Kayden witnessed everything happening right before his eyes. He had initially thought about stepping in to stop it, but after long contemplation, he realized this wasn’t something he should involve himself in.
It reminded him of what happened back in Hiphia when he saved a girl named Coco. Yet, the girl latched onto him after that, and that even caused Georgia to misinterpret their relationship. So, this time, Kayden thought he’d better mind his own business!
Though he was a soldier sworn to defend this land, he knew he couldn’t meddle in everyone’s personal issues.
With that in mind, he carried on his way. After passing through a narrow alley, he suddenly heard a girl’s desperate cries for help.
“Help! Help!”
Alongside her frantic screams, two men’s harsh voices rang out. “Stop screaming, this is our turf. It’s already late; even if you shout your lungs out, no one’s coming to save you.”
“Do you have any idea who I am? I’m the granddaughter of Jason Scott! If you lay a finger on me, you’ll regret it. You’ll die a miserable death!” the girl shouted, panic clear in her voice.
One of the men uttered a snorting laugh. “If you’re really Jason Scott’s granddaughter, then I must be his grandson-in-law. Anyone can make up lies.”
“Shit!”
“No!” The girl fought desperately, breaking free from their grasp and running toward the mouth of the alley.
Kayden was passing by just then, and the girl crashed into him head-on.
Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were somewhat disordered, clearly having been tugged at by someone.
“Kayden!” Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him, and then, she sobbed, “Kayden, help me! They’re bullying me! Please help me!”
As she spoke, the two burly, drunken men staggered over. The moment they saw a man standing next to Ann, one of them froze for a second, then swayed forward and yelled at Kayden, “Listen, if you don’t want to die, move out of the way. Don’t ruin my fun.”
Kayden stood still, wearing his typical expressionless look.
After a few moments without getting any response from Kayden, the other man pulled out a sharp knife. He snarled in a vicious tone, “Bro, let’s teach him a lesson. Show him the consequence of spoiling our fun.”
The first man also drew a knife. They both made an intimidating, menacing posture.
“The last man who pointed a knife at me is dead already. You two wanna join him?” Kayden said, each word adding up to the tension.
He then glanced down at Ann and asked, “You wouldn’t want to see them die, would you?”
Ann gasped in shock, her face flushing as she quickly waved her hands, “No, no, no, don’t do that, please!”
With a resigned sigh, she waved off the two men. Seeing her gesture, they slunk away, heads bowed in defeat.
Ann turned back to Kayden. A sheepish smile tugged at her lips as she scratched the back of her head. “How did you find out? Was my acting that bad?”
Kayden didn’t bother to answer her stupid question. It wasn’t about her acting skills. The truth was, he’d never believed that anything like this would happen to Ann since she was always surrounded by bodyguards whenever she went out. If she was truly in any danger, it would be never in the cards that the bodyguards still didn’t appear by now.
Moreover, this was all too coincidental-she just happened to be in danger right near him. Wasn’t this a sign that she had been tailing him? In fact, every move she made was under Kayden’s watchful eye; he just didn’t bother to expose her lie.
“Do you have anything else to say?” Kayden didn’t answer her question but shot back with one of his own.
Ann pouted and whined, “Can you stop being so cold all the time? I just want to get a little closer to you. I think you need someone to care for you. I’m your sister-well, your cousin, but still, you should at least try to get along with me.”
Kayden locked eyes with her as he said word by word, “I don’t want to cross paths with anyone from your household! Get lost!”
With that, he turned and continued on his way toward the hotel, but Ann didn’t give up. She trailed right behind him, her steps making a soft pattering sound. She didn’t care about his attitude, and she just followed behind silently.
A short while later, Kayden arrived at the hotel. Ann followed suit, clinging to him and persuaded, “Kayden, let me stay with you tonight! You’re injured, and if you faint or anything happens, I’ll be here to help!”
Kayden frowned, “Enough! Go home! If you keep following me, I’ll tie you up and send you back myself,” he said, irritation creeping into his voice.
Ann shook her head stubbornly. “Don’t try to scare me. You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Fine! Then follow me and give it a try!” he snapped, without looking back. He pushed through the doors of the hotel and strode in.
Right now, he wanted nothing to do with the Scott family. No matter what her intentions were, he couldn’t allow her to get any closer.
“Ann!” Suddenly, a man’s voice rang out from the hotel lobby.
Two men and a group of five or six stunning girls approached, and at the forefront was a man dressed in a sleek black suit. He sported a buzz cut, his hair dyed a shade of blue, with earrings glinting in his ears and a lavish pendant hanging from his neck. It was he who had just called out to Ann.
“Eddie!” Ann blurted out, her eyes widening in shock.
Eddie was Ann’s university classmate, and more than that, he was one of her persistent admirers. He came from the Trenton family, a well-known and influential family in the Northwest. His grandfather, Langston Trenton, was a respected figure with considerable authority.
In order to blend in with her peers, Ann had always kept a low profile at school. She never revealed her identity as Jason’s granddaughter. If anyone had known the truth, they would have treated her with an excessive deference she didn’t want. So, none of her classmates knew she was the heiress to the powerful Scott family. This also explained why Eddie had dared to pester her so persistently!
“What are you doing here?” Eddie walked right up to her. He cast a glance over Kayden before turning back to Ann.
Before Ann could reply, the man standing beside Eddie, who was casually twirling a toothpick in his mouth, let out a sneer. “Come on, Eddie! Isn’t it obvious? Is it really so hard to figure out where we are? A hotel. It’s already past dinner time, so of course, they’re here to check in for a one-night stand.”
The speaker was Orson Willys, a wealthy young heir from Vernon, whose family was mainly involved in large-scale construction projects. He and Eddie had never gotten along. Tonight, Eddie had been arrogantly flaunting himself at dinner, snatching away all the attention from the girls. Orson was seething with frustration and resentment. But then they happened to see Ann, the girl Eddie had a crush on, showed up in the hotel with a man. He surely wouldn’t waste this chance to mock Eddie.
Eddie’s expression instantly darkened, and he shot a cold glare at Orson. “Did you really come here for a one-night stand?” he asked Ann.
Ann blinked. A crafty look came to her eyes. She’d never liked Eddie, who was always pushing away her friends, especially the male ones. She had once been close to several, but after Eddie started pestering with her, they all gradually distanced themselves from her.
And almost all the girls around her were trying to convince her to get together with Eddie.
But she really disliked people like Eddie, and an idea suddenly struck her. With a sly grin, she linked her arm with Kayden’s, assuming a thoroughly affectionate pose. “Not a one-night stand. Let me introduce to you, this is my boyfriend.”