Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 235: Iris Crawford Is Not Your Hostage!

Chapter 235: Chapter 235: Iris Crawford Is Not Your Hostage!

Who wouldn’t feel a chill down their spine meeting someone as twisted as Jonas Kingsley?

Iris Crawford never imagined that Jonas Kingsley would be so bold as to leave such crucial DNA evidence. Was he just fearless, or had his humanity... already been destroyed?

Iris didn’t speak. She remained silent, watching the doll she had always cherished being defiled by Jonas Kingsley. She closed her eyes and finally spoke, "Take the doll away. Once the evidence gathering is over, don’t bother returning it to me."

Who wouldn’t be disgusted?

James Chesterton understood Iris’s feelings. He nodded and then got in the car with the police. Over the years, their Red Hacker Alliance had become something like honorary members, often showing up to solve problems together since teaming up with Shayna Shaw. As James followed the police, Iris and Lachlan Wyatt finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to Elias Shaw, "We probably can’t stay here anymore."

"I know, this address has already been exposed to Jonas Kingsley, but..." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Elias Shaw had a complicated expression, glancing at Iris, whose face looked strained. For a woman, this was already the limit, yet now...

Elias deliberated for a long time before saying, "But Iris, I still hope you continue to stay here."

The moment he heard this, Lachlan Wyatt stepped forward and grabbed Elias Shaw by the collar!

Elias feared that if he said another word, Lachlan’s fist would certainly land on his face in front of everyone.

"You actually want Iris to stay in a place that’s already been exposed to Jonas Kingsley?"

Lachlan spoke with murderous intent in every word, "Do you know how much pressure Iris is under?"

"I know, but..." Elias said, not wanting to be heartless, "This place is exposed to Jonas Kingsley. If we don’t move, it greatly increases our probability of capturing him. If we do move, the clues might just break..."

What does this mean? Are they intending for Iris to be the bait to lure Jonas Kingsley in?

No matter how much time passes, it always seems like Iris is the one used as bait.

Because...

In the past, when solving the case with Gia, Lachlan also pushed Iris out without a second thought, letting her attract Gia’s backer.

Who would’ve thought, after all the twists and turns, fate still hasn’t spared her.

Iris stood there, smiling mockingly to herself, "So you mean, as long as I keep staying here, Jonas Kingsley is so obsessed with me that he’ll keep coming back, once, twice, thrice, right?"

Elias didn’t want to admit it, but he had to acknowledge he was being a bit depraved in this matter.

But he could only consider the bigger picture.

And under that bigger picture, the one chosen to be sacrificed had to be Iris.

But this time, Lachlan made an entirely different choice.

Having already put Iris on the sacrificial scale once, he couldn’t agree to it anymore this time!

"There are many ways to find Jonas Kingsley. If Iris has to stay in a place that terrifies her to capture Jonas Kingsley, doesn’t that precisely prove your incompetence?"

Lachlan didn’t let go of Elias’s collar; he even tightened his grip, as if facing him was like facing his past self.

The self that sacrificed Iris.

"I know there are many methods, but at present, the emotions Jonas Kingsley shows toward Iris have exceeded normal bounds, Iris is a critical person."

"You don’t consider her a person!"

Lachlan roared, pushing Elias back. He knew that if he took one more step back, Iris would fall off the cliff!

He couldn’t let that happen again, not push Iris into a pit of fire one more time!

"You’re treating her like a hostage!"

Lachlan’s eyes were red as he shielded Iris behind him; from start to finish, she said not a word, yet Lachlan spoke all the words, "You don’t consider her a person, you just see her as a hostage, a pawn!"

Elias stumbled back a few steps from Lachlan’s push, seeing the anger on Lachlan’s face, he knew how furious he was. But...

"You know, Lachlan, I feel for Iris too..." Elias didn’t know how to calm Lachlan’s emotions. Jonas Kingsley was indeed disturbing, and even Iris found it hard to bear. But for capturing Jonas Kingsley, it was crucial.

His feelings for Iris could be the breakthrough point for his capture; how could Elias give up this chance?

The hall descended into a tense silence until Iris suddenly spoke up.

"I can accept it."

Five words, and who knows what pressure Iris was under when she said them. When she lifted her head, her eyes were resolute, "If a person really has to be sacrificed, then if it’s me, that’s alright."

Lachlan seemed like he had just been drained of blood, hearing Iris say those words of her own accord, he grasped her hand shakily, "Do you not know what Jonas Kingsley might do to you?"

This time it was a doll, but what about next time?

Next time, he’d surely take it out on Iris, wouldn’t he?

Iris smiled, reaching out to touch Lachlan’s face, "But aren’t you here? If we don’t catch Jonas Kingsley, he’d be a huge societal danger. How can you sit by and watch him continue to do evil?"

Lachlan’s eyes were bloodshot, he couldn’t swallow this indignation, "The life or death of everyone else doesn’t concern me! Whether Jonas Kingsley is caught or not doesn’t concern me! I just want you safe and sound!"

