The Luna Is Gone

Chapter 152

Diana’s pov

Almost the instant Nathan’s voice fell, without any hesitation, my hand, which was reaching down, transformed into sharp wolf claws and swiftly attacked Nathan’s neck.

“If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut,” I said, gripping his neck.

Yet, Nathan showed no fear of being held hostage.

He smirked lightly and asked, “Are you begging me not to tell William about your plan to blow up the lab?”

“Do you think this is begging?

I narrowed my eyes, my palm tightening, the nails almost piercing Nathan’s vulnerable skin. “Otherwise?” Nathan remained composed. “Do you think ”

Nathan’s voice halted abruptly, his left hand quickly grasping my wrist, forcefully twisting it to break free from my grip.

He pinned my wrist against the wall, towering over me, mocking, “Do you really think you can kill me?” A familiar scent enveloped me, giving me goosebumps almost instantly.

“Let go!” I shook my shoulder fiercely.

But my struggle seemed as insignificant to Nathan as a pebble thrown into the vast ocean, and he smiled, whispering, “Djana, has no one ever told you that begging should come with a proper attitude?”

I snorted. “If you want me to beg, you’d have to kill me first. Let me repeat, let go of me!”

Nathan raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

His expression resembled that of someone watching the struggle of prey before its demise.

Just when I thought he would retaliate against me, maybe even kill me, after a few seconds, he suddenly released my wrist and stepped back.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell William about your plan to blow up the lab. But in exchange, you must agree to something.”

I rubbed my sore wrist. “What is it?”

Nathan remained silent.

I gritted my teeth. “If you want me to get the formula from Healer for you, you might as well kill me.”

I tilted my chin, closing my eyes.

The expected suffocation didn’t come.

1 heard Nathan say, “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved you just now.”

I suddenly remembered Nathan’s urgent expression as he rushed towards me in the fire and his. determination when he pushed away the pillar.

Slowly opening my eyes, I looked at his reddened right hand and asked the question that had been puzzling me since earlier but that I had deliberately ignored.

“So why did you save me?”

The surroundings seemed to quiet down in an instant the roar of helicopters, the spraying of water trucks, and the clamor of the crowd downstairs–all disappeared.

I could only hear my heartbeat and Nathan’s breath.

Though I didn’t want to admit it, at this moment, I shamefully found myself expecting something. After about half a minute, Nathan finally spoke.

“Why do you think?” he asked me back. “Because I still have feelings for you, because I still love you?” I froze, my heart pounding violently.

Then, I heard Nathan sneer disdainfully, “Diana, what kind of dream are you having? I saved you because I thought it would be too easy for you to die crushed by a pillar.”

My heartbeat gradually calmed, so much so that I began to doubt if it still resided in my chest.

But perhaps I had grown accustomed to the feeling of disappointment or perhaps my feelings for Nathan had truly diminished with the increasing misunderstandings. After a brief moment of disappointment, I felt nothing in the depths of my heart.

“That’s fine.” I shrugged, saying calmly, “Better off not letting me know you still have feelings for me, sparing me unnecessary disgust.” ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I glanced at Nathan, unsure if it was my imagination, but I saw his pupils quiver violently, as if some intense emotion was about to burst forth

Not wanting to delve into it, 1 averted my gaze.

“It’s impossible for me to give you the antidote formula, so tell me about other conditions,” I said.

After a few seconds of silence, Nathan spoke, “You must also keep what I did in the lab today a secret. from William.”

At this, I looked at Nathan again, his expression returning to its initial indifference.

“I don’t understand, aren’t you and William in a cooperative relationship?”

“But it’s merely a cooperation,” Nathan emphasized.

Implying that his relationship with William wasn’t as unbreakable as I had imagined. But that was normal. Nathan was the kind of person who equally doubted anyone who harbored thoughts of getting close to him, except Avia.

“Okay, I agree,” I said.

ul>

The good news was that the entire lab was burned down, leaving nothing of value behind, not even the surveillance was spared.

The bad news-

After the fire was put out, firefighters found Fisher unconscious in the lab’s restroom.

Though he suffered extensive burns all over his body and had a leg injury, he miraculously survived the explosion and fire.

But…

At this moment, in William’s office, I watched Fisher, covered in bandages and barely breathing. kneeling on the ground. I felt perhaps death would be the greatest mercy for him, rather than facing

William’s wrath.

“Speak! What have you done! Why did the lab explode?” William’s arms braced on the desk, his body tense, veins bulging on his forehead.

His tone was filled with threat and coercion, each word roaring out of the abyss, chilling to the bone. Fisher trembled incessantly, his eyes darting nervously.

“L… I really didn’t do anything, L… I don’t know why it exploded…”

His voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been smoked by thick fumes, sounding like sandpaper scraping across a tabletop.

Of course, William wouldn’t believe his feeble lies.

Grabbing the black gun that had been on his right side since a moment ago, William pulled the trigger without hesitation. With a loud bang, Fisher’s already broken left leg gained another bloody hole. “Ahhh-”

Fisher let out a piercing scream.

