The horrific torture that Aoi endured in that dark warehouse did not just send massive waves of blinding panic through her parents and her loyal group of friends.

  It fundamentally fractured something incredibly deep inside Erwin von Stahlberg.

  The friendly, polite, and always smiling aristocratic student was completely gone. The trauma had unlocked a completely different side of him, and he was replaced by someone totally unrecognizable. The monster he had always tried to suppress was finally awake, and it was starving for revenge.

  It was a rainy Tuesday morning on the university campus.

  Inside the massive, historic lecture hall of the law faculty, the atmosphere felt unusually heavy and suffocating. The rain was beating lightly against the tall glass windows, casting a gloomy, grey light over the rows of wooden desks.

  Erwin was sitting in his usual spot near the middle row of the classroom.

  He was surrounded by his closest friends. Samuel, Marek, Ryo, Jonas, and Felix were all sitting quietly next to him. They were unpacking their heavy textbooks, opening their expensive laptops, and getting ready for their advanced Corporate Law session.

  At the front of the massive room, Dr. Heinrich Sommer walked in.

  He was a strict, highly respected older professor carrying a heavy leather briefcase and a thick stack of legal documents. He did not waste any time with friendly greetings. He immediately turned on the projector and started the lesson.

  The lecture began just like any other normal day.

  Dr. Sommer started projecting bright slides onto the massive white screen behind his podium. He talked in a loud, monotonous voice about the complex legal procedures required to establish new corporate entities, private firms, and limited liability partnerships. He threw around complicated terms about tax loopholes, shareholder agreements, and corporate asset protection.

  While the professor rambled on, Samuel kept stealing worried glances at his best friend sitting right next to him.

  Erwin looked absolutely terrifying.

  His handsome face was completely blank. It was totally devoid of any normal human warmth, joy, or expression. His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles in his cheeks were popping out.

  But behind those dark, empty eyes, Samuel could clearly see a massive, burning ocean of pure, unadulterated hatred.

  Erwin was staring straight ahead at the whiteboard. His expensive pen was moving automatically across his notebook, taking perfect legal notes out of pure muscle memory. He was writing down everything the professor said without missing a single beat.

  But his brilliant mind was clearly millions of miles away from this classroom.

  He did not want to be sitting in this stupid, boring lecture hall learning about corporate taxes. He wanted to be at the hospital holding Aoi's hand. He wanted to watch her chest rise and fall just to assure himself she was still breathing.

  And even more than that, he wanted to be out on the cold streets of the city, hunting down the bastard who was still walking free from the police. He wanted to feel the bones of the mercenary breaking under his fists.

  Sitting just a few rows behind Erwin, Helena Weissman was also having a truly terrible morning.

  Helena was hiding behind the screen of her shiny silver laptop. Her perfectly manicured fingers were tapping nervously against the wooden surface of her desk. Her stomach was tied up in a million sick, painful knots.

  She was the one who had secretly paid Magnus to kidnap Aoi. She had completely orchestrated the entire nightmare from the shadows. She used her massive allowance to fund the torture of an innocent college girl.

  But looking at Erwin's terrifying, cold expression right now, Helena felt a sickening wave of massive guilt and absolute panic wash over her entire body.

  Things had not gone according to her flawless, expensive plan at all.

  Erwin did not know that she was the evil mastermind behind the torture. He had absolutely no idea that she was the one pulling the strings. But his scary, murderous aura was making her incredibly anxious. She felt like he could snap and destroy the entire room at any given moment.

  She kept biting her lower lip, staring at the back of Erwin's head. She was terrified that he was going to turn around, look her in the eye, and somehow instantly know exactly what she had done.

  Down at the wooden podium, Dr. Sommer suddenly paused his long lecture.

  He looked around the massive lecture hall, adjusting his reading glasses. He asked a highly complex, random question about a specific corporate liability loophole in federal law regarding the dissolution of a partnership. He threw the question out to anyone brave enough to answer.

  Usually, this was the exact moment where Erwin would immediately raise his hand.

  Erwin was undeniably the smartest student in the entire law faculty. He always knew the exact answer, and he always delivered it with a polite, confident smile that made the professors love him. He loved the academic challenge.

  But today, Erwin just sat there like a stone statue.

  He stared blankly at his open notebook, completely ignoring the professor's voice. He looked like he absolutely did not care about the law, the prestigious university, or his perfect grades anymore. Nothing mattered to him right now except finding the man in the black van.

  The lecture hall fell into an awkward, heavy silence. No one else in the room knew the complicated answer.

  Dr. Sommer frowned deeply, looking directly at his star pupil.

  "Mr. von Stahlberg," Dr. Sommer called out, his loud voice echoing across the silent room. "Could you perhaps enlighten the rest of the class regarding the liability limits of a silent partner during a forced bankruptcy?"

  The professor repeated the complicated legal question specifically for him, expecting a flawless, textbook answer like always.

  Erwin slowly blinked. He did not stand up from his chair. He did not smile his usual charming smile.

  He just looked at the older professor with dead, empty eyes.

  "I apologize, Professor," Erwin said. His voice was completely flat, cold, and incredibly quiet. "I am still processing the material. I cannot answer your question right now."

  A collective gasp of genuine shock actually rippled through the entire classroom.

  Dozens of students instantly turned their heads to look at Erwin in total disbelief. People started whispering to each other. The brilliant, untouchable Erwin von Stahlberg had just failed to answer a basic academic question.

  It was completely unlike him. It was like watching a perfect, flawless machine suddenly break down in public.

  Samuel just looked down at his own desk and sighed softly.

  Samuel was not surprised at all. He knew exactly the kind of living hell Erwin had been walking through for the past few days. Corporate bankruptcy laws meant absolutely nothing when the girl you love was lying in an intensive care unit covered in painful stitches.

  Dr. Sommer looked highly disappointed, but he just cleared his throat and moved on with the lecture, answering the question himself.

  The heavy wooden clock on the wall finally ticked down, and Dr. Sommer officially dismissed the class for the day.

  Everyone immediately started packing their bags. The loud, chaotic noise of zipping backpacks, moving chairs, and student chatter quickly filled the large room.

  Erwin slowly closed his laptop. His movements were incredibly stiff, slow, and robotic. He did not talk to his friends. He just shoved his books into his bag and stood up.

  As Erwin and his friends were getting ready to walk out into the hallway, Helena made her move.

  She took a deep breath, forcing her racing heart to calm down. She plastered a bright, fake smile onto her face. She completely buried her crippling guilt and walked over to their group, acting like she was just a normal, friendly classmate checking in on a friend.

  "Hey, Erwin," Helena greeted him, her voice dripping with fake, sweet innocence.

