Chapter 53

Asher raced after Thalia, but a man who seemed to materialize from thin air blocked his path. The man collided with Asher, spilling red wine across his bespoke suit. Asher ignored his ruined clothes, his focus solely on reaching Thalia as panic seized him. The man, however, deliberately remained in his path, offering exaggerated apologies. “Terribly sorry, Mr. Blackwood. A complete accident. Shall I have your suit professionally cleaned?”

“It’s fine,” Asher replied, attempting to sidestep him.

The man mirrored his movement. “Mr. Blackwood, I do apologize. I hope you won’t hold this against me.”

Asher’s patience snapped. “Get out of my way!” he demanded.

The man touched his nose awkwardly and finally stepped aside. When Asher reached the elevator, he watched the numbers change rapidly on the display, his heart sinking. The elevator had already reached the ninth floor. Even if he immediately took the adjacent lift, he would be too late. He spun around—the stranger had vanished. Asher’s expression hardened. That man had deliberately delayed him.

Meanwhile, outside a side entrance to the estate, a nondescript black Audi sat parked in a secluded corner. The man who had blocked Asher slid into the driver’s seat. “It’s done, Miss Bennett.”

Grace reclined in the back seat, eyes closed. “Drive.”

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Aren’t we waiting for Miss Miller?”

Grace laughed contemptuously. “If we waited for that fool, none of us would escape today.”

Thalia burst onto the rooftop immediately after exiting the lift.

Opening the heavy metal door, she instantly spotted Lucy. The child was bound to a chair precariously close to the roof’s edge, her mouth sealed with tape, her hands and feet tied with rope. The masked figure still held a knife to Lucy’s throat. Unable to cry out, Lucy could only stare at Thalia, tears streaming down her face, utterly terrified.

Thalia’s heart ached seeing her sister in such a state. Lucy, just an innocent child, had been playfully clinging to her only hours ago—how had she ended up in mortal danger so quickly?

Steadying herself, Thalia addressed the kidnapper: “Let my sister go. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Come here. Trade places with her.” Without the voice distorter, the masked figure spoke in her natural voice. It was a woman—a singer.

“All right,” Thalia agreed without hesitation, starting toward them.

When she was approximately two meters away—

“Thalia! Stop!” Asher’s voice rang out.

Thalia froze and turned. Asher rushed to her side, pulling her protectively into his arms, his voice uncharacteristically unsteady. “Don’t. It’s too dangerous.”

Watching this unfold, Vanessa broke down, her heart constricting painfully. She laughed bitterly, her eyes filled with raw anguish. “How bloody touching.”

“Asher, you don’t care if I live or die, yet you’d do anything for her.” Vanessa removed her mask.

Her tears gave way to hysterical laughter. “Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

“Why does she get your love? Why her?” Vanessa’s eyes flashed with murderous intent as she lunged toward Thalia, thrusting her knife forward with deadly force. They were only steps apart. Thalia, with her back to Vanessa, couldn’t see the attack coming. Given the close proximity, Vanessa moved with frightening speed. Asher, distracted by shielding Thalia, faced an impossible choice—he needed to push her away and counter Vanessa, but there simply wasn’t time. Despite his training, he couldn’t possibly push Thalia to safety and counter-attack in such a compressed moment.

As the knife came toward them, Asher made the only choice he could. He turned his body, deliberately shielding Thalia and taking the blow himself. As the blade plunged into him, Asher let out a sharp, muffled grunt.

“No!” Vanessa’s agonized scream tore through the air. She stumbled backward, horror dawning on her face. “Why—Asher! Why her? You’d die for her?”

The metallic scent of blood filled the air as Thalia finally comprehended what had happened. She stepped back from Asher’s embrace and looked down, seeing the knife embedded in his side. In an instant, all color drained from her face.

“Asher!” she cried, tears immediately spilling from her eyes.

At that moment, security personnel flooded through the rooftop door, rapidly surrounding them. The well-trained guards quickly subdued Vanessa. Thalia held Asher, crying uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “This is all my fault… I shouldn’t have come up here alone…”

She had intended to feign compliance, approaching to exchange herself for Lucy while planning to overpower the kidnapper once Lucy was safe. She hadn’t acted impulsively—she’d had a strategy. But she hadn’t expected Asher to arrive so quickly, unwilling to let her risk herself. And she certainly never imagined he would take a knife for her.

How could this have happened? It was entirely her fault. She shouldn’t have been so stubborn. Asher had told her he was mobilizing all the estate’s security. She should have trusted him and waited for his rescue operation. She should never have rushed to the rooftop alone. The security team had arrived only minutes after Asher, but those critical minutes had resulted in this nightmare.

Thalia was consumed with regret, desperately wishing she had been the one stabbed instead.

Asher was in emergency surgery at the hospital. A large group of people stood anxiously in the corridor outside the operating room, everyone visibly distressed. Thalia had cried until she had no tears left. Now she stood against the wall, her eyes hollow and expression vacant. Lady Blackwood and Lady Blackwood Jr. had both cried until their eyes were red and swollen. Lucy was safe and unharmed; Victoria had taken her home. With everything that had happened, the engagement ceremony had naturally been cancelled. A heavy, oppressive atmosphere filled the corridor.

“How could this happen? Who was that woman? Why did she kidnap Lucy and try to exchange her for Thalia?” Randolph’s face was dark with concern. “Is she an enemy of your family?”

Lord Blackwood looked bewildered. “No, I don’t recognize her at all.”

“I know who she is,” said William, Asher’s close friend. “She’s one of Asher’s admirers.”

Lady Blackwood Jr. looked at him questioningly. “Admirer?”

“Yes,” William replied. “I saw her face when the police took her away. Her name is Vanessa Miller. She was our classmate in secondary school. She’s been pursuing Asher for about ten years now, since our school days.”

Thalia seemed to come back to awareness. “Asher’s admirer?” she asked numbly. “Why… why would she do something like this?”