Not A Small-Town Girl

----

“The experiments are still in progress. Losing twenty test

subjects isn’t a big deal; it’s just a small lesson for you. Now,

notify our people in the Darling family—activate the worms."

“Also, the hospital has reported Xavier has come out of

surgery, and Danielle was the one who arrived just in time.

Our informant was killed by Jaden."

"Yes, sir," Hugh replied.

"Danielle is already half-dead from the poison. Once she’s

gone, the Darling family will be easy to break."

"What should we do next, sir?"

“Right now, the Darling family is well protected. It won’t be

easy to strike at them. We’ll focus on Howard and Vivian

instead."

“Understood.”

“Everyone leave. Leave."

----

The man’s words were final. As the

servants disjersed, he leaned back

into the sofe,his cold, calculating

eyes narrowing. The small snake

coiled atound his wrist seemedsto

senseits master’s mood, wriggling

upto’him in a way that seented

almost like an attempt to-somfort

him.

----

"Good snake," he muttered softly, running his fingers over its

tiny head.

The butler stood in the background, eyes filled with cold

determination. The Darling family was to blame for all this,

and only when they were destroyed would his master return

to his normal life.

"Go," the man snapped at the butler.

"Sir, I’ll head to the hospital and finish the job with Xavier."

"Death is easy. What I want is to break their hearts. You

know what you need to do." The man’s voice was cold,

devoid of any warmth.

"Mother never let me set foot in Aleria. Now that I’m back,

the Darling family’s reckoning has just begun..."

----

In the Black Web Group conference

room, Daniel{’left the hospital, not

letting David accompany her this S

time. Wit&vall the recent poisonings,

she felftike her body had barely held

up, she had to find thoseshidden

inthe shadows before it gave out onnoveldrama

Hét.

The people gathered in the room were those Danielle

trusted the most.

----

Her expression was serious as she sat at the head of the

table. The usual banter was absent—everyone could tell

something major was happening.

“You’ve all been with me for a long time, and I trust you more

than anyone else. You all know each other well, and you’ve

trained together, so from now on, you’ll need to help each

other."

Danielle tapped her fingers twice on the table, her eyes

scanning the room.

Emery spoke up first. "Danielle, you don’t need to say it—

we’ll always have each other’s backs. We’re loyal to you,

and wherever you lead, we follow.”

Taylor added, "Is there something you need us to do?

Whatever it is, count us in. We’ll follow you into hell if it

comes to that."

----

Aiden chimed in. "Just say the word, Danielle. Who do we

take down this time?"

Denny cracked his knuckles. "I’ve been itching to get some

action. Let us know what to do."

Juniper, who didn’t quite think like

the others, séq uietly as the weight

of the situation hit her. Danielle was

never thi€-serious. They typically”

handleddifferent tasks, but now; she

wasgathering them all together.

Something was definitely up:

----

As Juniper pondered, everyone turned their gaze on her.

“What are you staring at me for? I’m just like you guys—

whatever Danielle says, goes," she said, shrugging

nonchalantly.

Danielle sighed. She wasn’t gathering them just to reinforce

loyalty; there were other matters to attend to, and before she

could explain, the others started chattering.

“I might be gone for a while,” Danielle said, silencing them.

“Only contact me if absolutely necessary."

Emery nodded. "Black Web Group’s new business should

continue if possible. If not, we pause."

Taylor and Juniper said, "The lab’s new research is going as

planned. I’ve sent you the formulas, and I’ll be focused on

that."

----

Lyla spoke up. "I’ve recruited ten new designers. They’re

talented, and their designs are impressive. The designs for

next quarter are almost ready, and from now on, I’ll leave

design work to them—I don’t have time to focus on that

anymore."

Aiden and Denny exchanged glances. "There may not be

any major threats from gangs at the border right now, but we

can’t slack off. We’ll double the training and stay alert."