  She stepped right into his path, blocking him from leaving the row of desks.

  "How are you doing today?" Helena asked, tilting her head and trying to look cute. "Do you have any fun plans for later tonight?"

  Erwin stopped walking. He turned his head and looked at Helena.

  His facial expression did not change even a single millimeter. It remained completely made of stone. He looked at her like she was a highly annoying insect buzzing around his face.

  "I have one more class," Erwin answered. His voice was completely hollow and freezing cold. "After that, I am going straight to the hospital to visit Aoi. I do not have time for anything else."

  Helena nodded quickly, pretending to look deeply sympathetic and caring.

  "Oh, right, of course. I totally understand," Helena said smoothly, adjusting the strap of her incredibly expensive designer handbag. "That is so sweet of you to take care of her."

  Helena took a step closer, totally invading his personal space. She lowered her voice to sound much more intimate and exclusive.

  "But what about this weekend?" Helena asked, batting her eyelashes. "When do you think you will have some free time? Because if you are free this Saturday night, I would love to take you out somewhere nice to help you relax."

  Erwin just stared at her, not saying a single word to encourage the stupid conversation.

  "My father is staying at the luxury hotel in downtown Hohenwald this weekend," Helena continued, totally ignoring the terrifyingly cold vibe Erwin was giving off. "He really wants to meet with you again. It has been a really long time since you two had a proper chat over dinner."

  She reached out and lightly touched his arm, a highly calculated move to show affection.

  "Besides," Helena added, her tone becoming a bit more serious and business-like. "My dad is still incredibly confused as to why you chose to intern at Dr. Alaric's small, boring law firm. My father literally offered you a top executive spot at his massive firm for free. You could be making millions right now, Erwin. You could be working on massive international cases."

  Erwin looked down at her hand resting on his arm.

  He slowly pulled his arm away from her touch, his jaw tightening again. A highly dangerous, dark shadow passed over his empty eyes.

  "Tell your father that I appreciate the generous offer," Erwin replied.

  His voice dropped into a low, chilling whisper that sounded incredibly threatening. It sent a shiver straight down Helena's spine.

  "But there are things in this world that are infinitely more important than our stupid, greedy corporate law firms," Erwin stated firmly, his words carrying a heavy, angry weight.

  He looked Helena up and down with absolute, freezing indifference. It was a look of total disgust. He saw right through her fake smiles and her manipulative games.

  "And Helena," Erwin added ruthlessly, completely destroying her fake confidence in one single blow. "If you are trying to flirt with me right now, I highly suggest you stop immediately. You are completely wasting your breath. I have absolutely zero interest in you or your father's money."

  Without waiting for her to say another word or defend herself, Erwin turned his broad back on her.

  He walked straight out of the classroom, his heavy footsteps echoing loudly. Samuel, Marek, and the rest of the guys immediately followed him without saying goodbye to her, leaving Helena standing completely alone between the empty desks.

  Helena's fake, sweet smile instantly vanished.

  Her hands curled into tight, angry fists at her sides. Her face turned bright red with pure embarrassment and intense fury.

  She was absolutely furious. Her incredibly expensive, highly risky kidnapping plan was a total, catastrophic disaster.

  Not only did the scary mercenary fail to properly scare Aoi away, but the trauma had actually backfired completely. Instead of running away from the danger, Erwin was now a hundred times more protective, obsessed, and insanely loyal to the psychology student than ever before.

  Helena realized with a sickening feeling that she had accidentally made their romantic bond completely unbreakable.

  Miles away from the tense, dramatic university campus, the atmosphere inside the Hohenwald city hospital was quiet and deeply emotional.

  Inside the private recovery room, Aoi was lying comfortably on her adjustable hospital bed. The room smelled like sterile cleaning supplies and fresh flowers.

  She was still incredibly weak. Her small body was covered in dark, painful purple bruises from the brutal punches she took. The black stitches on her face and her right arm looked painfully tight against her pale skin.

  But she was definitely getting much better compared to a few days ago.

  The terrifying, thick plastic oxygen tube had finally been removed from her mouth. Now, she was just wearing a small, clear nasal cannula that quietly pushed fresh oxygen directly into her nose. It made it much easier for her to talk and breathe normally without feeling like she was choking.

  Sitting right next to the bed on a small plastic chair was her mother, Emi.

  Emi had brought a small thermal container from their temporary hotel room. She had spent the entire morning cooking Aoi's absolute favorite chicken and rice porridge from scratch. She knew her daughter needed real, warm food to heal properly.

  Emi was holding a small plastic bowl, carefully scooping up a tiny spoonful of the warm, delicious food.

  Emi gently blew on the hot porridge to cool it down, then slowly moved the spoon toward her daughter's pale lips.

  Aoi opened her mouth slightly and carefully took a bite.

  The warm, familiar taste of her mother's homemade cooking made her feel so incredibly safe. It tasted exactly like her childhood in Altkanz. It tasted like home.

  But as she tried to swallow the thick food, the badly bruised muscles in her throat suddenly spasmed violently.

  Aoi started coughing. It was a weak, painful, hacking cough that made her whole body shake. She winced loudly, grabbing her stitched right arm with her left hand as the sudden movement pulled painfully at her fresh wounds.

  Emi instantly panicked.

  She dropped the spoon back into the bowl with a loud clatter and quickly grabbed a plastic cup of water from the bedside table.

  "Here, sweetie, drink this slowly," Emi said frantically, holding the plastic straw directly to Aoi's lips. Her hands were shaking so much she almost spilled the water.

  Aoi took a small, careful sip of the cool water. The harsh coughing finally stopped, leaving her breathing heavily and sinking back against the soft white pillows in total exhaustion.

  As Emi picked the bowl of porridge back up to stir it, Aoi noticed something totally heartbreaking.

  Her mother's hands were trembling violently. And silent, heavy tears were rolling down Emi's cheeks, dropping directly onto her own lap and staining her skirt.

  Aoi felt a massive pang of guilt hit her chest. She hated seeing her parents so sad and stressed out because of her. She felt like she was just a massive burden to them.

  She slowly reached out with her uninjured left hand. She gently touched her mother's arm.

  "Please do not cry, mom," Aoi whispered in a very soft, soothing voice. "I am okay. The food just went down the wrong pipe. That is all."

  Emi quickly sniffled and used the back of her hand to wipe her wet cheeks. She tried her best to force a brave, maternal smile.

  "I am not crying, honey," Emi lied poorly, her voice shaking with heavy, undeniable emotion. "I just got some dust in my eye from the air conditioner. You know how dusty these hospitals can be."

