She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 307

“So it works.” Gavin’s eyes lit up with vicious triumph. “Bring her to the deck—now! Hurry!”

He waved his men to pull the kids back. A kid was worth tens of thousands; tossing one into the ocean was like throwing cash into a furnace.

Aaron was dropped onto the deck like trash. He didn’t move. Only when Loyce appeared in his line of sight did the last dim spark in his eyes finally go out.

So this was it. He’d actually believed she was capable, believed she had the nerve to see it through. And yet the moment a few children were put on the line, she surrendered. Didn’t she understand that if she died, every one of them would end up in the same hell anyway?

In that moment, Aaron decided this so-called cop had no brain at all.

Gavin wore a twisted grin of victory when he saw her. “Ha! You finally crawled out, Loyce! For these little runts? Pathetic. Soft-hearted and stupid.”

He nudged Aaron with his boot. “Kids really are useful. Otherwise you might’ve actually gotten me tonight.”

The second Loyce was forced onto the deck, a dozen gun barrels swung toward her.

Fog swallowed the world. The air felt thick, almost clotting. Loyce stood alone under a forest of guns, her frame slender—her expression unchanged. But when Gavin kicked Aaron like refuse, something in her calm shifted, subtly and dangerously.

“Where did you get these kids?” she asked mildly. “Nobody investigates?”

Maybe because he thought she was already finished, Gavin didn’t bother lying. He actually sounded proud. “Investigate what? They’re the kind nobody notices. Tell them you’ll take them to their parents, they come easy. Cheapest stock there is—especially the girls. If they disappear, families look for a couple days, then they give up.”

Gavin was done playing. He sneered, convinced he’d seen through her. “Stalling? Waiting for rescue? If you called Lucian, I’ll tell you this—if he so much as twitches, I’ll know. And he hasn’t.”

Loyce’s eyes stayed on him. “So Caden isn’t the one feeding you intel. Someone higher than him is.”

Gavin’s mouth tightened. He’d nearly walked into her trap. He changed tack fast. “It’s the fog. Radio’s messed up. I don’t even let my own ship move around much—we’d lose our bearings. You think rescue is gonna find you out here?”

Then he pointed sharply at the children. “Take them back below. Tonight we harvest every last one. Dump the bodies right here.”

“As for Loyce…” Gavin took a shotgun from one of his men. He loaded it deliberately, right in front of her, chambered it, and lifted it to aim. Finger on the trigger, one eye narrowed. “Any last words?”