Trade Lives

Mireille turned back unexpectedly. When she heard Mr. Shaw’s interrogation, a twisted smile crept across her face. Without warning, she raised her foot and kicked him hard to the ground.

“And who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re qualified to judge me? You really believe I won’t kill you all if I want to?” Mireille said coldly.

She looked down and noticed blood from Mr. Shaw’s hands had stained her clothes, blooming like a crimson flower. Disgusted, she gave him another kick and snapped, “First thing I touch today is something this bloody? Disgusting.”

Mr. Shaw: “…”

By now, the other researchers had trickled back to him too—because over there… well, there was nothing left to do.

Everyone was dead.

Seeing Mr. Shaw get kicked twice in a row, one of them rushed forward to help him up, then glared at Mireille. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “Mireille, what the hell are you trying to do?! Weren’t you the one who came crawling to Mr. Shaw, begging him to help you develop that cursed VIREXIN?!”

“Yeah! We were too damn gullible back then—how could we let someone like you fool us?!”

“Heaven’s watching everything you do, Mireille! You’ve killed so many people—aren’t you even a little afraid?!”

“You’re despicable—completely heartless!”

Mireille smirked, sweeping her gaze over the angry faces. She chuckled and said, “thanks for reminding me. Back then—when I first approached Mr. Shaw—he did turn me down, didn’t he? Said something about how that little bitch left instructions that outsiders weren’t allowed into Experimental Base No. 1…”

Suddenly, her smile twisted into a grotesque sneer, her whole face contorting. “Outsiders? What a joke! This entire Vireon Labs belongs to me now. So tell me—who’s the real outsider here?!”

Mr. Shaw’s face went rigid—he’d just secretly called Raina earlier. His expression cracked as he blurted, “Vireon Labs was left to Miss Raina by Solana. What… what did you do to get your hands on it?!”

Miss Raina.

Those two words stabbed into Mireille’s heart like a poisoned dagger.

So that’s how it was.

No matter how much she humbled herself, no matter what she did—in their eyes, she’d always be second to that useless little coward Raina!

Mireille let out a cold laugh. Her expression turned dark and venomous as she glared at Mr. Shaw. Suddenly, she cackled and said, “So no matter what I do, you people will never let me go, huh? Well then—don’t blame me for what happens next.”

She looked down again at the bloodstain on her chest, eyes filled with disgust. Her voice was calm, almost indifferent: “Kill them all.”

“What?! You—how dare you!” someone screamed in horror.

“Y-You can’t do this to us, we… we…”

“Miss Carrington, I have a family, parents, children… please… I’m begging you, spare me…”

“I—I don’t want to die, I really don’t… I’ll get on my knees if that’s what it takes, just don’t kill me—!”

People aren’t made of stone. When faced with death, bravery only goes so far.

Some dropped to their knees and begged. Some scoffed. Others hesitated, afraid Mireille really would kill them all.

Only Mr. Shaw stood his ground, face ashen, glaring daggers at her. For the first time in his life, he wanted nothing more than to strangle this venomous woman with his bare hands.

Mireille finally turned around with a smile, as if satisfied. “Begging now? Too late. Don’t blame me—blame Mr. Shaw. Or…” she paused, eyes glinting, “I could give you one more chance.”

“Wh-What kind of chance? Whatever it is, we’ll do it! Just say the word!”

But someone immediately snapped, “You seriously believe a word out of her mouth? She’s lying! Mireille, if you’re going to kill us, at least make it quick!”

Mireille ignored him and looked at the man who had just begged on his knees. She smiled. “Good. Since you begged so nicely, I’ll give you a task. Take Mr. Shaw to the other side, to the lab. The fire’s still burning there, and you’ve clearly got strength left. You can manage.”

The man froze, eyes wide. “W-What?! You want me to kill him?!”

“That’s right,” Mireille said smoothly. “A life for a life. Kill him, and you live. Pretty fair deal, don’t you think? His life isn’t worth more than yours. You said it yourself—you’ve got a family. If you die, what happens to them?”

“…”

She’s insane. Trade lives? Who even thinks like that?

His eyes turned bloodshot, fists trembling. But something flickered deep in his eyes… something changing.

He mumbled, “Yeah… someone else’s life… it’s not worth more than mine… I don’t have a choice. I just want to live, that’s all. I… I… Mr. Shaw, you get it, right? You understand?”

As if hoping for Mr. Shaw’s forgiveness, the man asked again, his voice cracking, “Right?”

“You’ve lost your mind! You actually believe her?! That’s murder! Wake the hell up!” someone roared, charging over and punching the man straight in the face.

He went down hard, coughed up blood and two teeth, then struggled back up with madness in his eyes. Wiping his mouth, he screamed, “I’m not crazy! I’m the only sane one here! I just want to live—is that so wrong?! You people get in my way, then get lost!”

Before he could move again—BOOM!

A deafening explosion rocked the room.

From the very beginning, Mireille had never planned to leave any of them alive.

“What do we do now?! The doors are sealed—we can’t get out! And our phones… they took our phones! What now?!” someone cried out, collapsing to the ground, eyes wide with terror as the fire reflected in their pupils.

Phones!

Right—phones!

Like a bolt of lightning, a glimmer of hope lit up Mr. Shaw’s pale face. Hands shaking, he tried to reach for one—but his fingers were cramping, spasming. He couldn’t even hold it.

He shouted, “To the right—my bag! There’s a backup phone in there! I hid it—no one saw—quick, take it out!”

The man who had supported him earlier lit up with hope and dug it out of the bag.

Mr. Shaw yelled, “Turn it on! Call Miss Raina Carrington! She’ll know what to do—she’ll—”

Before he could finish, another loud bang rang out near the gate.

***