Dominic didn’t flare in anger, instead he threw his head back and laughed. “Die in misery? Miss Chance, choose your words carefully. Your life and death rest in my palm now. One order from me and you’ll be shattered to dust.”
He stepped forward again, closing the distance inch by inch. Vivian instinctively retreated, only to feel her back slam against cold, unyielding stone. The wall left her nowhere to slip away.
Dominic stopped right before her, shot out a hand, and clamped her chin, forcing her to look straight at him. “Vivian, from the first moment I visited the House of Chance, I wanted you. A face like yours, Cloudhaven City doesn’t have a second.”
He leaned in close, the breath spilling from his mouth carried a rank, metallic stench. His tone sharpened. “What’s so great about that Jared? A fugitive wanted by the Celestial Palace, a mere High Immortal Realm Level One, does her deserve a woman like you? Tonight I’ll make sure you understand who truly qualifies to claim you!”
Vivian struggled wildly, shoving at his shoulders with both hands, but Dominic pinned her down by the shoulders, leaving her no leverage at all.
“Let me go! Dominic, get your hands off me!” Her voice cracked at the edges, desperation cutting through the shout.
Dominic’s smile stretched wider, eyes narrowing to slits. “Let go? After you made me chase you three days and three nights? Use your head.” He flicked his wrist and barked, “You… Hold her down!”
Several guards pounced like starving wolves, forcing Vivian to the ground and locking her limbs so tightly she couldn’t even twitch.
She writhed, screamed, clawed, but every effort slipped away like water against stone. Her cultivation was High Immortal Realm Level Eight, yet after three days without rest or spirit power she was an empty shell.
Facing Dominic, a High Immortal Realm Level Nine, and his crowd of guards, she was livestock laid on the slaughter board, powerless to resist.
Dominic knelt, savoring the sight of her tears, her torn clothes, the panic clouding her features. A warped pleasure swelled inside him. “Miss Chance, don’t cry… Obey me, and I’ll shower you with luxury beyond imagination. Refuse…”
His eyes went frigid. He seized her collar in a single, savage grip.
Rip! The fabric tore with a shriek of threads parting. Vivian’s outer robe split open, exposing smooth white skin and a pink undergarment beneath.
“Ah!” Her scream ripped from her throat as she wrapped her arms over her chest, tears spilling in torrents. “No! Get away! Get away from me!”
Dominic drank in Vivian’s tear-streaked face, her shoulders jerking with every breath. A wild gleam ignited behind his grin. “Scream! Louder! The louder you scream, the better it tastes!”
He reached out again, fingers lunging for the last scrap of cloth still guarding her body. Vivian squeezed her eyes shut. Silent tears slid down her cheeks.
Jared… Where is he…
The tremor inside her rattled every bone.
Hurry… Save me…
In the hush of her mind she begged him.
Come now… Save me… Everything else inside had already gone dark and hollow. Right at the instant when breath and life hung by a thread, a dragon’s cry ripped the sky apart.
Roar! The blast rolled like thunder from the ninth heaven. Pressure slammed outward eardrums rang blood churned, knees buckled. The hunters staggered with faces drained of all color. Dominic’s hand froze midair, unable to inch forward. His head snapped up, every feature tightened stiff.
A column of blinding gold crashed out of the clouds and plummeted. The light scorched so fiercely no one could keep eyes open.
When the glare finally thinned, a tall, solitary figure hovered above the ground, then drifted down to stand between Vivian and the crowd.
A young man, he wore a robe of molten gold threaded with dragons. His features were carved in stone, his stare colder than steel, and a pressure older than blood wrapped him like armor.
He simply stood, immovable, a mountain that caught every blade of danger and every ounce of shame before it could reach Vivian.
It was Jared! Vivian forced her blurred gaze open. That familiar yet newly unshakable silhouette filled her sight. Whatever strength she still clutched burst tears poured again as she whispered, “Jared…”
Jared did not turn. Still facing forward, he let a gentle yet rock-solid sentence fall, “Miss Chance, I’m late…”
Just a few plain words, yet they steadied her breath and swept the shadows away. Dominic reeled backward, lips quivering. “J-Jared?! How are you here?”
Jared slowly turned. His gaze pinned Dominic, swept the quaking guards, then rested on Vivian, clothes torn, hair in disarray, cheeks wet.
In that moment, his eyes carried only a chill that cut to the bone. Beneath that chill churned a force ready to tear the world apart.
He spoke, voice level, the air itself seeming to frost around the words, “Dominic, you just signed your death warrant.”
