Chapter 33: Try Touching Her Again

 

The taxi stopped at the entrance of the dilapidated Old District. The alley was too narrow for cars. Harper paid the driver, her hands shaking so hard she dropped the coins.

"Keep the change!" She slammed the door and sprinted into the alley.

In the distance, she saw the sign: "Song Family Noodles." Usually, at this hour, it would be bustling with neighbors, filled with steam and laughter. Now, the metal roller shutter was pulled halfway down. The shop was dark. The red lantern that usually hung by the door was on the ground, crushed.

Harper’s heart hammered against her ribs. She ducked under the shutter.

"Mom! Dad!"

The shop was a wreck. Tables were overturned. Bowls were shattered. Noodles were trampled into the dirt. And the air... the air was thick with a suffocating, chemical stench. Gasoline.

"Harper! Don't come in! Run!" Her father’s voice was hoarse and desperate.

Harper looked toward the corner. Her blood froze. Her parents were tied to chairs with rough rope. Her father had a cut on his forehead, blood matting his eye shut. Her mother was weeping silently, shaking her head frantically.

Standing next to them were three men. The leader had a jagged scar running from his eyebrow to his jaw. He was flicking a windproof lighter open and closed. Click. Click. At his feet were two open jerrycans of petrol.

"What a filial daughter," Scarface smirked, snapping the lighter shut. "We told you to come alone, and you actually listened."

"Let them go!" Harper’s voice trembled, but her eyes were fierce. "You want me. This has nothing to do with them!"

"It didn't," Scarface walked up to her, reaching out to pat her cheek. "But your crippled boyfriend is stubborn. He refuses to drop the investigation against Master Shen. So, we have to use... persuasion."

Harper jerked her head away, disgusted by his touch. "Master Shen? Shen Yuanfeng?" She spat on the floor. "He's a coward. Using kidnapping to fight his nephew? He deserves to rot in hell!"

SMACK!

Scarface backhanded her across the face. The force knocked Harper to the ground. Her ears rang. She tasted copper—blood.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Her mother struggled against the ropes, slamming the chair against the floor.

"Bitch," Scarface grabbed Harper by the hair, yanking her head up. "Call him. Now." "Tell your cripple to resign as CEO and drop the lawsuit. Or..."

He flicked the lighter. A blue flame danced dangerously close to the puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor. "Or I roast your family alive."

Harper stared at the flame. Tears blurred her vision, but she bit her lip until it bled. If she made that call, Sebastian lost everything. He would be destroyed.

"Call him!" Scarface shoved a phone into her face.

Harper took a deep breath. Her shaking fingers dialed the number.

It rang once. "Harper?" Sebastian’s voice was tight with panic. "Where are you?"

"Sebastian..." Harper sobbed.

"Talk to me!"

"I'm at..." Harper looked at the sneering face of the thug. Suddenly, she screamed into the phone with all her strength. "SEBASTIAN! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! DON'T RESIGN! CALL THE POLICE! HELP ME—"

"F*ck!" Scarface snatched the phone and smashed it onto the ground. Crack.

"You want to die?" Scarface roared, his face twisted in rage. "Fine! I'll grant your wish!"

He raised the lighter, ready to throw it into the petrol.

BOOM!

A massive crash shook the building. The metal roller shutter didn't open. It was obliterated.

A black armored SUV smashed through the metal door like a battering ram, tearing it off its hinges. Debris flew everywhere. Dust filled the air.

Scarface jumped back, startled. The lighter slipped from his fingers. Before the flame could touch the gasoline, a black blur launched from the SUV.

It was Liam.

Wearing tactical boots, Liam kicked the lighter mid-air, sending it skittering harmlessly into a wall. Then, with a fluid motion, he spun and roundhouse-kicked Scarface in the chest.

CRACK. Ribs shattered. Scarface flew backward, slamming into the wall and sliding down like a wet rag.

Instantaneously, twelve bodyguards in tactical gear swarmed the shop. Within ten seconds, the other two thugs were pinned to the ground, arms twisted behind their backs.

"Dad! Mom!" Harper ignored the pain in her face. She scrambled to her parents, fumbling to untie the ropes.

"Don't move! The floor is soaked in gas!" Liam shouted. "Get them out first!"

Bodyguards rushed in, cutting the ropes and carrying her parents out to safety.

Harper stumbled toward the exit, coughing from the fumes. At the doorway, she crashed into a solid chest. Or rather, someone sitting in a wheelchair blocking the light.

It was Sebastian. He was sitting in the debris, backlit by the headlights. His face was not human. It was the face of a demon who had crawled out of hell.

He looked at Harper. He saw the red handprint swelling on her cheek. He saw the blood on the corner of her lip.

The temperature in the alley dropped to absolute zero.

Sebastian reached out, his hand trembling violently, and touched her cheek. "Who did this?" Three words. Soft. Quiet. Terrifying.

Harper’s adrenaline crashed. She collapsed into his lap, burying her face in his chest. "Sebastian... I thought I'd never see you again..."

Sebastian held her. He squeezed her so tight it hurt, as if trying to merge her into his own body. His heart was pounding painfully against his ribs. If he had been one minute later...

He looked up. His eyes locked onto Scarface, who was groaning on the floor under Liam’s boot.

"Drag him here," Sebastian ordered.

Liam dragged the thug over and threw him in front of the wheelchair. Scarface was coughing blood. "S-Sebastian... murder is illegal... your uncle will..."

"Illegal?" Sebastian reached into the side pocket of his wheelchair and pulled out a telescoping steel baton. He flicked his wrist. Clack. The baton extended.

"Which hand touched her?" Sebastian asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

Scarface eyes widened in terror. "No... please..."

"This one?" Sebastian looked at the thug’s right hand.

He didn't wait for an answer. He swung the baton.

CRACK!

"AAAAHHH!" A blood-curdling scream echoed through the alley. The thug’s hand was bent at a sickening angle. Shattered.

Sebastian’s expression didn't change. He looked like he was swatting a fly. He dropped the baton into the dirt.

"Liam." "Yes." "Take this trash to the police station. Send the dashcam footage too." Sebastian’s eyes were cold steel. "Tell the police this is attempted murder and arson, ordered by Shen Yuanfeng. I have the witness, the evidence, and the bank transfer." "This time, my uncle is going to prison for the rest of his miserable life."

"Understood," Liam nodded, signaling the guards to take the trash away.

Sebastian looked back down at the girl trembling in his arms. The demon vanished. His eyes filled with infinite pain and regret.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing her swollen cheek, his voice breaking. "I was late."

Harper shook her head, wiping her tears on his expensive suit jacket. "You weren't late. You were perfect." "You are my hero."

Sebastian gave a bitter, pained smile. Some hero. I let you get hurt.

He adjusted his hold on her, keeping her firmly on his lap even as the neighbors started to gather and stare. "Let's go home," he said hoarsely. "No one will ever touch you again."