end of it all, Mason wasn’t so much worried about her ability to go against Corey as he was about the risks she was taking.
After all, it was his duty as a man to pave the way for her. She shouldn’t have to bother herself with something so trivial.
“I’m serious, Mason. Don’t get yourself tangled up in this,” Janet urged once more, then paused before adding, “You have nothing to worry about. He has no real authority and I have everything it takes to make sure he dies in Markovia.”
Upon hearing this, Mason reached out and gently brushed the tip of her nose, then pleaded, “I really can’t afford to take this gamble, Babe.”
He was certain that he would go mad if she were to find herself in danger again.
As he said this, the rims of his eyes grew red once more. There was a desperate and bloodthirsty look in his eyes that made Janet’s heart squeeze.
She reached up and caressed his knitted brows, her voice placating as she suggested, “How about we go after him together after I’ve recovered?”
The man considered this and with red eyes, he decided to compromise. “Alright.”
Meanwhile, in the President’s conference room in Markovia, Corey had a satisfied grin on his face as he addressed the audience before him. “I’m sure all of you have heard about what happened to J’Adore. Now, the question is, where will your loyalty lie after this?”
Gathered before him were the elders who led other Markovian organizations. While they had always been loyal to the MX, Corey was sure that news of J’Adore’s death would be the turning point for these elders. It was only a matter of time before they switched sides and swore loyalty to him.
After that, he would slowly but surely empty the MX of all its forces.
Presently, the leaders exchanged looks of disbelief before asking, “Mr. President, have you seen J’Adore’s corpse?”
It went without saying that they were doubtful of Corey’s claims. If J’Adore had managed to survive and return to discover that they had betrayed her as well as the MX, they would suffer her wrath. She would neither spare them nor their families.
However, Corey merely gave a low chuckle as he answered, “Ebony Town was blown up, so I don’t think it’s an easy task to get a glimpse of her body. Nonetheless, I’ve sent my men to search the site. If all goes well, we might see her ashes by today.”
Not just her ashes, but Peter Welch’s as well! Corey thought with dark glee.
“Well…” The leaders once again exchanged hesitant looks among themselves, and one of them finally said, “If you can show us evidence of her death, Mr. President, then you will have my unwavering loyalty.”
It didn’t take long for a second person to make the same pronouncement and slowly, the rest of them changed their minds. Eventually, all the leaders had sworn their loyalty to Corey.
They needed someone powerful to lead them and now that the most formidable person they knew had perished in a tragic accident, they had to swear their allegiance to Corey. It was the only way for them to survive.
Corey, on the other hand, couldn’t say that he had not expected such results, but he was surprised all the same.
He thought that these elders would remain loyal to J’Adore even in her death, but it turned out that their loyalty was a fickle thing. He had expected this, though. After all, humans were nothing if not selfish and at the end of the day, it was only normal for them to betray the MX.
“In that case, I hope to see some proof of your allegiance tomorrow.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” everyone answered in unison.
Corey smiled. “Well then, that concludes our meeting for today.”
As soon as they heard this, the elders left the conference room.
Now that J’Adore and Prime Minister Welch were dead, Corey no longer required Melissa’s services to come up with a virus that was lethal.
With that in mind, he was about to pull out his phone to call Melissa and have her stop with the experiments when the door to the conference room burst open. He glanced over and saw that one of his subordinates was rushing toward him with what seemed like panic on his face.
Frowning, Corey placed his phone aside without making the call as he demanded unhappily, “Why are you so flustered? Is there something you want to tell me?”
But as he thought about it, he realized that there was only one thing that could make the man before him look so flustered—he must have news of Prime Minister Welch’s and J’Adore’s death.
Corey’s expression turned to one of anticipation and he asked with barely-suppressed glee, “Out with it—did you find J’Adore and Prime Minister Welch’s remains?”
However, his subordinate merely shook his head and he was out of breath when he answered, “Bad news, Mr. President—we have not found the remains of either one of them.”
Corey froze at this. No remains? Does that mean they’re not dead? But that’s not possible—they must have been blown up into ashes! he thought as he tried to comfort himself.
“It doesn’t matter. It probably means they’ve been blown up into ashes.”
