Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 159: Chapter 159

The voices from over there were so quiet that only Shawn, with his sharp hearing, could hear them—his men, standing farther away, didn't catch a thing.
"Aren't those the top guys from the Eminence Nexus?" Chase's eyes widened in shock. "What's Zoe doing there?"
Shawn just watched the Eminence Nexus group silently for a long moment, then stepped out with his men, acting like he hadn't heard anything or figured out Zoe's true identity.
Zoe was about to answer the people in front of her when she suddenly felt someone coming near. Her eyes sharpened, and she saw Shawn leading his team straight toward them.
In a second, her face turned cold. She thought, 'When did he arrive in Yaniston? How long has he been here?
'I never thought I'd run into Shawn here. How much of our talk has he overheard? Did he already know who I was?'
Shawn's lips curled into a faint smile, and his next words instantly made all her worries go away. "Zoe, what are you doing here?" His voice was as calm and distant as ever, just like back in the barracks.
That question made Zoe relax. Zoe, the usually cold and distant girl gave Shawn a sweet smile.
She said, "Mr. Ludwig, I was here for a race, but I just happened to come across this stash of weapons stolen from Clusia. So I called a few friends to help me get them back."
With that, Zoe shot a meaningful look at the leaders of the Eminence Nexus.
They understood right away and turned to move the trucks full of weapons over.
Shawn gave a quick wave to his men, who immediately moved toward the trucks.
After checking everything, Chase jogged back and saluted Shawn. "Boss, all the goods are here. Everything matches up."
Shawn turned to Zoe. "Good job. We wouldn't have found this shipment without you."
He added, "We were sent to Yaniston to get back some stolen military supplies. Now that we have found them, we will take over from here."
During the whole talk, both of them kept things strictly professional, talking only about the weapons and never mentioning the Eminence Nexus or Firefox. Zoe let out a small sigh of relief.
It seemed he really didn't notice anything. But to be safe, Zoe asked, "Shawn, how long have you been here?"
"Just got here. Who killed these people?" Shawn replied, glancing at the bodies on the ground.
Without hesitation, Zoe grabbed one of the Eminence Nexus members and pulled him over. "He did it."
The Eminence Nexus members thought, 'Our ruler acted so girly in front of Mr. Ludwig.'
Shawn's deep, dark gaze was locked onto Zoe, as if he could see straight through her.
Zoe said, "One of our teammates got caught by them, so I need to go rescue him. See you in Clusia, Shawn."
Zoe knew it wasn't a good idea to stay alone with Shawn—he was way too sharp. If she stayed longer, he might figure out something.
She waved and left first. Shawn's lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes showed possessive hunger.
He thought, 'Alright, see you back home. No matter where you run, you're mine.'
People kept talking.
Zoe managed to rescue the missing racer.
He was tied up inside an abandoned car, guarded by just two men. The spot was so well hidden that even Zoe had to work hard to get him out.
Honestly, this trip to Yaniston was a real close call. By the time Zoe got the guy out, all the big shots from the Eminence Nexus had already left, leaving Shawn's team to clean up.
As soon as Zoe was gone, Chase came up to Shawn and whispered, "Boss, aren't we bringing Zoe back to Clusia with us?"
Shawn's face stayed cold. "No personal stuff during the mission."
Chase nodded. He almost forgot about the secret agreement. He asked, "Boss, why was Zoe standing with those Eminence Nexus bigwigs? Is she—?"
Shawn cut him off right away and gave a clear order. "No one is to tell anyone about seeing Zoe in Yaniston."
"Got it."
Besides Chase, the rest of the team just thought Zoe was super skilled. None of them would connect her to the Ruler of the Eminence Nexus or the famous Firefox.
People kept talking.
Zoe had already brought the rescued racer back to Henry. Even though everyone was surprised she pulled it off, nobody asked her for details.
The team slipped out of that mess, caught the first flight that night, and headed straight back to Clusia. Zoe just got home when Shawn, who had handed off the cleanup to his men, followed right after.
Sophia got back to Clusia even earlier. Ever since she found out Zoe was actually Firefox, the Queen of Mercenaries, she was on edge.
She barely managed to escape home, then she just hid in her room, too scared to see anyone.
The maids and staff at the White family just thought Sophia was throwing another one of her tantrums—she was never easy to deal with, so no one paid much attention.
Only Sophia knew how messed up her mind was—a tangled mess she couldn't sort out. She thought, 'What do I do now? Zoe's so vengeful, and she's Firefox—the person who can go head-to-head with Shawn.
'She's gonna kill him! I can't let her get away with it.
'And she's so close to Shawn. What if she falls for him?'
All these thoughts spun around in Sophia's head, twisting like a ball of tangled yarn.
She thought, 'If I keep going against her, will I end up dragging the White family into danger?'
After she learned the truth, she hadn't told anyone—no one would believe something so crazy anyway.
She muttered, "I refuse to just sit here and wait for disaster. Zoe, you might be Firefox, but I'm not some helpless nobody. I have the White family behind me, and plenty of people I can use.
"I will find a way to deal with you—even if you're the Queen of Mercenaries. If you want to hurt Shawn, I won't let you succeed.
"Anyone who tries to hurt Shawn has to die. That includes you. Just wait—I already know how to handle you."