Chapter 181 Explosion
All Matthew saw was a figure leaping in front of him. A gunshot sounded, and the figure fell. Shocked, he looked at the person who had fallen in front of him—it was Brianna, who had taken the bullet in her chest, blood spurting out explosively.
Everyone seemed stunned by the sudden turn of events, and even Kay hadn't anticipated Brianna would jump out to take a bullet for someone else. He should have realized something was off about her—the signs were there since the dinner the night before.
Matthew moved to check on her. She slipped a USB drive into his hand, and without revealing anything, he clenched the USB tightly in his hand.
Looking at Kay, Brianna gasped, "Godfather, please let him go."
Matthew pressed on her wound, signaling for her to stop talking.
He hadn't expected her to appear and take a bullet for him, to die for him.
He wanted her to live; he didn't want to be in her debt.
Kay, in a rage, raised his handgun again. He couldn't believe even the girl he had raised from childhood would defy him, daring to disobey him!
But the gunshot sounded prematurely. The cavalry had arrived.
Victor, receiving the signal outside, had gathered his forces. Dorian had a tracker on him, so the international police had also located them. Two teams swarmed in, and sensing the shift in the tide, Kay slipped into a secret room with the help of his henchmen, likely heading for an escape route prepared beforehand.
Victor had barely stepped foot inside when he spotted Matthew, his body covered in blood. Rushing over in panic, he exclaimed, "Matthew, what happened to you?"
Handing over Brianna, Matthew quickly briefed Victor on Dorian's location, reported that they both had been shot, and urged him to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Then, Matthew scooped up the handgun he had tossed aside and followed K into the hidden chamber.
But Victor was concerned. "Matthew, I'm coming with you."
"It's okay," Matthew reassured him. "You stay and take care of the situation here. I must catch this guy myself."
Matthew discovered a secret passage leading to an underground sewer when he entered the dark room. The door was already ajar; K had certainly escaped that way. Without a moment's hesitation, Matthew dived down and followed the sewer, soon hearing footsteps. He fired his gun more smoothly than the first time, throwing shots in the direction of the sounds.
K and two henchmen emerged from a manhole cover. Climbing up after them, Matthew saw them get into a car just outside the castle grounds. Victor and the others appeared just in time. "Matthew, where's K?" Victor anxiously asked.
While heading back, Matthew flung open Victor's rear door and commanded, "Get in, chase them. That black sedan up ahead—they're in it."
With Victor driving and Matthew in the passenger seat, they sped after the black sedan, which eventually stopped by the seaside. K and his men boarded a speedboat.
Matthew and Victor exited their car to find another speedboat docked nearby. Matthew handed Victor the USB drive Brianna had given him, instructing him to hand it over to Interpol. He didn't know its contents but was certain it linked to K — and that handing it to the police was the right move. The conviction had to come from the law, and his job was intercepting the cunning fox.
Matthew set off in pursuit of the speedboat, but just as he was closing in, there was a massive explosion. His speedboat had blown up.
Victor had only taken a few steps away when he heard the blast. Spinning around, he cried out, "Matthew... Matthew!"
He dived into the sea in a frantic search...
Sirens wailed in the background, and everyone's eyes were glued to the fiery spectacle on the water.
K hadn't escaped. The explosion had occurred close to his boat, knocking it over. Already injured in the shoulder, K was unconscious by the time the sea rescue reached him.
Interpol had scoured the area repeatedly but found no trace of Matthew. Victor had dived into the water multiple times, emerging with only Matthew's watch as a solemn token of his friend's disappearance.
He couldn't bear to think that Matthew might have been blown to pieces—that had to be why the watch had fallen off.
In the end, all he could do was stare blankly at the watch without saying a word. A police officer came over and said, "I'm sorry, but we have to call off the search."
He stood there, staring numbly at the now calm sea surface, wondering if Matthew really was gone. How was he supposed to explain this to Sister?
Still not giving up hope, he had his people search the sea again, but there were still no results after a day and a night.
*
In the hospital, Dorian had been shot in the lower abdomen. The blood loss had been significant, but it hadn't been fatal. After the bullet was removed and emergency treatment was performed, he woke up after two days in the hospital.
Brianna had been shot straight in the heart and had stopped breathing on the way to the hospital.
Victor went to see Dorian in the hospital. When Dorian woke up, he, too, heard about Matthew's speedboat explosion.
The two men were silent, one half-reclining on the bed and the other standing by the window.
Dorian was still somewhat pale and feeble from the blood loss. He broke the silence, "The USB drive you handed to the police had all the evidence of K Group's crimes throughout the years, including smuggling, human organ trafficking, espionage, as well as information on their international and offshore accounts. This time, they'll definitely be uprooted and thoroughly dismantled."
Dorian was puzzled because if K Group had sensed their move beforehand, the data they copied had to be fake. How did they end up with this real evidence? He couldn't figure it out.
"That's good. Matthew's ultimate goal was also to punish these people," Victor said calmly.
The mention of Matthew cast a silence over everyone.
"I'm flying back to Horizon City tomorrow. I'll return Matthew's watch to Sister and then come back to continue the search," Victor turned to Dorian. After returning the watch, he intended to come back and keep looking for Matthew. An old saying went, you must see a person alive and see a body in death.
"I'll go back with you."
"Why would you? Your mission is over. It should be considered a success," Victor said with a half-hearted attempt at humor.
Victor knew he couldn't blame anyone for Matthew's situation. Even if it hadn't been for Dorian, Matthew would have continued his investigation. Dorian's presence only accelerated the inevitable. But Victor needed a way to vent his frustrations; he couldn't bring himself to speak kindly to him. The thought compounded his feelings that this disaster could've been avoided if he had been with Matthew on the speedboat.
Dorian ignored the sting in his words. He knew Victor was suffering, and he felt terrible, too. He had urged him to stay alive and come back safely. How could it have ended like this?
He returned to Horizon City to personally confirm whether Madison was indeed his younger Madison.
Dorian thought to himself that if someone had died, there would definitely be a body, and since one hadn't been found, it suggested there was still hope.
"As long as we don't find a body, there is hope," he said to Victor.
Victor harbored the same sliver of hope, continuously reassuring himself that Matthew must still be alive.
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