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Chapter 171: Chapter 171 Father’s Office
The night air was heavy with the scent of blood and gunpowder. Liam stepped back from the trembling man at his feet and silently extended his silenced pistol to Lilith. "He’s all yours," he said, his voice low and cold.
Lilith accepted the weapon with a small, almost wicked smile, her fingers curling tightly around the handle. She stepped forward, her heels clicking softly against the asphalt, and stopped just in front of the man who once called himself the Boss. He was now on his knees, his right hand soaked in blood as it tried—and failed—to stem the arterial spray from the gunshot wound. His skin had gone pale, and sweat coated his brow. But his eyes still held that flicker of arrogance, even if it was now laced with panic.
"You... you can’t kill me," he hissed between ragged breaths, his voice shaky but defiant. "Li will kill you. He’ll burn your whole gang to the ground."
Lilith tilted her head and smiled as if he had told a joke. Then, crouching down to his level, she looked him dead in the eye. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, but every syllable struck like ice. "Li already wants me dead. You think your life changes anything?"
Boss trembled. He could feel the blood leaving his body, draining his strength and clarity. Desperation clawed at him. He tried to think—was there a way out of this? Could he offer something? A bribe? A secret? But there was nothing she wanted from him, not anymore.
Lilith stood tall again, then leveled the silencer at his forehead. He flinched as the cold barrel met his skin. She took a breath, calm and steady. "You were right about one thing," she said. "This war between us? Will end very soon. But you? You won’t be around to see it."
His mouth opened. Maybe to scream, maybe to plead. It didn’t matter.
Pfft!
The silenced shot rang out like a whisper in the dark. The bullet punched straight through his eye, and his head snapped back with a sickening thud. He collapsed lifeless to the ground, eyes wide in eternal shock. Blood pooled beneath him.
Lilith exhaled and stared down at his corpse, feeling the knot of hatred in her chest begin to loosen. One problem solved. One less monster in the world.
She turned slowly, letting the adrenaline ebb away, and found Liam sitting casually on the hood of her car, arms crossed as he watched her in silence. The cold streetlights bathed his features in pale gold, highlighting the sharp lines of his face, the intensity of his blue eyes. He gave her a small nod.
"Let’s go," he said. "Before the police or neighbors get curious."
Lilith said nothing. She only nodded once and walked past the two bodies—the Boss and the silent man who had stood behind him—now both dead. Behind them lay the unconscious forms of the four others Liam had taken out beforehand. She opened the driver-side door and climbed in.
Liam slid into the passenger seat. He took one last look out the window, at the quiet street littered with bodies, blood, then settled in. The car started with a purr, and Lilith pulled away smoothly, her eyes locked on the road, her face unreadable.
As the city lights blurred past them, Liam leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes briefly. This had been a message. One loud and clear. The Boss was gone. The Crimson Hand had lost their leader. The power structure would fracture, and chaos would erupt before someone new tried to rise. But until then... they had silence.
Lilith didn’t speak. Not yet. The events of the night were still settling in her mind. The danger. The kill.
"That’ll keep the police busy tomorrow," Liam muttered, almost to himself, as he watched the quiet streets roll by.
Lilith glanced at him briefly but said nothing. She knew he was right. This was far from over. But tonight, they’d won. And for a moment, that was enough.
The car disappeared into the distance, swallowed by the night, leaving behind only the cold breeze.
Instead of going to Lilith’s penthouse, Liam told her to drive to his house. He needed to see it—needed to confront the place where everything had nearly come to an end. Lilith didn’t question him, only nodded and took the next turn that led them into the more isolated residential area where Liam’s home stood.
When they pulled up to the front, it looked untouched. Peaceful, even. The porch light flickered slightly as if greeting him home. But as soon as they stepped through the front door, the illusion shattered.
Inside, the place was a war zone.
There was a massive hole in the center of the sitting room floor, dried blood stains streaked across the cracked tile. Liam froze, his breath catching in his throat. The memory hit him like a freight train—the moment that sharp, jagged stone had erupted from the floor like a spike, aiming to impale him. He had moved just in time.
His eyes swept over the rest of the destruction—the half-collapsed wall where his body had slammed into it, the kitchen table shattered. Everything was the same, like a dark museum preserved in violent memory.
Lilith remained quiet, sensing the gravity of the space, her eyes scanning the damage without a word. She followed as Liam walked deeper into the house.
He stopped before a door he hadn’t opened since he was five.
His father’s office.
He had only opened it once again a week ago, during the chaos, when he had to hide Lana somewhere safe. He reached out now, his hand trembling slightly as he pressed his finger to the biometric scanner beside the door.
A soft beep, and the lock clicked open.
He turned the knob and stepped inside.
The air in the room felt colder than the rest of the house. A strange, sterile cold that wrapped around his skin like ice. As the light flickered on, Lilith stepped in behind him—and they both stopped in their tracks.
The room looked nothing like what either of them had expected.
It wasn’t an office. Not in the traditional sense.
The walls were lined with diagrams of human anatomy, some hand-drawn, others printed and annotated with strange symbols and notes in an old, neat handwriting. Glass cases displayed models of organs and muscles. One wall was covered in pinned photographs of men, women—even children—with red circles drawn around various parts of their bodies.
Tables stood in the center of the room, covered with old books and faded papers, medical instruments and tools that looked like they belonged in a surgery theater—or a horror movie.
Liam stepped further inside, blinking hard as he tried to make sense of it. He remembered this room differently. But maybe that was the memory of a child.
Behind him, Lilith’s sharp eyes scanned the documents, noting one open page filled with detailed information about neural manipulation and adrenal augmentation. She didn’t understand most of it, but it chilled her all the same.
Suddenly, the door to the sitting room opened.
Liam and Lilith both turned sharply, but relaxed when they saw who it was.
Lana.
She stood in the office doorway, her long hair cascading down her back, wearing a silk robe over a tank top and shorts. She looked surprised—maybe even a little relieved.
"I saw the light on," she said softly, stepping inside. "Didn’t think anyone was here."
Liam gave her a small smile. "Just checking in," he said. "Wanted to look at something."
Lana nodded, her gaze shifting from him to Lilith.
"Your father’s office..." she said.
She stepped closer and looked inside. It was the first time she was seeing the room properly lit, and her eyes widened with awe and confusion. "Last time... the light wasn’t on. I didn’t see any of this."
Lilith crossed her arms, still analyzing the room. "This place... it’s not just an office. It’s a lab."
Liam didn’t speak. He moved to the nearest desk, picking up one of the open journals. The handwriting inside was his father’s. Page after page, it was filled with experimental data—biological enhancements, neural rewiring, detailed genetic analyses.
"Your father was researching something," Lilith murmured, coming up beside him. "Something way beyond normal medicine."
Lana stood just behind them, her arms wrapped around herself as a cold chill ran up her spine. "What... what was he doing here?"
Liam exhaled slowly. He didn’t have an answer.