  Aoi was a top psychology student. She was definitely not stupid, and she knew her mother better than anyone else in the entire world. She could read the deep trauma right on Emi's face.

  "Mom, look at me," Aoi said gently, squeezing Emi's arm lightly to get her attention.

  Emi looked up, her eyes completely red and puffy.

  "I am already almost completely healed," Aoi promised her, trying to sound much stronger than she actually felt. "The doctors said the stitches will come out really soon. The bruises are already starting to fade a little bit. I am going to be perfectly fine. You do not have to worry so much."

  Emi just nodded her head, completely unable to hold the massive flood of tears back anymore.

  "I was just so incredibly scared, Aoi," Emi confessed, completely breaking down and sobbing quietly into her hands.

  "When the hospital called us in the middle of the night, my heart completely stopped," Emi cried, letting out all the fear she had been holding inside. "You are my only child. You are my entire world. I do not care about anything else in this life. I do not care about money or careers. I just want my daughter to be safe and healthy."

  Aoi felt her own eyes filling up with warm tears.

  She completely understood how terrifying this brutal nightmare had been for her poor parents. They lived such a quiet life, and suddenly they were thrown into a world of mercenaries and violence.

  "I am right here, mom," Aoi promised softly, wiping a stray tear from her own bruised cheek. "I am not going anywhere. I am going to survive this. I promise."

  Just as the mother and daughter were sharing that quiet, highly emotional moment, the heavy wooden door to the recovery room swung open.

  Hiroshi walked in.

  He looked much calmer today, wearing a simple button-down shirt instead of his panicked traveling clothes. He smiled warmly when he saw Aoi awake and actually eating her food.

  "Hey there, kiddo," Hiroshi greeted her cheerfully, walking into the room and standing at the foot of her bed. "You have a surprise visitor who wants to see you today."

  Aoi's heart instantly did a happy, excited little flip inside her chest.

  She immediately thought it was Erwin. She was really hoping he had skipped his afternoon classes just to come sit by her bed, kiss her forehead, and hold her hand while she rested. She missed him so much it physically hurt.

  But to her total surprise and slight disappointment, the person who walked into the room behind her father was definitely not Erwin von Stahlberg.

  It was Erick Adlerhart.

  Hiroshi walked over to the side of the bed and explained the situation to his wife and daughter.

  "I actually ran into this nice young man while I was downstairs in the cafeteria grabbing some coffee," Hiroshi explained happily, pointing at the student. "He told me that he is in the same academic year as you, and you guys study in the exact same psychology faculty."

  Erick stepped forward into the bright hospital room.

  He was wearing a nice, casual grey sweater and carrying a small, neat paper bag. He looked very put-together and incredibly polite.

  "That is totally true, sir," Erick said politely, giving Hiroshi a very respectful, slight bow of his head. "Aoi and I run into each other on campus all the time. We actually meet up occasionally to discuss our heavy homework assignments and study for our exams together."

  Erick looked at Hiroshi and Emi with a very charming, polite smile that parents usually loved. He was playing the role of the perfect, safe college friend.

  "Would it be alright if I sat down and visited with her for just a few minutes?" Erick asked respectfully. "I promise I will not tire her out or overstay my welcome. I just wanted to check on her."

  "Of course, of course!" Hiroshi agreed happily, clearly liking the polite, normal young man.

  Emi also smiled and nodded, stepping back from the chair to give the two students some space to talk. She wiped her remaining tears away and stood next to her husband.

  Erick walked over and took the plastic chair that Emi had just vacated. He placed the paper bag gently on the bedside table.

  "I brought you some warm soup from that really good place off-campus, and some fresh fruits," Erick told Aoi softly, looking at her with caring eyes. "I heard the hospital food here is pretty terrible, so I wanted to bring you something nice you could actually enjoy."

  "Thank you so much, Erick," Aoi whispered, offering him a small, polite smile. "That is really kind of you to go out of your way just to bring me food."

  Erick looked closely at her face.

  He saw the ugly purple bruises fading around her eye and the thick black stitches holding the skin of her cheek together. It was a brutal sight, but he tried to hide his shock.

  "How are you actually feeling today?" Erick asked, his voice full of genuine, deep concern.

  Aoi took a slow, careful breath. She adjusted her sitting position slightly against the pillows.

  "I am feeling a lot better, honestly," Aoi replied, trying to sound positive. "My arm still hurts a lot when I try to move it because the knife cut was pretty deep. And..."

  Aoi paused, looking away toward the window for a second.

  She felt a little bit insecure about her physical appearance right now. She knew she looked like a complete mess.

  "And I don't really know if I even want to look at myself in a mirror anytime soon," Aoi admitted softly, feeling highly vulnerable. "I know my face probably looks completely different and scary with all these stitches. I probably look like a monster."

  Erick immediately shook his head side to side, completely disagreeing with her.

  "No, no, do not ever say that," Erick said in a very soft, incredibly smooth voice. "You look exactly the same to me. You are still just as beauti—"

  Erick abruptly caught himself right before he finished the word.

  He quickly cleared his throat, realizing he was getting way too personal and flirty right in front of her watchful parents. That was a massive mistake.

  "I mean, nothing has changed," Erick corrected himself awkwardly, his cheeks turning a little bit red from embarrassment. "You are still the same smart, amazing person. Stitches do not change who you are."

  Aoi definitely noticed the slip-up.

  It was a very obvious attempt at romantic flirting, but she chose to just ignore it completely out of politeness. She did not want to make the situation any more awkward than it already was.

  "I really appreciate you saying that, Erick," Aoi replied gently, keeping the conversation strictly friendly and academic. "Thank you."

  Erick looked down at his silver watch and let out a dramatic sigh.

  "I really cannot stay very long today," Erick apologized, looking back up at her. "I have a massive research paper due tomorrow that I really have to finish writing before midnight."

  Then, completely out of nowhere, Erick reached forward.

  He gently placed his hand right on top of Aoi's uninjured left hand, which was resting quietly on the white hospital blanket.

  Aoi instantly felt a sharp spike of deep discomfort shoot straight through her chest.

  She did not pull her hand away because she didn't want to be rude to a guest who had just bought her food, but her entire body completely tensed up. She really did not like this at all.

  To Aoi, this kind of intimate physical touch was incredibly sacred.

  Only Erwin was allowed to hold her hand like that. When Erwin held her hand, she felt completely safe, protected, and deeply loved. His touch brought her absolute peace.

  But when Erick did it, it just felt completely wrong, awkward, and overly familiar. It felt like he was crossing a massive boundary.

  "I really hope you get well soon, Aoi," Erick said softly, totally oblivious to her internal discomfort and stiff posture. "I really miss discussing our psychology material with you in the campus library. It is so incredibly boring studying all alone without you there."

