Chapter 4
1011 Words
Vivian yanked out her IV, grabbed her coat, and rushed out.
She sped the whole way there, her anxiety mounting with every passing minute.
Chad was the only family she had left. Once she got him out, she would cut ties with everything here for good.
Half an hour later, they reached the suburban shooting range. Gunshots rang out nonstop.
She ducked behind cover and quietly scoped out the scene inside.
Out on the range, Silas stood pressed right up behind Gwen. The two of them were chatting and laughing, the picture of bliss.
His hand rested over hers, steadying a silver pistol.
"Aim for the bullseye. Gently squeeze the trigger." Silas's voice was soft. "Don't be nervous. I'm right here."
Bang!
The bullet fired and hit the target dead center.
Gwen turned around, flashed a coquettish smile, and planted a kiss on his chin. "You're such a good teacher!"
The sight was unbearably glaring. Vivian quietly lowered her eyes.
She pulled herself together and looked for an opening to slip in.
Just then, Gwen's complaining voice drifted over from behind. "This is boring. Fixed targets are way too dull."
Her gaze swept across the area and suddenly locked onto Vivian's hiding spot.
"Got it." Gwen's eyes lit up. "Silas, how about we switch to a live target?"
Vivian's heart dropped. She tried to slip away, but bodyguards suddenly appeared and blocked her path.
"Don't run off, Ms. Hale. Stay and play with us."
Two bodyguards stepped forward at once and pinned her arms behind her back.
"Let go of me!" Vivian struggled hard and hurried to explain. "I'm here to see Silas. This has nothing to do with you!"
"Here to see Silas?" Gwen walked over and eyed her with a faint, mocking smile. "What business do you have with him?"
Her mind raced for a plausible excuse, but the moment she met Silas's eyes, the words wouldn't come.
"Silas, string her up and use her as a target." Gwen tugged at his arm, cooing. "Just this once. You wouldn't be reluctant, would you?"
Silas glanced at Vivian pinned to the ground, then smiled indifferently and wrapped his arm around Gwen's waist.
"Why would I be reluctant? You can play however you want. Just don't hit anything vital. We don't need the trouble."
He then gestured to his men to carry out the order.
The men quickly fetched iron chains, locked Vivian's wrists, and hoisted her into the air.
Her wounds tore open under the brutal pull, and she couldn't hold back a cry of agony.
"Let me go! Silas, using a living person as target practice—when the hell did you become this heartless?!"
Silas just watched her coldly. It was that sharp accusation that finally cracked his impassive expression for a split second.
He picked up a pistol first and pressed it against her forehead. "Since three years ago."
Bang!
A bullet skimmed past her hairline. The memories came crashing back in a violent, overwhelming tide.
Three years ago, she had already planned everything out. She would take Silas to meet her family once he left the underworld for good.
But before that day ever came, her father's undercover mission failed. His identity was exposed, and he was tortured to death by his enemies. Her mother was murdered in retaliation. Her brother, also a cop, went missing. Out of that big family, she was the only one left.
And all of it was tied to the smuggling operations behind the Payne family.
To keep her safe, the police transferred her to another city.
Before she left, to keep her identity hidden, she said to Silas, "Once you're out of the Payne family, what will you even have left? How are you supposed to support me? I'm not going to stay with a man who has nothing. We're done."
She ignored all his begging, got into the official car the police had sent for her, and left the city without looking back.
It wasn't until a year ago that she officially became a police officer. She inherited her father's badge, took up his unfinished mission, and returned to Silas's side once more.
Another gunshot yanked her from the painful memories.
Gwen picked up the pistol and spun it in her hand.
A bullet grazed Vivian's arm and lodged itself in the wall behind her.
Warm blood seeped out instantly and trickled down her arm.
Vivian trembled all over from the pain, sheer terror seizing hold of her.
She thought of her parents, shot dead by their enemies.
Cold gun barrels. Spurting blood. They were the shadows that haunted her, night after night, in an endless loop of nightmares.
She also thought of her brother—if she died here, what kind of torture would he suffer?
She couldn't hold back the sobs escaping her throat.
"Silas, look! The way she reacts is hilarious."
Gwen was thrilled, giddy like a child, yet just as ruthlessly pulled the trigger again.
More and more blood soaked through her clothes.
Silas stood frozen in place, his hands in his pockets tightening unconsciously.
He cleared his throat. "Gwen, that's enough. We don't need the extra trouble—"
Bang!
Before he could finish, another shot rang out. A bullet skimmed right past Vivian's heart.
Silas's heart clenched violently. He watched Vivian's head loll to the side as she blacked out completely.
"Tch. Fainted again." Gwen pouted and tossed the pistol aside. "What a buzzkill."
Silas strode forward quickly and caught Vivian as her body slumped down.
She was so light in his arms, covered in blood, her face as pale as paper.
Her blood soaked into his palms, scalding hot. The heat seared into his chest, stirring an ache he couldn't quite name.
"Get her to the hospital!" he ordered in a low voice, a note of fluster he didn't even notice himself creeping in.
Gwen frowned. "Silas, why are you being so nice to her? Are you feeling sorry for her?"
Silas didn't answer. He just held Vivian tight and strode out.
- Writer
