PAMPERED BY MY THREE BROTHERS: THE RETURN OF THE NEGLECTED HEIRESS-Chapter 1808: Final Act opening

"It’s me, Walter."

Ralph, the man who had saved Mint and even administered a weak antidote to her, froze. His eyes went wide, his heart thudding. He almost couldn’t believe that Slater had managed to get through security without raising suspicion.

"Walter," Ralph called out, and sure enough, all the members of the Shadow Order who were with Penny at the moment turned to him. "Are you alright? Did you get out?"

Walter, the imprisoned man, let out a deep breath and cocked his head in Slater’s direction. "Not yet," he said. "Just making sure this isn’t some sort of her wicked games again."

Ralph nodded. "His name is Slater Bennet, and he will help you out of there. My sister’s with me, and we’ll soon be there. Just hang on a bit, alright? Tell the others we are coming."

"..." Walter shook his head. "I don’t think that’s possible now."

"What?"

Even Slater stopped undressing the guard and turned to him. Then, Walter explained,

"We’re too injured to go," he said, smiling bitterly as he recalled how they all ended up like this. "Even if we help each other, it’s not going to be enough."

Ralph’s face hardened, and he gulped. "Are the others still alive?"

"Most of us," he said. "But I don’t think the others made it or would even make it."

After all, they weren’t just kept here after being tranquilized. Every night, a few of them would endure horrific torture. That had become their routine. To make matters worse, they were only fed once, and even then, the meal they were served looked and smelled as if it came from a sewage.

The others didn’t know that because they weren’t allowed to approach this wing.

"Ralph," Walter breathed out, his chest heaving heavily. "Even if we don’t get out of here or we didn’t make it, make sure that wretched woman dies in the most gruesome way possible."

He nodded, his grip on the phone trembling and tightening. "Thank you for trying, and whatever the result tonight, I never blamed you or the Madam."

Ralph’s face darkened, and he lowered his head as he listened to the words from the other end. Although he didn’t react much, his shoulders tensed as his entire body trembled in anger. For him, Walter was one of the bravest, whose spirit wouldn’t be easily broken.

So, hearing him say all of this only meant that in the past few months they’d been imprisoned, Nathalie had succeeded in killing their spirits.

"We’ll come," Ralph said. "We’ll come and take you out of there."

Walter smiled bitterly before he heard the line disconnect. He dropped his hand on his lap, huffing faintly.

"It’s real," he said quietly, but clearly for everyone to hear. "Slater’s working with him."

Everyone turned to where Walter sat, but somehow, they didn’t feel the slightest relief. Because, just like Walter said, they couldn’t just sneak out of here. If they weren’t injured, or if their injuries were bearable, they might push it.

That wasn’t the case, though.

Their injuries were severe enough that they could not even crawl, let alone walk. Those who could walk wouldn’t be able to carry another.

"No," Slater suddenly spoke, looking at Walter and then at the cells. "You guys... are going out of here."

Walter cocked his head and slid his eyes to Slater. "Didn’t you hear me? I said—"

"I don’t care what you said," Slater cut him off. "The only question here is whether you want or don’t want to leave this place. The answer is what truly matters."

He paused as he shifted his eyes to the first cell on the left that contained children. "You guys have kids here. Don’t take away hope from them."

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked once more, facing Walter. "If the answer’s no, then I’ll just leave you guys here. Maybe, help you crawl your way out of that cell, so even if you die, you wouldn’t die like sardines in a can."

"But if your answer is yes, then instead of thinking of the impossible, let’s think of the possible," he added, his eyes burning with determination. "So... do you want to get out of here?"

Silence quickly filled the prison as those conscious looked at each other. The half-awake people opened their eyes weakly, until one of them spoke.

"I want to..." he gasped. "...leave here. At least, I’ll die... trying."

Those who were heavily injured in the rather spacious cell also opened their eyes. They were too weak to stand, especially with a few of them having broken ankles. However, something in Slater’s words seemed to light up the flame they thought they had lost within them.

Slowly, some people started making their way out of their cell. A few crawling, others just limping out.

Walter, who remained seated, looked up at everyone. The corners of his eyes reddened, his lower lips quivering slightly. Seeing some of them finally standing on their own or doing something of their own will almost brought tears to his eyes. After all, in this place, their spirits had been killed first.

Slater, on the other hand, looked at the people who were slowly taking space outside as more and more stepped out, leaving more room in the cells for others to stay in much more comfort.

He nodded to them, his eyes burning with determination.

"I have a plan," he said, huffing sharply. "It’s a little dangerous and our chance is slim, but it’s worth a shot."

"We’ll take it," the first man with a limp, nodded at him. "Staying here, our chances are less than zero. So, as long as our chance with this plan is not less than zero, we’ll take it."

The others nodded until the man who spoke turned to where Walter was.

"Right, Walter?"

Walter gulped, meeting everyone’s eyes. After another deep breath, he nodded back at them as they all set their eyes back on Slater.

"Tell us the plan," Walter asked.

Slater, on the other hand, relaxed his shoulders. "I’ll tell you, but first, help me undress these guys and throw them in the cell. Also, Walter, right?"

Walter nodded.

"Can you at least type a message?" he asked. "For this plan to work, we’ll need their help."

And with that, Slater’s rescue operation commenced.

---

Meanwhile...

"Sir," Mark gazed at the back of the truck, looking at Zoren. "We’re here."

Zoren, who was sandwiched between his men in the truck, looked ahead.

There, up ahead, was the Mansion.

’Nathalie Zorken,’ he thought. ’We’ll meet again.’

A glint flickered across his eyes as he uttered, "Go straight in the front."

Mark nodded before he lifted his radio and spoke, "We’re here."

****

Somewhere...

"We’re here."

Mark’s voice rang out on the radio that was just placed beside each other. Charles then picked up the other radio and pressed a button, putting it close to his mouth.

"You can start now. Zoren is arriving."

Those who received Charles’ order looked at each other and nodded to themselves. With that, they started crawling their way over the high gates of the mansion, leaving some of the guards they had taken down on the ground, wearing military uniforms, as the others who were making their way in had worn theirs.

****

At the same time, somewhere on the island...

Atlas stood all alone in a clearing, surrounded by countless people and guns pointed at him from every direction. However, he remained unfazed as he gazed at the old lady standing in front of the hut.

Tonight, this island’s fate would be sealed.

Nathalie or them?

There could only be one.

"I’m claiming the Shadow Order."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l