Chapter 1174

"You all have a death wish."

Shanley pushed himself up, clutching his aching side as he slowly made his way toward the door.

She had been gone for nearly fifteen hours.

Not a single update.

If everything was going according to plan, she should have reached out to him by

now.

"Boss."

His men immediately stepped in to block his path. They were terrified, but at the same time, they were riding the coattails of their boss's girlfriend. Their tone was surprisingly firm. "Ms. Payne gave strict orders. You are not to leave the premises. If you do, we won't be able to answer to her."

Shanley stood perfectly still. His gaze was as dark and cold as a frozen abyss, the fury inside him boiling so violently it was on the verge of erupting.

In the middle of the standoff, the sharp ring of a cell phone shattered the tension.

"You'd all better start saying your prayers."

He withdrew his lethal glare, fought through the blinding pain, and snatched the phone.

It was Flint.

"Well?" The moment the call connected, Shanley didn't waste a second. "How is she? Did you get everyone out?"

"Uh, yes, Boss. Th-they're out," Flint gripped his phone, his heart pounding so hard from terror he could hear it in his ears. "But... but Ms. Payne, she..."

Overcome with panic, Flint shoved the phone into Felton's hands, scrambled to the side, and covered his ears while crouching on the floor.

"You motherf-"

Forced to handle the ticking time bomb, Felton hadn't even processed what was happening before Shanley's voice, colder than absolute zero, pierced through the speaker. "What happened to her? Did you lose your voice?"

"B-Boss!"

Felton nearly dropped the device. A cold sweat broke out across his back as he stammered, "Her parents have safely arrived at the extraction point. But as for Ms. Payne..."

Flint peeked out, shooting him a terrified look. There was no way he was going to be the one to deliver the bad news.

"She didn't show up at the rendezvous point like she was supposed to," Felton finally confessed through gritted teeth, gripping his own hands to stop them from shaking. "She's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

As those words registered, a thick, suffocating wave of violence began to radiate

from Shanley. His dark eyes glazed over with pure, unadulterated ice.

"Mr. Langley believes she made a deal with Corvus in exchange for her father's life."

Felton leaned heavily against the

wall, gripping the handrail just tonet

keep his knees from buckling "We searched everywhere. We couldn't find her."

"Boss, we failed to protect her. We deserve whatever's coming to us."

When he finished, a long, agonizing silence stretched across the line.

For two solid minutes, Flint and Felton felt like they were being

slowly sliced to ribbons. They

were

so terrified they barely dared to breathe.

"Boss? Are you still there?" Felton whispered, too afraid to hang up.

"You do deserve it."

A violent, lethal flash crossed Shanley's eyes. His voice was a sub-zero whisper.

Both brothers felt their hearts stop.

Before they could respond, the line went dead.

"We're so dead."

The two locked eyes, swallowing hard. "We're not getting sent to Africa this time. He's gonna send us straight to the grave."

Before the operation, he had given them one absolute, non-negotiable order: protect her at all costs.

And now? She was just gone.

He was going to slaughter them.

...

Back at Cloudscape Community.

Shanley hung up the phone and walked straight toward the door without a second of hesitation.

"Boss-"

Unaware of what had just transpired, his security detail instinctively moved to intercept him.

"Get the hell out of my way." Shanley stopped, turning his head slowly. The sheer, murderous intent

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radiating from his deep eyes was

paralyzing. His lips barely moved as

he spoke. "Whoever takes one step closer... dies."

The guards froze instantly.

That look in his eyes... he wasn't making empty threats.