Nick left the Peddler's building with Kiara, Jonathan, and the girl following him.
Jonathan and Kiara hadn't noticed it, but their dynamic with Nick had already changed.
Earlier, they had followed Nick because he had essentially threatened them with their lives.
But now, they just naturally followed him.
Naturally, that was because of what they had just seen.
Stephen had harbored such a dark secret, and most likely, Ardum must have known about it or, even worse, actually supported it.
It was still very difficult for them to accept that the nice boss they had known for months actually had such a dark secret.
Kiara, especially, wanted to deny that Ardum knew about these things.
But the only way this would be possible was if all of this had been set up by Nick.
However, that was just too unrealistic.
It would have required so much work, and Nick would have even needed to fool a small girl into lying very convincingly.
It was a fact that Stephen was a monster, and Ardum most likely knew about it.
Some people might be able to come to terms with this and continue working for Ardum, but Jonathan and Kiara were not part of this group of people.
Kiara and Jonathan both grew up in the Outer City.
While life hadn't been smooth sailing for them, it wasn't nearly as bad as growing up in the Dregs.
The earliest one of them had seen a corpse was when they were 14 years old, which was nothing compared to children who grew up in the Dregs.
The two of them knew that life was cruel, but looking past such a vile act was still impossible for them.
Nick led the three of them into the Outer City again.
They were walking far slower than before due to the additional presence of the little girl.
During their travels, the little girl didn't say anything and simply hung on Kiara's thigh.
Some minutes later, the three of them reached the Outer City, and Nick turned to Kiara.
"We're going to your home. You can leave the little girl there while we deal with other matters," he said evenly.
Kiara took a deep breath and nodded.
Showing Nick where she lived was making it impossible for her to turn back.
If she decided to betray them, they knew where she lived, and they would be able to assassinate her easily or even take her family hostage.
However, it didn't actually make a difference.
Kiara had already decided to just go with the flow.
Yes, she still hated Nick for killing Sarah, but she wasn't willing to throw her life away for revenge.
Half an hour later, they reached a small house at the edges of the Outer City.
"We'll be waiting here. Don't take longer than ten minutes," Nick said evenly.
Jonathan looked with worry at Kiara.
He hoped that Kiara didn't decide to do something stupid.
Kiara nodded and led the little girl inside.
A moment after the door opened, Nick heard the voice of a young teenage boy.
He guessed that this was Kiara's brother since she had said that she had a younger brother.
A couple of minutes later, Kiara came out of the house and nodded at Nick.
Jonathan sighed in relief.
After that, the three of them ran towards Dark Dream, and since the little girl was no longer with them, it barely took them five minutes.
When the two of them saw the warehouse, they furrowed their brows.
That was it?
Cycle was inside an actual office building, which was several stories high.
Meanwhile, Dark Dream was just some shitty warehouse.
Their future seemed a bit more uncertain.
Nick opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
When the door opened, the three of them saw several people.
Jonathan and Kiara immediately noticed the guards and realized that working in a warehouse wasn't actually so stupid.
Guards needed to patrol through office buildings, but in a warehouse, they could keep watch over everything easily.
Even more, it was quite difficult to get to the guards.
The next moment, they noticed a beautiful woman with brown hair sewing something in the corner, which was a bit strange.
Did someone live here?
Was that an employee?
Next, they noticed a tall man sleeping in the corner, and they quickly realized that this was one of Dark Dream's employees.
This was the one called Trevor.
But why was he sleeping here?
Naturally, the people who were awake also noticed the newcomers, and they became careful.
After all, they were all on edge due to the current situation.
Nick just walked towards a desk where a young woman was sitting.
Since Pator was dead, his position had been filled by three people who worked in shifts.
When the young woman saw Nick approaching, she respectfully stood up and performed a quick bow.
"Good evening, sir. What do you need?" she asked.
"Get Wyntor down here immediately," Nick said.
"Of course, sir," the young woman said before running out of the warehouse.
It was almost eight p.m. by now, and Wyntor had already gone home.
Nick walked back to Kiara and Jonathan, who just awkwardly stood around, not knowing what would happen to them.
Then, the three of them went to the side and waited.
"Why is he sleeping here?" Jonathan asked after a couple of minutes of silence as he gestured to Trevor.
"Because of you," Nick said.
The two of them furrowed their brows in confusion.
"What if you attack him on his way home?" Nick asked.
Then, he gestured to the beautiful woman sewing in the corner. "She's also here because of you. She's a family member of one of our Extractors. She's living here so that you can't use her as a hostage."
Kiara and Jonathan felt a bit insulted.
They would never stoop so low and involve the family members of their enemies.
But then, they remembered Stephen's and Ardum's true faces, and they realized that such a worry was actually not unfounded.
However, at the same time, a question appeared in their mind.
Why didn't their family live in the office for the same reason?
What was different?
However, before they could find an answer, the main entrance opened.
Wyntor was here.