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Aoi forced a polite, tight smile onto her face, just waiting for him to let go of her skin.

  "Thank you for the empathy, Erick," Aoi said quietly. "I will be back to class as soon as the doctors let me out of here."

  Erick finally let go of her hand.

  He stood up from the plastic chair and turned around to face her parents.

  "It was really nice meeting you both," Erick said, bowing his head slightly in a show of excellent good manners. "I will get out of your hair now so she can get some rest."

  "Thank you for stopping by and bringing the food, Erick," Hiroshi said warmly, walking him toward the hospital room door. "We really appreciate your kindness and your visit. It means a lot to us."

  Erick waved goodbye to Aoi and quietly walked out of the hospital room, closing the heavy door behind him.

  Hiroshi walked back over to the side of the bed, crossing his arms and smiling in total approval.

  "He seems like a really good, decent kid," Hiroshi commented happily.

  He was clearly comparing Erick's polite, normal, and safe attitude to Erwin's intense, intimidating, and highly dangerous background. Hiroshi wanted a safe, peaceful life for his daughter, and Erick looked like the perfect candidate.

  "It is really nice to see you have such caring, normal friends in your faculty," Hiroshi added, hoping Aoi would agree.

  Aoi just stayed quiet. She looked down at her own hand where Erick had just touched her.

  Her father could praise Erick all day long if he really wanted to. Erick was definitely a nice, smart guy with a very safe future.

  But Aoi's heart was already completely, irreversibly locked away.

  Her heart only wanted one specific person. She did not want safe, and she definitely did not want normal. She just wanted the tall, terrifyingly smart law student with the dark eyes to walk through that hospital door, sit beside her, and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

  It was late in the afternoon by the time Erwin finally walked out of the heavy wooden doors of the law faculty building.

  The spring rain was still falling pretty hard outside. It made the entire university campus look really grey, cold, and depressing. Dozens of students were running around with colorful umbrellas, trying to avoid the deep puddles on the cobblestone pathways.

  Erwin did not have an umbrella, and he honestly did not care.

  He just walked straight out into the freezing rain. The cold water immediately soaked into his expensive dark coat and messed up his perfectly styled hair, but he did not even flinch. He just kept walking with long, heavy strides toward the student parking lot.

  Samuel was walking right next to him, holding a dark jacket over his own head to block the rain.

  Samuel did not try to start a conversation. He knew Erwin was in a completely dark, dangerous mood. Ever since that boring corporate law class ended, Erwin had been radiating a terrifying, silent anger. He looked like a guy who was just waiting for an excuse to snap.

  They reached Erwin's sleek black car. Erwin unlocked the doors, got into the driver's seat, and immediately started the engine.

  "Do you want me to come with you to the hospital?" Samuel asked quietly, wiping the rainwater off his face as he sat in the passenger seat.

  "No," Erwin answered. His voice was completely flat and tired. "You should go back to the dorm and get some rest, Sam. I am just going to sit by her bed for a while. I need to see her."

  Samuel nodded in understanding. He knew Erwin needed some quiet time with his girl to calm the monster inside his head.

  "Alright, man," Samuel said, opening his car door again. "Just text me if you need anything. And try to relax your face a little bit before you walk into her room. You look like you are ready to murder someone."

  Erwin let out a heavy sigh, his hands gripping the leather steering wheel tightly.

  "I will try," Erwin promised softly.

  Samuel got out of the car and ran toward the dormitories. Erwin put the car in gear and drove out of the campus, heading straight toward the downtown city hospital.

  The drive felt like it took an absolute eternity. The city traffic was terrible because of the heavy rain, and every time the car had to stop at a red light, Erwin felt his anxiety spiking. He hated being away from Aoi. After everything she went through in that dark warehouse, he felt a sick, twisting panic in his stomach whenever she was not right in front of his eyes.

  He finally reached the hospital, parked his car in the underground garage, and took the elevator up to the intensive recovery floor.

  He walked down the quiet, sterile white hallway. He stopped right in front of the heavy door to Aoi's private room.

  Erwin closed his eyes for a second. He remembered Samuel's advice. He took a really deep, slow breath, trying to push all the dark, violent thoughts about the mercenary out of his brain. He forced his facial muscles to relax. He wanted Aoi to see her loving boyfriend, not the cold, terrifying heir of the Stahlberg empire.

  He reached out, turned the metal handle, and gently pushed the door open.

  The room was warm and quiet. Aoi was lying on the bed, her eyes half-open as she watched the rain hitting the window glass. Her parents, Hiroshi and Emi, were sitting on the small sofa near the corner of the room.

  But as Erwin walked inside, the very first thing he noticed was not her parents.

  It was the small bedside table.

  Sitting right next to Aoi's bed was a neat paper bag, a nice plastic bowl of warm soup from a popular restaurant, and a small basket of fresh, expensive fruits.

  Erwin stopped walking. His dark eyes locked onto the food.

  He knew for an absolute fact that he did not buy those things. And looking at the fancy packaging, he knew her parents probably did not buy them either. Someone else had been in this room while he was stuck in a boring law class. Someone else had brought food for his girlfriend.

  "Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Mizuno," Erwin greeted them politely, forcing a very respectful, polite tone into his voice. He bowed his head slightly to her parents.

  Hiroshi looked up from his magazine. He saw Erwin standing there in his damp coat, looking tired and slightly messy from the rain.

  Hiroshi's face immediately turned a little bit cold. He did not yell or act aggressive like he did in the hallway a few days ago, but the deep disapproval was still very obvious in his eyes.

  "Hello, Erwin," Hiroshi replied dryly. He closed his magazine and placed it on the small coffee table.

  Hiroshi stood up and walked closer to the hospital bed. He deliberately looked at the warm soup and the fresh fruits on the table, and then he looked right back at Erwin.

  "You just missed a very nice young man," Hiroshi said casually, but his voice had a sharp, highly intentional edge to it. "His name is Erick Adlerhart. He is a classmate of Aoi's from the psychology faculty."

  Erwin felt a sudden, very sharp spike of pure jealousy hit the center of his chest.

  Erick Adlerhart. He had heard that name before. He knew the guy was a popular, smart student who always hung around the library. The idea of another guy coming into this private hospital room to visit Aoi made Erwin's blood boil.

  But Erwin kept his face completely blank. He did not show his anger.

  "Is that so?" Erwin replied calmly, putting his wet coat on a hook near the door. "That was nice of him to visit."

  Hiroshi crossed his arms over his chest. He was a protective father, and he wanted to use this moment to make a very clear point to the rich kid standing in front of him.

