Chapter 1713

Such corruption would not have been allowed in the district under Cyrus' jurisdiction.

"Sir, I... I know your... pain..." Lauren opened her swollen eyes slowly. Her soft voice was devoid of

the fear when she was first held hostage. Instead, she sounded heartbreakingly resilient. "I have...

had similar experience... as your daughter..."

Looking shocked, Denver gasped, "What did you say?"

"Please... trust that I will... stay by Joanna's side... until she puts behind her trauma. I will avenge

her..." Lauren struggled to speak due to the debilitating fear that suffocated her.

"What can you do, you weak woman?"

"I'm... the daughter of Javier Beckett. You can... search me up... on your phone..." Covered in sweat,

she added, "Jasper Beckett, the president of the Beckett Group... is my brother. My sister-in-law is

Alyssa Taylor of the KS Group. Don't you think they are powerful enough to... avenge Joanna?”

Cyrus had a newfound respect for Lauren. Anyone else would have been crippled by fear, but

Lauren held onto what remained of her sanity and persuaded Denver to release her.

"Is Alyssa Taylor... your sister-in-law?" Denver did not think that Lauren was bold enough to lie to

him. After all, anyone could perform a fact-check on their phones to ascertain her claim.

This time, he was utterly swayed by Lauren. Alyssa Taylor, despite being born into wealth, had the

guts to seek justice for ordinary female victims like Nina Carle and Maggie Madison. For that, she

made enemies with the Becketts and the Schmidts. However, her brave acts had spread far and

wide.

Denver thought, "Oh, if only Alyssa Taylor could help my poor daughter...” Still, he doubted Alyssa

Taylor's capability to deal with every injustice in the world, even though she might be morally

upright. Besides, she had no good reason to help his daughter.

"Can Ms. Taylor... really help Joanna?"

"Yes. I'm sure.” Overwhelmed by emotions, Lauren shed tears despite having already calmed down.

Tears flowed uncontrollably down her pale cheeks. "I was once a school bullying victim too..."

Cyrus widened his eyes in disbelief. He was shocked by what he had heard.

"But I chose to endure and avoid the bullying. Until now... my bullies haven't been held responsible

and punished. I'll take this as a way of avenging myself to fulfill one of my wishes... I certainly hope I

can help Joanna.

"Sir, please do not... walk down the wrong path. You won't be able to see justice served if you die

here today."

Lauren's earnest persuasion finally broke Denver. He slowly let go of her arm and moved the blade

away from her neck.

"Cyrus!" Lauren, upon realizing that she could be saved, sprinted toward Cyrus with tears in her

eyes.

"Lauren, don't be scared!" Cyrus opened his arms to greet her.

At that moment, the snipers on the rooftop across from them adjusted the angle of their scopes,

accidentally reflecting the sunlight onto Denver's face.

Denver felt cheated, and he immediately snapped. He once again raised his knife and aimed it

toward the defenseless Lauren. "You motherfuckers! How dare you work together against me? Die!"