The General's Daughter: The Mission

Chapter 266: A Love Built On Deception 2

"It’s her again. Didn’t she just left the hospital three days ago?"

The doctor who had previously treated Scarlet stopped the moment he saw her being wheeled into the emergency room.

Recognition flashed across his tired face before he let out a helpless sigh.

"You two really know how to keep a hospital busy."

Scarlet lay unconscious on the stretcher, her pale face almost colorless beneath the harsh white lights of the ER. Blood still stained the edges of the bandages wrapped around her waist.

The doctor glanced at Ares standing beside the stretcher, his shirt soaked with Scarlet’s blood.

Then he raised an eyebrow.

"Your girlfriend seems to attract an unbelievable amount of bad luck." His gaze sharpened slightly. "Actually... I can’t tell if the unlucky one is her..."

"...or you."

Ares fell silent.

For some reason, the doctor’s words struck deeper than expected.

He opened his mouth instinctively.

"She isn’t my girlfriend."

But before he could explain further, the doctor had already turned around and walked toward the door.

The cold metallic doors shut heavily behind him leaving behind an unsettling silence.

Gary stood nearby with his head lowered, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

The image of Scarlet getting stabbed replayed endlessly in his mind.

Every second. Every scream. Every drop of blood.

It was because of him.

If he hadn’t pushed her—

"How is she?" Gary finally asked, his voice strained and hoarse.

Ares leaned against the wall outside the operating room, exhaustion written across his face.

"The doctor said the knife missed her vital organs." He exhaled slowly, as though finally allowing himself to breathe again. "She’ll survive."

The moment those words left his mouth, Gary’s knees nearly gave out from relief.

"Thank God..."

He covered his face with trembling hands.

"If something really happened to her..." His voice cracked heavily with guilt. "I don’t think I could ever forgive myself."

Silence settled between them.

Then Gary slowly lifted his head and looked at Ares seriously.

"She risked her life for you," he said quietly. "Without hesitation."

His eyes darkened with emotion.

"You should take responsibility for her."

Ares did not answer immediately.

Instead, he stared at the closed operating room doors.

At the blood still staining his hands.

At the fear he felt when he thought Scarlet might die.

For the first time, he realized something undeniable.

The thought of losing her terrified him more than anything else.

His expression hardened with quiet certainty.

"I know," Ares said firmly.

From that moment onward, something between him and Scarlet quietly changed.

No longer were they bound together merely by coincidence or danger.

The walls around Ares’ heart, built through years of distrust and indifference, slowly began to crumble because of her.

And Scarlet entered effortlessly.

To Ares, she became the woman who risked her life to save him without hesitation... his savior.

The woman who stayed gentle even while bleeding in his arms.

The woman whose trembling smile made him feel something he had not felt in a very long time.

Was it love? Perhaps it was love.

And he fell harder than he realized.

Unfortunately, everything he believed was built on a lie.

Scarlet had never truly thrown herself in danger out of pure love.

The stabbing... the rescue...

Even the timing of everything—

It had all been part of a carefully crafted scheme orchestrated by both Gary and Scarlet from the very beginning.

If Ares had known the truth that day, perhaps he would have walked away before his feelings grew too deep.

But Scarlet was far too skilled at deception.

A perfect "green tea" woman. Pure and innocent on the surface.

Soft-spoken. Gentle. Fragile.

The type of woman that naturally awakened a man’s protective instincts.

Yet beneath that harmless exterior hid a calculating mind that knew exactly how to manipulate emotions and control the cards in her hand.

And in front of Ares—

Scarlet played her role flawlessly.

...

"Jack."

Ares called out to him for the second time, his voice colder and sharper than before.

"Are you even listening?"

Annoyance flickered across Ares’ face as he narrowed his eyes at him.

Jack finally lifted his gaze. Their eyes met in tense silence.

A bitter feeling stirred inside Jack’s chest.

Even after everything that happened... even after Scarlet abandoned Ares and followed her father overseas without a single explanation...

Ares still never learned the truth.

Or perhaps—

Even if he had learned it back then, it would not have changed anything anymore.

He had already fallen too deeply for Scarlet.

Hopelessly. A blind devotion.

Jack could never understand it.

How could a man as intelligent, talented, and terrifyingly perceptive as Ares fail to see through Scarlet’s schemes? It was an obvious act.

Ares could expose lies in business negotiations within seconds. He could read people better than anyone.

Yet when it came to Scarlet—

He became blind. Completely blind.

Jack had warned him countless times before. He still remembered every single conversation clearly.

"Scarlet isn’t as innocent as she pretends to be."

"She’s manipulating you."

"Stop trusting her so much."

But every warning he gave only earned him Ares’ cold displeasure.

"Jack, don’t badmouth Scarlet in front of me."

Ares’ icy voice from years ago still echoed vividly in his mind.

"She’s not that kind of woman. Scarlet is so gentle and loving. She loves me very much."

At that time, the look in Ares’ eyes had already made one thing painfully obvious—

He was completely captivated by her.

And Jack could only swallow his frustration, roll his eyes, and remain silent.

Because once Ares decided to trust someone, no one could change his mind.

Especially when it came to Scarlet.

...

"Ah... right. Sorry. Got distracted for a moment."

Jack let out a dry laugh and scratched the back of his head casually, though the atmosphere around him was anything but relaxed.

Ares’ icy glare practically pierced through him. But Jack deliberately ignored it.

Instead, his gaze drifted toward Lara again, lingering on her for a second longer than necessary before he finally spoke.

"So," he drawled lazily, "what were you saying earlier?"

Ares’ expression darkened even further at Jack’s obvious lack of seriousness.

"Help her secure the movie rights to Themis’ novel," Ares repeated coldly, his patience visibly thinning.

Jack raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Ah... you mean Amelia Nades?"

The moment the famous author’s name was mentioned, the playful look in his eyes disappeared and was replaced by interest.

"I’m already working on it," Jack replied confidently. "But that woman is notoriously difficult to approach. A lot of production companies have tried to buy her rights and failed."

He leaned back casually before smirking faintly.

Lara simply sat there in silence, a faint wry smile curving her lips.

After all—

The person who had been rejecting every single offer was her.