Evan looked across to his team and whispered, "Does anyone have experience with this?" Soon, someone stepped forward. "Mr. Boyle, let me try. I have experience in my previous tenure." Evan nodded.

The person took over the safe and examined it for a long time. When he finally looked up again, he shook his head. "This safe has a customized lock. There is only one chance of keying the passcode. If the code keyed in is wrong, the safe will remain locked forever."

"Locked forever? Then, how can we get the items inside?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"We will have to resort to opening it by force." The man sighed and continued, "with the technology present in our country, we should be able to open it by force. But that would mean that the evidence inside may not be intact."

It was a dead-end with the safe.

"Tell me the passcode!" Evan demanded as he turned to Christian.

"Mr. Boyle, you have heard about the safe. I can tell you the passcode, but would you believe me even if I told you the real code?" asked Christian.

Indeed, if Christian gave them a fake passcode and locked the safe forever, that would be worse. And Wendy was still being held hostage. He would still be able to leave eventually.

"Mr. Lucas, if the time comes..." Before Evan finished his sentence, Michael already expected what he was going to say and cut his sentence abruptly. "That is not possible. Evan, don’t force me."

Evan wanted to say that they might need to sacrifice Wendy. His priority was to get the passcode from Christian. If the code given was fake, he would arrest Christian on the spot, and hence he would not be able to ensure that Wendy remained unharmed. He let out a sigh as the answer from Michael was expected.

"Do you still need the passcode then?" Christian looked at them mockingly.

"Let Wendy go and I will let you go," Michael said coldly. "Mark my words. I will fulfill your request when I say I will let you go." Michael was clear on his stand. He would go against Evan if he had to.

"But Michael, we have the safe with us. What we need is just the passcode." Evan was not ready to give up yet.

"That is your job, not mine. If you can’t get it, it means that you guys are not competent enough." Michael retorted.

"But..." Evan wanted to say something. Zen, who was seated on the sofa, had been mumbling the word passcode in her mouth. Suddenly, with all the strength she could summon, she shouted, "150428!"

The sudden string of numbers got everyone dumbfounded. Only Christian’s eyes widened when he heard the numbers.

"150428?" Michael repeated the numbers and said, "Grandmother’s birthday is on 28 Apr, but what does 15 mean? The year 2015?"

Michael could not decipher the meaning behind the numbers. He would not have thought that Christian would use Mrs. Lucas’s birthday as the passcode.

"That is..." Zen only said these two words before Christian interrupted her fiercely, "Shut up!" If it was not because Christian was holding Wendy as a hostage and he did not have a gun on hand, he would have shot Zen immediately.

Zen was startled by Christian’s sharp warning. She took a deep breath and looked at Christian with bloodshot eyes. She said, "the passcode is 150428. That was the day that Christian met Wendy for the first time."

This string of numbers was given by Christian when Zen sneaked into his office. But those numbers were the password to his computer. Whether the passcode to the safe was those numbers as well, Zen was not a hundred percent sure about it.

...

Hearing Zen’s words, Michael turned to Christian sharply. 28 April 2015 - that was Mrs. Lucas’ birthday, and also the day Christian went back to the mansion where he met Wendy. He actually set the date as the passcode? So, Christian was in love with Wendy after all? And just how deep was his love for Wendy? Christian’s character was absurd and psychotic. He loved Wendy and yet he was able to end her life.

"Are you sure about the code?" Evan turned to Zen. At the same time, two of Evan’s men walked over to stand beside Zen to protect her.

"No, I am not very sure." Zen shook her head. Zen’s reply made Evan’s mood change drastically, from being hopeful to being solemn.

Zen continued, "This password was given to me personally by Christian. But that was the password to his computer. I had tried a few passwords before that on his computer but all did not work except for this one. If you can’t think of a better passcode, give this one a try."

Evan’s gaze shifted to Michael as if to ask for his opinion on the passcode.

"Let’s give it a shot," Michael said. "The passcode does sound possible."

From Michael’s eyes, Christian could sense the shock and resentment behind his stare. It was as if Michael was mocking his unreciprocated love. Christian had always hoped that no one would find out about this secret. But everything was exposed in one day. Even the last bit of his affection had been made known just like that.

"There is only one chance. Are you all sure about trying it?" Christian tried to provoke them purposely. "You can bring the safe back and eventually you will be able to find a way to open the safe. It is just a matter of time. But if you try it now and the passcode is not right, the evidence in the safe would be automatically destroyed. Oh, did I not mention it? There is a self-destruction mechanism in the safe. A wrong passcode can trigger it to go off."

