Chapter 173: Ch 173: I’ll help you out- Part 1
"Ughhh, n-not there! Please! It hurts! Noooo~"
Ethan quickly pushed Selene out of the door while he looked back. His face showed no signs of embarrassnt while Selene felt her face fla as she tried to keep her composure.
The noises that ca out of the room felt a little...suggestive to say the least. They made Selene question what was going on inside.
Once outside the interrogation room, Selene felt a mix of relief and unease settle in her chest.
She had seen Zara’s thods before. They were effective, but intense.
And judging by the questionable noise that suddenly ca from behind the closed door—one that sounded suspiciously like a muffled yelp—Selene figured it was probably best if she stepped away for now.
She sighed, turning to Ethan.
"How long do you think this will take?"
She asked.
Ethan shrugged, looking completely unbothered.
"Could be a while. Zara likes to take her ti when she finds soone entertaining"
He said.
Selene grimaced at his wording.
That wasn’t exactly comforting.
Ethan noticed her hesitation and placed a steady hand on her shoulder.
"Take a break, Selene. You’ve been running around all day. Zara can handle this."
He told her.
Selene wanted to argue—she wanted to be there, to see for herself what kind of information they could squeeze out of Rize—but...
Another strange sound ca from inside the room, this ti followed by Zara’s amused laughter.
Selene stiffened.
Yeah. Maybe taking a step back was the best option for now.
She nodded.
"Fine. But I’ll check in later."
She said.
Ethan smirked.
"Sure! You are free to do that."
Instead of lingering around and torturing herself by wondering what was happening inside, Selene decided to use this ti to conduct her last undercover mission.
She wanted to see how her workers were doing, to get a feel for the current atmosphere.
So, once again, she blended into the crowd, making sure to observe without being noticed.
As she moved through the different sectors, she noticed sothing striking.
The divide between awakeners and non-awakeners was still tense, but it was now overshadowed by sothing else.
A shared frustration.
Everyone—awakeners and non-awakeners alike—seed agitated about the sa thing.
Or rather, the sa person.
Ethan.
The workers didn’t speak much about their own conflicts anymore. Instead, they bonded over their complaints about the strict, overbearing leader who had placed himself in charge.
"Did you see the way he just walked in and shut everyone up? It was terrifying."
"Yeah, but honestly, I’d rather deal with him than go back to how things were before."
"True. I still don’t like him, but at least now we don’t have to constantly watch our backs."
Selene listened carefully.
It was exactly as Ethan had predicted.
Fear and resentnt toward him had unified them.
There was no more infighting, no more battles between awakeners and non-awakeners.
Instead, their frustrations had been redirected—focused solely on the man who forced them to cooperate.
Selene felt a strange mix of emotions.
She was grateful that things were stabilizing. But at the sa ti, she felt guilty for letting Ethan bear the weight of their hatred.
He had sacrificed himself as the villain, all so that she could succeed in creating a stable environnt.
Selene sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
’I really owe him for this.’
The sun had started to set by the ti Zara finally erged from the interrogation room.
Selene imdiately straightened, her sharp gaze locking onto her.
"Did you get anything?"
She asked.
Zara grinned as she wiped off her gloves, looking pleased with herself.
"Oh, I got plenty. Our dear friend Rize Spencer was sent here by the Vale family."
She said.
Selene’s expression darkened.
Zara continued.
"They didn’t like the idea of soone else gaining power in their territory, so they sent Rize to spy on us and cause problems."
Selene felt her stomach churn.
The Vale family...
She had expected them to be watching, but she hadn’t expected them to act so quickly.
Was this their way of testing her?
Or was it a warning?
Her face must have betrayed her thoughts, because Zara tilted her head and studied her.
"Troubled? Need
to do sothing about it?"
She asked.
Selene shook her head.
"No, I’ll handle it."
She said.
Ethan, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up.
"Actually, I have an idea. Instead of getting rid of her, why don’t we put her to use?"
He said, crossing his arms.
Selene and Zara both turned to him.
"Use her?"
Selene echoed.
Ethan nodded.
"We can make her sign a contract and force her to work for us as a security guard."
Orion, who had just arrived, raised an eyebrow.
"You think soone as stubborn as Rize would agree to that? She already went against us once. What makes you think she won’t do it again?"
He asked.
Ethan smirked.
"Oh, I have a feeling she’ll co around. Especially if Zara has another ’talk’ with her."
He said.
Zara grinned, clearly entertained by the idea.
But Selene felt a flicker of unease.
Sothing about leaving Rize alone with Zara again didn’t sit right with her.
Selene trusted Zara’s thods, but Rize...
Rize was different.
She wasn’t just so random spy—Selene knew her.
Or at least, she had known her once before.
Selene clenched her fists, then looked at Ethan.
"Let
try first."
She said firmly.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"You?"
"Yes. Before we send Zara back in, I want to see if I can convince her myself."
She said.
Ethan studied her for a mont, then sighed.
"Fine. But if she doesn’t listen, we’re doing it my way."
He said.
Selene nodded.
"Fair enough."
With that, she turned toward the interrogation room, ntally preparing herself for what was to co.
Rize Spencer wasn’t going to make this easy.
But Selene had a feeling that this wasn’t just about control.
It was about trust.
And if there was one thing she wanted to know, it was whether or not she could trust Rize again.
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