Chapter 245: I revoke all the rights

Cixi heard Cassian let out a deep breath on the other end of the line, causing Cixi’s mood to sour.

"You cruel Demon!" She openly cursed Cassian, forgetting Lily and Zoyar were next to her. Who could hear her words easily? In that moment, only Cassian existed for her. "I revoke all rights for you to get involved in my private life issues."

He had marked her. He had shown her his true form. He had taken her through the water, into a cave no one else knew existed, and shared his real name in a loving voice. ’And yet he can’t even say he loves me...’

"To my heart’s content, that’s not possible." There was arrogance dripping from his voice. "You are mine and the one I intend to keep with me forever."

"I must prevent you from being irrational." "The truth is clear; it’s right there on your neck. My Mark." "So you can boast about marking me, claim me as yours, yet you can’t even—" Cixi’s gaze shifted to Lily, who was curiously listening to her. She stopped herself and cleared her throat, bringing herself back to resolve the current dire issue.

"Cassian." She called his name and turned, pressing the phone closer to her ear. "I do not wish for you to interrogate them." The words left her mouth carefully.

She was afraid. Not of the three people sitting zip-tied on the ground, but of what would happen if Cassian dragged them into the prison and kept them for life, long till their death and extracted all the humiliation she went through in college and that deepfake video, which miraculously hasn’t landed in Cassian’s phone. She thanked heaven. "We can give them to the police," Cixi continued with her forced steady voice despite the storm beneath it. "Let them stay in prison for six months, in the most dangerous prison, and after six months, release them with a warning."

She was not doing this out of empathy. She did not feel empathy for Silviya or Kevin, or Ronny. She felt nothing for them but the cold, hard residue of years of cruelty that had calcified inside her chest like stone. There was only one reason — keeping them away from Cassian’s world meant keeping the deepfake away from Cassian’s ears. She would make a deal with these immoral, corrupted souls for keeping their mouths shut in exchange for early release from prison and never showing their faces in front of her. It sounded like a good plan.

"Why are you trying to protect them?" Cixi heard Cassian’s question, and it left her momentarily startled. How could her plan to confine them in a perilous prison for six months possibly be seen as protection? It baffled her how frequently Cassian managed to confuse her.

"Cixi..." He called her name when Cixi didn’t respond.

She opened her mouth to fill the silence, to offer another excuse, another reason: "Why should their family suffer for their actions? Who likes to lose their children?" Cixi was at a loss for any further excuses. Instead, it felt more appropriate to express something she believed as well. These disturbed individuals’ families would never have the chance to see their children’s faces if Cassain incarcerated them.

"Cig, let us continue this talk when you are on top of me. Till then, Mark is handling them. Let me see how good you are at convincing me." And the line went dead.

Cixi’s eyes went wide. She stood motionless, the phone still pressed to her ear, the dial tone humming against her skin. Her cheeks flushed. A deep, burning crimson that spread from her face down her neck and settled somewhere behind her collarbone, hot and uncontrollable.

When you are on top of me.

He had said it the way he said everything. Nonchalantly. Without hesitation. She lowered the phone slowly and pressed her free hand to her burning cheek before giving Zoyar the phone back.

After Zoyar slid his phone back into his pocket, he simply turned, crossed the distance to Kevin in one stride, seized a fistful of the man’s collar, and hauled him upright.

The first punch landed on the left side of Kevin’s cheek. And the second followed before Kevin’s head finished snapping sideways. The third drove into the same spot, grinding against the cheekbone beneath the skin.

The fourth split the skin open. The fifth made Kevin’s legs give out while he cried in pain. Kevin sagged in Zoyar’s grip, held upright only by the fist clenched in his collar, his cheek caved inward, blood pouring from the split and pooling along his jaw.

Sylvia recoiled at the sight of the violence done to his boyfriend. She hated Cixi even more. Who was daring to decide over a call what to do with them? Did she find a sugar daddy for herself? Despite the situation, Silviya couldn’t help hating Cixi.

Zoyar released him. Kevin crumpled to the ground. Then he turned to Ronny. Ronny’s eyes went wide in dread. His mouth opened, perhaps to beg, perhaps to scream, perhaps to say something that would have made no difference. Zoyar’s hand closed around his collar before the first syllable left his lips.

Five punches. Same side with the same rhythm.

Ronny dropped like a sack of grain cut from its hook. His body hit the concrete with a graceless thud. He did not get up.

Zoyar then straightened. He reached into his jacket and withdrew a white handkerchief. He opened it slowly and wiped each knuckle, cleaning the blood from the ridges of his fingers with the careful attention of a man polishing silverware. He folded the stained handkerchief once, tucked it back into his pocket.

"I did not know which of those two dared to touch you."

He did not say Lily’s name. Perhaps he didn’t need to. His words and actions settled over both women with clarity.

He had punched them for Lily! He broke their cheekbones for Lilly!

Silviya gulped dryly while her cheeks burned hotter than ever.