NO One’s Pov

Lily slowly opened her eyes, but her vision was completely blurry at first. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she could feel a sharp, burning pain radiating from her abdomen where she had been stabbed.

She blinked away the fog and finally managed to look around the space. She quickly realized she was tightly tied to a wooden chair, and the familiar surroundings confirmed she was right back in that dark room.

She turned her head slightly, her joints popping from the tight ropes. Her heart dropped when she looked directly in front of her. Vivien was laying motionless on the hard floor, her pale face illuminated by the dim light of the candles.

"My Lady..." Lily whispered frantically under her breath, her voice cracking with emotion.

She strained against the ropes, trying to move the chair closer to wake her up.

But before she could do anything more, the lock on the door clicked open. Recognizing the sound, Lily instantly froze. She shut her eyes tight, slumped her shoulders forward, and let her head hang down, acting exactly like she was still completely unconscious.

The wooden door creaked open, and Enzo walked in, his boots clicking sharply against the stone floor. He was followed by three of his loyal men.

"Boss, we have successfully taken care of Mr. Valente’s advance men," the guard reported in a hushed tone, stepping up behind Enzo. "We scrambled the tracking signals and cut off their path. They won’t detect anything or find this location anytime soon."

"Good," Enzo said, his voice flat. He stepped deeper into the dark room, his eyes finally landing on Vivien’s quiet form on the ground. A satisfied smile spread across his face. He walked over, knelt down beside her on the floor, and gently reached out to remove a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Look at my babygirl, sleeping so peacefully... just like how I always like her," he murmured in a creepy affectionate whisper, his fingers lightly tracing her cheekbone. "Sleep just a little bit more, my love. Once you open your eyes again, I promise you will no longer have to see his pathetic face ever again. We will be far away from here."

Suddenly, his romantic mood shattered. He snapped his head up, his gaze landing directly on Lily’s tied-up body. In an instant, his face became incredibly ugly, filled with absolute disgust and annoyance.

"Tsk..." Enzo hissed, standing up and dusting off his trousers. He looked incredibly annoyed by her very presence in his ritual space. "Did you idiots really have to tie her up right over here? Couldn’t you do it at least at some far corner out of my sight? She is ruining the view of my perfect arrangement!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls.

The lead guard lowered his head in fear, his shoulders tensing. "Sorry, Boss. We wanted to keep her under your direct supervision so she couldn’t try anything sneaky again."

"Whatever," Enzo snapped irritably, waving his hand to dismiss the excuse. He walked up to the chair, grabbed Lily’s chin with a brutal grip, and tilted her head backward to glare directly into her face. "Her skin is so pale and cold... is this bitch already dead?"

The men looked confusedly at each other, murmuring in low voices. "Before we brought her here, she was definitely still breathing, sir," one of the guards said, stepping forward nervously. "Maybe she finally died because of the excessive bleeding from that stomach wound."

Enzo frowned and let go of her chin, shifting his fingers down to press hard against the side of her neck to check the pulse. Lily forced her body to remain completely limp, keeping her breathing so shallow it was almost imperceptible.

After a tense moment, Enzo pulled his hand away and wiped it on his handkerchief. "She’s alive... barely," he stated carelessly. "With a weak pulse like this and the blow to her head, her consciousness might not come back anytime soon. She’s practically a vegetable right now." He turned his back on her, completely falling for Lily’s act, and walked back toward his ritual altar.

Soon enough, Enzo began working frantically around the dark room. He lit the remaining black candles, placed the final ritual stones in perfect order, and began chanting the twisted words under his breath. The air in the room grew suffocatingly hot, and the space began to vibrate with a strange energy.

Suddenly, a low sound echoed through the stone walls, and a swirling dark purple portal opened right in the center of the room. The glowing vortex cast long shadows across the walls.

Finally, it was time for the absolute last step of his madness. Enzo took a sharp dagger from his altar, raised it high, and sliced it across his own palm. He didn’t even flinch as deep red blood dripped steadily onto the glowing portal, causing the vortex to expand.

With a manic grin, he turned his eyes toward Vivien’s unmoving body on the floor. He got closer to her, crouched down on his knees, and roughly took her arm, pulling her wrist toward the blade to spill her blood next.

Meanwhile, behind his back, Lily was secretly working. She kept her eyes shut tight to maintain her act, but behind the wooden chair, her fingers were moving frantically. Despite the burning, intense pain radiating from her stabbed abdomen, she used every ounce of her remaining strength to loosen the ropes around her wrists, ignoring the friction tearing at her skin.

Just as Enzo raised the silver dagger and was about to plunge it into Vivien’s arm to complete the ritual, a sudden crash shattered the wooden door.

