Babel Novel
Chapter 650: Tina's Fury
Three minutes later, the destroyed surveillance footage was fully restored. The monitor showed that while Nathan had stepped away to discuss tactics, Grace approached the command console.
However, because she was facing away from the camera, and her entire body blocked the view of the console, it was unclear what she was actually doing. The entire incident lasted only three seconds. Tina's eyes immediately filled with boundless rage, and she stood up and walked outside. Linden arrived at that moment, along with Christopher, trying to stop her.
"Tina, this is a matter for the X Bureau. Let us handle it," they said.
"Go back for now. The footage didn't show Grace touching the console. Let us investigate properly," they continued.
Grace was an agent sent from headquarters. If there was to be any accountability, it could only come from there. Furthermore, with people already injured, they couldn't afford to be too harsh. Linden and Christopher were angry as well, but as the directors of the Ashbury X Bureau, they couldn't act impulsively.
But Tina, furious as she was, was beyond their control. Even though these two were once ranked second and third within the X Bureau.
With one swift move, Tina grabbed each by the wrist and twisted. With a crack, both Christopher and Linden's arms were dislocated. They cried out in pain and stood frozen in place, coincidentally right under a surveillance camera. "See? It's not that we didn't stop her; we couldn't stop her," they seemed to say.
Meanwhile, Grace was sitting in the secretarial department with a bandage on her head, portraying the image of a diligent worker battling through illness. Her injury was not serious; it was more of a pretense than anything else.
At the moment, her biggest worry was that the technicians had restored the surveillance. The situation had been urgent, and she hadn't had time to prepare better, so she had used her body to block the view. She wondered if she had given herself away.
Fortunately, even if the surveillance was restored, it had to go through the secretarial department, and even if it captured her, she had ways to handle it. Thinking this, she took out her lipstick to touch up. She chose a subdued bean paste color to appear more pitiful.
Suddenly, the door to the secretarial department was kicked open, slamming to the ground, startling everyone. Grace's hand shook, smearing lipstick across her face. Before she could react, she felt her neck grabbed and the next second, she was slammed onto the desk. The lipstick crushed against her face, and truth be told, it looked quite convincingly like bean paste was smeared across her face. Grace cried out in pain, "Who is it?"
Looking up, she met Tina's furiously angry face. A slap came, spinning Grace around 360 degrees, staggering a few steps before she steadied herself against the desk.
"Tina, what are you doing?" Grace exclaimed.
"Beating you!" Tina replied, and with another kick, Grace felt as though she had been launched into the air, crashing against the wall like a hapless chick.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
That wasn't the end. Tina grabbed a nearby decorative bamboo plant, nearly as tall as a person, and hurled it at Grace. Grace was terrified; the pot was so heavy it required two special agents to carry it into the building. Tina lifted it with one hand!
Another object hurled towards her-was this an attempt on her life? At that moment, Grace tapped into the fullest extent of human potential, scrambling away in a mix of rolling and crawling. Despite her efforts, she was struck on the ankle. Tears streamed down Grace's face as she cried out, "Tina, have you lost your mind? Do you realize this is illegal? Are you trying to kill me?"
Tina cracked her knuckles loudly, each pop resonating from her fingers.
"Killing you would be letting you off easy." With that, Tina lunged forward in a swift motion, pinning Grace beneath her weight. The sound of slaps echoed through the secretarial office like hail, silencing the onlookers and reverberating throughout the building. Never had Tina resorted to such crude methods of discipline. But this time, her fury was genuine. Only such measures could slightly quench her wrath.
Due to Grace's actions, over a hundred people were in peril. Hayden, Courtney, Elsa, and Jason were still in the ICU. To Tina, allowing her people to suffer such grievous injuries was no different from a premature death for Grace. Swollen from the blows, Grace could barely speak, her cheeks puffed up, forcing her eyes into mere slits.
After Tina had finished, she stood, grabbing Grace's leg and dragging her from the office all the way to where Linden stood. Every table, threshold, and step marked the path with Grace's battered body. The extent of the injuries was such that even Stephanie couldn't empathize. Feeling like her body was falling apart, Grace barely noticed when they stopped, only feeling the intense pain of her seemingly crushed ankle.
As her ankle was thrown down, Grace scrambled aside, pointing at a nearby pillar, stammering, "You-you-don't touch me, I'm calling the police, I'm going to have you arrested!"
Tina stood to her right, casting a disdainful glance. Linden and Christopher, no longer feeling the pain, stood to witness the scene, now looking at what seemed a disfigured face. "Is this... the chubby guy from Tech?"
"No, no, it looks like Mrs. Smith from Secretarial!"
"We're right here!" they protested.
Tina casually pulled up a chair and sat.
"This is Grace." Linden winced, "Can't bear to look at what you've done to her." Christopher sighed, "Really, she's unrecognizable."
Tina, legs crossed on the table, addressed the two directors, "About the footage of Grace near the control desk, what are you going to do about it?"
"You've already handled it, haven't you?" said Linden.
"My niece, well done! You have your mother's flair!" Christopher thought, though he knew they had to maintain appearances.
"Miss Hancock, perhaps you'd like to explain?" Linden asked. Grace knew her actions had been exposed, but also knew they lacked concrete evidence. It seemed her body had shielded her well. "What are you talking about? I don't know? I hit my head on the machinery, and this wretch beat me up so badly, I can't remember anything. What is there to explain?"