Aliana just rolled her eyes at him in return.

While the couple interacted with such natural ease with each other, Diana, who had been watching Gavriel like a hawk all this time, noticed how his eyes looked more alive than they ever had in all these years.

There was a spark in those beautiful, ice-blue orbs that had never existed before.

She noticed how the woman beside him dared to lightly push him before walking away. Making Diana braced herself for the inevitable, expecting the devil to tear the human apart for such insolence.

But instead, he chuckled.

Something he had never done before.

Never.

She saw how he wrapped his hand possessively around her waist, pulling her closer as if she belonged there.

These were all subtle things that others around her might overlook, but not Diana.

Not someone who had known Gavriel as the most ruthless man alive. Tales of terror carrying his name still echoed throughout the underworld even today, and despite all of that, here he was with a woman.

A woman who was not her. And worst of all... a mere human.

Unacceptable!

Diana had planned to deal with the woman carefully, but seeing how her lord was becoming increasingly attached to her, alarm bells rang inside her head.

This could not continue.

She had to do something before this woman buried herself so deeply within his life that there would be no tearing her out.

At that moment, Diana’s twisted mind could think of only one thing.

She knew she could not recklessly appear before Gavriel or even get close enough for him to sense her presence. He would kill her before she could utter even a single letter.

But that did not mean there were no other ways to deal with a mere human.

After all, they were nothing but fragile beings who could die in the blink of an eye.

Her purple eyes slowly lifted towards a huge billboard that had just been replaced with a new advertisement.

The wind had begun to pick up as dark clouds gathered overhead, carrying an unsettling chill through the air. Her eyes glinted with murderous intent while her red lips slowly curved into a sinister smile, as though she had finally found exactly what she had been searching for.

A short distance away, Gavriel and Aliana walked side by side in a rare moment of silence that followed after his teasing.

He looked sideways at her, his gaze lingering for a few seconds. Realising it had already been a couple of hours since they arrived at the shopping district, he finally asked, "Hungry?"

Aliana paused mid-step in surprise. She had not expected him to ask her that since he had been on a ’let’s torture Aliana’ spree since morning.

Noticing that he was not fooling around this time, she finally parted her lips to reply.

However, before even a single word could leave her mouth, Gavriel’s eyes, which had been intensely fixed on her, abruptly snapped upwards.

His expression darkened in an instant.

A dangerous glint flashed through his eyes.

She did not even get the chance to look up and see what had caught his attention.

Because in the very next second, she was harshly yanked against his hard chest, his arms wrapping around her protectively with almost frightening force, and for a split second, her feet completely left the ground.

The impact came almost instantly.

She felt her body fall, followed by a loud, deafening crash that shattered the air terrifyingly close to them.

After a long moment, the panicked voices of the crowd began to echo around them.

"Oh my god!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

"Are they okay?!"

’What just happened?’ Aliana thought, confusion swirling through her mind.

Her brows knitted together as a faint ringing hummed in her ears. She shook her head slightly, wanting to look around, but those strong arms remained wrapped around her like a vice, locking her securely in place.

When she stilled, she realised she could hear a heart beating rapidly and loudly right against her ear.

Through the chaos, a bystander’s frantic voice cut across the sidewalk. "There has been an accident on West Avenue! There could be casualties involving Aliana Vanderbilt, Gavriel Valentine and possibly more people!" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The moment those words registered, a cold panic gripped her heart. It was not for herself, but for Gavriel.

She tried to twist out of his hold again, only to feel his grip tighten firmly around her head and back, completely shielding her from the outside world.

It was only then that his quiet, steady voice brushed against her hair.

"Stay still."

"G-Gav," she called, her voice trembling with rising panic.

"You’re good," was all he replied. She felt his hand move gently over her back, a quiet gesture meant to reassure her.

"A-are you okay?" Aliana pressed.

"Yes," came another calm, one-word reply.

Despite his composure, her heart refused to stop hammering against her ribs as the panicked shouts of the crowd filled the air around them.

After a few agonising seconds, unable to bear the blind silence any longer, she gripped the front of his suit jacket. "Gavriel!"

Just then, she felt him shift, easing them both into a sitting position before he finally rose to his feet, effortlessly pulling her up with him.

The moment his iron grip loosened, she stepped back slightly to lift her face.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

Dust had settled over his hair, face, and tailored clothes, but it was his expression that made her blood run cold. His features were completely dark, filled with a lethal intensity that suggested he was ready to murder someone on the spot.

Before she could even think about what she was doing, her trembling hands reached out to cup his face.

At her touch, his deadly gaze shifted, locking onto her utterly worried expression.

"A-are you hurt?" she asked, her voice soft and quivering.

The lethal edge in his eyes softened slightly. Sweeping his gaze up and down her body, he meticulously assesses her for any hidden wounds.

Once satisfied, he gave her a small nod. "Do you feel pain anywhere?"

Aliana gulped lightly before shaking her head.

Seeing how shaken she still was, with her breathing uneven and a thin sheen of sweat covering her forehead, he realised that something was not right.

So he wrapped his fingers around her wrists before saying in a much softer tone, "Don’t be scared, baby. You’re fine."

As if those words had reached through the chaos inside her and calmed it, even if only slightly, she nodded silently, only for him to wrap his arms around her once more and pull her into another comforting embrace.

And Aliana simply let him.