Before Enzo could even turn his head to see what was happening, a rough kick connected with his chest. The brutal force of the impact sent him flying backward across the room.

His body crashed against his stone altar, knocking over the candles and sending his ceremonial tools clattering to the floor. Enzo gasped for air, clutching his ribs.

Dominic stood over him, his towering figure looking absolutely terrifying in the flickering purple light. His eyes were completely dead, locking onto Enzo with a murderous glare.

Soon enough, the footsteps of his private security team followed Behind him, his men completely surrounded Enzo’s terrified guards, disarming them in a matter of seconds before they could even think about pulling their triggers.

Enzo pushed himself up against the stone altar, spitting blood onto the floor. He glared at Dominic with a face twisted in absolute disbelief and rage. "How?! How did you manage to find us this soon?!" he shouted, his voice cracking with panic. "My men cut off all your tracking signals! It’s impossible!"

Dominic ignored his pathetic shouting completely, treating Enzo as if he were already a ghost. He instantly dropped to his knees beside Vivien’s limp body. The cold mob boss completely vanished, replaced by a man filled with desperate panic.

He slid his arms underneath her shoulders and waist, pulling her tightly against his chest.

Dominic closed his eyes, burying his face into the crook of her neck, desperately breathing in her familiar scent to convince himself that she was still alive. His chest heaved with heavy breaths, his hands trembling violently as he held her close, refusing to let her go ever again.

Seeing the helpless situation he was in, Enzo’s manic eyes darted rapidly around the room. He knew he was completely outmatched by Dominic’s armed security team. Thinking quickly, he gave a subtle hand signal to his lead guard standing near the wall panels. In a split second, the guard slammed his hand onto a hidden red switch.

A loud sound echoed through the stone chamber. Before anyone could react, a thick sleeping gas started pulling rapidly into the sealed room from hidden vents in the ceiling.

Within moments, Dominic’s elite men began coughing violently. One by one, their weapons slipped from their hands, and they crashed onto the stone floor, completely knocked unconscious by the powerful sedative.

Dominic, who was still tightly hugging Vivien against his chest, realized what was happening almost immediately. He tried to cover Vivien’s face with his jacket to protect her, but the toxic gas was too thick. He inhaled a sharp breath, and a wave of intense dizziness washed over his brain.

His body was rapidly becoming weak and heavy, but still, he refused to let go. He held Vivien tightly in his arms, using every ounce of his willpower to fight off the darkness clouding his mind.

Enzo pushed himself up from the floor, coughing slightly but smiling like a absolute demon. He walked closer to the weakened body of Dominic.

Seeing Dominic still clinging to his girl, Enzo raised his heavy boot and delivered a brutal kick directly into Dominic’s chest. The impact forced the air out of Dominic’s lungs, but he didn’t budge. He braced his weight and held on even tighter, glaring up at Enzo with murderous eyes.

"Let. Her. Go," Enzo hissed, his face twisted in pure rage. He raised his leg again and kicked him further, targeting Dominic’s wounded shoulder over and over. Dominic’s body kept getting weaker and weaker as the gas paralyzed his muscles.

Finally, with one last vicious kick to the head, Enzo managed to break his grip and violently kicked him off the girl. Dominic’s eyes rolled back, and his heavy body slumped onto the cold stone floor, completely immobilized.

Meanwhile, Lily, who was still bound tightly to the wooden chair in the corner, watched the entire scene unfold with alert eyes.

Surprisingly, the thick sleeping gas had absolutely no effect on her body. Because of the brutal training she had endured under Viella in her past life, her respiratory system was completely immune to chemical sedatives and toxic gases.

She was entirely used to it. She kept her breathing steady, waiting for the perfect moment to break her bonds.

Enzo let out a breathless laugh. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally leaned down happily over Vivien’s quiet form, reaching out his hands to lift her up and drag her into the swirling purple vortex.

But just as his fingers brushed her white gown, Vivien’s eyes snapped wide open.

She hadn’t been fully unconscious, the ruthless soul of Viella inside her had kept her awake. With fast reflexes, her gaze locked onto the silver dagger laying on the floor right behind Enzo’s kneeling form.

She reached out, snatched the blade, and gave him absolutely no chance to react or defend himself.

With an emotionless expression, Vivien drove the sharp dagger upward, coldly digging the blade deep into the side of Enzo’s neck.

Enzo’s eyes widened in pure shock. He choked on his own breath, his hands flying to his throat as deep red blood spurted out from the mortal wound. In the violent struggle, some of Enzo’s blood mixed with Vivien’s own cut hand, dripping onto the glowing ritual circle below.

The moment the combined blood touched the runes, the dark purple portal violently flared, opening wider as a terrifying gravity began to pull everything toward the vortex.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED