Chapter 6

Amelia pressed the broken glass to her neck. If she couldn't stop the men, then she would have no choice but to take her own life. She would rather end herself instead of letting herself be ruined. There were some situations where death was the preferred option. The men halted their advance. They just wanted to have a good time and didn't want anyone to get hurt. "Calm down, miss. We'll just stay over here," one of the men said comfortingly. However, Amelia remained vigilant. She knew the moment she dropped her guard, the men would certainly try to pounce on her again. "There's an easy way to get me to calm down—get out of my room! Now!" Amelia demanded, taking advantage of the fact that she had the upper hand for the time being. Although the men didn't want Amelia to harm herself, they were also reluctant to give up so easily. They had been part of this scene for a long time. On top of that, they nearly had Amelia within their clutches. No one in their right mind would give up right before the finish line. "Your father accepted our money, miss. Even if you're unhappy with this arrangement, you should take it up with him. Your quarrel with him has nothing to do with us." "He's right. We paid for you." "That's right!" The men chimed in one after the other and no longer cared that Amelia was threatening her own life to keep them at bay. They started moving forward again, truly leaving her no choice but to put her life on the line. However, the men seemed to have turned fearless. Amelia wondered if she was destined to meet her end that night. Two lives would be snuffed out at the same time. Although she didn't feel lonely since her child would be accompanying her, she still felt a little reluctant to just give up. She was only 21 years old, and she had never experienced a pleasant day in those 21 years of living. She was about to graduate from college, and she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. If her life truly ended that night, she could only say that God had treated her extremely unfairly. The men were only mere feet away from Amelia while she was stewing in her displeasure at the predicament she was in. They lunged at her with their filthy hands. Amelia stopped hesitating when she saw their hands closing in on her. She gripped the broken glass shard and stabbed it toward her own neck. A pained yelp resounded from beyond the door before it was kicked open. Before Amelia could react, a group of men clad in black swarmed into the room. All of them were tall and muscular and immensely intimidating. It only took seconds for them to surround the men who were trying to assault Amelia. It didn't matter how arrogant the men were. At that moment, they were scared out of their wits. "You… What do you think you're doing? We're not people who you should mess with!" they stuttered. Cyrus was among the newcomers. He didn't even bother sparing a glance at the men before saying, "Take them away." "Understood." Cyrus waited until the men in black had dragged Amelia's would-be assaulters out of the room before turning to look at her. Amelia still had the broken glass shard pressed to her neck. The color had drained from her face, and it was obvious that she was still high-strung. "Calm down, Ms. Warren," Cyrus said hurriedly. "Don't hurt yourself. Here, give me the glass shard." Cyrus worried that she would accidentally hurt herself, so he guided her as gently as he could. Amelia's entire body was still coiled with tension. She only gradually regained her composure when she saw Cyrus. Upon hearing his words, she slowly placed the broken glass shard in his hand. Cyrus only breathed a sigh of relief after he tossed the shard far away from where they were. "Mr. Sutton is outside, Ms. Warren. Let me send you out." Amelia nodded obediently. She only snapped back to her senses after they exited the old and dilapidated house. "Thank you," she said sincerely. She genuinely wanted to thank Cyrus. After all, if he hadn't arrived in the nick of time, she probably wouldn't be alive by now. Cyrus glanced at her when she thanked him, saying, "Mr. Sutton was the one who asked me to come. You should thank him instead." Amelia didn't say anything else as she followed Cyrus to the car. When Cyrus opened the backseat door, Amelia could clearly see a man seated inside. He carried himself with an imposing air, making it difficult for one to ignore his presence. She didn't need to get a good look to know that it was Michael. She hesitated for a moment before slipping into the car. Michael's eyes were trained on the documents he was holding. When Cyrus had called him earlier to inform him that Amelia had been abducted, he had been flipping through some documents in his study, so he decided to bring them along with him. There was nothing wrong with him working while he waited, after all. Michael only averted his gaze from the documents when Amelia entered the car, disturbing the silence in the process. He tucked the documents away before turning to look at her. Amelia had left an empty seat between them. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled. There were bruises on her pale and slender arms. She had probably gotten them during the scuffle when someone grabbed her with more force than necessary. Her fists were tightly clenched on either side of her. There were flecks of blood between her fingers, making it obvious that she was injured. Michael arched his brow slightly. "Are you hurt?" he asked. Amelia only noticed the dried blood covering her hand when she followed his gaze. She splayed her fingers open, revealing the gash on her palm. Her flesh had turned into a gruesome and bloody mess. She had probably injured herself when she was gripping the broken glass shard earlier. All her attention had been focused on the men, so she hadn't noticed that she was hurting herself during the tense moment. It was only then that she began to feel the first prickles of pain. "It's just a small cut," she said nonchalantly. Michael didn't say anything else. He waited for the car to start moving before he gave his order to Cyrus. "Take us to the hospital." It didn't take long for the car to slow to a stop in front of the hospital's entrance. Amelia had assumed that Michael would send her back to the college. She didn't expect him to bring her to the emergency room when they reached the hospital. The doctor tended to Amelia's wound. After she learned that Amelia was pregnant, she gave her a few extra reminders. Amelia stared at Michael when they exited the emergency room one after the other. She admitted that she harbored animosity toward him in the past, so she hadn't been particularly amicable to him when they met again. However, when it came down to it, he had saved her that night. She was someone who knew how to separate her gratitude and grievances and knew that she had to thank him for his help. She quickened her pace and caught up to him before saying, "Thank you." Michael didn't seem to care about her gratitude toward him. He turned his head to look at her before asking, "Where are you staying tonight? I'll drop you off." Amelia glanced at the time. There were less than four hours left before Rachel would be discharged from the sterile room. She pursed her lips and replied, "No need. I'm just going to stay in the hospital." Michael had scanned through her information in the past. He could make an educated guess that Amelia wanted to stay in the hospital to accompany Rachel. He frowned, asking, "Are you sure you want your mother to see you in your current state?" Amelia looked at herself upon hearing his words. He was right—she did look rather unpresentable. However, she had nowhere to go. The college dorms had already closed their doors for the night. Michael spoke again just as Amelia was struggling to come up with a response, "Listen to me. I'll arrange for my men to watch over your mother here. Follow me." Amelia was momentarily stunned. "But—" "No buts. Just do as I say." Michael's firm attitude made it clear that there would be no room for compromise. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the hospital. Amelia had no choice but to get into his car. The car ride was spent in utter silence. The car drove along the road for a short while before it slowed to a stop in front of a villa. Michael got out of the car. When he noticed that Amelia was still sitting inside, he pulled open the door and asked, "Do you need me to carry you?"