He Quit for Me, I Came Back to Him

Chapter 3

"Shut up!" Vivian snapped her head up and threw a punch straight at her.

Silas reacted in a flash, yanking Gwen into his arms and barking orders at his bodyguards to pin Vivian to the ground.

"Let go of me! Do you even have a heart, Silas?!"

Silas's brows drew tight, his face filled with pure impatience. "A heart? You think you have the right to ask me that?"

"Did you not hear what she just said?" Tears streamed down her face beyond her control, and Vivian roared like a cornered animal. "I am not some ill-bred orphan! My parents were—"

Her voice died in her throat.

'I can't say it. If my cover is blown, everything I've worked for will be destroyed.'

"Were what? Go on, say it!"

Silas stood right in front of her, his dark, narrow eyes locked onto her. "Gwen only spoke the truth."

Those words were like a dull blade, slowly sawing through the last shred of hope she had.

A satisfied smile tugged at Gwen's lips as she wound her arm around Silas's. "She even tried to hit me just now. You have to settle the score for me."

Silas fell silent for a beat, then spoke coldly to his men.

"Make sure she remembers this lesson."

With that, he wrapped an arm around Gwen's waist and took a seat in a booth nearby, watching with cold indifference as two bodyguards seized Vivian.

Slap!

The first blow landed hard. She stumbled backward and crashed straight into the edge of a table.

A searing pain blazed across her cheek, and blood quickly seeped from the corner of her mouth.

The second slap came right after from the other side, setting off a sharp ringing in her ears.

Then came the third, the fourth... the bodyguard counted each strike in a cold voice, never pulling back an ounce of force.

She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came was blood, thick with the taste of rust.

Her vision slowly blurred, and only one thought kept circling in her mind. 'Hold on. Hold on, Vivian. Hold on until the mission is complete...'

After what felt like an eternity, just as her consciousness was about to dissolve into mist, she heard Silas ask the bodyguard, "How many?"

"Ninety-nine, sir. Should we continue?"

Silas finally lifted his eyes to look at her, his brows twitching almost imperceptibly.

Then he turned his face away, his voice cold and unyielding. "One more. Round it up to a hundred."

Slap! The cold, crisp sound echoed across the hall.

The bodyguards released Vivian. She fought with the last of her strength to stay on her feet as blood dripped freely from her chin.

She took one final look at Gwen's contemptuous smirk, then all strength abandoned her, and she blacked out completely.

*****

When she came to, she was lying in a hospital ward.

The sharp smell of antiseptic stung her nose. She touched her cheeks, still swollen and throbbing with pain.

Her phone suddenly rang. Her superior.

"Badge number 25364, we have new intel." Russ's voice sounded urgent on the other end. "Your brother is alive. He's being held at the Payne family's shooting range out in the suburbs. But we still haven't nailed down the exact location."

Vivian bolted upright, the sudden movement yanking at her wounds hard enough to drag a sharp hiss from her lips.

"Badge number 25364, are you alright? Are you fit to carry out the mission?"

"I'm fine. I'm heading over right now."