  "It was incredibly nice," Hiroshi continued, his voice getting a little louder so Erwin could hear every single word perfectly. "Erick seems like a really normal, safe, and decent kid. He told us he studies with Aoi all the time. He actually brought her this expensive soup because he knows she hates hospital food."

  Hiroshi looked at Aoi, giving her a warm fatherly smile, before turning his sharp gaze back to Erwin.

  "It is just really refreshing, you know?" Hiroshi said, his words hitting Erwin like hidden daggers. "It is really nice to see that Aoi has friends who live totally normal lives. Friends who just worry about homework and exams. Guys who do not have crazy family drama, or dangerous enemies hiding in the shadows."

  Erwin just stood there, taking the verbal punches without fighting back.

  He knew exactly what Hiroshi was doing. Her father was actively comparing him to Erick. He was pointing out how completely dangerous and toxic Erwin's world was, while highlighting how safe and peaceful a life with a guy like Erick could be.

  Hiroshi wanted Erwin to feel guilty. He wanted Erwin to realize that he was bad for Aoi, and that he should just walk away and let a normal guy take his place.

  The monster inside Erwin's head roared with anger.

  His protective instincts were completely out of control right now. He wanted to tell Hiroshi to shut up. He wanted to throw that stupid bowl of soup directly into the trash can. He wanted to track this Erick guy down on campus and physically threaten him to stay a million miles away from Aoi.

  But Erwin swallowed his massive pride.

  He looked at Aoi. She was lying on the bed, looking so incredibly tired and stressed by the awkward tension in the room. The thick black stitches on her face were a brutal reminder of his own failures.

  He realized that getting angry right now would only hurt her more. He would rather swallow broken glass than start a screaming match with her father right in front of her.

  "You are completely right, sir," Erwin said softly, looking Hiroshi right in the eye with total respect. "Aoi is an amazing person. She absolutely deserves to be surrounded by safe, normal people who treat her well."

  Hiroshi looked a bit surprised. He had expected the arrogant rich kid to get defensive and argue back. Hearing Erwin just quietly accept the insult made Hiroshi feel a tiny bit bad, but he still stood his ground.

  Emi, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa, decided she had seen enough.

  She was a mother, and she could read the room perfectly. She saw how incredibly hard Erwin was trying to control his temper just to keep the peace. She also saw the desperate, pleading look in her daughter's eye, silently begging for some alone time with her boyfriend.

  Emi stood up and walked over to her husband. She gently grabbed Hiroshi's arm.

  "Alright, Hiroshi," Emi said in a sweet but very firm voice. "I think it is time for us to go down to the cafeteria and get some real dinner. We have been sitting in this room all day long. My legs are getting stiff."

  Hiroshi frowned, clearly not wanting to leave Erwin alone with his daughter.

  "I am not really hungry yet, Emi," Hiroshi argued stubbornly.

  "Well, I am," Emi insisted, pulling a little harder on his arm. "And I want some hot tea. Come on. Let's give these two young people some space to talk. Aoi needs to rest, and too many people in the room will just give her a headache."

  Hiroshi sighed heavily. He knew he could never win an argument against his wife.

  He gave Erwin one last, highly suspicious warning look. Then he leaned down and kissed Aoi's forehead.

  "We will be back in an hour, sweetie," Hiroshi told her gently. "Just rest."

  "Okay, dad," Aoi whispered, giving him a tiny smile.

  Emi smiled warmly at Erwin as she walked past him toward the door. Erwin gave her a very grateful, respectful nod. Emi guided her grumpy husband out into the hallway, and the heavy wooden door finally clicked shut behind them.

  The second the door closed, the heavy, suffocating tension in the room completely vanished.

  It felt like all the oxygen rushed back into the space. Erwin let out a long, shaky breath. He reached up and rubbed his face with his hands, feeling totally exhausted.

  He slowly walked over to the side of her bed. He pulled the small plastic chair closer and sat down right next to her.

  He looked at her face. The ugly purple bruises around her eye were slowly fading into a yellowish color, but the stitches on her cheek still looked incredibly painful.

  The cold, scary, dead look in his dark eyes completely melted away. When he looked at Aoi, he did not look like a corporate heir or a dangerous monster. He just looked like a young man who was completely and totally in love.

  He reached out his hand very slowly.

  He did not grab her hand suddenly or forcefully. He moved so carefully, like he was afraid he might accidentally break her. He gently slid his long, elegant fingers under her left hand and picked it up.

  Aoi let out a soft, happy sigh.

  This was the exact touch she had been desperately waiting for all day. When Erick touched her hand earlier, her whole body tensed up in pure discomfort. Erick's touch felt wrong and awkward.

  But when Erwin held her hand, a massive wave of absolute relief washed over her entire body. His hands were large and warm. His touch felt like coming home after a really long, terrifying journey. It made her feel completely safe and protected from all the bad things in the world.

  Erwin brought her hand up to his face. He closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against her knuckles. He held her hand against his cheek, just feeling the warmth of her skin.

  "How are you feeling today, baby?" Erwin asked softly. His voice was a quiet, deep whisper that vibrated nicely in the quiet room.

  "I am doing a lot better," Aoi answered honestly, looking at his handsome face. "The doctors said I can probably start eating solid food tomorrow. And the pain in my ribs is not as bad as yesterday."

  Erwin opened his eyes and looked at her. He offered a very small, incredibly gentle smile.

  "That is really good news," Erwin said, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.

  They sat there in total silence for a few minutes. They just listened to the sound of the rain hitting the window outside. It was a very peaceful, intimate moment.

  But Erwin could not stop his eyes from wandering over to the bedside table. He looked at the paper bag and the fancy bowl of soup again. His jaw tightened just a tiny bit.

  Aoi saw where he was looking. She knew exactly what was going on inside that brilliant, overthinking brain of his.

  "Are you okay, Erwin?" Aoi asked softly, a tiny, teasing smile appearing on her lips.

  Erwin looked back at her. He let out a self-deprecating sigh. He knew he could not hide anything from her. She was a psychology major, and she could read his emotions like an open book.

  "I am going to be completely honest with you," Erwin admitted, his voice dropping into a slightly embarrassed tone. "I am feeling incredibly jealous right now. And I feel really stupid for being jealous."

  Aoi chuckled softly, though she had to wince a little bit because laughing hurt her bruised ribs.

  "You are jealous of soup?" Aoi asked, raising her eyebrow playfully.

  "I am jealous of the guy who brought the soup," Erwin corrected her, his dark eyes looking very serious. "Erick Adlerhart. Your dad made sure to tell me exactly how normal and safe he is. He basically told me I should step aside so a guy like Erick can take care of you."