What does it matter if the sky falls?

Iris glanced at Lachlan. Over the years, he seemed to have changed, becoming more human, yet also unchanged, retaining a rebelliousness and self-centeredness ready to betray the world.

It’s a relief.

"Having your words is enough."

Iris Crawford squinted and smiled, as if the stars of the entire world were in her eyes. At that moment, Lachlan Wyatt was entranced.

"But I can’t make this choice."

She placed her finger in front of Lachlan’s lips, "You can make the choice to become the villain who sacrifices the whole world, but I cannot."

Then Iris stepped forward, out of Lachlan’s shadow, out of that protective circle, and said to Shayna Shaw, "I’m willing to cooperate with you all in everything, to stay here and continue waiting for Jonas Kingsley’s arrival without alerting him."

Elias Shaw was stunned.

Looking at Iris, he murmured, "If you... get hurt..."

"I’ve said it countless times."

She raised her arm, covered with scars, along with the scars on her stomach, marks of her struggles through countless storms of bullets.

It wasn’t her war alone as a woman; it was the struggle of all women, the battle between all that is good and evil.

"Those aren’t wounds; they are medals."

Word by word, Iris made her statement undeniably clear, "If I get hurt because of this, remember, I, Iris Crawford, take pride in it."

Take pride in it.

Elias almost wanted to applaud this woman. At this point, anything else said would be powerless, so he quickly arranged the plans. After going through all the essential matters with Iris, he then looked at Lachlan, "Are you willing to stay here with her?"

"Keeping Lachlan here will only make Jonas more cautious. My suggestion is to let me and Hannah Lennox stay here alone."

Iris pointed at Lachlan and said, "If Jonas knows Lachlan is by my side, he might be even more wary, so Lachlan and Shayna Shaw, you both should temporarily withdraw. Hannah and I can stay here; we are both women and might seem like a weaker group to others, so perhaps Jonas will let his guard down."

So Lachlan pointed at himself and said, "You want me to leave you?"

"No, it’s just temporary..."

"Once I leave, there’s no way to protect you!" Lachlan’s heart trembled; if he wasn’t in this house, how could Iris, a woman, possibly fight against Jonas?

"Only by showing Jonas how fragile our protection is now can I succeed as bait, right?" Iris gritted her teeth, "Since we’ve decided to do this, let’s do it thoroughly."

Lachlan wanted to say something more, but Elias Shaw held his shoulder.

"Let’s do as Iris says."

Elias Shaw’s brows were knitted, as if he was also under intense pressure, "This time, I stake all my reputation on capturing Jonas; we can’t let Iris’s efforts go to waste."

Lachlan’s voice was hoarse; he could only look at Iris with a helpless gaze, then seemed to recall something, "Let him accompany you."

Iris knew who Lachlan meant by "him." She glanced at Number Nine; Elias Shaw at this point didn’t know Number Nine was a robot, still thinking it was Iris’s assistant, so he nodded to Number Nine, "Yes, you can stay."

Removing all the men would be too obvious; if you’re acting, you must create a setup.

"Do you remember the remote I gave you?"

Lachlan suddenly spoke, "Iris, if it really comes to an unavoidable situation, press that button."

Elias didn’t quite understand what Lachlan meant, but Iris seemed to understand.

She remembered indeed, that day coming out of Lachlan’s company, the man mysteriously threw her a black remote-like thing and said that surely, there’d be a day when she’d need it...

Iris reflected on it in her heart, then said to Elias, "Then it’s decided, I will keep in touch with you all, and your people should withdraw. It’s been hard on you."

"You’re the one suffering."

Elias had always worn white gloves, but this time he took them off, stretched out his own hand, and firmly pressed Iris’s shoulder.

He stared at this woman, as if staring into her soul.

Elias said, "You have my highest respect, Miss Crawford."

"Okay... and please don’t tell my brother about these things."

Iris looked up, her gaze pleading, "I want to avoid involving my family as much as possible."

Lachlan pouted and left reluctantly, his expression full of unwillingness, until everyone had withdrawn from the house, and suddenly the air became quiet.

Number Nine didn’t say anything, standing by in standby, but Hannah voluntarily asked Iris, "You drove them all away, so if Jonas really comes, we wouldn’t even be able to truss up a chicken..."

"Perhaps being unable to truss up a chicken is the best way."

Iris said with her back to Hannah, "Because only then can we know what Jonas intends to do to me."

"What if he wants to destroy you?" For some reason, Hannah was a bit anxious, "Jonas is more outrageous than five years ago. Having been with him for so long, I know his mind best. Iris, how can you be so bold and so trusting to withdraw all protection?"

"He can’t destroy me." Iris turned around, pressed on the wound on Hannah’s body, and gently asked, "Does it hurt?"

Hannah was stunned.

She was... a spy sent by Jonas.

Why use such a gentle gaze to look at her.