The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 420

The night was as thick as unspilled ink.

The sycamore trees flanking the avenue rustled fiercely in the wind, and the streetlights filtered through the canopy, scattering fractured patches of light across the pavement. The blinding headlights of the ambush vehicles washed the desolate road in a harsh glare, illuminating the scene like a spotlight.

The instant Sebastian threw open his door and charged out, a blade came slashing directly at his face.

He twisted sideways, narrowly dodging the lethal strike. The blade sliced through the fabric of his shirt at the shoulder, drawing a line of blood. Before he could even plant his feet, a second assailant lunged from his blind spot.

Sebastian snapped a brutal kick directly into the man's knee. The sickening crack of bone echoed into the night. Before the attacker's scream could even leave his throat, a third man drove a knife straight for Sebastian's abdomen.

Sebastian caught the man's wrist and twisted it with violent force. The blade clattered uselessly onto the asphalt. But he didn't have the margin to dodge the fourth man—a solid iron pipe slammed mercilessly into his back.

A heavy, sickening thud.

He stumbled two steps forward, the bitter, metallic taste of blood rising in the back of his throat.

At that exact second, the deafening screech of tires tore through the night.

Two black SUVs roared onto the avenue from opposite ends, their high beams sweeping over the battlefield like predatory eyes, lighting up the area as bright as day. The doors flew open, and a swarm of figures poured out.

"Boss!"

Seth Sterling's voice thundered through the darkness.

He was Lance's twin brother, the captain of Sebastian's elite security detail brought over from the States. Wielding an expandable baton, he led the charge of black-clad bodyguards straight into the fray.

The crack of iron against bone, agonized screams, and furious shouting merged into a chaotic symphony of violence.

Sebastian braced his hands against his knees, forcing himself upright, and wiped the blood from his mouth. He watched Seth effortlessly drop one of the masked men with a single, brutal swing.

But suddenly, Sebastian's pupils shrank.

"Seth! Look out!"

Seth instinctively ducked. A bullet whizzed inches above his head, striking the car door behind him with a deafening metallic ping.

Guns.

They had guns.

Seth's expression turned lethal.

He grabbed Sebastian by the arm and hauled him violently behind the engine block of the nearest SUV. "Boss, keep your head down!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, two more shots rang out. Bullets sparked off the hood, sending metallic fragments flying.

Sebastian was dragged behind the vehicle, crouching low by the tires. Lance scrambled out of the car from the opposite side, pale as a ghost and trembling uncontrollably.

"Seth..." his voice wavered.

"Shut up," Seth hissed, drawing a handgun from his holster. He peeked out from cover for a fraction of a second before ducking back down.

"At least four of them are packing," Seth said, his voice tight. "Heavy firepower. These aren't street thugs."

Sebastian leaned against the car door, white-hot pain pulsing through his back from the pipe strike. He looked at Seth, his voice raw:

"How many men do you have?"

"Six," Seth replied grimly. "But we only have two guns."

A rapid volley of gunfire erupted. Bullets tore into the Maybach, the sound of shattering glass piercing the night. Sebastian's luxury vehicle was being chewed to pieces, tires blown out and the body riddled with bullet holes.

Lance curled into a ball behind the tire, arms wrapped tightly over his head, shaking violently.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed into slits. He stared at the bullet holes tearing through his car, and a cold realization clicked in his mind.

Christian Lancaster.

He really spared no expense.