The Heiress Spoiled by Four Brothers and One Devilish CEO-Chapter 269 Call me if it acts up

Nicole nodded firmly. "I’m betting Nathaniel will turn against Charles for the sake of the kid. Sure, Tristan has a way to track down the bio-lab, but I still think we need a backup plan. This mess with the mutated virus is just too insane. I’ve never claimed to be some kind of saint, but I seriously don’t want to watch the whole world burn because of some lunatic." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"You’re really not keeping the baby? You sure you can give it up?" Megan held her hand gently. "It’s not just his—it’s yours too."

Nicole shook her head, eyes calm but cold. "He killed my entire family, Megan. Keeping this baby would only drag me into more pain. As long as this child exists, Nathaniel will fight like hell to stay alive. I can’t let that threat linger."

Megan could tell her mind was made up. There was no changing it.

With a sigh, Megan said, "I won’t try to talk you out of it. In the end, you’re the one who’ll have to live with this choice. Just—whatever you decide, don’t look back with regret."

She caught the flicker of sadness in Nicole’s eyes but knew she wasn’t in a place to challenge that decision.

Nicole nodded again. "I know. I’ve thought this all through. Megan... you know what? When Tristan asked me to help him with that scripted act, I was seriously stunned. I mean, he actually pleaded with me—a man like him, standing tall and proud, literally begging. He told me he couldn’t let you crumble under guilt and would rather let you hate him instead."

"I felt torn. On one hand, it felt cruel to him, on the other, like I was betraying you. The day we left, I couldn’t even look you in the eyes—was terrified I’d spill everything."

"That must’ve been hard for you." Megan squeezed her hand tighter. "Nicole, no matter what happens, you’ve still got me."

Nicole’s nose stung, her throat caught. She hummed softly in response.

After lunch, Tristan led Megan, Samuel, and Nicole to a room in the far east end of the house.

It looked just like every other room on the surface—nothing unusual at all.

Tristan walked over to the bed, pressed a hidden switch, and the floor silently slid open, revealing a staircase into a tunnel below.

Samuel let out a low whistle. "Don’t tell me the secret passage under the Lewis old house’s dining room was based on this?"

Tristan gave a rare smirk. "At least you’re not completely hopeless."

Nicole nudged Megan with a laugh. "Wow, I finally saw Tristan crack a smile. Guy never shows any expression—only you manage to pull that out of him."

Megan stared at his lean figure. "I’m gonna find a way to save him. I swear."

The four of them descended the stairs. Motion sensor lights lit up row by row above them, while the entrance sealed shut behind them.

Once underground, Samuel’s eyes lit up at the sight of the tech and robots around. "Dude, where’d you even learn to build all this?"

Tristan responded coolly, "That’s just talent."

He looked so smug it really made you wanna smack some humility into him.

Samuel shot him a side-eye and then dove into exploring.

Picking up a metallic sphere, he asked, "This some kind of robotic ball? How do you play with it?"

"That’s a hedgehog bot," Tristan said lazily. "Pretty dangerous. It fires out steel needles when it senses incoming threats."

Samuel’s mouth twitched. "You really don’t hold back with your designs. But don’t you need someone to code these things?"

"Of course."

Samuel’s interest piqued. "So—who wrote the code? Mind introducing me? Sounds like they might actually give Megan a run for her money."Megan shrugged. "I heard that the best at programming these machines is a guy known as ’Ghost,’ but no one’s ever actually seen him. Since Sam brought it up, now I’m curious too. Babe, can you give us a hint?"

Tristan pulled her into his side. "What’s in it for me?"

"How about a kiss?"

He chuckled lowly and leaned closer to her ear. "How about a night full of kisses?"

The whisper made her ears tingle, and she burst into a giggle. "Sounds like a plan!"

"You two... can you just answer the question already? This ’Ghost’—guy or girl? Old or young?"

"Male. Young. Total tech genius and a looker," Tristan replied.

Samuel let out a snort. "No way... you don’t mean yourself, do you?"

Tristan just smirked. "Should’ve figured it out by now."

Samuel’s jaw dropped. "You’re kidding! You’re Ghost? The two people I idolize—Professor XAL and Ghost—turn out to be the same damn person? That’s insane!"

Megan blinked. "So you were the one who matched my skills in programming? The one I teamed up with all along?"

"Hold up," Samuel said, clearly lost.

Megan explained, "I’ve always worked with Ghost under my ShadowWing alias. He handled the AI and robotics, I did system security. We made a great team."

"Wait, so you’ve been hiding this from me the whole time?"

Tristan shrugged. "Was kinda hoping you’d eventually figure it out. But clearly, you’re too busy chasing my wife to notice."

Samuel looked like he’d been hit in the gut. These two were on a whole other level.

Rolling his eyes, he pointed at a rectangular box. "Hey, what’s this? Another bot or something?"

Before anyone could stop him, he popped it open.

"Don’t touch—"

Too late. A mechanical fist sprang out and socked him right in the nose.

"Seriously?! Even the boxes are booby-trapped?"

Megan quickly pressed some tissues to his nose. "You’ll live. Honestly, Sam, first time I met you, I thought you were tall, cool, and charming. But the more I get to know you, only the ’tall’ part stuck."

Samuel grumbled, "So much for charm. What about cool?"

"That faded fast the minute you opened your mouth."

Samuel: "..."

Wow. The sass between them was unreal.

Megan burst out laughing. "Sam, know what I like most about you?"

"What?"

"That clueless, dorky vibe you’ve got going."

Samuel fake-laughed. "Your husband’s no different."

"Wrong. No matter how I look at him, my husband’s hot."

Samuel finally understood what ’double standards’ really meant.

Yeah, Megan and Tristan were two peas in a pod—made sense they ended up together.

Right before they left the lab, Tristan handed Samuel a new kind of robot, shaped like an egg.

He configured it with Samuel’s fingerprint and eye scan, making him its owner.

As Samuel climbed into his car, he shook his head. "So you bribe me with a robot to steal my sister, huh? How am I supposed to explain this?"

Tristan put his arm around Megan and grinned. "That’s your problem now. Just a heads-up—this robot’s no toy. Call me if it acts up."

Samuel let out a snort and drove off.

Midway down the road, the egg-shaped bot suddenly shot through the roof and launched into the sky...