At that thought, I burst into tears and wailed helplessly “Armond, you b*stard! Let me go. I beg you! Please let me go!” Nevertheless, he was not moved at all.
A surge of despair welled up from within me. At that very moment, I felt like ending my own life on the spot so everything would come to an end.
Bang! In an instant, it was as if the heaviness above my body was being lifted. To my astonishment, Armond’s body slanted to one side and fell onto the floor. Within such a short span of time, there was a twist in the current situation.
He passed out and sprawled on the floor with his face down, like a lifeless body. Blood started to ooze from the back of his head. I held my breath as I raised my head instinctively. Nora’s face turned pale as she was standing motionless with something in her hand. I only realized that she had bashed him hard on the head.
Everything happened in a flash, and it was just like a dream for me.
Clang! The bottle slipped from Nora’s hands and shattered into pieces on the floor. She looked at me in bewilderment, then turned to look at Armond. Blood drained from her face as she stuttered, “I-I never thought of rescuing you, I…”
I climbed up from the floor and grabbed hold of her, thinking of fleeing at once. Nevertheless, I froze in my tracks when we were about to reach the main door. Spencer was blocking our way with a few muscular bodyguards.
“Where do you both intend to go?”
Spencer asked courteously as he smiled at us. Looking at his unusual demeanor under such circumstances, my heart skipped a beat.
Nora and I grabbed hold of each other and looked at Spencer persuasively. “We have to leave this place. Spencer, please let us go!” I pleaded with him.
It was as if Spencer totally did not catch what I said. At the sight of Armond, who was lying on the floor in disheveled clothes, he shot me an indifferent glance and instructed the bodyguards, “Go check on Mr. Murphy!”
Two of the bodyguards moved toward Armond swiftly and took some time to check on him before they carried him away cautiously. Meanwhile, I was locked up in the room again with Nora.
We cowered in one corner and were still traumatized by the terrifying events that happened a while ago. Nora stared into space for quite a while before she came to her senses. Gazing at me silently for some time, there seemed to be something that she wished to tell me.
I looked at her and thanked her sincerely, “I really appreciate you coming to my rescue just now. Don’t worry. Anthony will surely try his best to save us.”
However, Nora continued to gaze at me in silence with a mixture of emotions in her eyes. After a while, she finally broke the silence. “I’ve known right from the beginning that Armond has never fallen for me, and I’m just a nobody to him. Yet, I choose to lie to myself all this while. I thought that if I follow him wherever he went and clung to him with perseverance, he would be able to notice me one day. To be frank, he actually treats me quite well whenever you’re around. He buys me things and is really considerate, although he would never touch me.”
“For instance, when we were first together, he used to smoke in the car. I was sick of the smell and asked him about it. From that day onwards, he attempted to quit smoking. When we stay at the hotel and he feels like smoking, he would rather open the window and smoke with his head poked outside so I won’t smell the smoke in the room. Don’t you think that he really minds about what I said? If he didn’t fall for me, he would not be so considerate of me. Sienna, I’m pretty sure that he was really in love with me at that time. I’m not making up a story. I just don’t understand why he has turned into such a ruthless person all of a sudden. However, I’m sure he really did love me before! I’m telling the truth, and I really felt it at that time!” she continued to mumble with a dreamy look on her face.
At the sight of her bitter smile and teary eyes, I was at a loss for words to console her. Armond probably has really fallen in love with her before. Yet why did he say those meaningless words to me just now?
If Nora was right about him having feelings for her, why can’t he continue to cherish such a nice girl like her?
Nora cowered in one corner, wrapping herself in her own arms. Feeling upset about her current melancholic state, I did not know how I could console her and cheer her up. Letting out a deep breath, I patted her gently and said softly, “Nora, I might not have the right to give you advice, as I myself can’t handle my relationship well too. I’m overconfident at times and tend to put myself in hot water, putting the person I love at risk as well. As for Armond, I’m sorry that I’m unable to put myself in his shoes, just like how you are doing. We’re definitely in a different stance as he’s my foe. You also witnessed how he was trying to assault me earlier, didn’t you? I understand how you are deeply in love with him, and I’ve no right to persuade you to fight against him with me. Yet he must pay the price for the hideous deed that he has committed!”
I paused as my heart throbbed in pain when a girl’s figure flashed across my mind. “You know about Hailey, don’t you? The heart that keeps her alive now was actually sold to her father through a business trade between Armond and him. Do you know that an innocent girl was sacrificed just to keep her alive? Armond had indeed applied the most brutal way to fulfill the deal with her father.
Consequently, poor Hailey ends up living in guilt. To me, he’s really a cold-blooded murderer in a way. Furthermore, countless children in the villages have perished in his hands miserably. It’s really unfair for them! Nora, I’ve witnessed all these with my own eyes. You must really think properly and make the right decision. I’m sure that you really love him, but he can’t be easily forgiven for his misdeeds.”
Nora looked at me with eyes welled up in tears, “What do you want me to do? I mean, what else can I do now? I’m sure he won’t trust me anymore from now onwards. Thus, there’s no chance for me to set him up again. Look at these beasts. They have just taken a meal and are sleeping soundly at the moment. However, when they are awake and hungry later, we might become their food to fill up their stomach at any time!”
