Victoria finally arrived at the eatery. As usual, the place was lively. Plates clattered, customers talked over one another, and the scent of grilled food filled the air. Behind the counter, Tonia moved quickly from table to table, juggling orders with the practiced ease of someone who had done it a thousand times.
"Hey, Vicky… I've been looking for you."
Victoria froze for a moment when she heard the familiar voice behind her. Slowly, she turned.
John stood there.
For once, he didn't look drunk. In fact, he looked oddly composed. In his hands was a small gift box.
"Hi, John," she said briefly.
She turned away and continued toward the kitchen, clearly uninterested. But before she could get far, John grabbed her wrist.
"Hey—"
Victoria winced sharply.
John immediately released her, panic flickering across his face.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he said nervously.
"Yeah," Victoria replied coldly. "Like you didn't mean to force a kiss on me the other day."
"That's exactly why I came," John said quickly. "To apologise."
He held out the gift box.
"I'm sorry."
Victoria didn't even try to take it.
John opened the box himself. Inside lay a delicate necklace—platinum, with a pendant shaped like the letter V.
"Please accept it," he pleaded. "I feel horrible. I know there's probably nothing I can say to make you forgive me, but… please. Take the gift."
His voice trembled with what looked like sincerity. He even let a tear roll down the side of his face.
If Victoria didn't know better—if she didn't know John was a delusional fool who had been obsessively chasing her for years—she might have believed him.
"Please," he said again, slowly raising the necklace.
Victoria suddenly became aware of the silence around them.
She glanced up.
The entire eatery had stopped to watch.
Customers leaned forward in their chairs. Even the kids sitting in the corner section stared eagerly.
Then the children suddenly started chanting.
"ACCEPT! ACCEPT! ACCEPT!"
Victoria frowned.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as realization hit her.
A setup.
Of course.
John would do anything to get her attention—even if it meant bribing children to cheer him on. He knew perfectly well that Victoria had a soft spot for kids. He was counting on it.
Her jaw tightened.
She made a silent mental note to slap him across the face later for this public humiliation.
But for now…
She had to play along.
Victoria gave a small nod.
At that exact moment, the door of the eatery opened.
Saima stepped inside—and froze.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
There stood her boyfriend… placing jewelry on another woman.
Victoria caught the expression on Saima's face and smiled faintly. The sour look forming there was priceless.
Saima marched forward so quickly her heels nearly scraped the floor.
Before the necklace could even settle around Victoria's neck, Saima yanked it off violently.
John stared at her in shock.
Tonia immediately rushed over to the kids' section.
"Alright, show's over! Out, out!" she said, shooing the children away before the inevitable insults started flying.
"Saima, what the hell are you doing?!" John roared.
He had spent five years chasing Victoria—five years of being ignored and avoided. Dating Saima had originally been nothing more than an attempt to make Victoria jealous.
It hadn't worked.
But tonight… tonight he had finally gotten Victoria's attention.
And now Saima was ruining it.
At that moment, he deeply regretted ever getting involved with her.
Saima turned the necklace over in her hands.
"Is this platinum?" she asked, stunned.
She had begged John for months to get her a custom necklace with an S pendant—preferably platinum.
And yet here he was… buying one for this witch.
"Saima. Give it back," John said, stepping toward her.
Before he could reach her—
SLAP.
Her hand struck his face so hard his head snapped sideways.
John stood frozen, clutching his cheek in disbelief.
Victoria couldn't help it.
She laughed.
The sound only enraged Saima further. She stormed toward Victoria and raised her hand.
But before the slap could land—
Victoria caught her wrist mid-air.
With her other hand, she slowly wagged her index finger.
"Mm-mm," she said.
Her grip tightened slightly as she lowered Saima's arm.
"Let's not get carried away, sweet."
Saima's eyes burned with fury.
"You're a homewrecker, Victoria."
Tonia scoffed loudly from nearby.
"How is Vicky a homewrecker when it's your douche of a boyfriend throwing himself at my friend?"
John blinked in disbelief.
Douche?
"Look, you're married," Saima snapped at Tonia, gripping John's collar. "So I understand if you want a man for your friend. But this right here—" she shook John slightly "—is taken!"
Tonia stared at her.
"Really, Saima?"
She looked John up and down with open disgust.
"You think if I wanted a man for Vicky… it would be this?"
John yanked himself free.
"What's wrong with me?!"
Victoria had already lost interest.
The scene was getting embarrassing—and worse, it was disturbing their customers.
She stepped forward slowly.
Saima instinctively stepped back.
"What you have," Victoria said calmly, "is waste."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And I'm not a bin."
She reached forward and calmly took the necklace from Saima's hand.
"But he bought this for me," Victoria added casually.
She tilted her head slightly.
