Chapter

Anastasia was walking down the street when large hands suddenly grabbed her waist and she slammed against a hard chest

Instinctively, she pushed against him but he kept his strong arms around her, keeping her locked and unable to escape.

"Don't scream," she heard a deep voice whispering in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt something cold against her neck. When she tried to look up, she saw nothing. The darkness shadowed over the man's face and his eyes were dark and cold.

"Please, le-let me g-go," she begged, her voice breaking. "I'll give you anything you want. Just let me go."

"Apparently, there's no way for me to do both, sweetheart."

Light tears gathered in her eyes and swiftly rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't stop it. "What do you want?"

In the darkness, his eyes sparkled with mischief and she saw his lips forming into an evil grin. "Revenge."

Revenge?

Her mind was muffled with confused thoughts. All her life, she'd been a good girl, obedient to the rules, never rebelled against her parents. As far as she was concerned, she never liked violence. So how come there was a man claiming to partake an act that she never asked to be a part of?

What was she doing? She shouldn't be this weak. She had to fight him. Without thinking, she pushed him hard with all her strength. He was like a brick wall. He didn't stumble back nor move. He was just surprised and she used that to her advantage.

Turning around, she ran away quickly. She reached about a few meters down the street when she felt strong arms around her waist. "Wrong move, sweetheart," he stated, his deep voice rumbling into her ear.

Try with all she might, she struggled against his hold but he only tightened his grip around her. He was obviously so strong compared to her. Just as she was about to be lifted up and taken away, the man was suddenly thrown to the ground with a loud thud.

It was dark and she couldn't see clearly. But to her amazement, her heart knew in an instant that she was being saved. Yet she couldn't see her savior. In a second, the evil man was gone quickly, as if he teleported to somewhere else without leaving a trace. Perhaps she was dreaming. She hugged herself, feeling her heart beating fast inside her chest. It was the first time that something like this happened to her.

It was so surreal that she almost felt like fainting.

A warm coat was being wrapped around her. When she looked up, she met deep brown eyes. She couldn't see his face clearly and she badly wanted to. She didn't have the strength to speak, didn't have the courage to thank him.

Tears began to pool in her eyes and she began crying silently. She couldn't process what was going on and couldn't think of anything else. Right then, she felt strong arms wrapping around her, giving her warmth and safety. He caressed her hair and rubbed her back as she buried her face to his chest.

"You're safe now, baby doll. No one's going to hurt you," he assured her over and over again.