A lengthy silence hung between them. The car’s heating made the air inside slightly stifling. Asher loosened his tie and partially lowered the window. Cold air rushed in, bringing immediate relief.
Kimberly carefully chose her words: “About what my father said—” Before she could finish, Asher floored the accelerator. Kimberly lurched forward unexpectedly, the remainder of her sentence caught in her throat. She pressed her lips together and quietly fastened her seatbelt. Asher was clearly emotional, driving far too fast. Kimberly sat in the passenger seat, her heart racing with anxiety.
The security detail following behind panicked. “Bloody hell! Where’s Mr. Blackwood’s car? How did we lose them so fast?” The man in the passenger seat broke into a cold sweat. “You’re kidding me, right? How did you manage to lose them?” The driver slammed his fist against the steering wheel in frustration. “Come on! Mr. Blackwood was going flat out. That’s a Bugatti La Voiture Noire – this heap of junk doesn’t stand a chance! What the hell do we do now?” His colleague frantically pulled out his mobile. “I’ll give him a ring and find out where they’re headed.”
The black Bugatti sped along the road, the scenery outside becoming a blur. The roar of the supercar’s engine drowned out the soft vibration of the incoming call.
Kimberly’s heart was in her throat. Her face had gone pale as she gripped the seatbelt tightly. “Asher, slow down, please.” Asher stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched, his profile rigid with tension. His mood was visibly dark. Though he didn’t respond verbally, the car gradually slowed. Kimberly’s tense body gradually relaxed. She looked out the window. The buildings and landscape around them were unfamiliar. This wasn’t the route to Pan Peninsula, nor was it the way to the Blackwood estate.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Asher replied coldly, “Pan Peninsula isn’t safe anymore. You can’t go back there for a while. I’m taking you to a country estate to lie low until I sort this mess out. Then I’ll come get you.”
“Is it far?”
“Not really. Just up ahead, there’ll be people waiting for you. You’ll get out and go with them. They’ve got top security personnel – you’ll be safe with them.”
Kimberly immediately asked, “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
The car continued forward. The city’s skyscrapers became fewer, replaced by smaller buildings and wilderness. Wild green vegetation flourished on both sides of the road, creating a refreshingly peaceful scene.
“We’re almost there. Kimmy, you need to go with them when we stop.”
Kimberly turned to look behind them. “Where’s our security today? I thought you said never go out without them?”
Asher’s voice was grave. “After leaving the hospital, I spotted someone following us. I sped up to lose them, which is probably when our security detail lost us too.”
Kimberly felt a stab of worry. “Won’t you be in danger when you head back?”
Just then, Asher’s phone began vibrating again. As the car had slowed, he answered this time. The security guard’s voice was urgent and serious: “Sir, where are you and Ms. Jordan? We’ve completely lost you.”
“I’m at—” Before he could finish, a loud “bang” resonated as a bullet struck the car body. Simultaneously, a black Aston Martin appeared in the rearview mirror. Asher wrenched the steering wheel sharply, narrowly avoiding a bullet aimed at the tire. The projectile hit the car body instead – fortunately, the tires remained intact. Kimberly instinctively cried out in alarm. The Bugatti’s tires screeched against the asphalt.
Asher pushed Kimberly down in the passenger seat. “Kimmy, get down! Now!” Kimberly had barely ducked when a bullet shot through from the side, missing her by inches. Had Asher not reacted so quickly, the bullet would have struck her head.
The bullet passed diagonally through the passenger side, hitting the windscreen, which immediately developed a hole with fractures spreading outward. Cold air whistled in through the bullet hole. Kimberly struggled to curl her body smaller, trembling with fear. Once again, she had narrowly escaped death. In this moment, she fully grasped Tom Malfoy’s murderous intent! To use firearms so brazenly in London – he truly was completely deranged.
Faced with this critical emergency, Asher remained coolly composed. “They came prepared,” Asher said in a low voice, speaking rapidly. “Kimmy, stay down… Don’t move.” He had been careless. Asher thought he’d lost them, but they had caught up. His Kimberly had nearly been shot. His brow furrowed, his eyes filled with deadly intent. Asher pushed the Bugatti to its limits, the steering wheel spinning in his hands as he swerved left and right, shifting lanes unpredictably, moving like a dragon in flight, skillfully avoiding another shot aimed at the driver’s seat.
“Bang!” Another bullet struck the rearview mirror, instantly shattering the glass, sending fragments flying. Kimberly was jostled from side to side, bumping against the interior. Behind the Bugatti, two cars had caught up. A black Aston Martin and a silver Porsche 918, both traveling at extreme speeds, attempting to surround the Bugatti. In the passenger seat of the Porsche, a man wielded a heavy sniper rifle – the source of the previous shots.
Asher slightly reduced his speed. With one hand on the wheel, he reached to the side of the driver’s seat and pulled out a gun, loading it single-handedly. Ordinarily, Asher wouldn’t keep a weapon in his car, but he had specifically prepared this one as a precaution against Malfoy.
Just as the Aston Martin was about to draw level with the Bugatti, Asher suddenly decreased his speed, allowing the cars to run parallel. In that split-second window, Asher swiftly raised his gun and fired. The bullet passed through the gap in the window. The Aston Martin’s window shattered with a hole. The passenger seat was empty, but the bullet struck the driver. The car violently veered off course, crashing into the guardrail on the right side of the road. The Aston Martin’s front end crumpled, the guardrail twisted from the impact, and thick black smoke immediately billowed from the vehicle.
The Porsche 918, which had been lagging slightly behind, visibly slowed – the driver distracted by his colleague’s accident. Asher seized the opportunity, controlling the steering wheel with one hand while firing multiple shots at the pursuing vehicle with the other. The bullets penetrated the Porsche’s windscreen. To avoid the sudden gunfire, the Porsche driver frantically turned the wheel. Unlike Asher, the driver lacked composure under pressure. The Porsche lost control, swerving wildly before breaking through the left guardrail and plunging off the cliff.
Kimberly remained crouched in the car, unable to see what was happening outside. She had only felt the momentary deceleration, followed by the tremendous noise of a vehicle hitting the guardrail. While chaos reigned outside, Kimberly obediently stayed down, not daring to move.
The Bugatti finally escaped its pursuers, accelerating forward for a considerable distance. Only after confirming they were out of danger did Asher relax. “It’s okay now, Kimmy. You can sit up.”
Kimberly slowly raised herself. Asher reduced their speed, glancing at her. Kimberly’s face was completely drained of color, her eyes still haunted by terror – clearly severely shaken.
“Was that Malfoy himself?” Kimberly asked, her voice trembling.
Asher shook his head. “He wouldn’t put himself out in the field like this. The guy with the… rifle was probably someone he brought over from Russia. The way he handled that weapon – definitely one of Malfoy’s mercenaries.”
Kimberly remained badly shaken, cold sweat drenching her clothes. “He’s absolutely insane.”
Asher felt a wave of guilt. “God, Kimmy, you must be terrified. I’m so sorry – being with me has put you in danger again.”
Perhaps, Asher thought, he should seriously consider Ronald’s words…