"Let's face it, Saima… V doesn't rhyme with S."
The words struck like salt in an open wound.
Without another glance, Victoria turned and walked into the kitchen.
Behind her, John smiled when he saw that she had taken the necklace.
Before Saima could start another scene, John grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the eatery.
Later That Evening
A man lay strapped to a metal bed.
Thick leather belts bound his wrists and ankles tightly.
His eyes were closed.
The room was cold, windowless, and bare—more like a torture chamber than a hospital room.
A man in a long white coat entered with another figure beside him.
The second man wore a black suit. He was tall, broad, muscular. Long black hair fell past his shoulders.
But the most striking feature was the mask covering the upper half of his face.
Only his mouth and piercing blue eyes were visible.
"Is this… him?" the man in the white coat asked nervously.
He recognized the prisoner.
"Yes," the masked man replied coldly. "Why isn't he awake yet? Check on him. I have work to do."
The doctor stepped forward. Before he could even touch the patient—
Xavier's eyes snapped open.
"What the fuck?!"
The sudden roar made the doctor jump back and nearly collapse into the corner.
"Well, well, well," the masked man said slowly. "Look who's awake."
He smiled—a disturbing, twisted smile.
"I was worried I might have to kill you if you slipped into a coma."
Xavier scanned the room quickly.
No windows.
Plain walls.
A blood-stained metal chair sat in the corner. The smell of rot hung in the air.
But what concerned him most were the armed men surrounding the room like a living wall.
"Still so weak you hide behind a mask and armed idiots?" Xavier sneered, testing the restraints on his wrists.
The masked man chuckled.
"Oh, old friend… you have no idea."
Suddenly, he lunged forward and punched Xavier repeatedly—like a man releasing years of pent-up hatred.
Blood filled Xavier's mouth. He spat it straight onto the mask.
The room went silent.
The masked man calmly removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. Then he walked to a metal tray filled with surgical tools. He picked up a spatula. Turning back toward Xavier, he smiled slowly.
Xavier swallowed hard.
"What do you want?"
"Your empire," the masked man replied. He stepped closer.
"And your body… in that bag."
His smile widened.
"But first, I want to have my fun."
He grabbed Xavier's jaw and forced his mouth open.
"I need those teeth," he said softly. "Can't let them go to waste."
Just as he prepared to pull—
Gunshots exploded outside.
The masked man paused.
"Someone came to rescue you?" he asked.
He turned to his men.
"Bring them here alive. It seems tonight will be even more entertaining."
Then a voice echoed from the doorway.
"I'm here."
The masked man turned.
A young woman stood there.
Black leather jacket. Jeans. Boots. Long curled hair falling over her shoulders.
In her hand was a golden-striped gun.
Her blue eyes were calm.
Her smile… confident. Almost playful.
She slowly raised her hands as dozens of guns pointed at her.
"Oh, this is new," the masked man said with amusement.
"You got yourself a girlfriend?"
Behind him, Xavier's heart leapt.
He had faced countless dangers in his life.
He once believed this masked man—known only as The Boss—was the most ruthless man alive.
Second only to himself.
But ever since Blue entered his life…
He knew better.
The Boss was nothing compared to her.
Blue handed over her gun.
Then suddenly—
She crouched slightly.
In the same instant, every gun in the room began ejecting bullets onto the floor.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
The men stared in shock.
Before they could react—
Blue flipped backward over them, moving like lightning.
Within seconds, every guard hit the floor unconscious.
Only The Boss and Xavier remained.
Blue dusted off her jacket casually.
"There," she said. "That's how you do it."
She took her gun back from the stunned Boss and walked straight to Xavier.
"I knew you'd come," Xavier said weakly, smiling through blood.
Blue's expression darkened when she saw his bruised face.
"He did this to you?"
Before Xavier could answer, she turned.
And punched the Boss.
He caught her fist mid-air.
"You're not that good—"
CRACK.
Blue slammed her forehead into his nose.
The Boss collapsed to the floor, clutching his face as blood poured down.
Xavier burst into laughter.
Blue leaned down and kissed him deeply.
He kissed her back until he ran out of breath.
"Okay… let's not get carried away," he gasped.
Blue cut the restraints and helped him sit up.
Then—
Click.
The door lock engaged.
The Boss stood again, holding a gun.
"No one is leaving," he said coldly. "Surrender now and let me rule the underworld."
As he loaded the weapon—
His chest suddenly tightened.
He looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Blue had already fired.
He collapsed backward.
Blood filled his mouth as he pressed a button near his ear.
Blue stepped closer calmly.
"I don't need you dead yet," she said. "We still have a lot to talk about." Her eyes were icy.
"But I grazed your heart… just enough so you understand how deep I'm willing to go."
The Boss heard nothing else.
His world faded into complete darkness.