Adrian has to admit that Asher possesses quite the social skills, and with how he keeps acting all friendly, it gets to the point that it can even be viewed as something misleading.

Asher still has his arm over his shoulders, and their faces remain close to each other. He's probably the type who's fond of violating the laws of personal space. An inch more and Adrian will definitely consider it past beyond the distance he will allow with a man.

​​

Ray, on the other hand, is really starting to get the impression that Asher is into guys - first Charles, and now Adrian. Otherwise, he is just one slimy dude, and it goes with how he appears to be the tactile kind of person.

"Hey, old man Ray! I'm not into hunks!" Asher suddenly exclaimed with a peeved expression, looking like he just read his thoughts.

"You're one slimy dude, then..." Adrian deadpanned as if he just read his thoughts as well, still annoyed by how the blonde was getting carried away with being chummy.

"Well, if you really want to stay with me that much, that's fine."

"Huh?" both of his companions blurted out in sync, not seeing that coming.

That's when Adrian held Asher by his collar out of nowhere, intently staring at him straight in the eye. Taken aback, all he can do is blink at him and try to figure out what's up this time. He doesn't look riled up, but there's this palpable intensity in his gaze that tells him how serious he's taking everything in.

"I'll make sure to squeeze out every single detail from you, Slimy. You won't get away from me until you reveal everything you know..." Adrian muttered tauntingly, catching him off guard for a second.

"And if you ever dare to do something to my wife, I'll kill you in an instant."

"Hehhh~" Asher just purred in sly amusement, smirking impishly.

Their exchange was cut off when they heard some sort of booming noise of fired bullets from outside that lounge all of the sudden.

Shell-shocked, the three of them immediately swerve around in its direction. It turns out to be the prompt that they unknowingly need to get their focus back on the ongoing pursuit out there.

"President, Asher... Hold off the chit-chat for now. Let's get going," Ray told them firmly, readying his gun once more.

---

Olivia carries on with her outburst as the shooters draw nearer and nearer to where they are.

With how weak she is at the moment, she can't drag Irish out of there by herself. She can't do a single thing. Her current mental and emotional states are also too unstable, adding to the burdens she has to take. Even if she tries to go out there and look for help, she is too numb to make a move.

She is frozen still. Fear and terror have engulfed her entirety.

And all Olivia could do was cry so hard that she had to cover her mouth to repress her sobs and avoid getting noticed by the oncoming peril.

She never experienced anything like this before. She never felt so helpless and useless. She couldn't believe that such a terrifying thing could ever happen to them. She found it very hard to accept.

"I-I'm... s-sorry..."

That's until Olivia heard Irish apologizing out of nowhere, stealing back her attention.

Her voice was so low and enervated that she almost did not hear it. If she heard right, then it would be the first time in a while that she heard her sister apologize. That actually surprised her more than the fact that she was slightly conscious all along.

Her sister has always been the prideful and self-obsessed one. She was spoiled with riches and fame - things that she had come to see as the sole forms of love. That being said, it's very rare for her to beg someone pardon as well.

Right now, though, Irish has probably realized that all of that turned out to be in vain.

In the eyes of death, everybody is of equal standing. No one can escape such a cruel fate, especially those who kept doing a lot of misdeeds. Those at the top would get to experience what it was like to be at the bottom, and that would hit harder than for those who were lower than them.

Perhaps, this is their retribution. For all the wrong acts they did, they had to suffer. It had come quite late, but it still did - and in full force at that.

"I-Irish..." Olivia gasped out as she bent down and leaned on her chest, now sobbing loudly.

"Ms. Olivia and Ms. Irish... was it?"

Then, out of nowhere, someone called from behind them.

Just when Olivia thought that rescue had finally come, she came face-to-face with a very probable emanation of danger. It just happened that a sketchy-looking man in some black and white uniform appeared before them, holding what seemed like a rifle. He has his shades on, a huge build that is twice their size, and is heavily armed.

"W-W-Who...?" Olivia tried to talk but to no avail, dread and trepidation consuming her.

As the man paced closer, she tightened her hold on Irish even more. She is practically using herself as a body shield at that point, and her sister can see all of that. Her fear vibrates through her trembling figure before travelling all the way to her own as she keeps pressing on her.

The fact that the man is not trying to clear anything up can very much be a bad thing, and by the looks of it, he appears to be about to reach out and grab a hold on them - most probably to take them hostage.

"Hold it right there, homie!"

Then came the sound of multiple gunshots.

Two bullets penetrated through the leg and the arm of the man at that very moment. As a result, he cries out in pain and staggers forward before hitting face-first on the ground. Speckles of blood splashed all over the floor as well as the face of the direct witness - a chillingly shocking sight for someone who just saw a live shooting for the first time.

While Olivia only pales and gapes at the cascading chain of events before her, the gunner who managed to take the man down is now having a victory dance for some reason she hopes is worthy enough at this situation.

"Hah...! See that, Charlie~? I just knocked someone out without aiming for the balls this time!"

Perhaps, it is indeed worthy enough - at least for the target and his balls.

Olivia finds herself thunderstruck and stupefied the moment she recognizes who the shooter is. In fact, she already knew when she heard the word 'homie' earlier. Apparently, it is none other than her sister-in-law.

Cassidy is holding a pistol like it's been her best friend since forever, currently celebrating the fact that she has avoided ruining a man's future this time.

It just happened that she kept ending up shooting her targets' lower parts up until now. Ever since they started exchanging bullets with their pursuers, her aim was always at their crotches - without her really intending to, that is.

Since this is her first time using a gun, she should already be glad that she can at least hit them. It was even forceful enough that they would be rendered motionless seconds later. But then, judging by their ear-bleeding cries and expressions of hellish pain, she thought that they're probably thinking that she should've just finished them off already instead.

Seeing how Charles keeps looking at her victims with so much pity the whole time, Cassidy did find herself feeling a bit sorry in the end.

"Well, as long as you were able to knock them out and they couldn't move, that was fine," Charles said while averting his gaze, still grieving with those who got their sensitive parts brutally violated.

"Oh hey, it's Ofelia...!" Cassidy then blurted out in surprise as soon as she noticed the sisters.

"Why's Irene sleeping there? The floor ain't a good bed, you know."

"C-Cassidy..." Olivia stammered out in immense relief and disbelief, her tears gushing out again.

"Cassidy... C-Cassidy... Cassidy..."

"W-What? Why're you chanting my name like that?"

Out of all people, it really had to be the person they hurt the most who would come to save them. She and her brother's secretary were actually the ones who were coming their way. It's hard to believe, considering that she should be the one who would steer clear of them after every awful thing that they did. She should not have been the one who arrived -

Though that was what Olivia thought, she also couldn't help but be grateful.

"Wait, let me guess. Stampeded on?" Cassidy casually asked as if it was no serious matter, pertaining to Irish.

"Y-Yeah... She was."

"And I take that she's pretty drunk too?"

"Y-Yes."

The redhead seems chill despite that, but then again, she has every right to be indifferent about them. She also has every right to treat them any way she wants to - she will allow it. As long as her sister gets saved, she will even kneel down to her and kiss her foot. She will do anything.

"Oh, how pathetic," Cassidy then suddenly scoffed, not showing a bit least of pity for them.