Chapter 222 - An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth

Bertrand had the longest two-hour drive to Normandy. His head was completely filled with anxieties, planning how to escape from Alfred Davies. 

If he truly knew about Andrea being in his vessel, how long had he known? If he knew about it or had suspicions, what prevented him from reporting to the authorities? These were the few questions that filled his mind, but as minutes passed, he began to laugh. 

His driver and bodyguard from the front seat could not help but be curious about what was going through their employer's mind. 

"It's impossible. No way in hell they would break into the ship successfully and unlock the chambers. F**k you, Alfred! F**k you!"

"I have the best technology on that boat! Provided to me by the wealthiest investors in the west of Europe! You'll never see your daughter!"

Bertrand let out his inner thoughts, yelling inside the vehicle, not caring while being in the presence of his men. 

The men in front of the car knew their boss had unlawful practices on the sides, but they never learned what he was involved in. The ship they were about to send him to was often in the middle of the sea. Rarely did it stop in any port, let alone stay longer than a day. 

Bertrand often went through the difficult process of boarding The Neptune Trader. He'd generally include it as a pit stop during business trips and reach the said ship by either taking another boat or flying by helicopter. Most of the time, he would come aboard from Molène island every after re-supplying. 

He took extra steps to ensure that Project Zero was kept hidden and painful to infiltrate, even subjecting himself to a long journey each time he visited for inspection. 

Finally, when Bertrand arrived at the ports of Normandy, he went straight to the bridge and asked a full report from his captain and the chief security officer. 

The captain lied about the primary reason for the ship's delayed departure and still blamed the engine problem. However, he admitted they never left the port since yesterday. 

"What did you say?!" It immediately alarmed Bertrand. He was sure to have checked the ship's location; it was said to be miles away from the docks, heading towards the sea. He thought the ship returned to the dock after being intruded in the middle of the sea. He checked his phone and studied the ship's current position. It was pinned in Normandy. 

He frowned but continued to listen to the captain's narration about how the lights lost power,  the sudden explosion, how most of the staff came to the deck to escape the fire and how they later discovered that some guards were missing, only to learn they were killed and piled up in one of the empty containers. 

"Except for one", said the captain. "One was killed in his quarters."

"How incompetent! How could you let this happened?!" Bertrand screamed at the two officials before him, disappointed. "Who did this? Who? Did you check the surveillance?"

Both the captain and the chief security officer nearly choked hearing the question. The captain's lips, in particular, trembled in fear for what he was about to reveal. "The - the thing is… Mr. Duval -"

"What? Tell me what?"

The chief security officer gulped before answering on behalf of the captain, "The cameras captured nothing - nothing to suggest we were invaded."

Bertrand placed both his hands on his waist as he shook his head. He was in disbelief. There were cameras in every angle of the vessel from the deck to the inside of the facility. It was impossible not to catch anything.

" What do you mean the cameras captured nothing? Were they damaged? Was it related to the problem with the power supply?" He asked again, furiously. 

"There was no missing time stamp, Mr. Duval. It  - It was like - Whoever came inside last night seemed like they knew how to evade the cameras," replied the captain. 

"That is impossible! It's utterly impossi - " 

Bertrand interrupted himself thinking about being hacked, but no. He had the best security system on the ship. He remained in denial and repeated,  "It is just impossible!"

"Mr. Duval, on the bright side, all the prisoners are still locked in their rooms!" The captain tried to lighten up the situation, hoping his boss would somehow be relieved. 

Hearing about all the test subjects being accounted for made Bertrand felt uneasy. The intruders had already made it inside the facility and caused a fire. Why stop there? If these were Alfred's men? Why did they not take Andrea?

His face turned ugly in seconds. He hastily walked outside then down from the bridge to enter the facility. "Open the main door!" He instructed. 

He walked past all the other chambers, focused only to get to Andrea's room. When he arrived, he saw a nurse and two doctors arguing from inside. They were all standing in front of the test subject who was lying in the bed behind them. The alarm on the heart monitor kept beeping, showing the prisoner's heart was slowing down. 

"Mr. Duval?" said one of the doctors, whose face was completely pale. 

"What's going on? Did you do as I instructed?" Asked Bertrand. 

"Yes, Mr. Duval, we had already administered three doses, but - you see Mr. Duval the subject had an oxygen mask on. The nurse -  "

"Mr. Duval," cried the nurse as she knelt on the floor, seemingly asking for forgiveness. "It was only in the middle of the third dose when I took off her mask - It's not her. It's not Andrea Li."

Bertrand immediately pushed the doctors and the nurse aside for him to see with his own eyes, but what he saw broke him completely. 

"No! No!" He screamed out loud and tears flooded his eyes instantly. "No! Anges! No!"

Instead of Andrea Li, he found his wife, Agnes Dronne, lying in the bed, now overdosed with a coma-inducing drug. 

Anges Dronne was purposely made to look like Andrea Li.  Whoever brought her to the facility had her hair colored in brown and curled at the tips. 

Realizing that the woman was important to their boss, the nurse and doctors hurriedly attended to her. It took the strength of two men to get Bertrand out of the room so his wife could be put on a ventilator. He initially refused to let go of his wife. 

As he watched from the glass window outside the chamber, Bertrand remained weeping in tears.  While waiting for the doctors to finish intubating his wife, his phone rang repeatedly. He did not want to answer, but the persistent calling bothered him. 

"Call me later - "

"Mr. Duval. This is Lu Fang. How do you like my gift? Your wife in exchange for mine? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."