Contract Marriage with My Secret Partner in Crime-Chapter 164: Surrounded

Cassius looked away from Brent without answering. His eyes fixed on the muted glow of the ceiling light, but his thoughts were far beyond the room.

The question about twelve years ago had sliced too close. Even after all this time, those memories were the one wound he refused to touch. If he spoke now, he would feel it all over again: the loss, the purge, the helplessness. He drew a slow breath, forcing his jaw to relax.

Brent watched him for a moment, clearly noticing the silence, but he did not press. Cassius’s profile alone told the story. The man’s shoulders had stiffened, his gaze pinned to nothing, his fingers brushing once over his temple like he could rub away the past. Brent’s lips pressed together, but he dropped the subject.

---

Meanwhile, across the city, the glow of screens lit the high-tech room where Zephany and Kendrick worked side by side. The sound of keys clicking and data decrypting filled the air like a second heartbeat. They had been digging for hours, running recovery programs, breaking through layers of security Brent had thought unbreakable.

At last, the program blinked green. Files appeared one by one, like ghosts climbing back from digital graves. Zephany leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "There. We have it," she murmured.

Kendrick sat straighter, his face reflecting the monitor’s light. "Erased files," he said under his breath.

Zephany’s hands hovered above the keyboard, trembling slightly. She opened the folder, and a series of videos and reports began to queue. For a moment they just stared as the first video played.

The footage was grainy but clear enough. It showed the interior of an abandoned hospital. Brent stood at the center of a corridor, flanked by men in lab coats carrying metal cases. He was issuing orders sharply, his voice faint but recognizable.

Kendrick leaned closer. "That’s him," he said flatly.

Another video rolled. This time it showed Reynold and Jeric entering the same hospital, their steps tense, their eyes alert, their figures caught in a corridor camera. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Kendrick turned away from the monitor and looked at Zephany. His voice was low but certain. "Your brother knows about it."

Zephany did not answer. Her eyes stayed fixed on the footage, following Reynold’s movements as he appeared again on another camera, this time carrying Levy and pulling two other girls out of a stairwell. She stared at his face as he tried to shield them, his jaw tight, his eyes fierce.

Kendrick clenched his knuckles, the sound audible in the quiet room. He wanted to punch Brent, to storm into his office, to demand why his sister had been put in danger. His breath came sharp through his nose, but he held himself back.

"That’s all?" he asked at last.

Zephany shook her head slightly. "That’s just how far the recovered files go. The data cuts out right after Reynold rescued them."

Kendrick straightened, reaching for his own console. "I’ll track their locations," he muttered. His fingers flew across the keys. A map opened on the big screen, blinking red dots resolving into names.

When the results loaded, both of them froze.

"Reynold..." Zephany whispered.

"And Brent," Kendrick finished grimly. "Same location."

Zephany stared. "Why? Why are they in the same place? Hollowgate? That’s supposed to be abandoned." A note of panic crept into her voice. "Rey..."

She shoved her chair back and stood abruptly. "Let’s go. I feel like something big is about to happen. I need to save Rey."

Kendrick rose too, but she was already moving toward the hidden passage at the back of her room.

"Zephany—" he started, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

---

They burst into the hidden passage, the air cooler and darker. Zephany pushed open a metal hatch and led him into the underground garage where a sleek motorcycle waited. She swung a leg over it with the ease of someone who had done it a hundred times before.

"Come on," she said urgently. "We need to hurry. This motorcycle runs faster than our car outside."

Kendrick hesitated a fraction, eyeing the machine. He had never ridden on a motorcycle in his life. But there was no time to argue. He climbed on behind her, awkwardly. For a moment he hovered, unsure where to put his hands.

Then instinct overrode hesitation. He slipped his arms around her waist, pulling himself close enough to stay steady.

Zephany stiffened at the sudden embrace. She was about to start the engine but froze. The warmth of him against her back, his arms solid around her, caught her off guard. Her pulse jumped.

She glanced at the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of his face. He was smiling.