  Erwin looked down at their connected hands.

  "And the worst part is, I know your dad is completely right," Erwin whispered, his guilt coming back in full force. "A guy like Erick would never bring mercenaries into your life. He would never put you in a situation where you get kidnapped and cut with a knife. He would just take you to the library and buy you coffee."

  Aoi felt her heart ache. She hated seeing him beat himself up like this.

  She slowly turned her hand over so she could grip his fingers tightly. She gave his hand a firm squeeze to make him look up at her.

  "Erwin, look at me," Aoi said. Her voice was weak, but it carried an absolute, undeniable certainty.

  Erwin slowly raised his head, his dark eyes meeting hers.

  "Erick came here today to bring me food, and it was a nice gesture," Aoi explained calmly. "But he also tried to hold my hand. Just like you are holding it right now."

  Erwin's eyes instantly darkened. The monster inside him woke up for a brief second, angry that another man had dared to touch her while she was hurt.

  "He did what?" Erwin asked, his voice suddenly going dangerously cold.

  "Do not get mad," Aoi said quickly, rubbing his hand to calm him down. "Just listen to me. When he touched my hand, I hated it. It felt completely wrong. My whole body went stiff. I just wanted him to leave the room so I could be alone."

  She smiled softly, looking deep into his eyes.

  "But when you walked in just now, and you took my hand," Aoi continued, her voice full of pure, honest love. "I felt like I could finally breathe again. I felt completely safe."

  Erwin stared at her, totally captivated by her words.

  "My dad means well, but he does not understand," Aoi told him firmly. "I do not want a normal, boring life with a safe guy from the library. Even if a thousand guys like Erick lined up outside that door with expensive soup, I would never even look at them."

  Aoi reached up her free hand with a lot of effort. She gently touched Erwin's cheek, feeling the slight stubble there.

  "I only want you, Erwin," Aoi promised him, her eyes shining with absolute devotion. "I want the terrifying, overprotective law student who makes me feel like I am the most important person in the world. I do not care about the danger, because I know you will always come find me."

  Erwin felt a massive, suffocating weight completely lift off his chest.

  All the jealousy, all the insecurity, and all the dark doubts her father had planted in his head totally vanished. They were completely washed away by the simple, beautiful truth of her love.

  He leaned his face heavily into her soft hand. He closed his eyes, letting out a long, shaky breath of pure relief.

  "I love you so incredibly much, Aoi," Erwin whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "You have no idea how much I love you."

  "I think I have a pretty good idea," Aoi smiled weakly, tracing his cheekbone with her thumb.

  Erwin opened his eyes. He leaned forward over the hospital bed, being extremely careful not to put any weight on her injured body. He moved his face close to hers.

  He pressed a very soft, incredibly tender kiss against her forehead, right next to a small bandage. He kept his lips pressed there for a long moment, just breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

  "I promise you," Erwin whispered directly against her skin. "I am going to fix this. I am going to make sure that nobody from my dark world ever dares to look at you or touch you again. I will tear down anyone who tries to hurt you."

  It was a dark, dangerous promise, but he said it with so much love and gentleness that it did not scare Aoi at all. It just made her feel perfectly protected.

  "I know you will," Aoi whispered back, closing her eyes and enjoying his warmth.

  Erwin pulled back slightly, looking at her beautiful face. He reached over to the bedside table with his free hand. He grabbed the paper bag from Erick and casually pushed it all the way to the far edge of the table, completely out of the way.

  "Now," Erwin said, a tiny, genuine smile finally appearing on his handsome face. "If you are actually hungry, I am going to throw that stupid soup in the trash and go buy you something much better from the premium cafeteria downstairs."

  Aoi let out a real, genuine laugh this time.

  "You are so ridiculously petty," Aoi teased him, her eyes crinkling happily.

  "I am highly territorial," Erwin corrected her smoothly, his thumb still rubbing her knuckles gently. "There is a massive difference."

  They sat together in the warm hospital room, their hands tightly connected. Outside, the spring rain kept falling heavily over the city of Hohenwald. But inside that room, Erwin finally found his peace. The storm in his mind was quieted by her smile.

  He knew that tomorrow he would have to deal with his shadow network and the horrible reality of his revenge. But for tonight, he was just going to sit in this uncomfortable plastic chair, hold the hand of the girl he loved, and never let go.

  The clock on the sterile white wall of the hospital room quietly ticked past midnight.

  The heavy spring rain had not stopped falling all evening. It was still pouring down over the massive city of Hohenwald, washing the dark, empty streets outside the large glass window. The rhythmic sound of the raindrops hitting the thick glass was actually incredibly soothing. It sounded like a natural lullaby trying to wash away all the terrible things that had happened over the last few days.

  Inside the private recovery room, the atmosphere was completely peaceful.

  It was a sharp, dramatic contrast to the violent, chaotic nightmare that had totally consumed their young lives just a short time ago. The bright, harsh overhead fluorescent lights had been turned off by the night shift nurses. The only illumination came from a small, warm yellow reading lamp sitting on the bedside table, casting long, soft shadows across the walls.

  Aoi Mizuno was finally fast asleep.

  The heavy painkillers and the sheer emotional exhaustion of dealing with her parents, her friends, and her own trauma had completely drained her energy. She was lying on her back, her breathing slow, deep, and perfectly steady.

  The clear plastic nasal cannula was still resting gently under her nose, pumping a quiet, steady stream of fresh oxygen into her lungs. The ugly, dark purple bruises covering the left side of her face looked a little bit less angry under the dim yellow light, but the thick black stitches on her cheek and her arm were still a brutal reminder of the reality they were living in.

  Erwin was sitting right next to her bed in that terrible, stiff plastic hospital chair.

  He had not moved a single inch for hours. He was wearing the clean black cotton t-shirt and the dark sweatpants that Samuel had bought for him earlier that evening. He looked incredibly exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes were heavy, and his usually perfect, aristocratic posture was totally gone. He was slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

  He was holding Aoi's uninjured left hand gently in both of his own hands.

  Sometime during the quiet hours of the night, while he was watching her chest rise and fall, sleep had finally overtaken him too. Erwin was sleeping with his head resting uncomfortably against the edge of her mattress, his face turned toward her hand. Even in his deep sleep, his fingers were wrapped securely around hers, like he was subconsciously terrified that someone might sneak into the room and steal her away if he let go for even a second.

  It was a picture of absolute, pure devotion.

  For the first time in days, Erwin's brilliant, constantly overthinking brain was quiet. He was not dreaming about dark warehouses, hunting knives, or his father's cruel corporate empire. He was just resting in the quiet warmth of the girl he loved more than anything else in the entire world.