Behind him, my colleagues huddled together in fear.

No one had expected William to suddenly shoot.

“I’ll give you one more chance to tell the truth! Otherwise, the next shot will be aimed at your eyes.” The black gun barrel, emitting white smoke, lifted slightly, and Fisher screamed in terror, “Ahhhh! I’ll talk! Please don’t shoot!”

Afraid of losing his eyes in another second of hesitation, Fisher, with his ragged voice, hoarsely exclaimed, “It’s the catalyst! I added a catalyst to the existing antidote, and then it exploded!”

“A catalyst?” William slowly lowered the gun. “What catalyst? Explain.”

Seeing William no longer pointing the gun at himself, Fisher breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He licked his dry, cracked lips and trembled as he spoke, “It was Healer who said… she said the catalyst could speed up the development of the antidote, so… so I took the risk to experiment…”

William abruptly turned his gaze towards me, indicating I provide an explanation.

I frowned. “I admit, I did say that the catalyst has a significant effect on the antidote, but I never mentioned this to Fisher.‘

“That’s because I overheard your conversation with Moss!” Fisher exclaimed urgently.

I smirked inwardly but kept a serious expression. “I see… But as I also mentioned, no one can add a catalyst without my permission because of the substantial risks involved. Either you didn’t hear that part, or…”

I paused intentionally, pretending to be puzzled as I looked at Fisher. “Or you heard it but arrogantly added the catalyst anyway?”

“I…” Fisher was suddenly speechless.

After a few seconds, as if something had suddenly dawned on him, he glared at me with fury. “I know! It’s you! You and Moss deliberately set me up, didn’t you?”

I put on an innocent look. “Fisher, you can’t make a mistake and then blame me for it!”

“I didn’t!” Fisher roared.

Dragging his bleeding, injured leg, Fisher wriggled closer to William, tears streaming down his face. “Mr. William, please listen to me! It was… it was Healer and Moss who pretended to argue, making

me think that Healer didn’t want to add the catalyst because she didn’t want to develop the antidote for you!

Diana’s pov

Almost the instant Nathan’s voice fell, without any hesitation, my hand, which was reaching down, transformed into sharp wolf claws and swiftly attacked Nathan’s neck.

“If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut,” I said, gripping his neck.

Yet, Nathan showed no fear of being held hostage.

He smirked lightly and asked, “Are you begging me not to tell William about your plan to blow up the lab?”

“Do you think this is begging?”

I narrowed my eyes, my palm tightening, the nails almost piercing Nathan’s vulnerable skin.

“Otherwise?” Nathan remained composed. “Do you think ”

Nathan’s voice halted abruptly, his left hand quickly grasping my wrist, forcefully twisting it to break free from my grip.

He pinned my wrist against the wall, towering over me, mocking, “Do you really think you can kill me?”

A familiar scent enveloped me, giving me goosebumps almost instantly.

“Let go!” I shook my shoulder fiercely.

But my struggle seemed as insignificant to Nathan as a pebble thrown into the vast ocean, and he smiled, whispering, “Diana, has no one ever told you that begging should come with a proper attitude?”

I snorted. “If you want me to beg, you’d have to kill me first. Let me repeat, let go of me!”

Nathan raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

His expression resembled that of someone watching the before its demise.

e off

Just when I thought he would retaliate against me, maybe even kill me, after a few seconds, he suddenly released my wrist and stepped back.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell William about your plan to be up the lab. But in exchange, you must agree t

something.”

I rubbed my sore wrist. “What is it?”

Nathan remained silent.

I gritted my teeth. “If you want me to get the formula from Healer for you, you might as well kill me.” I tilted my chin, closing my eyes.

The expected suffocation didn’t come.

I heard Nathan say, “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved you just now.”

I suddenly remembered Nathan’s urgent expression as he rushed towards me in the fire and his determination when he pushed away the pillar.

Slowly opening my eyes, I looked at his reddened right hand and asked the question that had been puzzling me since earlier but that I had deliberately ignored.

“So why did you save me?”

The surroundings seemed to quiet down in an instant–the roar of helicopters, the spraying of water trucks, and the clamor of the crowd downstairs–all disappeared.

I could only hear my heartbeat and Nathan’s breath.

Though I didn’t want to admit it, at this moment, I shamefully found myself expecting something. After about half a minute, Nathan finally spoke.

“Why do you think?” he asked me back. “Because I still have feelings for you, because I still love you?”

1 froze, my heart pounding violently.

Then, I heard Nathan sneer disdainfully, “Diana, what kind of dream are you having? I saved you because I thought it would be too easy for you to die crushed by a pillar.”

My heartbeat gradually calmed, so much so that I began to doubt if it still resided in my chest.

But perhaps I had grown accustomed to the feeling of disappointment or perhaps my feelings for Nathan had truly diminished with the increasing misunderstandings. After a brief moment of disappointment, I felt nothing in the depths of my heart,

1

“That’s fine.” I shrugged, saying calmly, “Better off not letting me know you still have feelings for me, sparing me unnecessary disgust.”