"So shameless," she blurted, cheeks warming. But she did not push him away.

Kendrick acted as if he had not heard. To him there was nothing wrong with holding his wife. In truth, he liked it.

Zephany swallowed, then gripped the handlebars tighter. "Hold on," she muttered. She twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle roared to life, surging out of the garage and up the ramp to the street.

The city lights blurred past them as she sped toward Hollowgate, Kendrick pressed firmly behind her, their bodies moving with the machine.

---

Inside Hollowgate, alarms wailed suddenly, a shrill sound that cut through the corridors. Cassius’s head snapped up from the console where he had been checking data.

"What is that?" he barked.

One of the men at the door stumbled in, eyes wide. "We are surrounded by soldiers," he reported.

Cassius’s eyes narrowed. "What?"

Across the room, Brent spun toward him, face paling. "What do you mean surrounded?"

Before the man could answer, Brent’s phone rang, a vibration sharp against the alarm. He snatched it up. "Larman?" he said quickly.

On the other end, Larman’s voice was frantic. "We are too late. It’s a trap! You need to get out of there now. Escape!"

Brent’s hand tightened around the phone. "Damn it."

Cassius straightened, his voice cutting through the noise. "Find out what’s going on outside. How many men do we have? Can we escape?"

Another operative at the window shook his head. "We aren’t prepared for this battle. We’re totally outnumbered."

Cassius’s gaze swept the room. His mind moved fast, measuring options. Then he saw Sophia striding toward him, her expression taut.

"What are we supposed to do now?" she asked.

Cassius’s answer was immediate. "Ask for help from The Archive. Call out the runners for backup or give missions to the Nulls to support us."

Sophia hesitated. "But it will be risky. There seems to be a traitor inside. They will know our movements."

Cassius clenched his fist. "We have no other choice. We need to get out alive and secure the Helix data."

Sophia searched his face, then nodded. She didn’t ask any more questions. She pulled out her tablet and opened The Archive app, her fingers moving rapidly. She posted an urgent level-four mission to save the people inside Hollowgate from the soldiers.

The alarm continued to blare, echoing off the metal walls.

Just as she finished, a voice boomed outside, carried through a megaphone.

"Cassius, Sophia, and Brent. This is now the end. You only have one way out, and that is to surrender."

Everyone in the room froze.

Cassius turned slowly toward the sound. He moved to the nearest monitor and brought up the external camera feed. The screen resolved into an image of Reynold standing at the front of the building, a megaphone in his hand. Soldiers in full gear surrounded him, a solid wall of armed force encircling Hollowgate.

Jeric stood near Reynold, looking grim. He leaned toward the younger man, his voice audible through another feed. "Thank goodness the military Chief of Staff backed us up," he said. "I never thought it would actually work. Otherwise, how could we deal with Brent, knowing his connections and him being the Military Vice Chief of Staff?"

Reynold nodded, his jaw tight. Earlier that day he had taken a gamble, presenting the evidence he had gathered to the Chief of Staff. With just his own men, he could not take down Cassius and Brent. But the Chief had believed him. The military had responded.

Reynold clenched his fist, his expression like iron. Finally, he could give justice to his parents and to the people for everything Cassius and Brent had done. Finally, they were caught in action with no way out.

Cassius stared at the monitor, a strange expression flickering across his face. Then he chuckled, a low, bitter sound. "I never thought he would do this." His voice was quiet, almost to himself. "Am I that bad a person in his eyes?" he muttered ironically.

He knew the answer. It was his fault for making Reynold involved. But truthfully, he had only wanted to test him, to see what Reynold remembered and how far he knew about the Helix serum. After all, he was Soren’s son. Soren might have told him something, or given him something, that could help find a cure. Cassius had also wanted to know if there were others hunting him.

After monitoring Reynold, he had concluded the young man knew little and had no one behind him. He had even decided to pull Reynold out soon. But the man was stubborn. And now here they were.

Cassius sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I can only blame myself," he said quietly.