  But the peaceful silence of the hospital room did not last forever.

  Suddenly, a sharp, aggressive vibration buzzed deep inside the front pocket of Erwin's black sweatpants.

  It was not a normal phone ringtone. It was a highly encrypted, silent alert system that he had specifically set up for the shadow security division of his family's empire. It meant they had something extremely important to tell him, and they needed to tell him right now.

  Erwin woke up instantly.

  He did not wake up groggy or confused like a normal college student. Because of the intense trauma and the high level of paranoia he was currently suffering from, he woke up with his heart pounding and his senses completely sharp. His dark eyes snapped open, immediately scanning the dim room to make sure there were no threats hiding in the shadows.

  When he realized it was just his phone vibrating, he let out a slow, silent breath to calm his racing heart.

  He looked down at Aoi. She had not moved at all. She was still sleeping peacefully, completely undisturbed by the silent buzzing in his pocket.

  Erwin moved incredibly slowly. He did not want to wake her up for anything in the world. She needed every single second of rest she could possibly get to heal her broken body.

  He very carefully loosened his grip on her hand. He gently placed her small fingers back down onto the soft white hospital blanket. He pulled the blanket up just a tiny bit, making sure her stitched arm was comfortably covered and warm against the cold air conditioning of the room.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sleek smartphone. The screen was glowing brightly in the dark room, displaying an unknown, restricted caller ID.

  Erwin knew exactly who was calling him at this hour.

  He stood up from the plastic chair without making a single sound. He walked quietly across the room on his tiptoes. He reached the heavy wooden door, turned the metal handle very slowly so it wouldn't click loudly, and slipped out of the room.

  He gently pulled the door shut behind him, completely sealing Aoi back inside her safe, warm, and quiet little sanctuary.

  The hospital hallway was a completely different world.

  It was freezing cold out here. The bright, sterile white lights overhead buzzed with an annoying, constant hum that gave him a slight headache. The hallway was completely empty. The nurses were all gathered at the main station at the far end of the floor, drinking coffee and typing on their computers.

  Erwin walked a few steps away from Aoi's door, stopping near a large glass window that looked out over the rainy city streets.

  He finally pressed the green button on his phone and lifted the device to his ear.

  "Report," Erwin commanded.

  His voice was completely different from the soft, gentle tone he used when he was talking to Aoi earlier. It was incredibly low, freezing cold, and totally devoid of any normal human empathy. It was the voice of a billionaire heir who fully expected absolute obedience from his expensive employees.

  "Good evening, young master Erwin," the smooth, highly professional voice of the Stahlberg security director answered on the other end of the encrypted line. "I apologize for waking you up at this hour, but you gave us strict orders to call you the absolute second we had a confirmed visual on the target."

  Erwin felt a massive, terrifying spike of adrenaline shoot straight into his bloodstream. His dark eyes narrowed, focusing entirely on the dark reflection of the city in the window glass.

  "You found him," Erwin stated. It was not a question. It was a cold, hard fact.

  "Yes, sir. We found him," the director confirmed with total confidence. "Our underground network is highly efficient, as you know. The federal police completely lost his trail in the western industrial district because they rely on public traffic cameras. But my men do not need cameras. We squeezed a few local informants, tracked the tire treads of the black utility van, and located the vehicle exactly forty minutes ago."

  Erwin's jaw tightened. The monster inside his head, the dark, violent creature he had been trying to suppress all day long, completely woke up. It was starving for blood.

  "Where is he right now?" Erwin asked, his voice dripping with absolute poison.

  "He is currently hiding out in a cheap, rundown motel on the absolute edge of the southern city limits," the director explained calmly. "He parked the van around the back to avoid detection. My tactical surveillance teams currently have the entire building completely surrounded. He is sleeping in room number four. He has absolutely no idea that we are watching him."

  Erwin placed his free hand flat against the cold glass of the hospital window. He could feel the chill seeping into his skin, but it was nothing compared to the freezing ice running through his own veins.

  "Give me his name," Erwin demanded softly. "I want to know exactly who decided to put a knife to my girlfriend's face."

  There was the sound of some papers shuffling on the other end of the line. The security director was pulling up the massive intelligence dossier his hackers had just compiled.

  "His name is Magnus Adler," the director reported, reading from the official file. "He is thirty-five years old. And I need you to listen to me very carefully, young master. This man is not just some random, cheap street thug or a desperate criminal looking for quick cash. He is a highly trained, incredibly dangerous professional."

  Erwin frowned slightly. He had already suspected that the kidnapper was a pro based on how flawlessly he evaded the massive police convoy, but hearing it confirmed made the situation much more serious.

  "Explain," Erwin ordered.

  "Magnus Adler is a former state intelligence officer for the government of Hohenreich," the director revealed, his tone becoming extremely serious. "He served in the military for eight years before being recruited into a highly classified, secret investigation unit within the federal government."

  Erwin closed his eyes for a second, processing that terrifying piece of information.

  The man who had locked Aoi in a freezing cage was a government-trained spy. That explained everything. That explained why he left absolutely no physical evidence behind at the university market. That explained why the street vendor was so terrified of the black van. And it definitely explained how he managed to completely vanish into thin air before Captain Farlaine and his heavily armed SWAT team could even surround the abandoned chemical factory.

  "What were his specific operational specialties during his time in the intelligence unit?" Erwin asked, his brilliant legal mind completely shifting into tactical interrogation mode.

  "The official government files are heavily redacted, sir," the director continued, the sound of typing echoing in the background. "But our hackers managed to pull the raw data. Magnus Adler is officially classified as a master expert in advanced surveillance, aggressive psychological intimidation, high-risk target extraction, and deeply covert black operations."

  The director paused for a second to let the heavy weight of those words sink in.

  "He was dishonorably discharged from the intelligence agency about five years ago for using excessive, unauthorized violence during an interrogation," the director added. "Since then, he has been working as an independent, high-end ghost in the criminal underworld. He is a premium hitman and a clean-up guy for incredibly wealthy, corrupt clients who need massive problems to completely disappear without a trace."

  Erwin slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head and looked through the large glass window that looked directly into Aoi's hospital room.

  He could see her sleeping peacefully on the bed. He could see the small, steady rise and fall of her chest under the white blanket. And even from the hallway, he could clearly see the dark, ugly stitches ruining her beautiful, innocent face.

  A former state intelligence officer. An expert in psychological intimidation and covert operations. A hitman for the rich.

  That was the absolute monster who had stood over Aoi in the dark. That was the highly trained, soulless killing machine who had punched her in the face, poured freezing water over her shivering body, and sliced her skin open with a hunting knife just to deliver a message.