I glanced at Nathan, unsure if it was my imagination, but I saw his pupils quiver violently, as if somet intense emotica was about to burst forth.

Not wanting to delve into it, 1 averted my gaze

“It’s impossible for me to give you the antidote formula, so tell me about other conditions,” I said.

After a few seconds of silence, Nathan spoke, “You must also keep what I did in the lab today a secret from William.”

At this, I looked at Nathan again, his expression returning to its initial indifference.

“I don’t understand, aren’t you and William in a cooperative relationship?”

“But it’s merely a cooperation,” Nathan emphasized,

Implying that his relationship with William wasn’t as unbreakable as I had imagined. But that was normal. Nathan was the kind of person who equally doubted anyone who harbored thoughts of getting close to him, except Avia.

“Okay, Lagree,” I said.

The good news was that the entire lab was burned down, leaving nothing of value behind, not even the surveillance was spared.

The bad news-

After the fire was put out, firefighters found Fisher unconscious in the lab’s restroom.

Though he suffered extensive burns all over his body and had a leg injury, he miraculously survived the explosion and fire.

But…

At this moment, in William’s office, I watched Fisher, covered in bandages and barely breathing, kneeling on the ground. I felt perhaps death would be the greatest mercy for him, rather than facing

William’s wrath.

“Speak! What have you done! Why did the lab explode?” William’s arms braced on the desk, his body tense, veins bulging on his forehead.

His tone was filled with threat and coercion, each word roaring out of the abyss, chilling to the bone.

Fisher trembled incessantly, his eyes darting nervously.

“I… I really didn’t do anything, I… I don’t know why it exploded…”

His voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been smoked by thick fumes, sounding like sandpaper scraping across a tabletop.

Of course, William wouldn’t believe his feeble lies.

Grabbing the black gun that had been on his right side since a moment ago, William pulled the trigger without hesitation. With a loud bang, Fisher’s already broken left leg gained another bloody hole.

“Ahhh-”

Fisher let out a piercing scream.

Behind him, my colleagues huddled together in fear.

No one had expected William to suddenly shoot.

“I’ll give you one more chance to tell the truth! Otherwise, the next shot will be aimed at your eyes.”

The black gun barrel, emitting white smoke, lifted slightly, and Fisher screamed in terror, “Ahhhh! I’ll talk! Please don’t shoot!”

Afraid of losing his eyes in another second of hesitation, Fisher, with his ragged voice, exclaimed, “It’s the catalyst! I added a catalyst to the existing antidote, and then it exploded!”

“A catalyst?” William slowly lowered the gun. “What catalyst? Explain.”

Seeing William no longer pointing the gun at himself, Fisher breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He licked his dry, cracked lips and trembled as he spoke, “It was Healer who said… she said the catalyst could speed up the development of the antidote, so… so I took the risk to experiment…”

William abruptly turned his gaze towards me, indicating I provide an explanation.

I frowned. “I admit, I did say that the catalyst has a significant effect on the antidote, but I never mentioned this to Fisher.”

“That’s because I overheard your conversation with Moss!” Fisher exclaimed urgently.

I didn’t hear that

I smirked inwardly but kept a serious expression. “I see… But as I also mentioned, no one can add at catalyst without my permission because of the substantial risks involved. Either part, or…”

I paused intentionally, pretending to be puzzled as I looked at Fisher. “Or you heard it but arrogantly added the catalyst anyway?”

“L..” Fisher was suddenly speechless.

After a few seconds, as if something had suddenly dawned on him, he glared at me with fury. “I know! It’s you! You and Moss deliberately set me up, didn’t you?”

I put on an innocent look. “Fisher, you can’t make a mistake and then blame me for it!‘

“I didn’t!” Fisher roared.

Dragging his bleeding, injured leg, Fisher wriggled closer to William, tears streaming down his face. “Mr. William, please listen to me! It was… it was Healer and Moss who pretended to argue, making me think that Healer didn’t want to add the catalyst because she didn’t want to develop the antidote for you! So… so after that, I went to see Moss alone. Moss told me that the catalyst could indeed accelerate the development of the antidote! He even told me to come to the lab early today, so Healer wouldn’t find out, 1—”

“Mr. Fisher,” Moss stepped forward, interrupting him, “I never said such things to you.”

“You did!” Fisher’s eyes were bloodshot. “You clearly told me that as long as I added the catalyst to the antidote, I could earn great merit!”

“I really didn’t say that,” Moss shook his head, looking genuinely troubled. “If you insist on accusing me, you should at least provide evidence.”

Fisher was dumbfounded.

he let

He desperately wanted to prove himself in front of William, to gain his protection, and in doing so, go of all his defenses. Evidence? Did he have any? None! Even if he did, it was probably obliterated in the explosion not long ago. Now, all he could do was to hope for William’s mercy.

“Mr. William, I really just wanted to help you develop the antidote quickly. I really didn’t mean to, please spare me… please… I don’t want to die yet… please…”

However, hoping for kindness from a mob boss was as futile as hoping time could rewind.

Bang!

ng out

A gunshot rang out.

In his rage, William decisively ended Fisher’s life.