On second thought, she figured it was more prudent to take Bailey's life earlier in order to prevent a counterattack by her.
As Artemis walked up to Bailey, he gave Holden a look from the corner of his eye, signaling him to watch Yvette so that she wouldn't escape.
Perpetually battle-ready, Holden tightened his grip on the weapon in his jacket at Artemis' cue.
Artemis drew a dagger from his waist before lunging at Bailey like a phantom.
The sight of flashing metal brought an insidious smile to Yvette's face, but the splatter of blood she was expecting didn't materialize.
All she saw was Artemis swirling his dagger around Bailey before the ropes that bound her fell to the ground.
Before she knew it, he had grabbed Bailey and rolled behind a wooden pillar together with her.
The very next second, gunshots began to ring out, causing Yvette to be stunned.
“Your Royal Highness, we've been had—”
Before her bodyguard could finish his report, Holden had put a bullet right through his throat.
The instant he was cut off, blood from his neck spewed all over Yvette's face.
With her visibility obscured by the warm liquid, she attempted to dive for cover. Unfortunately, her slow reaction allowed Holden to swiftly capture her.
“Don't move! If any of you take a single step forward, I'll blow her brains out.”
Just as everyone at the scene realized what was going on, they whipped out their weapons in an attempt to kill Holden.
However, the fact that he was holding Yvette hostage left all of them at a loss.
What should we do?
“D-Don't move! No one move a muscle!”
Yvette was totally cowed by the blade at her throat. She had no desire to die at all.
Instead of being angry at the betrayal or the fact that she had been tricked, she was consumed by fear.
Upon hearing her instructions, her bodyguards didn't dare make any hasty moves.
Sneering in response, Holden barked, “Order them to open a path for us to leave. Otherwise, your throat will be the next thing that's going to be cut open.”
Yvette quickly deliberated on the situation.
Her men were crawling all over the place with ambushes set up within a wide perimeter. She was confident that her enemies would fail to escape.
Artemis... Oh, Artemis... How dare you make a fool of me! Since you pretended to have lost your memory, I now have no reason to hold back. Once I get my hands on the lot of you, I'm going to unleash a whole gang of men on Bailey. I want you to see with your own eyes how the love of your life is ravaged to death.
“I will allow you to leave, but you must let me go before you get into the car. Otherwise, I don't mind dragging all of you down to my grave with me. Since I'm going to meet a terrible end in your hands, I might as well see you lot in hell together.”
Holden sniggered in his mind.
She still believes that she has everything under control. Does she really expect us to be captured by the men hiding in ambush? What a joke.
“Fine. You have my word. I'll release you once we're in the car.”
Ignoring him, Yvette yelled out her orders. “Listen up, everyone. I'm letting them go, and they promised to do the same for me once they get into their car. If they go back on their words, fire at the car with everything you got. There's no need to hesitate out of concern for my life. I want them to die with me. Do you understand?”
Given that all of them were suicide attackers, they would obey her unconditionally.
They had no reservations in carrying out her orders to the letter.
“Understood.”
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