Chapter 588: Countdown - Part 2

Jared smiled faintly as he observed Maggie and the two men behind her glaring at him, wishing to kill him and end all the agony they were going through. But it was impossible to do so, not when there were lives at stake. His smile widened when he realized nobody would have even guessed what his last target location was.

"Tch, tch, tch." He clicked his tongue and leaned forward on the table, pitying the girl in front of him.

"Although I am sad to see you in distress," He started, gaining everyone's attention on him. "I am thrilled too. I have been for this day all this time, Maggie." He muttered so that only Maggie could hear it. 

"You betrayed me and I took revenge this way." He winked at her, and this time, Maggie could not control herself anymore. 

"You bastard," She got up with such force that her chair toppled over. Without even caring about it, she rushed to him and held him by his collar, forcing him to stand up. 

A harsh punch landed on Jared's face. But he did not care about it and kept smiling, allowing Maggie to do as she pleased. This was the first time she was holding him on her own accord, and he could not stop the joy from bursting in his heart. Even though all she did was punch him, contrary to what he wanted her to do, he did not care about it.

Ryder and Preston had to force her away from him to stop her from punching him. Although they did not know what Jared had told her, they understood that it was anything but pleasant, especially for Maggie.

"Maggie, calm down please." Preston tried to pull her away. But Maggie was too incensed to listen to them. Jared's words had triggered her fury, and she wriggled out of their holds to punch the man again.

"Let go of me. I will kill this man today. How dare he!!" She seethed and rushed towards Jared, only to be pulled back by Ryder, and this time he hugged her tight, not allowing her to move an inch.

"Maggie, please calm down. He is only trying to rile you up. Calm down." He patted her back to soothe her, and Jared's smile vanished on seeing Maggie hugging the man back. He glowered at them, wishing to chop the man into pieces for even touching what belonged to him. But he was helpless. His hands were still bound to the table and the couple was far away from his reach.

Right at this moment, Valerie entered the room, her face completely cold and furious. "Ryder, take Maggie away from here. I will deal with him."

Ryder nodded at her and forced the girl in his embrace to leave the room with him while Valerie waited until the door closed after them. 

"You must be having a lot of fun right now." Valerie gnashed her teeth, completely annoyed by the man in front of her. Even though he was in a sorrowful state after receiving all the punches from them, she felt nothing but contempt towards him. All he had done until now was destroy people's lives and even now, he was targeting innocent people just to have his way.

"I cannot agree more. I am having fun watching you all in this pitiful state." He could not wipe the blood trickling down his lips and chin, and he resembled nothing less than a monster from the way his face had swollen after the repeated beatings.

"I have given a way out for you guys. Think about it. I guess you have half an hour or so before the city gets destroyed." Jared forced the words out of his mouth. It was even painful to even take a breath let alone speak. But he still had to convey all that he wanted to say to them and get away from the cell as soon as possible.

"You will not get away with it if even one person is harmed." Valerie was at her wit's ends and she did not know how to stop the man from his madness.

"I already have a list of crimes to convict me. Do you think this mere addition will scare me, Deputy?" Jared chuckled and took his seat again. "Think about the number of people who will be dying after half an hour. If you do not care about their deaths, then I shall assume that you are as heartless as I am."

Every word of his was provoking Valerie but unlike Maggie, she restrained herself from losing her calm.

"I am already a monster. You will also join me when people start dying one by one, Deputy." Jared's voice was no less sinister, and for the first time, Valerie felt so helpless and lost. Her mind had gone blank and she could not come up with any possible solutions whatsoever. 

Jared had singlehandedly dominated them, destroying all their plans and forcing them to a dead end. Other than agreeing to Jared's wishes, they had no choice.

"What do you want?" Valerie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"I have already told you. I want to leave this place."

"Fine. We will allow you to go." Valerie relented.

"And nobody is to follow me."

"Agreed."

"If I find anyone following me, I will send out the order to release the virus immediately."

"I promise nobody will follow you."

Preston wanted to stop his Deputy from allowing the man to leave the place. But he knew that other than allowing him to go, they had no other choice. Innocent lives were at stake, and they had to take action before it became too late.

"But what if you do not keep your end of the promise?" Valerie placed her hands on the table and leaned forward to stare at him in the eye.

"I cannot do anything if you are unwilling to trust me. It's all up to you." Jared shrugged, not promising a word about what he intended to do.

Valerie realized what Jared was trying to do. But all she could do was take the gamble and trust him this once. Moreover, she already had backup plans to control Jared if matters were to go wrong somewhere.

"Fine. I will let you go. I need you to tell me your last target location."

"I will, only after I reach a safe place."

"Anything else?" Valerie closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again.

"Yes, I want Maggie. Without her, I am not leaving this place."