Master of his heart (Max and Brielle)
Chapter 1343

She kicked the professor away with one strong shove, feeling utterly drained. The professor kept vomiting, blood blooming on his chest from a gunshot wound-definitely a silenced pistol. Who had come down here?

Brielle felt tears well up, realizing King's men must be here. But now, she was trapped. She kicked the professor again, a wave of nausea hitting her, but nothing came up. The professor let out a weak chuckle before dying, his bloodshot eyes staring blankly, clearly proud of his final act.

Catching her breath, Brielle took off her jacket and cleaned the blood from her ankle. She continued forward. Around the corner, she saw a figure that looked strikingly like King. Hope flared in her eyes as she instinctively ran towards him.

"King!" she called out. But as he turned, her relief vanished. It wasn't King. It was a man who looked eerily similar, bleeding from every orifice. Terror seized Brielle, her legs giving out as she screamed. These were Fisher's decoys, surgically altered to look like King. She stood frozen, watching the man collapse with a bullet wound to the forehead.

Before she could react, she was pulled into a familiar embrace, warmth flooding her senses and bringing tears to her eyes. King said nothing, just hoisted her onto his back. He radioed the others, saying he had found her and ordering a retreat. The trapped people would be the local government's responsibility.

Using the rope they'd descended on, King silently led Brielle out. She knew it was him. Worried about the blood on her ankle, she began to struggle. "I can walk. I have the strength," she insisted. King smiled gently. "Brielle, I want to carry you."

Brielle bit her lip, fighting back tears. It felt like an eternity before they emerged into daylight, greeted by the faces of the local community. Once outside, King gently placed her in the car.

"We're leaving The rest is up to the local government," he said. He had pledged twenty tons of medical supplies, feminine products, and a billion dollars to ensure a hospital was built. With proper healthcare and clean water, the community's health would improve.

King, his eyes red, leaned in to kiss her, but Brielle stepped back, pale with fear. King, startled, tried to comfort her. "Brielle?" "Give me a day to myself," she whispered.

King, saddened, instructed Joseph to handle the remaining details with the government. They headed back to the city. Jaired, standing behind them, was worried about Irene's silence. He needed to check on her immediately.

Brielle saw a protective suit in the car and started putting it on, thinking it might protect others if she were infected. King, mistaking her fear for trauma from disease, silently helped her his touch gentle.

"Let's go. We'll pick up Irene and head out," he said, signaling the departure.

As they drove away, Jaired was consumed with worry over Irene's silence. Could something have gone terribly wrong?

Reaching their destination, Jaired leapt from the car towards the watchtower, only to hear Irene's voice teasingly urging, "Slow down, that's amazing... Come back to North America with me, be my First Man."