Now that Chad had his memories back, there were various things that he was starting to piece together. He had held himself back from mentioning Bree’s role in this whole scheme out of the feelings he now, undoubtedly, bore for her. Her manipulation might have been real, but her emotions, as well as the ones that had grown within him as a result of that, were also real.
When he looked at Brian, he remembered several beatings, as well as a few confessions the man had made with Clive before he blacked out from whatever potions they’d injected into his system.
‘This is a mess,’ he thought to himself.
“Get your hands off me!” Brian growled.
Chad ignored him, turning to Bree, “Bring me some rope… or an old shirt if you can’t find rope.”
The girl nodded and was off to find what he’d asked for. Cherry, on the other hand, hadn’t left her seat. She looked like she wanted to go help Bree look for the rope. It spoke volumes about how much Brian had terrorised the two.
‘All of that for money…’ he thought to himself.
“You’re a special breed of scum, Brian,” Chad sighed.
“You know nothing about me,” Brian answered with a hateful growl. He’d already attempted to use his Factor three times, but with his hands this uncomfortable bound, all his attempts were answered by his body being slammed into the wall with just enough force to make him understand that Chad was holding back from breaking his bones. The part of his cheek grazing the wall was starting to turn red under the force. “How are you this strong?”
“I have you to thank for all the strength. Two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against you,” Chad answered. “Now, you’re going to cut all ties with Cherry.”
Brian launched into a peal of laughter, “Or what, nerd?”
“There is a long list of things I can do to you right now. We’d chalk it up to an act of self-defence. But if that’s not enough for you, then perhaps you wouldn’t want me to release a recording of you plotting to exploit Cherry’s Factor for profit. What was it? A hundred thousand per bottle?” Chad whispered.
Brian’s laughter had died down at this point, and he was fuming.
“Do we have a deal?”
“Like hell we do,” he growled. “Why don’t you call Cherry out here and let her decide?”
“I’m right here, Brian.” Cherry’s voice filtered through the silence.
“Let’s talk in private, Cheer.” Brian’s voice turned soothing.
“Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Chad. I have nothing to hide from him,” Cherry answered.
“Cheer! Clive’s finished with the Suppression Potion. I have a deal not even you could pass up,” Brian launched into negotiation mode.
“I know,” Cherry answered.
Brian paled at the words, “Then why are you still talking to this loser nerd? You can finally stop worrying about that troublesome Factor and focus on your business.”
“I know that the potion has been complete for a while now. You simply had Clive pretend it wasn’t done yet. I’m not interested in the potion anymore. As for the fashion brand, I’ll simply hire models and start a separate line for girls like me,” Cherry answered, her confidence finally returning to her.
“That’s ridiculous. You’ll never make it through the industry that way,” Brian argued.
“Because you know so much about fashion,” Chad scoffed, “Give me a break!”
“I’ll be changing the locks to my apartment, so don’t think about dropping by, okay?” Cherry added, “Or perhaps I could just change apartments completely.”
“None will be necessary,” Chad answered, “Because we’re going to reveal it all to the authorities.”
Both Cherry and Chad seemed frightened by the idea. They were of the opinion that their whole research was illegal, but Chad had a better idea.
“Then we’ll both go down for it,” Chad chuckled.
It was then that Bree returned with the rope Chad had asked for. The binding was so brutal and tight that red lines would start to form in the man’s skin the instant he tried to fight.
Once Brian was properly bound, Chad took him over to the sofa and forced him to sit. He sat opposite him and continued, “You’re mistaken. Funding research for a cause helpful to humanity has never been illegal. And while there are some grey areas like ethics and consent, Cherry never once performed experiments on an unwilling individual; that is to say, she performed the experiments on herself.”
“The research was never registered,” Brian countered.
“No research is ever registered before results are presented or at least a proof of concept,” Chad cut him down. “What is indeed illegal is you taking advantage of the funds to run an underground business selling Expansion potions without a license, consent and a long list of things I’m sure a lawyer would be happy to point out.”
Brian’s face shifted between fear and anger. Chad could almost see the man calculating the best ways he could get out of this situation. People like Brian weren’t known for quitting, and with how much he’d already done, Chad was willing to bet the man would resort to almost anything just to get what he wanted.
“Your Factor is quite weak against me,” he continued. “Now, you could go buy yourself some other potions to give yourself a boost, but I’m guessing you’ve already tried that. Blood gets contaminated and non-responsive to potions if you take too many. A Wind Factor is not enough to do what I’ve seen you do. You already took a Strength Potion…”
Brian’s face went pale. ‘Bullseye.’
Author's Note: Dun Dun Dun... Yeah, Wind Factor, my foot!
Bonus images in the Illustrated chapter.