Chloe Reed stared at the handgun before her, a glint appearing in her clear eyes. It was something she had never touched before, but now she had to practice with it diligently.

She took a deep breath and picked up the handgun. It was surprisingly light. She examined it closely.

Walker Grant drew near and said, "To master it, you must first understand it. I’ll teach you how to disassemble and reassemble it so you’re familiar with its every part. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will win every battle."

Chloe Reed looked at him in surprise. "When did you learn to do this?"

Walker Grant replied nonchalantly, "Just a personal hobby."

Chloe Reed sensed he wasn’t telling the truth, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was the present. If he was going to teach her, she would learn diligently. The skills she acquired would be her own.

Walker Grant’s explanation was meticulous, and she listened intently. After a few hands-on attempts, she had a preliminary understanding of the gun’s assembly and structure. The next step was learning to shoot.

This wasn’t something that could be learned in a day. It required long-term practice, and right now, time was the one thing Chloe Reed had in abundance.

...

「Two days later.」

Walker Grant drove her to a villa in the suburbs. In its garden was an entrance leading to a basement. The space below was immense. The bodyguards were exceptionally stern and cold. When their eyes fell on Chloe Reed, she felt an oppressive weight.

Her body tensed slightly, and she kept her eyes forward.

They finally stopped in front of a door. A bodyguard first nodded to Walker Grant, then took out a key and unlocked it.

The faint smell of blood hung in the air.

Chloe Reed saw Miles Hawthorne suspended by his hands in the room. His head hung low, and his body was so battered that there was barely an inch of unscathed flesh.

The color drained from her face. The shock of the scene was too much, and for a moment, she couldn’t accept it.

Walker Grant put an arm around her shoulders. "I’m just teaching him a lesson," he said. "He tried to kill you. The fact that I haven’t killed him already is merciful enough."

Chloe Reed struggled to compose herself and walked inside.

Miles Hawthorne, still hanging, heard the footsteps and lifted his heavy eyelids. Seeing who it was, he managed a pained grin. "Chloe... long time no see."

Chloe Reed looked at him, her eyes cold with disgust, and asked bluntly, "Who hired you to kill me?"

Miles Hawthorne didn’t answer her question. He seemed to be struggling for breath and coughed violently several times before speaking. "Back then, you used to stand under our dorm building, looking up so expectantly... I still remember it to this day..."

The look in Walker Grant’s eyes turned colder.

Chloe Reed frowned. "That was so long ago. What’s the point of bringing it up now?"

"You’re right," Miles Hawthorne said. "It was so long ago. Things have changed, and so have we..."

He kept his gaze on her, his eyes deep and distant. A hint of apology finally surfaced. "I can’t tell you..."

"Why?"

Chloe Reed couldn’t understand. "I never hurt you. You’re just doing someone else’s bidding. I can give you anything you want, just tell me who wants me dead..."

Miles Hawthorne lowered his gaze. "Actually... back then, before you got together with Walker Grant, someone else was looking for you."

Chloe Reed’s face filled with confusion. ’What is he talking about?’

A flicker went through Walker Grant’s eyes. Then he said, "Didn’t we come here for you to practice? Shall we start now?"

Miles Hawthorne glanced at him and let out two pained laughs. "If she hadn’t been so fixated on you," he said, "she might have been the one to become your sister-in-law."