The silence that followed Shane's question lasted for a few moments but it felt like hours had passed as Rylan was lost in his thoughts.

"Like there's someone in that Mall who needs my help. Someone special. Someone, whom I don't want to lose or can't afford to lose...."

Rylan trailed off and silence once again surrounded the two friends.

Shane had no idea how he was supposed to digest the information that he was receiving from his best friend.

All he could understand was that the Second Young Master was about to do something crazy and he needed to stop him.

"I don't want to sound rude but are you okay? I mean are you sure you are not under any char....." Shane trailed off as Rylan turned his icy gaze towards him.

"I know that what I'm saying is not making much sense. But we both know that in our world this is not an impossible thing to happen," Rylan said as he once again started walking towards his car.

"I know this. But we are talking about entering into the Southern province of the city. It is more or less the turf of our enemy. You can't be so casual about crossing the barrier that separates the two provinces from each other." Shane said in an urgent tone as he followed behind his best friend.

"It's not like I'm going there with a bad intention. I just want to take a look around the area. That's all." Rylan replied as he settled down on the driver's seat.

The door of the passenger side seat opened and Shane entered the car.

"What are you doing?" Rylan asked his friend with a frown visible on his handsome face.

"Can't let you go there alone. It's not safe." Shane replied as he buckled his seat belt.

"And here I was thinking that you are afraid of entering into the Southern province. Good to know that I was wrong." Rylan said with a light chuckle as he started the car.

"I still am. But I can't let my best friend suffer through the wrath of Master Sullivan all alone. Let me accompany you through this hell." Shane replied to his friend's comment.

It was like Shane's words struck some sense inside Rylan because the very next second, the frown disappeared from his face and a look of horror appeared in its place.

"Damn it! I totally forgot about Kaiden and the wrath that will fall on us after this." Rylan said as he facepalmed himself.

"What? Gonna change your mind?" Shane asked as he looked at his friend with raised eyebrows.

"Of course, not! There's nothing that is gonna change my mind about this. Let's go before my brother's men catch up to us." Rylan looked totally confident about his decision.

A few seconds later, a black shining car could be seen driving away from the convenience store.

***

"Miss Alessandro, do you want me to set the bill for these dresses?" Joy asked the young girl who was sitting on the couch as she stared at the clothes that were placed on the coffee table in front of her.

"Umm-hmm." Emily nodded her head and watched her temporary bodyguard picking up the five official outfits that she had chosen.

There were trousers, blouses, blazers, cardigans, and three inches heels with a set of basic cosmetics.

It took her more than an entire hour to decide exactly on what she wanted to spend the money bestowed upon her.

It was not until Joy reminded her that as the youngest member of the Alessandro Empire, she was supposed to attend various business dinners and other festivities, that the idea of buying office outfits appeared in her mind.

As she waited for Joy to return after settling the payment of her dresses, her attention was pulled towards the crowd that had started to gather in front of the showroom where she currently was.

At first, she decided to ignore them but then her eyes landed on a figure that was looking straight at her from the opposite end of the hall.

His hoody and face mask was covering his entire face, only leaving his dark black eyes visible.

The feeling of being a target of something bad settled in the pit of her stomach as the man kept staring at her.

It was not until the man started walking towards her that she found her feet moving on their own accord as they tried to put some distance between the two of them to keep her safe.

A part of her mind was telling her to find Joy. But the other part, the bigger one, was focused on the part that she needed to stay away from that masked man.

And as she found herself coming out of the showroom and running towards the lift, it was clear that the second part of her brain won.

As she came out of the lift on the ground floor, she was busy fondling with her phone to find Mark's number.

However, before she could dial his number, someone bumped into her, and her phone slipped from her hands and landed on the hard floor.

"S-sorry..."

Emily stuttered out in a small voice as she bent down to pick up her phone.

However, the loud sound of a glass shattering into thousands of tiny pieces made her look up at the scene in front of her.

Once again her eyes landed on the figure of the same masked man who was following her just a few minutes ago, but this time he was the one who was running away in panic.

Seeing his left arm which was covered in blood that was dripping on the white tiles of the floor, she realized that he was the one who bumped into the glass screen that was now lying on the floor in pieces and crumbs.

Her legs had their own mind as they pulled her after the masked man and it was not until she was standing in the outside parking lot of the mall, trying to spot the masked man, that the sound of dozens of glasses shattering into pieces filled the air.

A loud shriek was about to leave Emily's lips before she found herself buried under a heavy weight that made darkness appear in front of her eyes.