There was only one bullet left in the handgun!
She squinted slightly, aiming at the front tire of the truck. “Bang!” The bullet shot into the tire with force.
“Pop!” The tire instantly deflated and began to leak air rapidly.
The truck, already massive in size, swerved towards the roadside railing as the deflated tire caused it to lose control.
The driver was startled and frantically turned the steering wheel, trying to regain control of the vehicle.
But the truck wouldn’t obey.
The driver of a nearby car, which was close to the railing, widened his eyes in terror.
“Ah!” he screamed, followed by a loud crash!
The two vehicles collided!
Sparks flew everywhere, but the accident was far from over.
After the truck sent the car flying several meters away, it also crashed violently into the railing.
Both drivers were slumped over their steering wheels, bleeding from their heads. The other passengers in the vehicles were also injured and tried to escape.
But they couldn’t get out.
Meanwhile, Clare and Franklin’s car had long disappeared from their sight.
The President was stunned by Sylvia’s courage and marksmanship.
He was speechless with shock for a long time.
“Sylvia, she…”
She must be a sharpshooter!
Franklin laughed sarcastically at his words, “What? Just realizing my wife’s charm today?”
He raised an eyebrow and continued to taunt the President, “If it were your beloved Lara, you’d probably only hear screams right now.”
The President’s face turned pale; it was a blatant insult.
After a while, he managed to retort, trying to save face, “Hmph! I need a daughter-in-law who is a lady, not a bodyguard!”
“My wife is a legitimate daughter of the Hipps Family,” Franklin said, displeased by any slander against Sylvia. “Lara is just an adopted daughter. In terms of legitimacy, she can’t compare to my wife.”
“The Fox family brothers aren’t married; where would they get a biological daughter? Besides, an adopted daughter is still a daughter!” The President was blatantly hypocritical.
Franklin couldn’t be bothered to argue further; the old man was stubborn and childish.
One day, he would make this old man see what true blindness was!
In the car behind, Clare sighed in relief after seeing the scene Sylvia had orchestrated. “Sylvia, it’s a good thing you were smart.”
“A minor trick, nothing worth mentioning.” Sylvia handed him the handgun. “Follow Franklin’s car closely, just in case.”
If anything happened on their way back from the Hipps Family, they would be implicated.
She didn’t want anyone from the Hipps Family to be in danger or blamed.
Fortunately, nothing strange happened for the rest of the journey.
The President, having survived the ordeal, angrily called his assistant to investigate as soon as he returned to the Presidential Palace.
“No one knew about my visit to the Hipps Family. How did those assassins find out?”
“Franklin and I left quietly and returned quietly. Is there a mole in the Hipps Family?”
The assistant swallowed hard. “Sir, you were… attacked? Oh my God! That’s terrifying!”
“Luckily, I survived.” The President didn’t mention Sylvia’s heroic moment; he was more concerned about who wanted him dead.
“Fortunately, my wife is smart and a good shot,” Franklin said coolly. “Some people were saved by her and didn’t even say thank you.”
The President blushed and argued weakly, “Who said I didn’t thank her? Her car didn’t even stop; it just drove off!”
Thinking about it made him angry. When he saw Franklin’s car enter the Presidential Palace, Clare’s car had turned around and left without even saying goodbye! How arrogant!
“They were kind enough to bring you back; that was already very considerate.” Franklin couldn’t stand his attitude towards Sylvia. He would call her Sylvia repeatedly when he needed something but would turn his back on her once he got what he wanted.
In a dark room with only a dim light, a woman wearing a mask sat at a table.
Her bright red nails were striking as she flipped through a book. She heard footsteps approaching.
The footsteps stopped at the door, followed by a knock.
She lifted her eyes slightly and said slowly, “Enter.”
A tall man dressed in black entered humbly and bowed his head before her. “Madam… the plan failed.”
The woman looked at him quietly for a long time before saying, “Go receive your punishment.”
