Chapter 3

3

Ten minutes later, the grand double doors of the ballroom swung open.

A tall man dressed in a plain black hoodie, baseball cap, and a black face mask walked inside.

Though lean, his posture was as straight and unyielding as a steel beam.

His clothes were worn and simple, yet an aura of cold, untouchable nobility radiated from him, clashing sharply with the lavish ballroom.

It was my brother, Silas Shaw.

“That’s him!” Savannah shrieked, cowering behind Austin and trembling violently.

“Austin! Those are the exact clothes! Those same terrifying eyes!”

“I would recognize that monster anywhere!”

Austin patted her hand gently before taking heavy, menacing strides toward my brother.

A dozen armed bodyguards instantly surrounded Silas, their stun batons crackling with electricity.

“You must be Silas,” Austin sneered, looking down on him like dirt.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve touching my woman.”

“Since you walked in here, don’t expect to walk back out on your own two feet.”

Silas didn’t say a word.

He simply raised his head. The eyes visible above his mask were as deep and calm as an icy lake.

There was no fear, no panic, only a faint trace of pity.

That look drove Austin over the edge.

“What’s with that look? You looking down on me?”

“A lowlife rapist, a piece of gutter trash, dares to look at me like that?”

“Get on your knees!”

Austin lashed out with a brutal kick aimed at Silas’s knee.

Silas stepped aside with lightning speed.

Austin kicked empty air, stumbling forward and nearly crashing onto the floor.

Humiliation made Austin completely lose his mind.

“Fine… think you’re tough?”

“Break his legs! Let’s see him dodge after that!”

Over a dozen bodyguards surged forward at once.

My heart leaped into my throat, and I moved to step in.

Yet Silas didn’t back down; he moved forward.

Like a streak of black lightning, he wove through the attackers.

Joint locks, hip throws, devastating roundhouse kicks.

Every movement was surgical, ruthless, and shockingly precise.

In less than sixty seconds, all dozen bodyguards were sprawled across the floor, groaning in agony.

The entire ballroom fell into a stunned silence.

No one could believe that this so-called jobless loser was actually a lethal fighter.

Austin’s face turned gray with rage as he gritted his teeth.

“So you know how to fight. No wonder you’re so arrogant.”

“Too bad fists don’t mean a damn thing in my city!”

He drew a black pistol from inside his jacket and aimed the muzzle straight at Silas’s forehead.

“Move one inch, and I’ll blow your brains out!”

Silas stopped.

He stared quietly at Austin, a complex storm brewing in his eyes.

This was the man he had almost died to carry out of a roaring inferno.

And now, that very man was holding a gun to his head.

“Austin, don’t waste your breath on him!” Savannah screeched from the side, eager for blood.

“That’s the exact brutal strength he used to assault me!”

“Strip off his clothes and tear out his tongue right now!”

“Make him pay for what he did to me!”

Austin took a deep breath, resting his finger on the trigger.

“Take off the mask, Silas.”

“Let everyone see what a disgusting predator looks like.”

Silas didn’t move.

“Take it off!” Austin roared, shoving the gun barrel closer.

Silas slowly raised his slender hand and hooked his fingers around the mask strap.

I closed my eyes, my heart breaking into pieces.

That scar was the wound he hated showing anyone the most.

It was the medal of honor he earned saving this ungrateful bastard.

And now, it was being used as evidence to humiliate him.