"You'd better kill me now. Or I'll break your neck when I get a chance!" Bernard hissed, despite his head being pressed against the ground by one of Ferry's henchmen. His mind was consumed by wrath, but he had no intention to beg for mercy or give Tom and their organization away. It was not because he was loyal to Tom, but because it might draw fire against Rachel. He would surely sacrifice his own life to gain a slim chance for her to live.
"Fine. Since you're asking for death, I suppose I shall do you this favor," spat Ferry with a deliberately arrogant tone. He had never taken this hit man seriously from the very beginning and really had no interest in knowing who sent him.
As soon as Ferry finished speaking, he signaled his men with a nod, and they quietly stepped forward and dragged Bernard away. A few seconds later, a deafening gunshot echoed in the villa.
Actually, Ferry had instructed his henchmen to follow Rachel after they dumped her on the street, and they soon found out that she and Bernard were living together. However, they weren't able to learn the connection between Bernard and Tom.
At the same time, Rachel was getting antsy. She had been placed by Bernard in a house at the outskirts of the town. Consumed by worry, she was unable to sit down or stand still for a moment.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Suddenly, she heard urgent knocking on the door.
She trotted to the door to answer it, hoping it was Bernard.
"Is that you, Bernard?" Rachel shouted impatiently before she got near the door. She opened it full of expectation that the one who knocked was Bernard, but the enthusiasm in her eyes died within the next second. It was not the man that she expected but a gang of strangers!
"Who are you?" Rachel hesitated in even speaking to them. She had the urge to turn around and run away instantly, but her feet felt rooted to the spot.
At the same time, the strangers burst out into laughter. Some of them were running their eyes over her mischievously to scare her more. "It doesn't matter who we are. Our boss is missing you already and can't wait to see you, ma'am!" one of them shouted confidently while the rest of them began whistling from behind him.
They grabbed her and dragged her until she was thrown into a car despite her screaming for help.
They drove as fast as they could to reach their destination as fast as they could. Shortly afterward, Rachel was brought to the house where Ferry was.
Rachel almost collapsed to the ground when she realized where she had been brought. She shook with frustration and fear as she looked at the henchmen in desperation. Finally, she pitifully accepted her fate.
"Please, don't! I don't want to go in! Please, let me go!" She resisted with tears flooding her face. She struggled with all her strength to get free, but all her efforts were in vain.
One of them scooped her up and carried her on his shoulder. Rachel's head went completely blank. She felt she was the cat among the pigeons, and decided to stop struggling. But she began shivering when she spotted Ferry and the lifeless body lying beside him.
"No!" she yelled with all her might as they threw her onto the ground. Rachel gasped for air as she saw Bernard lying motionless in a pool of blood.
"Bernard!" She crawled to him, praying inside that he had just passed out and would smile at her as soon as he felt her presence.
Rachel fell apart when she put her ear onto his chest and realized that he already stopped breathing. She had guessed that Bernard was not strong enough to deal with Ferry, but had never thought that Ferry would actually kill him without any hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Bernard. It's all my fault. I should have stopped you in the first place!" Bernard was the only person who had ever trusted her, and he had shown her nothing but care. But truth be told, most of the time she had just been taking advantage of him to first, get away from Tom, and second, kill Ferry later.
Seeing Rachel weeping her heart out, Ferry stepped forward irritated and kicked her in her stomach. "Stop shedding your useless tears, little sweetheart. You wouldn't have told him what happened between us if you really cared about him. It was nobody but you who sent him here to die, honey because you are well aware of what I'm capable of! Don't waste your strength on crying because I believe you would need your energy later as you need to do a lot of things over there." Ferry raised his chin and pointed at the room behind him.
"You, you're nothing but a merciless monster!" Rachel yelled at him non-stop with a furious glare.
Ferry laughed loudly, which sent even more anxiety to Rachel's nerves. He fixed his eyes at Rachel with a greedy smile and got more and more interested in her. Her every move made her attract him more. She was a furry kitten in his eyes now as if she was showing her little teeth and claws. Ferry then proceeded to squat and responded, "You're right about me. Let me show you what a monster will do now!" He pulled her by the hair and dragged her until they were inside the room.
Immediately, one heart-piercing scream resonated out of the room, then another after another. The rest of the gang were already used to these noises as these were regular occurrences. They all put on a fulfilled smile as they disposed of Bernard's body. Later, they stayed away from the house but still kept a close distance in case that Ferry would need them.
Meanwhile in the hospital, Cassie opened her eyes for the first time, not long after Nick had left.
Cora was the first person who saw her wake up, so she hurriedly called the doctor to come over.
The doctor gave Cassie a thorough checkup and told her that all she needed was peaceful rest, as it would help her healing. After some observations, the doctor left Cassie with Cora.
"How do you feel now, Cassie? I'll call the doctor back if there is anything wrong," Cora said in her softest voice as she looked at Cassie with utmost concern on her face.
It was good to see Cassie finally awake. Cora cheerfully let her heart rest a little.
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