The words were whispered only for Claire. Matthew knew exactly what he was doing when he whispered these words.

He and Claire had been friends since childhood. Their parents always laughed with each other that the two would get married one day. Claire had always been close to Matthew, and he likewise.

Until the day her parents died in a gruesome murder. Claire witnessed the entire process, but refused to talk about it. For some reason, the murderer didn’t leave after mutilating her parents.

Rather, he used the traumatized Claire like a doll. Singing about wanting to free her from her cage and let her fly free.

The murderer turned himself in on the following night. Claire had to spend years in the mental hospital. During that time, Matthew would visit her. She was like a wooden doll. If he didn’t move her, she wouldn’t move.

And the few times she did move, she did so to harm others. And it was always at the mention of birds. She even said herself once, when they were alone, that she was flying when she harmed them.

He didn’t know when he started having feelings for her. When she was in the hospital, he would place her on his lap and talk to her.

Things escalated from talking to much more. During those times, he would tell her what he wanted, and she would reciprocate, her eyes never leaving him. In times like those, he didn’t need to move her. She would move on her own.

He gave her a bracelet one day. Told her he was caging her. That she could only be his bird, and unless he told her to fly, she couldn’t.

That day, she stared at the bracelet for a long time. Only when he was leaving did she look up. For the first time, unprompted, she smiled.

Later, he got her out, and they have lived together ever since.

Now, he removed the bracelet and stepped back. He signaled for Jaylin and her sister to step back as well. Despite their confusion, they stepped back.

Claire began humming.

Tony’s wife snorted. "What the hell is this? Psycho."

Claire shot out like a whip, her hands spread like a bird. She hummed as she moved. Meeting her first target, her leg kicked out, hitting Tony’s wife in the stomach. She kicked multiple opponents.

As she continued to fight, her spread hands turned into fists. Her sudden burst of energy took them all by surprise. For someone who doesn’t move often, her attacks were sharp.

As her hands clenched into fists, the sound of cracking bones sounded.

Getting over their shock, they started to fight back, but it was useless. Claire was like a tank. Trying to tag-team her was useless. If someone held her hands, she would use her feet.

She used their own momentum against them.

While Claire was fighting, Jaylin whispered to Matthew. "I didn’t know she could fight. I thought she was a block of ice."

Matthew glared at her, "Don’t stand too close to me. She might think you’re an enemy."

Jaylin shot him a disdainful look but stepped away.

Smart people realized that Claire moved like she felt no pain. They retreated to their room or hid themselves. With fewer opponents, Claire was more efficient. In no time, she cleared the path.

She walked back to Matthew and stretched her hand out. He clips the bracelet on her wrist. She smiled at him, breathing a bit heavily.

"Good job," he said, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Her eyes shimmered before becoming glassy once again.

"Let’s go," Matthew said, holding hands and walking with Claire.

People lay on the floor, groaning, injured, and unable to move. The group of four walked briskly to the boat.

When they arrived, Kain was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he?" Jaylin asked.

Matthew shrugged. He pulled Claire onto the boat. Verdana followed suit, shrugging as she stepped in.

No more than a minute passed before they saw Kain, who was walking towards them from inside the building.

"Impressive," he remarked, starting the boat. "I saw the fight. Your wooden soldier is pretty good."

Matthew frown. "She isn’t a wooden soldier."

"Your wooden girlfriend, then. Whatever she is, she’s good at fighting."

Far enough away from the building, Kain decided that introductions were necessary.

"This is my sister, Verdana," Jaylin introduced. "Verdana, this is Kain."

Verdana didn’t waste time. She saw that Kain was good-looking and walked towards him. She purred as she spoke. "Kain, it’s nice to meet you. Never expected my sister’s saviour to be such a handsome man."

Kain chuckled. He heard the story they gave when they wanted to leave. He didn’t mind being a saviour.

"Well, saviour extraordinaire, that’s me." He gave a side glance to Jaylin.

"A handsome man with a good heart. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better, Kain." She ran a hand over his chest and down his abdomen, stopping at his waist.

"If you can convince my partner, you can get to know me as much as you’d like," Kain replied half-jokingly.

He admired Verdana’s figure. She looked good. The cleavage was definitely a plus for Kain. But from what he heard, he wasn’t necessarily interested.

Verdana pouted, "I’ll remember to ask." Then she sat beside her sister.

When Matthew introduced Claire, she didn’t move. Kain assessed her. He noticed her ears moving, so he knew she was hearing everything happening. It wasn’t that she couldn’t respond. The issue was that she didn’t want to.

He wouldn’t force her to. As long as she posed no threat to him and his people, he wouldn’t care much.

"Did you explain to them the situation? If you didn’t do it now. I need to know where we stand when we get back to the mansion."

For the next two hours, the three people spoke amongst themselves.

As for Kain, he was timing the journey. There was one thing he needed to confirm.