"Lucas," Mila called out, hope flickering instantly in her eyes. "Thank God you are here. Dominic is injured. He is bleeding badly. We need to take him to the hospital right now. Help me."

But Lucas remained standing near the entrance, staring at them silently. He didn’t move.

Mila’s expression stiffened. "What are you doing?" Irritation slipped into her trembling voice. "Come help me take him out of here."

Instead of stepping forward, Lucas slowly raised his gun toward them.

Mila’s breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Lucas? Have you lost your mind? You are pointing a gun at us? Dominic is your friend, your boss."

Lucas still said nothing. His face remained unreadable.

"Dominic..." Mila shook him slightly in panic. "Look at him. He is trying to kill us."

Dominic slowly lifted his head. The moment his eyes landed on Lucas, a faint smile curled on his pale lips.

"You don’t have to do this," he said hoarsely.

"I do," Lucas replied calmly. "Or they’ll suspect me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned the gun toward himself and shot his own arm. The bullet tore through his arm.

A muffled groan escaped his throat as blood immediately streamed down his sleeve.

Mila screamed in shock. "Are you insane? Why would you do that?"

Lucas inhaled sharply, enduring the pain before lowering the gun.

"There is no time to explain everything right now," he muttered. "We need to leave first. I’ll take you somewhere safe."

Finally, he rushed over. Ignoring the blood pouring from his own arm, he wrapped one arm around Dominic’s waist and pulled him upright.

Dominic’s body nearly collapsed from weakness, but Lucas held him firmly. Together, they walked out of the ruined house.

~~~~~~~~~~~

They finally reached a safe house hidden in the nearby small village. By then, Dominic had already passed out completely from exhaustion, blood loss, and pain.

Lucas dragged him inside and carefully laid him on the bed before collapsing beside him. Blood soaked his arm and stained the floor beneath him.

"You’re bleeding too much," Mila said anxiously.

"There..." Lucas pointed weakly toward a cupboard in the corner. "First aid kit."

His breathing grew uneven. "Treat Dominic first. Don’t worry about me."

Mila immediately rushed to the cupboard. Relief washed over her when she found everything she needed inside.

She hurried back to Dominic first. Carefully, she removed the blood-soaked cloth tied around his stomach. The deep knife wound made her chest tighten painfully.

She cleaned the wound. Then she stitched it.

Dominic remained unconscious the entire time.

After bandaging him properly, she finally turned toward Lucas.

"Honestly, you’re stupid," she scolded while checking his gunshot wound. "Why would you shoot yourself?"

Lucas smirked faintly despite the pain. "I had to."

Mila glanced up at him momentarily. "Why?"

Lucas stared at her quietly for a moment before speaking. "Dominic and I made a secret plan to infiltrate Victor’s gang."

"What?" Mila’s fingers paused. Shock crossed her face. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Victor approached me several times before," Lucas explained slowly. "He wanted me to betray Dominic and join him."

Mila’s fingers paused over the bandage.

"He even sent Serene to seduce me," Lucas added dryly. "And I pretended to fall for her."

"Serene?" Mila’s disgust surfaced instantly. "She tried to seduce you too?"

Her stomach twisted in revulsion.

Serene had once claimed to love Dominic obsessively. She had tried to get back to him, conspired against her, and even tried to kill her. And the moment Dominic rejected her completely, she switched sides without hesitation.

"That woman is unbelievable," Mila muttered coldly.

"I know," Lucas said. "But I played along. Just to get into Victor’s gang."

Mila silently continued tending to his wound.

"I even fought Dominic," he added. "We knew Victor had spies watching us. And just like we expected, the news reached him."

A grin appeared briefly on his lips. "He finally believed cracks had formed between us."

Because we knew Victor’s spies were around us. And sure enough, the news reached Victor and made him believe that our years-old bond had finally shown cracks."

"And you gained his trust?" she asked as she bandaged his wound.

"Not fully," Lucas admitted. "So he gave me one final test."

Mila looked at him.

"He ordered me to kill Dominic."

At that, her blood ran cold. "What? You came to kill us?"

Only now did she truly understand why Lucas had pointed the gun at them earlier.

"Yes," Lucas said calmly. "I came with six other men to hunt Dominic down. But I stayed hidden in the jungle, waiting for the right moment to protect him if things went wrong."

He looked toward the unconscious Dominic and laughed softly.

"But Dominic is still Dominic. He killed each one of them."

Mila’s gaze also shifted toward him. Her chest tightened painfully at the memory.

"He fought alone," she whispered shakily. "He was already injured, exhausted, and barely standing. But he still kept fighting."

She had witnessed every terrifying second. "He didn’t stop until every last enemy was dead."

Lucas sat up slowly, smiling with pride. "That’s Dominic," he murmured. "He never lets enemies walk away alive."

Mila looked back at him worriedly. "What now?" she asked softly. "If Victor finds out the truth... he’ll kill you."

"He won’t," Lucas replied confidently. "We already prepared for this possibility."

"What are you planning to do?" she asked, curious.

But Lucas only smirked. "You will be safe here. Don’t leave this place until I’m back."

Without explaining further, he stood up and walked out.

Mila watched him leave anxiously. "What exactly is he planning?" she murmured.

A low groan suddenly came from the bed.

Mila instantly turned around.

Dominic had finally woken up.

Relief flooded her face immediately. "You are awake."

Dominic tried to push himself up.

"Don’t move." Mila quickly pressed both hands against his shoulders. "I just stitched the wound. If you move too much, it’ll open again."

Dominic let out a slow breath and lay back obediently.

"The wound is deep," she said. "I just stitched it. If you move, it will open up."

"Okay." He nodded slowly. "I’ll listen to you."

Pain still clouded his face. After a moment, he asked slowly, "Where is Lucas? Did you treat his wound?"

"I did," Mila replied quietly. "But he already left."

Dominic’s expression hardened slightly. "Where?"

Mila looked directly into his eyes. Worry, frustration, and fear all swirled inside her chest.

"You two are unbelievable," she said bitterly. "Throwing yourselves into danger like your lives mean nothing."

Dominic stilled. He immediately realized Lucas had already told her everything.

"Lucas joined Victor’s gang to spy on him," Mila continued, her voice shaking slightly. "That’s suicide, Dominic. And you allowed it. How could you let your friend walk into danger like that? Why didn’t you stop him?"