Chapter 9
Author: Fourpen
last update2026-09-04 18:01:43

At that moment in time, Victoria and Grace's jaws tightened as their eyes went wide with shock, their gazes locking onto one of the security guards standing nearby.

The realization hit them like a physical blow.

"Kevin?" Victoria's voice came out sharp, disbelieving, trembling with a mixture of rage and betrayal. "So you're among them?"

Her hand shot up, pointing at him with a trembling finger, her face contorting with fury.

"So you're the one that literally set us up? You crazy piece of shit!"

Victoria's shout tore through the air, echoing across the station. The few remaining bystanders who hadn't already fled turned their heads, their eyes widening at the scene unfolding before them.

"I should have known," Victoria continued, her voice cracking with emotion. "I should have known it was you, Kevin. Everything was just so clear. Everything was so obvious. But yet, I literally kept a blind eye toward it."

She took a step forward, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles had turned white.

"How long, Kevin? How long have you been working with them? How long have you been planning this?"

Grace's face had gone pale, her eyes fixed on Kevin with a look of horrified recognition. Her lips parted as though she wanted to speak, but no words came out. She just stood there, frozen, her arms still protectively wrapped around the young miss.

Kevin one of the head security guards who had been with them for years, who had accompanied them on countless trips, who had stood by their side during every moment of danger stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

His expression was cold. Unmoved. Detached, and then, slowly, deliberately, he smirked.

It was a slow, calculated expression. The kind that sent chills down your spine. The kind that said he had been waiting for this moment. That he had been planning it. That he had enjoyed every second of their trust, knowing full well he was going to betray it.

"I had no other choice," Kevin said, his voice smooth and unapologetic, almost casual. "I had no other choice than to actually expose myself."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. Letting them feel the full impact of his betrayal.

Then his smirk widened, and his eyes glinted with something dark and cruel.

"Because none of you are going to leave here alive anyway."

The words landed like a bomb.

Victoria's breath caught in her throat. Grace's grip on the young miss tightened instinctively, her body shifting to shield her even more.

Kevin turned his head slightly, his eyes sweeping over the remaining men who had been positioned around them the ones who were supposed to be protecting them, the ones who had been guarding the perimeter since the attack began, the ones they had trusted with their lives.

"I'm expecting the rest of you to reveal yourselves now," Kevin said casually, as though he were announcing the start of a mundane meeting.

And then, one by one, the men moved.

The first one a tall, muscular figure who had been standing near the exit reached up and pulled off his suit jacket with a sharp, deliberate motion. He let it drop to the ground in a heap. Then he rolled up his sleeve, slow and methodical, his eyes never leaving Victoria and Grace.

There, on his forearm, was a tattoo.

A black dragon.

The mark of the syndicate, the second man did the same. Then the third. Then the fourth.

One by one, each of the so-called security guards stripped off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves, revealing the same tattoo on their arms.

The black dragon.

Every single one of them.

Victoria's face twisted with disgust and fury. Her entire body trembled with rage, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"So even you," she spat, her voice shaking with emotion. "All of you. The entire security detail we trusted. The people we brought into our home. The people we relied on to protect the young miss."

Her voice rose, raw and filled with pain.

"All of you were just... betraying us this whole time? All of you are just assholes. Crazy, good-for-nothing bastards. That's what all of you are. That's what all of you truly are."

Grace said nothing. She just held the young miss tighter, her body positioned protectively over her, her eyes darting between the men as they closed in.

One of the men a tall, broad-shouldered figure with a scar running down the side of his face and cold, dead eyes stepped forward. He seemed to be the leader among them. The one giving the orders. The one everyone else deferred to.

His expression was cold, businesslike. No emotion. No hesitation. Just pure, calculated efficiency.

"We don't have time to start exchanging words with you," he said, his voice low and even, devoid of any warmth. "We don't have time to go back and forth with all this drama."

He gestured toward the young miss with a casual flick of his wrist, as though she were nothing more than a piece of cargo.

"The handwriting is on the wall, and it's very simple. Very loud. Hand her over to us. Immediately."

The word hung in the air like a death sentence.

Victoria's eyes blazed with defiance. She took a step forward, placing herself directly between the men and the young miss.

"Over my dead body," she said, her voice steady despite the fear coursing through her veins.

The leader's expression didn't change. He simply tilted his head slightly, as though considering her words with mild interest.

Then he smiled.

It was a cold, empty smile. The kind that held no warmth, no humor. Only certainty. Only the confidence of someone who knew they held all the cards.

"Well," he said slowly, his voice dripping with mockery, "no problem then."

He took a step forward, his hand moving toward the inside of his coat, where the unmistakable outline of a weapon was visible.

"I'll grant you your wish."

Grace's breath hitched. She pulled the young miss even closer, her arms trembling but firm. She could feel the young miss's breathing stronger now, steadier than it had been just moments ago. Whatever Ethan had done, it was working. The young miss was alive. She was conscious. She was seeing everything that was happening around her.

And she was angry.

Grace could feel it in the way the young miss's body tensed, in the way her fingers curled into fists despite her weakened state.

But she was still too weak to move. Too weak to fight. Too weak to defend herself.

Victoria stepped in front of them both, her body positioning itself as a shield, even though she had no weapon, no way to defend herself against armed men.

The tension in the air was suffocating. Oppressive. Like the calm before a storm.

Then the men began to close in, forming a tightening circle around them. Their footsteps were slow, deliberate, predatory, they were in no rush. They knew their prey had nowhere to run.

Ethan who was standing keep calm, he had been silent this entire time. Watching. Listening. Processing.

He had wanted to stay out of it. He had wanted to finish stabilizing the young miss and walk away, back to his bench, back to his quiet corner of the station where none of this was his problem. But now, looking at the scene unfolding in front of him the betrayal, the trap, the cold certainty in the leader's eyes he realized something.

He couldn't walk away, not anymore.

The young miss was stabilized, yes. But she was still in danger. They all were.

At that moment the system notification pulsed again in his vision, glowing brighter now, more insistent.

[SAVE THE YOUNG LADY.]

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