Illusion Report

Chapter 353: Chapter 306: Brianna: Mercy and Love

The Black Cube stood silently in the distance, forming a dim backdrop. Before her, Westley half-turned his head, causing several loose folds of skin to bunch up on the side of his neck.

A patch of stubble had begun to sprout on his chin, a salt-and-pepper mix, like the wavering shadow of suspicion.

Westley had just stepped through the second door. To stop Brianna, he turned back, bracing one hand on the doorframe and revealing the wedding ring on his finger.

That moment, that scene, was forever etched into Brianna’s mind.

She had always felt that was the last time she saw her father.

After that moment, she had, of course, seen more of Westley: one who cursed, one who cried for help, one who struggled and fought back, one who almost killed her... But all of them were strangers. Looking back, none of them seemed like the father she knew.

The last time she saw her father—as she would later describe it to the police—he was standing inside the doorway, having just told her to leave.

He was half-turned away, his mind seemingly shrouded and consumed by shadows, and he didn’t spare her a single glance.

It had always been this way.

Even when she stood just a few feet away, Westley rarely ever saw her.

Brianna raised her eyes. Her gaze went past Westley and met her own in the distance.

Even if Fu Tailan didn’t know the full story, he understood they had been exposed. The moment their eyes met, he immediately flicked his gaze toward the space behind Westley’s right.

Westley’s right was Brianna’s left. She was still standing outside the door. Aside from her father’s arm, propped up to block her, all she could see was a wall.

But that didn’t matter.

The next second, as if snapping to his senses, Westley whipped his head around. Without looking at anyone or asking a thing, he raised his right hand and slammed it down on the wall behind him, out of Brianna’s sight.

’...The alarm.’

That slight flick of Fu Tailan’s eyes had told her everything she needed to know. So, by the time Westley’s right hand was even in the air, Brianna was already moving.

’See, Dad? I’m not just some girl anymore. It’s only natural that I’ve gotten stronger.’

’A kick like that does more than just hurt, doesn’t it?’

A cry of alarm, not yet fully out of Westley’s throat, was cut short by her kick to his midsection.

He stumbled backward, his right hand flailing through the air before falling, never reaching the alarm button.

’When I was six, Mom had to go out. She told you to watch me, remember?

I said I wanted to swim in the backyard pool, remember?

You went back to the study by yourself, remember?

I got tired of swimming and tried to climb out. My hand slipped, and I hit the railing and fell back into the water. For half a minute, I couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t call for help. You didn’t know that, did you?

Fu Tailan was right, I really am lucky to be alive.’

From that day on, Brianna knew. There was a spot on the torso that, if struck hard enough, would not only silence a person but make it difficult for them to even move.

’Ah, kicking my own father to the ground. How improper of me.’

Brianna shadowed her struggling father. As he crawled backward, one agonizing inch at a time, she followed with soft, deliberate steps—a twisted image of the child she used to be, always trailing after her parents.

She followed him into the security room, where Fu Tailan tilted his chin at her in a silent gesture.

Brianna glanced back. A bright red alarm box was mounted on the wall, exactly where Fu Tailan’s gaze had directed her.

Below it was the switch for the second door.

She raised her hand, reaching past the alarm to land on the switch, and gave it a gentle press.

The heavy, thick metal door—strong enough to withstand a bomb—slid out from the wall behind her and sealed the security room shut, as Westley watched in horror.

"You really aren’t dead!"

Westley finally caught his breath. Pushing himself up from the floor, he roared at Fu Tailan, "So you really didn’t turn into some Green—to think I’d be deceived by my own daughter like this—"

Fu Tailan looked at him.

Brianna refused to believe that Fu Tailan hadn’t seen it coming—Westley preparing to lunge, seething with rage. Yet Fu Tailan remained motionless, watching as Westley charged and swung his arm. A heavy slap landed across his face, snapping his head to the side.

’Why?’

Fu Tailan raised a hand—no longer Brianna’s hand—and cupped his smarting cheek. He slowly turned his head, revealing the profile that was his and his alone.

"...You see,"

The young man’s voice was muffled, spreading into a hazy smile. "She didn’t lie to you."

"It’s you? You’re Fu... Fu..."

Westley stared at him, his breathing ragged; his thoughts were probably in even greater disarray. He looked at his own hand, then whipped his head around to stare at Brianna with wide eyes.

"Then... then you..."

Brianna kept her eyes on her father, but her words were for Fu Tailan. "Doesn’t it hurt? You could have dodged."

A CLICK echoed in the room.

Fu Tailan had produced a lighter from somewhere and, carefully shielding the flame with one hand, lit the crumpled cigarette dangling from his lips.

His pupils flashed red in the flame’s light, like a blood-eyed demon peering through a window out into the dark night.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep drag.

"...Getting hit by ’Dad’ is hardly a big deal."

He smiled at Brianna through the swirling white smoke. "Or so I’ve heard."

"I don’t understand."

Westley struggled to steady his breathing. "I don’t understand," he said. "I don’t understand, Brianna. Why team up with him? How could you be so foolish?"

Both of them turned to look at him.

"In terms of our relationship, reliability, resources, and abilities, I am far superior to some director from the Hunter Family Faction. Why would you choose to team up with him to replace me? It’s such a foolish move. You’re only putting yourself at a disadvantage, Bree."

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