Chapter 68: Goodbye Jack

Jack sprinted through the dense forest, his mind racing as fast as his feet. The revelation that Angelic was inside the Conde mansion, seemingly as part of the family, had shaken him to his core. How could this be? How could the woman he had once manipulated and deceived be standing among the Condes as if she belonged there? As he fled, his thoughts were tangled in confusion and disbelief.
“She’s a Conde…,” Jack muttered under his breath, the realization hitting him like a punch to the gut. He had to report this immediately. Marcelino needed to know, and they needed to rethink their entire plan. But as the adrenaline coursed through his veins, Jack’s attention slipped from his surroundings. In his haste, he misjudged his footing, and before he could react, he slipped on the loose rocks of a cliffside.
“Shit!” Jack shouted, his voice echoing through the valley as he tumbled down the steep incline. His body crashed against the jagged rocks, and pain shot through him like fire. He tried to grab hold of something, anything, to stop his fall, but it was too late. He landed with a heavy thud at the base of the cliff, the wind knocked out of him, his vision blurring from the impact.
Gasping for air, Jack fumbled for his communication device, desperately trying to send out a report about Angelic. His fingers trembled as he tried to type the message, but his injuries made it difficult to focus. Blood trickled down his forehead, and every breath felt like his ribs were being stabbed.
“I need to… report…” he groaned, but before he could finish, he heard the crunch of footsteps approaching. His heart sank. The Conde combat experts were closing in on him. He had been so focused on escaping that he hadn’t realized just how close they were.
“There he is! Don’t let him get away!” one of the Conde guards shouted, their voices filled with urgency and fury. Jack’s eyes widened as he saw the heavily armed combat experts closing in, their faces hard and unforgiving.
Jack tried to scramble to his feet, but his body betrayed him. The fall had weakened him too much, and he could barely muster the strength to stand. He glanced at his device one last time, his mind screaming at him to send the report. But before he could hit the send button, a sharp pain shot through his hand as one of the guards kicked the device out of his grasp, sending it skittering across the ground.
“No! I have to—” Jack tried to protest, but his voice was cut off as another guard slammed him against the rocky wall, pinning him down.
“Who sent you? What were you doing here?” the leader of the group demanded, his face inches from Jack’s, eyes blazing with anger. But Jack was too dazed and disoriented to respond. All he could think about was the missed opportunity, the truth that would now remain hidden.
“I… I made a mistake…” Jack whispered, his voice barely audible as regret washed over him. “I wasn’t careful… I should have… been smarter…”
The leader sneered at him, unimpressed by his mumblings. “You’ve trespassed on forbidden territory. And for that, you’ll pay the price.”
Before Jack could utter another word, the guards surrounded him, drawing their weapons. The blades glinted menacingly in the fading light, and Jack knew there was no escape. His mind flashed back to every decision that had led him here, every misstep, every act of recklessness.
“I should’ve known… I should’ve been more careful…” Jack thought bitterly, his eyes darting to the ground as the realization of his impending doom set in.
Without warning, the first blade sliced through his side, drawing a ragged gasp from Jack as the pain ripped through him. He tried to fight back, to block the attacks, but he was too weak. The guards showed no mercy; each slash was delivered with brutal precision, each cut a reminder of his failure.
Jack’s body convulsed with each strike, his vision darkening as he felt the life draining from him. The combat experts hacked at him relentlessly, their faces cold and expressionless. Blood splattered the ground, painting the rocks in dark, crimson streaks.
“Enough! He’s just a dog who wandered too far,” the leader said coldly, signaling the others to stop. Jack’s body slumped to the ground, lifeless and torn, his once cocky demeanor now replaced by the stillness of death. The guards stepped back, surveying their work, their expressions unmoved by the carnage.
One of the guards picked up Jack’s device, examining it briefly before crushing it underfoot. “No evidence left behind,” he muttered, ensuring that whatever Jack had discovered would remain buried.
As the guards turned and walked away, leaving Jack’s mutilated body behind, the forest fell silent once more. Jack had underestimated the Conde family, and in his arrogance, he had paid the ultimate price. The secrets he had uncovered would die with him, leaving the Condes’ mysteries intact, and Angelic’s true identity hidden from the world.