  And Aoi, a simple, sweet psychology student from a quiet mountain village, had actually looked that terrifying government assassin right in his dead eyes and told him to go to hell. She had absolutely refused to surrender to him.

  Thinking about her incredible, unimaginable bravery made Erwin's heart ache with so much love and pride. But thinking about what Magnus Adler had done to her made Erwin want to burn the entire city of Hohenwald completely to the ground.

  "Sir, are you still there?" the director asked after a long moment of silence on the phone.

  "I am here," Erwin replied. His voice was no longer just cold. It sounded completely dead. It was the voice of a man who had just crossed a massive, invisible line in his own morality and fully accepted the darkness waiting on the other side.

  "My tactical assault teams are locked, loaded, and completely ready to breach the motel room on your command," the director stated professionally. "But I need to give you a serious warning, young master. Taking a former intelligence operative like Magnus Adler alive is going to be incredibly risky. He is highly trained in close-quarters combat. If we try to capture him and tie him up like you originally requested, there is a very high probability that he will fight back and kill a few of my men in the process."

  The director waited for a second, letting the tactical reality of the situation settle in.

  "I strongly advise against a capture operation, sir," the director suggested bluntly. "I am officially requesting your permission to issue a kill order. My snipers can put a bullet through his motel window right now, while he is sleeping. We can make the entire problem disappear tonight, and the federal police will never even know we were involved. Just give me the green light."

  Erwin stood in the freezing hospital hallway, holding the phone to his ear.

  He looked at Aoi through the glass window again.

  His brilliant mind was running a million different scenarios at lightning speed. He thought about his classes with Dr. Sommer. He thought about the complex legal system, the federal courts, and the idea of absolute justice.

  If he told his shadow security team to stand down and called Captain Farlaine right now, the police would raid the motel. They would arrest Magnus Adler. There would be a massive, highly publicized trial. Aoi would have to stand up in a crowded courtroom, face her torturer, and testify about the horrific things he did to her.

  And because Magnus was a former intelligence officer who knew exactly how the legal system worked, he would probably find a million different loopholes. His wealthy client, whoever it was, would hire the best, most expensive corporate lawyers in the country to defend him. They would delay the trial for years. They would drag Aoi's name through the mud. And eventually, Magnus might just walk away with a light sentence.

  Even worse, a highly trained ghost like Magnus Adler would never just forgive and forget. If he went to prison, he would just wait patiently. And the second he got out, he would come straight back to finish the job. He would hunt Aoi down just to settle the score.

  Erwin realized with a sickening, terrifying clarity that the normal rules of society simply did not apply to a monster like Magnus.

  The law could not protect Aoi from a ghost. The police could not stop a man who was trained by the government to be totally invisible.

  The only way to stop a monster without a soul was to become a monster that was infinitely more terrifying, ruthless, and cruel than he could ever possibly imagine.

  Erwin had spent his entire life running away from his family's legacy. He had hated his father for being a manipulative, violent corporate tyrant. He had sworn to himself, and to Aoi's father, that he would never use his massive wealth and power to destroy people.

  But looking at the stitches on Aoi's face, Erwin finally understood his father. He finally understood why men with absolute power chose to use it. When the thing you love most in the world is threatened by the darkness, you do not politely ask the darkness to leave. You absolutely crush it until there is nothing left.

  Erwin slowly lowered his hand from the cold glass window. He gripped the phone tighter.

  "Tell your snipers to stand down immediately," Erwin commanded.

  "Sir?" the director asked, sounding genuinely confused and slightly worried by the order. "With all due respect, if we do not take him out right now, he might wake up and slip away again. He is an expert at evasion."

  "I said, tell your men to stand down and maintain the perimeter," Erwin repeated, his voice dropping into a terrifying, demonic whisper that echoed softly in the empty hospital hallway. "Do not engage the target. Do not let him see you. Just keep the building completely locked down."

  "Understood, young master," the director replied hesitantly. "But what exactly are we waiting for? What is the final operational objective here?"

  Erwin turned his body away from the glass window. He looked down the long, empty, sterile white hallway of the hospital. His dark eyes were burning with a lethal, unadulterated promise of absolute violence.

  "You are going to text me the exact address of that rundown motel right now," Erwin instructed, his tone completely flat and devoid of any mercy. "And then, you are going to tell your tactical assault team to wait for my arrival."

  The director went completely silent on the other end of the line. The seasoned security expert was actually speechless. He had dealt with Klaus von Stahlberg for years, but he had never heard this level of cold, calculated malice coming from the young, polite university student before.

  "Are you absolutely sure about this, sir?" the director asked carefully. "It is going to be an incredibly dangerous, highly unpredictable environment. You are just a law student. You do not have any tactical combat training to deal with a former state intelligence officer."

  "I do not care about his military training," Erwin replied coldly, his voice entirely dead. "He put his hands on my girl. He made her bleed on a dirty concrete floor. And for that specific crime, he is going to pay a price that the legal system cannot possibly extract from him."

  Erwin started walking slowly down the hospital hallway, heading directly toward the elevator banks.

  "I am going to drive down to that motel right now," Erwin told the director, his words cutting through the air like a sharpened blade. "And when I get there, I will decide the rest of this operation entirely by myself."

  He pressed the glowing button for the elevator.

  "I will personally decide if I am going to drag that bastard out of his room by his hair and throw him bleeding at the feet of the federal police so he can rot in a concrete cell for the rest of his pathetic life," Erwin explained, his voice completely calm despite the horrific things he was saying.

  The elevator doors slid open with a soft ping. Erwin stepped inside the empty metal box.

  "Or," Erwin added, his dark eyes staring directly into the security camera mounted in the corner of the elevator. "I will simply walk into his room, look him in the eye, and completely extinguish his life with my own two hands."

  Erwin did not wait for the security director to respond to that terrifying statement.

  He just pressed the red button to end the encrypted call. He lowered the phone, slipping it back into the pocket of his dark sweatpants.

  The heavy metal doors of the elevator slowly slid shut, completely hiding the young billionaire heir from the rest of the world.

  He was leaving the bright, safe, healing environment of the hospital behind. He was leaving his innocent, beautiful sleeping girlfriend behind. He was voluntarily stepping completely out of the light and walking directly into the absolute darkest, most violent shadows of his family's terrifying legacy.

  He did not know exactly what he was going to do when he finally stood face to face with the monster who hurt Aoi. He did not know if he was going to choose justice, or if he was going to choose pure, bloody murder.

  But as the elevator rapidly descended toward the cold underground parking garage, one thing was absolutely, undeniably certain.

  The polite, friendly law student was officially dead. The monster had fully awakened. And Magnus Adler was entirely out of time.