“Yes!” The man’s face turned pale as he quickly left.
After a while, two more men entered. One of them carried some books and placed them on the table before her. “These were brought back from the abandoned base. We also encountered another group of people.”
The woman looked at the old books. “Did you find all her previous materials?”
“No… those people got there before us and took some things. These are what’s left…” The man’s voice trailed off.
“Useless!” The woman scolded coldly. “Where are those people?”
“They escaped… they were very cunning…” The man wiped sweat from his forehead, fear evident on his face. “We don’t know which side they belong to… but they found our old base despite its secrecy.”
“Fools! You can’t even handle such a small task. You couldn’t even retrieve some materials.” The woman’s icy gaze swept over them. “She desperately needs those materials for her research. Can you bear the loss?”
“Thud!” Both men knelt before her. “Madam, spare us. It was our negligence. We didn’t expect anyone to get there first… please forgive us.”
“If I spare you, who will pay for my research?” The woman stood up slowly and walked over to them.
She wore red slippers and lifted her right foot to stomp on one man’s hand pressed against the floor. “Ah!” A blood-curdling scream echoed in the room.
The man’s eyes filled with blood as his hand bones cracked audibly under her foot.
Sweat dripped down his face as he begged for mercy. “Please spare me! I’ll never do it again!”
“If you’re so useless, it’s better to cripple you.” The woman sneered and ground her foot into his hand before finally letting go. “Get out!”
The man stood up tremblingly while the other man quickly helped him out of the room.
Silence returned to the room.
The woman picked up the old books and walked out.
She passed through long corridors and crossed a quiet courtyard with fake mountains and small rivers before reaching a secluded courtyard.
The courtyard was silent except for her footsteps.
She pushed open a door to find a haggard woman sitting under a lamp, recording something in a notebook with experimental equipment in front of her.
Hearing the door open, the haggard woman turned slowly and met the masked woman’s gaze. She tucked her hair behind her ear calmly. “Did you find what I needed?”
The masked woman threw the books onto her table. “Someone got there first. Our people only found these books. See if there’s anything useful.”
The haggard woman glanced at the books and flipped through them casually before shaking her head. “No. These books are useless.”
The masked woman looked annoyed. “Damn it! Why didn’t you say so earlier? If we had gone sooner, we could have retrieved everything before anyone else.”
“Are you blaming me?” The haggard woman remained calm. “The base was abandoned because of you, not me. You chose this place for retreat. We left in such haste because you kept urging me to leave. So some of my materials were left behind. This is all your doing.”
“You!” The masked woman grabbed her chin angrily. “Don’t think your clever words can save you!”
“I can’t even complain when we didn’t get what we needed?” The haggard woman remained indifferent as if ignoring the masked woman’s anger completely.
“You’ve got guts!” The masked woman let go and turned to leave.
Red marks from her grip remained on the haggard woman’s chin, but she seemed unfazed and continued her experiments.
Clare drove back to the Hipps Family estate and got out of the car feeling unsteady as he looked at Sylvia.
“We made it back safely.”
Sylvia nodded at him. “Yes.”
They walked into the house together where Queena and Mr. Hipps were still waiting for them.
Seeing them return safely, Mr. Hipps breathed a sigh of relief. “How did it go? Did you safely escort the President back?”
They both nodded simultaneously without mentioning the dangerous incident on the road.
Sylvia smiled at them reassuringly. “Grandma, Grandpa, everything’s fine now. You should rest.”
“That’s good.” Queena felt relieved. “If anything had happened while he was here, it would’ve been disastrous.”
“Mom, don’t worry anymore; he’s safely back at the Presidential Palace,” Clare reassured Queena as well. “It’s late; let’s all get some rest.”
Everyone then went to their rooms to rest.
Sylvia returned to her bedroom and called Franklin. “How’s that jar situation? Do you have any ideas?”
Franklin had just finished showering and sat on his bed when his deep voice replied, “I’m working on it; give me some time.”