The Villain's Wife (WN)

Kuznetsov's lips turned upwards into a victorious smirk, his eyes was full of mockery toward Zhou Jingren when the card that he threw didn't hit him. He eyed the surprise in his opponent's eyes before he chuckled. He won. He hit— before Kuznetsov thoughts even finished, it was interrupted when a rustic smell assaulted his nose, it was blood. He frowned before he eyed Zhou Jingren's smiling face. Why was he smiling? There is no reason for him to smile.

*BANG*

Realization quickly hit him. The second gunshot is not from his gun! He eyed Zhou Jingren; disbelief laced his gaze. He wanted to turn around, wanting to know who dared shot him from behind. However, the strength in his body is already starting to dissipate. He forced himself to open his eyes wider, to no avail. 

*BANG*

The third gunshot was the last thing that he heard before his consciousness left his body for eternity.

*BANG*

The fourth gunshot hit Kuznetsov's corpse. Then a fifth came. Zhou Jingren didn't wait for the sixth as he ran towards Lily. 

*BANG*

She pulled the trigger for the sixth time, her shoulders shook, and her aim was terrible. Because of this, the first gunshot didn't hit Kuznetsov's head; instead, it hit his shoulders, changing the aim of his gun— the reason why he missed his shot. The second gunshot hit his back. And the third finally hit the back of his neck. Despite this, Lily refused to stop pulling the trigger. She wanted to make sure that the man is dead. 

Slowly, his eyes darted towards the man who stood a few inches away from her. Her pupils shook, lips trembling. Was she going to cry now? Lily bit her lower lip. "Let's go. We can't waste any more time." This is not yet the time for a happy reunion. She turned her back on him. However, before she could take a step further, a hand gently held her shoulder. Then he felt him took away the gun on her trembling hands. 

His strong arms wrapped around her waist. He inhaled her scent before he tightened his arms around her. "It's alright. Jichen will take care of the rest." He said. Lily turned towards him. In front of his gentle gaze, the coldness from her own eyes vanished. She said nothing. She didn't need to.

Lily folded her arms around him, her head pressed against his chest, listening to his calm heartbeat. Is it finally done? She couldn't help but wonder and worry about the future. However, all these thoughts slowly vanished under his warm embrace. It made her feel safe, assured that no matter what will happen, he will stay with her. 

In his embrace, Lily's world stopped spinning. The smell of gunpowder and blood didn't feel as frightening anymore. The sight of the people lying in their pool of blood didn't feel ominous anymore. In the middle of death, Lily found the comfort that she missed in her husband's arms.

She pressed her body against his as if hugging him wasn't enough, Lily wanted to feel his warm body. She wanted to feel his heartbeat; she wanted to hear him breathe. Lily didn't even realise how much she missed him. Still, there's not a single tear shed.

This reunion was something that she already expected. She trusted her husband enough to know that both of them will win this game. Together. 

Seconds turned into minutes. To be honest, Lily never wanted to end this. She wanted to stay in his embrace forever. "We can't stay here." She heard herself say.

"Hmmm."

Lily reluctantly pulled herself away from him and eyed the bloodied people on the floor. 

"Use this." He handed her a Glock. Lily accepted it without asking questions. Afterwards, he started checking the body of the enemies as Lily continued watching him look for a gun. He found two. "Let's leave this place."

Lily didn't say anything as she nodded. In the midst of death and killing, all she could think of is the things that they will do tomorrow. She was already confident that they will survive this day and will face the next days together. Because of this, Lily couldn't stop herself from thinking about the aftermath of the matter.

The two went out of the underground facility. They headed inside the mansion, carefully avoiding the dead bodies on the floor. The smell of blood and death was thick, and it lingered inside the corridor until the main living room where both of them can see a few bodies lying. 

"No one escaped." Secretary Go said. "There is a research facility underground. However, it was destroyed. Kuznetsov must have wiped it clean. Two dead researchers are also inside…."

Lily said nothing as Secretary Go and Zhou Jingren continued talking. Her mind was already preoccupied about the things that they needed to do to The Order. 

"Take care of everything. We are going to leave as soon as possible." Zhou Jingren said before he led Lily into Kuznetsov's office. "I already scheduled a meeting with the Order. They agreed to stop disturbing us. Of course, they will soon realise that the file that I gave them is only half of what they actually needed. The— "

"Kuznetsov is experimenting with kids." Lily interrupted him. "Ages five to ten." Her gaze darted toward him. This should not concern her anymore. However, Lily wanted the order to know what Kuznetsov was really up to. "We assumed wrongly." Lily initially thought they were planning to use the research to create a specific illness that will only target specific genes. The potential of this research is enormous as one could use this to target a specific family and everyone with those genes inside the family would die.

This research could potentially kill the people with the genes of the royal family. Or perhaps all the people with blue eyes. Or at least that's what the research was all about. That was also the reason why the US government stopped it, as it was perilous and had the potential to wipe out an entire race. However, what she found out in Kuznetsov's research lab was different. "They wanted to change some specific strains of DNA, that will change the kid's body structure, making them more agile and strong. They wanted to create super soldiers."