Barron hugged Hazel tightly. He lowered his head and stroked her cheek with both hands, ignoring her struggles. It was the first time he had desired a woman so much, but Barron didn’t have the patience to wonder what the reason behind it was.
“All right, the three minutes are up!”
The auctioneer calculated the time and shouted, providing the waiter with the information to turn on the lights.
The contented guests stopped moving.
The sound of a fuse breaking.
A loud noise came from the corner, followed by the waiter’s exclamation, “No good, the fuse is broken!”
The hall was dark, and only near the windows could one see the bright light from the lightning from time to time.
Thunder gusts and heavy rain poured down, making this rainy night no longer silent.
“How could this happen? It’s not another prank, is it?”
There were whispers in the crowd as too many strange things were happening at the masquerade today.
Edie searched for Hazel in the darkness. She opened the small bag she was carrying and tried to turn on the flashlight function of her phone to illuminate it.
“No.”
Roger subconsciously pulled Edie into a dark corner near the window and said in a low voice, “Turn off your phone. Things are getting weird now.”
Indeed, there were sounds of rustling in the living room one after another.
“You…”
Edie tried to slap Roger’s hand away, but it was all too coincidental, and she seemed to have a bit of an epiphany.
“You know, the replaced song in the masquerade ball is the melody of death.”
This song had long been banned by all the countries in the world, yet it appeared here. It was indescribably strange.
“Do you mean Plum Blossom? Then… Baron…”
Edie suddenly dawned on her, and she grabbed Roger’s arm, her body trembling slightly. She was scared. She was afraid of something unpredictable.
“He was with Hazel.”
Roger put him together. At that time, the best thing to do was to split up and hide, to stay the same in response to changes.
The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and as it was, the guests were unable to leave the villa.
The villa was above a section of the mountain road. In the storm, it was difficult to see anything clearly on the road, and there could be a car accident at any time.
“Is she here?”
Hazel wiped the sweat on her forehead. Although in the darkness, she could not see Barron’s expression. She could only feel that his aura had become sharp and cold.
Only the two of them knew what “she” meant.
“It should be. Don’t be afraid.”
After a moment of silence, Barron didn’t hide anything. This strange and outrageous method was indeed the style of the Plum Blossom.
The scary part was that this transnational criminal group had slowly infiltrated them and tried to subvert them.
Baron changed his position to protect Hazel.
Although she has not agreed to be his spouse, it seems that this would happen sooner or later.
His pride didn’t allow him to force her. What he wanted was for her to willingly agree.
Hazel closed her eyes and held her breath. Her heart was beating wildly.
She thought of Bruce. After he was kidnapped last time, Bruce disappeared from the entertainment industry. His life was uncertain. She heard that his play was taken over by another popular young star.
It didn’t matter if he was popular or not, as long as Bruce was alive, it was good.
The door of the villa lobby was opened by someone, and the cool breeze drifted in mixed with the dampness of the earth.
The guests fidgeted and strongly urged the waiter to fetch the candles.
Each person’s expression was hidden on a rainy night, looking unfathomable.
“Potbelly, it’s raining so hard. Can we still get down the mountain? I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning.”
Sally grumbled in a low voice. She looked out the door at the downpour and was stunned. Here came the thing she had feared.
Early tomorrow morning, she could fly overseas on a plane to have a fan meeting there.
Foreign fans were stricter. If late or absent without a reason, perhaps they would not like her anymore. This would partially hinder her future development.
It wasn’t easy for them to make their way abroad, but Sally still wanted to become famous in Magemoor while she was still young.
“Potbelly, say something.”
Sally had just used her phone to illuminate the room when she saw Potbelly sitting beside her.
Although she hated Potbelly, she still had to spill the beans and come to the party to get something.
The Potbelly was so rich, at least in terms of material, that he gave her a certain amount of compensation. Jewelry, branded bags, high-end customized products, any one of them, she was not picky.
“Potbelly…”
Sally hooked her hand around Potbelly’s neck, wanting to let him take advantage of her in the dark, others would not be able to see it and would not damage her reputation as a Jade Maiden.
“What is it…”
Sally’s hand touched the moist liquid that ran along with her fingertips…
Outside the window, lightning broke through the sky and there was a brief bright light in the hall.
Sally lowered her head, and with the help of the light, she saw that her hands were stained with bright red blood, which dripped in drops onto the soft gray carpet.
Screams.
A shrill scream rang out, and everyone immediately fell into chaos.
“What’s wrong? Who’s shouting? Do you think you’re filming a horror movie?”
No light, on such a rainy day everyone could not leave, which had made people anxious.
The scream startled everyone and immediately led the people to shout.
“Potbelly, blood… blood…”
Sally fell to her knees, shivering. She was incoherent, unsure of what she had said.
“It must be a prank again!”
After a series of bad ideas, no one believed Sally’s words anymore. This was probably another boring trick played by the auctioneer.
It was indeed exciting enough, but they only wanted to return and hold a banquet when the weather was good.
” Potbelly is dead!”
Sally’s eyes widened in horror and she kept backing away. She grabbed the arm of one of the guests as if she had grabbed a lifeline.
The sticky blood on her hand had a fishy smell and was spreading continuously.
“What? Blood!”
Unfortunately, the young lady who was caught by Sally lit up with her mobile phone, and then, she let out a shrill wail.
The guests were in a mess, not even the courage to illuminate. Potbelly had been murdered, and the murderer must have been among them.
Combined with all the previous events, the quick-witted guests immediately reacted that this was a pre-designed conspiracy!
Hazel wiped her sweat and stepped out from behind Barron. She looked up in Barron’s direction and asked in a low voice, “Why is that fat guy dead?”
If the Plum Blossom came to attack, the target should be her and the Baron.
“Very soon, we will know why.”
The murderer was still hiding among the masses. It would be fine if he had completed his goal, if…
Then, what awaited everyone was a bloody slaughter.
A scream came from the living room in great confusion. Finally, it was a bold man, using the faint flashlight function of his cell phone, who approached Sally.
With the help of the light, Potbelly leaned back on the couch, his shirt rumpled and a few buttons on his lower abdomen opened, revealing his round stomach.
…