Chapter 558: Am I Under Arrest?

Ashley ran her tongue along her inner cheek as she watched the rest of the video. She hadn’t finished it yet, but everything Tinie had confessed was already enough to leave her mouth hanging open.

So, basically, this had been going on for years?

Her expression darkened.

Whoever these people were, they had clearly targeted members of Dominion—but not those within Lucian’s circle. Recruiting those close to Lucian, especially those who served him directly, was too risky. Tinie didn’t belong to the Black Dragon’s faction, so he had been able to see Dominion from the other side.

As he spoke, Ashley was reminded of Hector and how he had taken his biggest risk by recruiting Lukas, thinking it would be easy to bring him over to their side.

“Some of the people I considered friends were targeted and died during missions. I always suspected that something had gone wrong. They were skilled people whom I respected, and I was right,” Tinie continued, his voice echoing through her earbud. “But I also believe that because of my decision, I put myself in a situation I can no longer escape.”

“So, I’m putting all the information I’ve gathered about this group in this drive,” he added. “There’s no point in hiding it elsewhere if the people watching this are the same people who took my life. It’s not everything, but it should be enough.”

Tinie paused again, his expression remaining stern. His eyes stayed fixed on the camera.

He said nothing, yet his eyes seemed to speak directly to Ashley. It was almost as though he were asking—or hoping—that the person who eventually watched this recording would be the person he intended it for.

Who?

Ashley didn’t know, but she had a guess.

Lucian.

“Black Dragon,” Tinie broke the silence after several seconds. “If you are the person watching this… run.”

Ashley frowned deeply.

“It may not be the smartest decision, but running will keep you alive longer,” he added. “These people planned this long before you took over. Their plans were already in motion before you even joined Dominion. Why do you think the late Madam brought home an outsider like you?”

Tinie’s jaw tightened.

“Thank you for leading Dominion and for seeing the potential in me,” he said solemnly. “But Dominion… Dominion is no longer worthy of you, Master.”

He then lowered his head in a bow.

Ashley stared at the screen until the recording ended.

For a while, she remained silent. Tinie’s words echoed inside her head. She swallowed, the sound of her gulp amplified in her ear.

The man’s words resonated with her, but what stuck with her most was his question:

Why do you think the late Madam brought home an outsider like you?

Ashley knew Lucian had been the one to take down the late Madam—the same woman who had pulled him out of the slums. She and Lucian hadn’t discussed it in much detail at the time because it hadn’t seemed important.

But now, it seemed very important.

Above all, she couldn’t help questioning many of Tinie’s actions.

“If he wasn’t actually working for the enemy, why did he shoot my dad?” she wondered aloud, narrowing her eyes.

People in the underground often didn’t make sense. Their reasons could be simple and stupid, but that was how things worked in their world. No matter how simple or complicated their situations were, they often made the stupidest and most foolish decisions because they were the easiest.

“Did he shoot Dad just enough to hurt him but not kill him?” she whispered, remembering how the bullet had barely missed a fatal point.

Had Tinie actually been trying to escape—not from them, but from the people he answered to?

Had Tinie allowed Lukas to capture him because he believed it was the safer choice, even if it wasn’t the best one?

Question after question flooded Ashley’s mind. She massaged her brows as her head began to throb.

Just then, her phone vibrated in her palm.

She glanced at the screen and saw a message from Omen.

[Just in case you try to play dirty again, I’m the one who cracked this encrypted drive. There are a lot of files here. Come quickly.]

She didn’t respond, knowing they were already close to the building. She looked up and saw that they were approaching the entrance. However, as they drew closer, her brows knitted together.

“What is that?” Red raised a hand from the front passenger seat. “Why are there several people outside?”

Khan leaned forward in the driver’s seat. “I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Ashley craned her neck to see through the windshield.

“I wasn’t seeing things,” she muttered.

Her eyes narrowed as she recognized one person standing among the three cars parked directly outside the building.

Julius.

“Madam,” Khan called, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.

“I know him.” She kept her gaze fixed on Julius. “Don’t drive away. He’ll chase us. Don’t forget, those guys aren’t so different from us. They can always cook up a charge and hold us at their station.”

Red’s expression changed, while Khan gave a firm nod.

With that, they approached the entrance and pulled over. Red immediately jumped out and hurried toward the back-seat door, opening it for Ashley.

She hadn’t even stepped out when Julius approached. Red moved forward, raising his hands slightly.

“Back off,” he warned.

Julius smiled and raised both hands. “Ah, sorry.”

He then pulled his jacket aside to show them his badge.

“I’m with the police.”

“Red,” Ashley called as she stepped out of the car and stood beside him. “It’s fine.”

Red, however, knew it wasn’t fine. His sharp gaze remained fixed on Julius.

Ashley turned her attention to him.

“Julius, it’s been a while,” she greeted with a smile. “I heard you came to our house not long ago. How have you been?”

Julius returned her smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. If anything, he studied her expression as though trying to make a difficult decision.

After releasing a deep breath, he stepped forward and closed some of the distance between them.

“Ashley De Luca,” Julius called solemnly. “Trust me, I don’t want to do this, but… I have a few questions for you. So, I’d like you to come with us to the station.”

Ashley and Red furrowed their brows as they stared at Julius’s unsmiling face.

“Am I…” Ashley’s brows knitted even tighter. “…under arrest?”