CHAPTER 4: PRIVATE TRAINING
730 Words
The training hall was empty.
Silent.
Only the sound of Emily’s breathing echoed through the massive room as she tightened the bandages around her bruised knuckles.
Her body ached from the earlier fight, but she ignored it.
Pain didn’t scare her.
Footsteps suddenly echoed behind her.
Slow. Controlled. Dangerous.
Emily didn’t turn around.
“I was starting to think the great Master Dave wouldn’t show up,” she said casually.
The footsteps stopped.
“Confident for someone standing in my training hall.”
His deep voice slid through the room like smoke.
Emily finally turned.
Dave stood a few feet away, dressed completely in black, his sleeves rolled slightly upward. Even without trying, he carried the kind of presence that made people nervous.
But Emily refused to be one of them.
“You said I train under you now,” she replied. “I assumed you meant it.”
Dave’s dark eyes studied her quietly.
Every bruise.
Every stubborn expression.
Every challenge hidden in her gaze.
Most people lowered their eyes under his attention.
Emily lifted hers higher.
Interesting.
“Attack me,” Dave said suddenly.
Emily blinked once.
“That’s it?”
“You talk too much.”
A small smirk tugged at her lips.
Then she moved.
Fast.
Her fist flew toward him—but Dave caught her wrist effortlessly before the punch could land.
Emily twisted immediately, aiming for his side.
Blocked again.
Too easy.
Dave shoved her backward lightly, but enough to send a message.
“You’re reckless,” he said coldly.
“And you’re arrogant.”
For the first time—
A faint amusement crossed his face.
Then suddenly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward hard enough for her back to hit his chest.
Emily froze for half a second.
His grip tightened slightly around her wrist.
“If you leave an opening,” he murmured near her ear, “your enemy won’t hesitate to destroy you.”
His voice was low.
Dangerously calm.
Emily’s heartbeat betrayed her for a brief moment.
But she recovered quickly.
“So you’re saying you could destroy me?”
Dave’s eyes darkened.
“With ease.”
Instead of fear, Emily smiled.
That was the problem.
She didn’t know when to back down.
And Dave was beginning to enjoy that far too much.
He released her roughly.
“Again.”
Minutes turned into an hour.
The training became harsher.
More intense.
Dave pushed her harder than everyone else.
No mercy.
No praise.
Every mistake earned criticism.
Every weakness was exposed.
But Emily kept getting back up.
Again.
And again.
And again.
By the end of training, sweat clung to her skin, and exhaustion weighed heavily on her body.
Still—
She refused to look weak.
Dave watched her silently from across the room.
Most students would have begged for a break by now.
Emily simply wiped blood from the corner of her lip and stood straighter.
“You enjoy suffering?” he asked.
Emily grabbed her water bottle calmly. “I enjoy proving people wrong.”
A dangerous silence followed.
Then Dave walked toward her slowly.
Very slowly.
The closer he got, the harder the atmosphere became to breathe in.
“You think this place is a game?” he asked quietly.
Emily held his gaze. “No.”
“Then why are you still smiling?”
Her lips curved slightly again.
“Because I’m still standing.”
For a second—
Dave just stared at her.
Then unexpectedly, his hand lifted to her face.
Emily stiffened.
His thumb brushed lightly against the cut on her lip, wiping away the blood there.
The movement was brief.
But intimate enough to make the air shift.
Emily’s breath caught slightly.
Dave noticed.
And somehow…
That satisfied him.
“You’re trouble,” he murmured.
Emily swallowed slowly but refused to look away.
“And yet,” she whispered back, “you’re the one who brought me here.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Then—
The training hall door suddenly opened.
Sofia stepped inside.
And the moment her eyes landed on Dave’s hand near Emily’s face—
Everything changed.
The temperature.
The tension.
The jealousy burning in her eyes.
Dave slowly lowered his hand.
But it was already too late.
Sofia had seen enough.
And Emily?
Emily smiled faintly.
Not because she wanted a war.
But because she could already feel one coming.
- Writer
