Chapter 6

Marie froze, her hands curling into tight fists.

"Under our rules, anyone who places a blank-check bid and fails to pay must face the consequences!" the organizer announced.

At his signal, a massive glass tank was wheeled into the center of the auction hall. Inside, several ferocious snakes prowled restlessly, their eyes gleaming with savage hunger.

A chill shot through Marie, making her scalp tingle. She turned desperately toward Rylan, silently pleading for him to help her.

Rylan looked just as stunned. Clearly, he hadn't expected the situation to spiral this far.

He opened his mouth, ready to intervene and put an end to the madness. But Coraline suddenly cried out in pain. Her ankle twisted beneath her, and she crumpled to the floor.

Rylan reacted instinctively, rushing forward to scoop her into his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice thick with panic.

"My ankle hurts so much..." Coraline whimpered, clutching his sleeve. "Please, take me to the hospital."

"Of course." Without a moment's hesitation, Rylan turned toward Marie. "Coraline is our classmate. We can't just leave her in pain, can we? I'll take her to the ER first. Wait here for me, okay? I'll be right back."

Before Marie could even respond, he carried Coraline out of the auction hall.

"Rylan!" Marie tried to run after him, but two burly guards immediately blocked her path.

"If you can't pay, you're not going anywhere!" one of them barked. "Throw her in!"

A wave of icy terror swept over Marie. She struggled desperately, but the guards were too strong. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't break free.

They dragged her to the tank and shoved her inside.

Marie's bloodcurdling screams tore through the auction hall as the animals pounced on her. Their sharp fangs sank into her calves.

Within seconds, blood soaked through her dress, turning the fabric a deep crimson. Her screams grew weaker, and her eyelids began to droop as darkness crept into the edges of her vision.

Just as despair threatened to consume her, Rylan came charging back into the hall. He broke the tank and dragged Marie out.

The moment he saw her mangled, blood-soaked body, something inside him snapped. He lunged at the auction organizer, seized him by the collar, and smashed his fist into the man's face.

Then he turned on the others. His punches came down like a relentless storm, leaving the organizers sprawled across the floor, groaning and bleeding.

Marie trembled uncontrollably as agony radiated from her wounds through every inch of her body. Before long, her vision faded, and she lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she was lying in a hospital bed. Her entire body burned with fever, and even the slightest movement sent waves of pain through her.

Then she heard the voice of one of Rylan’s friends from the hallway. "They only agreed to go along with it because we arranged the whole thing to make the act look convincing!"

"Exactly!" another chimed in. "Coraline only pretended to sprain her ankle so you'd take her to the hospital and leave Marie behind. The whole point was to make you look like her hero so she'd finally fall for you! The plan worked, so why are you still beating these guys?"

Marie felt as though the last trace of strength had drained from her body. She stumbled backward, nearly collapsing against the wall.

She had known Rylan could deceive her, but she had never imagined that even the rescue had been part of his plan.

Rylan said nothing and just merely stared coldly at them. His friends exchanged uneasy glances until one of them finally mustered the courage to speak.

"Rylan... don't tell me you've actually fallen for Marie. If you have, what about Coraline? How are you going to explain that to her?"

Rylan's face drained of color. In a sudden fit of rage, he kicked over a nearby glass coffee table.

"Shut your damn mouths!" he snarled. "I don't love Marie! Coraline is the only woman I care about. If any of you ever say that again, I'll cut your tongues out!"

After driving his friends away, Rylan seemed unable to settle down. He paced for a while before finally heading straight for Marie's room.

The moment he opened the door, he froze.

Marie was sitting on the floor, her face deathly pale and tears streaming down her cheeks.