William was brought to the villa.

He was covered in blood, his clothes torn to shreds. His white shirt was stained beyond recognition.

His face was bruised and swollen. One of his eyes was a mangled, bloody mess, completely blind.

He collapsed to the floor, coughing violently and spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

Then he rolled over, lay back, and started to laugh loudly.

"Adrian Preston... oh, Adrian Preston..."

He had lost a front tooth, causing him to speak with a lisp that was grating to the ear.

"You should have sent me to the Anti-Smuggling Bureau right away, but you brought me here for a private little session. You just wanted to vent, didn’t you? Aren’t you supposed to be the most righteous and incorruptible of them all? Don’t you believe the law is supreme?"

"I’ll send you there. But not yet,"

Adrian Preston said, his voice dark.

"You shouldn’t have told her those things." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"COUGH, COUGH. You can’t blame me. I thought she already knew."

Hearing this, Adrian Preston viciously stomped on the bullet wound in William’s thigh. He ground his leather shoe into it, and the wound, which had stopped bleeding, gushed with fresh blood.

William’s body convulsed in pain, shaking violently.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and grabbed Adrian’s ankle, trying to push his foot away.

But the difference in their strength was too great; he couldn’t budge him an inch.

William looked up at him, his gaze grim.

"Don’t you want to know who assaulted Mia Kane? Let me go, and I’ll tell you."

Adrian’s brow furrowed.

"You’ve destroyed all my strongholds. My reputation in the Trivium is in tatters, I can’t go back. You have all the evidence of my crimes, and you’re just trying to find my supplier, which you already have leads on! Just let me go like a dog. I swear I’ll live with my tail between my legs from now on, okay?"

"Tell me, who else assaulted her!"

When he arrived, her clothes were in tatters and her hair was a mess.

When William was arrested, he had laughed wildly as he saw Adrian about to enter the cabin to rescue the victim.

"Officer Preston, you’re too late. We’ve already had our fun with this woman. Chase Lockwood’s woman... she tastes as good as they say. The drugs are still in her system. If no one... helps her, she’ll die. So, Officer Preston, what do you think? Who’s the better choice to help her out? Are you going to watch the victim die on your watch, or are you going to defile her yourself?"

Adrian had wanted to kill William right then and there, but the law held him back.

He had comforted himself with the thought that William would eventually be executed.

But he never expected William to pull a fast one and remain at large.

But it didn’t matter. He was back in his hands now.

"Tell me, who else was there!"

Adrian enunciated each word, his voice seeming to rise from Hell itself, devoid of any warmth.

"First, you have to promise to let me go..."

"You’re in no position to bargain with me!"

Adrian kicked him over, his patience completely gone.

William frowned. ’The worst that can happen is I get thrown in jail,’ he thought. ’Adrian won’t execute me himself.’

"There’s also Blackie. He’s with me in the Trivium, but he’s in charge of a different territory. We cooperate a lot. He was on my boat at the time. When I got a prize like her, I invited him to have the first taste. He left right after. If you’d gotten there a little earlier, he wouldn’t have escaped."

"And one of Blackie’s trusted men, a guy who handles his business on the outside. I think he’s called K. He’s a top-tier assassin."

"Just those two. The others didn’t get a chance before you showed up... I didn’t even get to..."

"Are you sure you didn’t?"

Adrian ruthlessly grabbed him by the throat.

"I didn’t... I really didn’t..."

"Don’t worry. I’ll hunt them all down. I won’t let a single person who humiliated her get away. As for whether you did anything... I don’t believe you."

Adrian stomped hard between his legs.

"AGHH—"

William let out a despairing shriek and passed out from the pain. His face was impossibly pale, cold sweat mixing with the blood covering his body.

Theo Thorne, watching from the side, felt his own crotch tighten and sucked in a sharp breath.

Adrian looked down at the unconscious William, then pulled out a tissue, wiped his fingers, and tossed it onto William’s face.

"Theo, take him to the Anti-Smuggling Bureau. Tell the director I’m willing to cooperate with them."

Theo Thorne nodded immediately.

He had been managing the corporation for Adrian for a long time and knew all about his undercover work.

Today, Adrian wasn’t trying to hide anything. Theo understood the gist of it: his sister-in-law had been hurt, and Adrian planned to eliminate every single smuggler who was on that boat, leaving no one behind.

The ones who got away were Blackie and the assassin, K.

When Theo returned after running his errand, he saw Adrian getting ready to go out. It looked like he was headed to the hospital.

"Adrian, going to see your wife?"

"Yeah."

"She still can’t forgive you? You had no choice. Were you supposed to let someone else... take care of her?"

"Don’t say another word. Never bring this up again. It’s a painful memory for her. No matter what, I did the wrong thing. She has every right not to forgive me, and I don’t dare hope for her forgiveness."

He had married her because he had loved her for years, but also because he was afraid that after what happened, others would look down on her.

At the very least, Adrian could guarantee that he would never look down on her. He would only ever cherish her and ache for her.

Adrian went to the hospital, only to be met with a cold shoulder.

Mia Kane didn’t want to talk to him, so she pretended to be asleep.

He sat quietly by her bedside for a long time. She didn’t know if he could see through her act. ’Adrian really is patient,’ she thought. She was getting restless just lying there, but he sat perfectly still for two hours, just watching her.

’What, is there a painting on my face or something? Is this really necessary?’

If it weren’t for an urgent matter at the corporation, he probably wouldn’t have left.

After he was gone, Mia Kane quickly sat up.

She felt like her limbs were about to atrophy from lying down for so long.

’No, I have to find a way to get out of here.’

After thinking it over, she realized there was only one person who might be willing to help her. She went to find Shannon Preston.

Shannon Preston had refused to be transferred to another hospital, but she had learned her lesson. She didn’t dare wander around, terrified of running into Mia.

Mia was on a lower floor, so Shannon stuck to the upper floors, going to the terrace for some air instead of going downstairs to enjoy the sun. If she ran into Mia again, she’d get another beating.

And just like that, as her caregiver was pushing her toward the elevator to go up to the rooftop for some fresh air, the doors opened to reveal Mia Kane inside.

Shannon Preston’s face went white with fear. Without even waiting for the caregiver, she used her own hands to spin the wheels of her chair and race away.

Mia strode forward and grabbed her wheelchair.

"What, am I that scary?"

"You... what are you doing? If I can’t afford to provoke you, can’t I at least hide from you? I haven’t said a thing this time! If you hit me again, you’ll be going too far!"

Shannon Preston wanted to cry but had no tears left.

Mia pushed Shannon to her hospital room and told the caregiver to wait outside.

"Don’t come in. This is the twelfth floor. It’s not like I’m going to jump."

She commanded coldly, and the caregiver had no choice but to stand outside.

"Quick... go get my brother," Shannon said fearfully.

"Who dares to leave? Just try it."

Shannon’s caregiver immediately froze.

The door to the room closed, and Shannon started shaking like a leaf.

She only hated that her legs were healing so slowly, that she couldn’t just get up and run.

"What... what in the world do you want?"

Mia didn’t speak, just strode closer.

Seeing her just inches away, Shannon fearfully covered her face. "As long as you don’t hit the face, we can talk about anything!"

"Don’t you hate me? Fine. I’ll grant your wish and disappear from your sight."