The private castle was a vision of opulent grandeur.
By the floor-to-ceiling window, the vintage curtains were drawn open, allowing the neon glow from outside to seep in. The woman lay sunken in the plush bed, the weight pressing down on her making her instinctively raise a hand. "Don't..." she murmured weakly.
The man leaned in closer, his scorching breath grazing her ear. "Be good," he whispered, his voice dripping with seduction yet laced with an unyielding authority. Under him, there was no room for refusal—only submission.
And she *was* fortunate, in a way. It was because of him that she had narrowly escaped death.
As the air grew thick with heat and her consciousness began to blur, her thoughts drifted back to the moment they first crossed paths...
She had only ended up in this man's grasp out of sheer desperation—a last resort after a heart-stopping chase for her life.
Just hours earlier...
Emily Voss was being hunted.
Barefoot, she sprinted through the dense forest, branches tearing at her dress and leaving trails of blood on her pale skin. But the pain barely registered—not when a pack of killers was hot on her heels.
Her stepmother, in a bid to seize the family fortune, had her stepsister seduce Emily's boyfriend. Under the pretense of luring her back to the country for marriage, the boyfriend brought her to this remote suburban area, where the stepsister and over a dozen hired thugs were waiting to silence her forever.
"Darling, once she's gone, I can take her place and marry you in grand style!" The stepsister, clad in a tight crimson dress, wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a sugary kiss on his lips.
"What are you all standing around for? I didn’t pay you a fortune to watch! Get it done—quick and clean!"
Seven or eight burly men stepped out of the off-road vehicles, wielding steel pipes of varying lengths. They smashed the car windows, sending shards of glass flying. Rough hands grabbed at Emily, trying to drag her out. At the critical moment, Emily seized her chance, slammed the accelerator, and broke free from the mob.
She escaped—but not entirely. A dozen cars roared after her in relentless pursuit.
The night was pitch black, thick with darkness.
Then came the sudden downpour.
Emily's car flipped.
After skidding off the road, it tumbled down the muddy slope and crashed into the forest.
She abandoned the wreck immediately, fleeing barefoot in her panic.
Exhausted, she stared into the suffocating blackness around her, drowning in despair.
This place was miles from the bustling city—no phone signal, no surveillance cameras. It was practically no man's land.
Weak and trembling, she curled up in a patch of tall grass.
Her pursuers were closing in. The stepsister’s voice, amplified by a megaphone, echoed through the night:
"Emily Voss, stop hiding! I know you're close by. Come out quietly, and maybe I’ll let these men have their fun with you before giving you a quick death!"
Only now did Emily realize the truth—her once sweet and gentle stepsister, Sophie Haskett, was pure venom.
Resentment and despair surged through her as she trembled and inched deeper into the thick undergrowth.
Just then—
A beam of light pierced through the rustling darkness, sweeping straight toward her.
"Who's there?"
The voice was sharp, icy, devoid of warmth.
"Who's there?" it demanded again.
Emily Voss shivered involuntarily, squinting against the blinding flashlight glare. The harsh light flooded her vision, leaving her momentarily blinded.
Her heart lurched—had they found her already?
It couldn’t be a coincidence. In this desolate, untamed forest, there was no other explanation.
This was it.
She had been caught. Now, those venomous vipers would drag her back, humiliate her, torture her—until there was nothing left.
Within moments, dozens of men clad in black tactical gear surrounded her, their presence suffocating.
The lead bodyguard shone the flashlight directly at the woman curled up in the grass, his voice dripping with lethal frost.
"Brave enough to trespass on Master Li's territory? You've got a death wish."
Emily Voss froze for two seconds before realizing from the stranger's words that this was an entirely different group of people.
At the same moment, the crowd shifted like a parting tide as the black-clad men suddenly cleared a path. Someone addressed the newcomer with deferential urgency: "Master Li, we've found a woman of unknown origins here."
Ethan Kerrigan stood draped in an emerald-green overcoat that nearly blended into the forest shadows. The gilded patterns and gold-thread embroidery on his garment shimmered faintly, exuding an air of aristocratic opulence.
He stopped before Emily, looking down at her with a gaze so sharp it might as well have been flaying her alive. The woman crouched in the underbrush like a wounded animal—her clothes in tatters, body smeared with mud and dried blood, resembling some refugee who'd crawled out of the African wilderness. The only remotely clean things about her were those startlingly clear eyes.
After determining she posed no threat, his lips curled into a frosty dismissal: "Little rat. Scram now if you value your life." His voice carried the biting chill of Antarctic winds, laced with such undisguised contempt it made one's bones ache with cold.
The man radiated merciless indifference.
Yet Emily knew with crystalline clarity—he represented her only chance of survival. With hunters still prowling these woods, stepping beyond this clearing meant certain death. Even if she miraculously evaded capture, this forest teemed with hidden predators waiting to pounce. Alone, she stood zero chance.
Her sole hope stood before her now.
This man commanded an entire retinue—his authority palpable in the way subordinates snapped to attention. Power clung to him like the expensive fragrance of his tailored coat.
She had to stay.
No matter what, she had to cling to this lifeline. If she could just make it through the night, dawn would bring salvation.
Seeing the man about to leave, she quickly reached out and grabbed the hem of his pants. "Please... can you save me?"
Ethan Kerrigan paused, as if he'd heard something absurd. His deep eyes flickered with amusement—chilling, laced with darkness and something unnervingly cold.
"Save you?" His voice dripped with mockery. "Why should I?"