She was right, but I was reluctant to give up easily on any chances to survive. I tried to motivate her by saying, “I know it’s really challenging for us to survive. Even so, we must be united to look for ways to leave this place. Since you’re able to come all the way here, it proves that you know pretty well about this villa. Hence, you’ll be able to find the way out, right?”
She was dumbfounded for a while before she nodded slowly again. “What do you want me to do?”
“Anthony will be here in a while. However, he would not be able to enter this villa as the wall is too high. Thus, the only way for us to get out of here is to look for Holden so he can team up with Anthony to rescue us!”
Silence ensued for a moment before she replied hesitantly, “I’ve stayed here for quite some time. Even though I can’t assure that I know every corner of this villa well, but I guess there’s still no problem for me to give a try.”
Then, she turned to look at me abruptly, “But, Sienna, you have to be prepared to have your life at risk if you intend to get out of here. Do you think you can accept it?”
I was stunned and baffled by what she meant. She gestured to me as she stole a glance at the mastiff sleeping soundly in the cage.
It suddenly struck me that she was hinting that the mastiff could strike us at any time. The very thought of the mastiff pounding on me brought me out in a cold sweat. Restraining my fear, I calmed myself down and replied firmly, “Yes, I can!”
She nodded and handed me a knife. “All the best to you! Take care of your own safety!” she warned me and approached the cage to unlock the main door.
Once the main door was unlocked, the mastiffs were still motionless and sleeping soundly.
Standing near the cage, Nora took a deep breath and incapacitated one of the mastiffs with an electric baton.
In a split second, the mastiff howled in pain as the electric baton inflicted electric shock on it. She then moved aside swiftly.
That one mastiff’s deafening howl triggered the other mastiffs as well. They woke up one by one and glared at both of us viciously.
Raising the electric baton in her hand, Nora looked at me with chattering teeth. With a quivering voice, she reminded me, “Grab hold of the knife tightly and protect yourself!”
I nodded as my heart pounded tremendously with fear.
All the mastiffs moved out slowly from the cage and fixed their ferocious gazes on us as they snarled at us.
The mastiff which was incapacitated by Nora earlier approached her as if it knew that Nora was the one who had woken it up earlier.
Looking at Nora, I was scared stiff as I asked, “Nora, what are we supposed to do?”
Still holding the electric baton, she gritted out, “Sienna, I mentioned earlier that your life would be at risk. So… I don’t know what we’re supposed to do next!”
At the same time, another mastiff was moving toward me, making my whole body tremble with fear. I stuck myself closer to the wall, with the knife tightly clenched in my hand as I stepped back.
The enraged mastiff’s intimidating stare sent chills down my spine. Even though Nora mentioned that the mastiffs had just taken their meals and would not eat us, it didn’t mean that they wouldn’t bite us! For some reason, I felt like we would be easily torn into pieces with just one deadly bite!
The sight of me holding the knife must have provoked the mastiff in a way. That explained why its agitation was triggered at once, and it was ready to pounce on me. Standing rooted to the floor, I could only shut my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs. At the same time, I could not help mourning for myself at the devastating fate which would befall me soon.
At the eleventh hour, I was taken aback by the ear-piercing sound of gunshots. Thud! The beast, which was still pouncing on me seconds ago, collapsed onto the floor. It writhed in pain and lay motionless on the floor within seconds.
What a close shave! I was still petrified and remained frozen. By then, all the other mastiffs were also lying motionless on the floor, with a syringe poked onto each of their necks. They were apparently injected with some sort of anesthesia.
“Both of you shouldn’t have infuriated them!” Spencer said in an icy-cold tone as he glared at us. He was standing with the other bodyguards at the main entrance of the room.
Nora and I nodded in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Nora looked at Spencer with her teary eyes and asked nervously, “Spencer, how is Armond? Has he woken up? Can I go and see him?”
Spencer frowned slightly as he replied, “Mr. Murphy has just woken up. Ms. Oberick, don’t worry, he’s fine.”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Nora asked Spencer pitifully, “Spencer, can you bring us to see him? I’m really sorry for what I’ve done just now. But it was never my intention to hurt him. I just really love him, so I was blinded by my jealousy. I couldn’t watch him do that to another woman…”
Spencer let out a deep sigh and said, “Let’s go. Just don’t be so impetuous next time!”
After that, he led us out of the room without saying anything. Unexpectedly, the mastiffs were left unattended on the floor.
Once we stepped out of the room, it was locked again. Trailing behind Spencer, Nora gazed at me meaningfully, hinting me to find ways to escape.
I nodded silently at her.
As Armond’s villa was too spacious, I could not guarantee that I would not end up losing my way here. Nevertheless, I could only try my luck as that was the only chance for me to escape at the moment.
Before I could think of a brilliant idea, the siren blared abruptly with a high-pitched sound. I immediately covered my ears.
Spencer furrowed his brows and turned to look at the bodyguards behind him. They left at once after he threw them a glance. I presumed that he had instructed the bodyguards to attend to some urgent matters in the villa.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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