She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 753

The rain pounding the island was a blessing in disguise, quickly washing away their scent and tracks. If they could actually make it to the river, they might just pull off a miracle.

The sheer agony of standing up made Lucian's vision go black for a moment, but the warm pressure of Loyce pressing against him was a constant reminder. This stubborn woman wasn't one of his soldiers; she wouldn't follow orders to leave him behind. He had to grit his teeth and fight for survival until the bitter end.

Lucian stopped trying to argue, funneling every last drop of his strength into moving in sync with her.

Loyce bore the brunt of his weight, moving with steady determination. The rain washed away the blood they left behind, and the thorny brush tore at her clothes and skin, but she moved as if she couldn't feel it. Every ounce of her focus was locked on navigating the terrain and keeping them upright.

He could hear her heavy, suppressed breathing and feel the tremors in her overexerted muscles, but she never missed a step.

To keep him conscious and fighting, Loyce kept talking, mostly recounting pieces of her past.

"When I was first brought into the Sampson family, my brothers treated me really well. They bought me all sorts of toys and gadgets, so I got my hands on computers early on. Lester was the one who taught me how to play racing games on his PC. When Byron caught him, he scolded him for hours."

Lucian managed a faint smirk. "Is Lester the one who taught you how to hack, too?"

Loyce tilted her head, thinking seriously. "I always loved reading. Once Lester taught me the basics of computers, I started figuring things out on my own. Eventually, I found my way onto the dark web. I met people I never would have crossed paths with otherwise. That's how my career in arms dealing started."

Lucian looked at her in disbelief. "Exactly how old were you when you started selling weapons? That Christmas card you gave me—that was a VIP pass for emergencies, wasn't it?"

"I forget exactly when," Loyce said. "At first, I just brokered deals, acting as a middleman. I only decided to take over the supply chain myself after a face-to-face deal went sideways."

"What happened?" Lucian asked.

"The seller tried to move a shipment where half the guns were duds. Because I was the middleman, they blamed me, threw me into an underground fighting ring, and I almost died."

Lucian's breathing hitched. "How old were you? And you were already doing this kind of work?"

Loyce smiled faintly. "It was around the time Quiana showed up and distracted the whole family. Nobody was paying attention to me, so naturally, they had no idea what I was up to."

"An underground ring... fighting people? With your tiny frame?"

It sounded completely surreal. Loyce knew he wouldn't believe it. "There were no human opponents in that pit. Only beasts. I killed a leopard. Leopards only have short bursts of explosive power; once you get past that, killing them isn't actually that hard."

She spoke about it so casually, yet she hadn't even been eighteen at the time.

Throughout the grueling trek, Loyce kept telling him stories of her past, desperate to keep his mind sharp and awake.

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