This was also why Christian was not worried at the beginning. As long as they did not have the passcode, the safe would be useless to Interpol even if they had it. But he did not expect Zen to know the passcode. And he was the one who told Zen about it.

Christian had been overconfident. He did not think that Zen would betray him and that Zen would have guessed that the passcode was the same as the one for his computer.

Christian’s words made Evan hesitate about his decision. The atmosphere was tense once more.

"Try it!" Michael said, "if he hadn’t said all those words, I wouldn’t have been sure if the passcode was correct. But his words gave him away. He was obviously panicking, that’s why he tried to sway our decision."

"Think carefully before you act. There is only one chance." Christian got more nervous as Michael spoke. But he was still able to keep his expression within control and look calm.

"The more you try to provoke us, the more certain I am that what I said earlier was true," Michael said affirmatively.

Evan looked at Michael and pondered. Then, he turned to his team and said, "Try it."

150428.

The six digits were keyed in and everyone’s attention was focused on the safe, except for Michael’s and Christian’s. Wendy was Christian’s last line of defense. He could not let his guard down and give them a chance to rescue Wendy. As for Michael, his only concern was Wendy. Whether they get the evidence, in the end, he could not care less.

The room was silent as everyone held their breaths. Click! And the safe was open.

Evan’s eyes shone. He nodded at his team and took out the items in the safe.

...

"Mr. Boyle, these are exactly what we are looking for." One of Evan’s men examined the items as they took them out from the safe. In the safe was evidence of the drug trafficking activities Christian had carried out in Rheinsville City over the years.

"Keep them safe," Evan said sternly. Finally, they had gotten their hands on the evidence.

Christian’s eyes were sullen when he saw the safe being opened. They went ahead with their decision to try ultimately.

"Now that you have opened the safe, I can go now right!" Christian said as he gritted his teeth.

"Fine, we will let you off. But you have to release Mrs. Lucas first." Evan said.

"Once I get onto the helicopter, I will let her go," Christian said. "I want to get to my personal helipad."

Christian was smart. He would not let go of his hostage right away.

"Okay." Michael nodded.

Evan had opened the safe and gotten what he was after. Hence, he complied and ordered his men to stand aside to make way for Christian.

Christian took a glance at Zen and said, "I will bring Zen with me." Initially, he did not have the intention to do so. But shockingly, she gave away the passcode. Zen wanted to get as far away as possible from Christian but Christian would not let that happen.

"Zen is injured. How do you expect her to leave with you?" Wendy got anxious when Christian requested to take Zen away. "She needs to go to the hospital immediately for treatment."

"Then, arrange for a doctor to come along with me." Christian retorted, "Zen has to leave with me! Otherwise, I won’t let you go."

"Christian, how can you renege on your own words?" Wendy was frantic.

"So what if I renege? The ball is in my court. If they want to save you, they will have to follow my orders!" Christian snapped.

Wendy wanted to argue further, but Zen stepped in and said, "Okay, I will go with you."

"Zen, you know what will happen to you if you leave with him right?" Wendy was worried. Zen had betrayed Christian. If Christian took her with him, she would be tormented for sure.

"I know." Zen heaved a sigh. She said dejectedly, "This is probably my destiny."

Zen endured the pain and wanted to stand up. But the wound in her thigh made it impossible to do so. She fell back down on her seat. The wound tore a little from the impact and Zen gasped in pain as little beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

"Mr. Lucas, can I trouble you to assign two of your men to help me up?" said Zen.

"Zen..." Wendy knew Zen had already made up her mind to exchange Wendy’s freedom with herself. But Wendy did not feel comfortable with this arrangement.

"Wendy, don’t mourn over it. I would need your help to take care of my parents in the future." Zen said.

"Not to worry. I will definitely do so on your behalf and ensure that they would be well taken care of." Michael jumped in instantly. Zen was just an acquaintance to him and he had no special feelings for her. So to exchange Wendy with Zen, he was more than happy with the arrangement.

"Are you all done discussing? I don’t have the time to listen to your nonsense!"

Christian said impatiently.

"I will go with you", Zen said as she took a deep breath.

Michael got his men to support Zen while Christian still had the knife on Wendy’s neck as they walked out of the door and into the elevator. The space in the elevator was restricted but there was enough room to fit them. Before they stepped into the elevator, Christian requested that they throw out their guns, otherwise, he would not let them in. Michael and Evan agreed to it.