Chapter 104

It was pretty clear Charles was coming to. Even though he hadn't moved, he'd heard everything they said. He forced himself upright, leaning weakly against the wall. His face was pale as a sheet, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Though the bleeding had stopped, he'd lost too much blood—his whole body was drained. Still, he managed to stand, barely, and looked at Stella. "This is my problem. I won't drag innocent people into this mess." Charles might be afraid of death, but it wasn't worth putting an entire village at risk. Stella quickly stepped in front of him, grabbing onto his arms. "You can't go out there! They won't let you go! In your condition, you can't stand a chance!" Why did he have to be so stubborn now? The killers weren't after the villagers, just him. No one wants to stir up trouble if they don't have to. If villagers ended up dead, it'd blow up fast—that's not what those guys want. So the safest plan was for her to pretend to be him. They wouldn't kill her anyway. "St