But before she could take a step toward the door, Diaz’s voice rang out behind her, trembling with sudden rage.

"You don’t deserve him! You won’t ever be able to handle what he truly is!"

Aliana paused in her tracks as Diaz continued, her voice dropping to a low, mocking whisper.

"He has a habit of getting bored, you see." Diaz began walking slowly toward her, closing the distance, but Aliana refused to turn around.

Feeling the woman standing directly behind her, Aliana listened as she whispered right against her ear. "You may have that ruby ring on your finger now... but what makes you think there is anything that will stop him from coming back to my arms?"

Aliana’s fingers curled into a tight fist as Diaz pushed further. "He will always come back to me... just like he did a couple of nights ago."

The moment those words left her mouth, Aliana’s heart skipped a beat.

Her eyes widened as she quickly sifted through her memories, recalling the name Gavriel had mentioned about that woman he had gone to.

And then she froze.

Diana.

He had told her the woman’s name was Diana... but this woman had introduced herself as... Diaz.

Slowly, Aliana turned her head over her shoulder, pinning the woman with a piercing look. "Who exactly are you?"

.....

Far from the washroom where Aliana was trapped, Cillian and Jade sprinted down the path where the spirit of Rose continued to appear and vanish, leading them into a deeper section of the forest surrounding the estate before disappearing completely.

Cillian and Jade huffed as they came to a sudden halt, looking around frantically to see where she had gone.

"Where did she go?" Jade asked breathlessly, leaning forward slightly with her hands on her knees. Her heart was hammering against her ribs from the relentless run.

Cillian leaned his hand against a thick tree trunk, his eyes scanning the dense foliage. "I have no idea. She just vanished right here."

Jade looked around at the dark woods, where only faint patches of moonlight filtered through the canopy, before glancing back to see the mansion’s lights gleaming from a distance.

"We have come incredibly far, only for that damned spirit to disappear on us."

Then, almost absent-mindedly, she murmured, "You know, this actually feels like a scene from one of those thriller movies, where the characters are lured away by a bait just so the killer can use that time to-"

Jade abruptly froze as the weight of her own words sank in. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Cillian’s head snapped toward her in sheer shock.

Both of them stared at each other with wide, horrified eyes before cursing in perfect unison. "Fuck!"

Without another word, they spun around and began running blindly back toward the mansion.

"Why didn’t you realise that sooner?!" Cillian yelled over his shoulder as he pushed his pace.

"What?! I literally just thought of it! Why didn’t you think of it before?!" Jade yelled back, desperately trying to keep up with his incredible speed.

Cillian’s jaw clenched tightly as a heavy, dreadful feeling sank deep into the pit of his stomach. "Hurry up!" he called out to the woman, who was lagging behind at what felt like an agonisingly slow speed.

Jade, forcing her legs to move faster, panted, "I swear, if anything happens to Aliana-"

"Don’t say it! Just don’t stop running!" Cillian cut her off fiercely.

He didn’t even want to entertain the thought of something happening to Aliana. Because god forbid if something did happen to her, he knew there would be absolutely no saving anyone from Gavriel’s wrath.

...

Meanwhile, on the completely opposite side of the forest, black blood splattered violently across a different section of the clearing.

Reve’s murderous crimson eyes shone intensely from beneath his hood as he looked down at the gruesome carnage of cut-up bodies. The slaughtered creatures all possessed coarse, midnight-black fur.

There was absolutely no need for him to investigate any further, as he knew exactly what these beasts were.

Hellhounds.

The mere presence of these creatures here meant foul play by a demon who had intentionally set them loose on the estate grounds.

His jaw clenched in pure anger as he cast his gaze around the clearing one final time, extending his senses to check if there were any more hidden in the immediate vicinity.

When he couldn’t detect any other threats, he knew he needed to make his way back to his Master immediately to inform him of the breach.

How they had managed to get here and what they were truly plotting would have to be investigated later.

For now, a terrible, suffocating feeling hung heavy in the air, telling Reve that something was profoundly wrong. Without wasting another second, he vanished from the clearing, teleporting directly back toward the position he had occupied just moments before.

.....

Back in the washroom...

"Who exactly are you?"

Diaz blinked, momentarily surprised by the unexpected question.

Before she could form a reply, Aliana turned to face her completely, looking straight into the woman’s calculating eyes. "You are Diana, aren’t you?"

Diana’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. She had truly never expected Aliana to know her real name. A thought crossed her mind... if Aliana knew who she was, did that mean Gavriel had actually confessed his past to her?

But that was a question for another time. Diana knew she was running out of minutes. She needed to complete her task and secure her target before it was too late.

A vicious, amused smirk curled across Diana’s face. "You see, I would love to stay and chat, but I am currently a little short on time."

Before Aliana could even register the threat, Diana suddenly lunged forward, raising her hand to slam a black cloth tightly against Aliana’s nose and mouth.

The attack was brutal.

The physical pressure was far stronger than Aliana would ever expect from a woman with such a slender frame. But Aliana was a fighter, and she was not about to go down without a fight.

Summoning a surge of adrenaline, Aliana drove her knee upward, landing a brutal blow right into Diana’s solar plexus. The impact made Diana stagger backwards, her tight grip momentarily loosening around Aliana’s mouth.

Aliana was doing everything she could to hold her breath, but the physical struggle had already forced some of the substance into her airways.

A wave of pure fury roared inside her chest.

How dare this lunatic attack her out of nowhere, especially on her engagement night!

Refusing to relent, Aliana dug her manicured nails deep into Diana’s wrist, dragging them downward with all her remaining strength.

Diana let out a pained grunt before releasing her completely and stumbling back, breathing heavily.

Aliana, on the other hand, staggered against the marble sink.

Even as she gasped for air, a devastating wave of dizziness washed over her.

Desperate to stay conscious, she reached a trembling hand toward the tap, fumbling for a moment before turning on the cold water. She cupped the water in her unsteady hands, but just as she tried to splash it onto her face, she was violently shoved into a wall next to the sink.

Pain exploded through the back of her skull.

The impact had barely registered when a sharp, burning sting tore across her face. Her lips split open, and the metallic taste of blood instantly filled her mouth.

"You bitch!" Diana hissed, her voice trembling with fury.

Before Aliana could recover, Diana lunged forward and slammed the cloth back over her nose and mouth with far more force than before.