Chapter 26: Kill Her At The Site

She saw those waveless eyes from closer than she had ever before. His cold lips are heavily pressed against hers, and his tongue is exploring her mouth, making her shiver and lose her breath.

The tension loosened with a spattering of applause, which was shortly interrupted and followed with much-prolonged applause. Emerald could not struggle free under Kenzo's strong grip and had to let him devour her breath.

After some time, she started feeling dizzy, and her face blushed. He finally let her go.

"Tonight." He gazed at her for a second, then walked away to the VIP seats.

Emerald froze on the spot and lowered her head in the crowd's sight of admiring surprise, envy, doubt, and disdain.

Tonight. He said tonight.

She looked up, and the dazzling chandelier seemed to have darkened a little bit.

She turned around and noted that her companions were looking at her weirdly, but Zach was not among them.

"He...He is my boyfriend." She explained, walking towards them.

"What the hell are you doing!" Someone said angrily, "Zach went to you because we thought Kenzo Lane would hurt you."

"I'm sorry." She didn't know what to say.

Finally, she sat at the arranged seat. Zach was sitting beside her with an angry face when the music started. She poked his thigh. "Sorry."

"Never mind." Zach said coldly without looking at her, "It's me who flattered myself thinking I could help you."

Emerald was taken aback, feeling a little upset.

****

The recognition started soon after. The vice president of the alliance and Wade Sterling, who had come from far away, gave the silver medal to Zach, Emerald, and the other soldiers who had been in that fight that day.

Emerald, wearing her neat uniform and the shiny metal, as only women, stood among the group of men under the bright light. She knew that many people were looking at her and that she was tonight's topic because of the "performance" just now, and she would definitely become the headlines of tomorrow's newspapers.

She really couldn't see through that man.

He was sitting upright in his military police uniform in the VIP section, looking high and mighty and indifferent to others. It seemed as if nothing in the world meant anything to him. She knew he was ruthless and governed the military police against all laws and morals. But why had he kissed her like that?

Most men had found some places and a partner for the outing, even the first officer, held a hot lady in his arms and went to the hotel.

After the farce with the Security Director taking Emerald, Zach had coaxed the daughter of one of the directors out and never even glanced at Emerald.

Emerald was sitting in a military police car, looking quietly at the brilliant night view of the city. The heavy snow covered the suburb mountains, making the light halfway on the mountains look even colder and tranquil. The frozen river could be seen through the window at the foot of the hill, which looked like a cold, jaded belt that zigzagged into the night.

After more than half a year, she had come back to Kenzo's home again.

She almost had figured out what Kenzo had intended by that kiss.

Perhaps it was madness---such a powerful man like him, how could he tolerate the provocation by Zach and the first officer, or perhaps, he had changed over the time she had been gone. The unknown changes made him more aggressive than he had been half a year ago.

To be in the king's company was tantamount to living with a tiger. Now she had to take it one step at a time.

The villa was still cold and quiet. The room she had once lived in was still the same as before, and all her clothes and things were still in the same place, giving her a feeling of living a second life.

After leaving Kenzo, for the first time, she had inhaled a breath of freedom and had done things that had been unimaginable to her before; but all of that was given to her by Kenzo. He discovered even her modest talent.

The clock struck midnight, but Kenzo and Harvey still didn't show up. Wasn't he coming back tonight? This idea relieved her. She hadn't slept well the previous night from the hangover, so she decided to sleep early.

She slept up till dawn when the coldness in the air waked her. She walked to the window and saw the world was all vague and white, covered with fluffy snow.

Kenzo had not come back.

What could make a man like him break his promise?

After getting dressed, she hailed a taxi and, without telling anyone, left the mansion.

There was still plenty of time before the time they had agreed to gather. Emerald stood on the streets of Hope City center, and for the first time, she was able to enjoy the prosperity of Hope City. She had nowhere to go except Kenzo's home, and she couldn't help missing her parents and friends and was feeling sad.

What Emerald didn't know was that the seemingly peaceful city had undergone earth-shaking news overnight.

An hour after she had left the mansion, military police surrounded Kenzo's home, searching for her room by room. Unable to trace her steps, they had to report it to Kenzo.

In the office of the Security Department, Kenzo, who hadn't slept the whole night, put down the telephone quietly and looked at the military police in front of him, who was waiting for his instruction.

"Search the whole city."

The soldier hesitated. "She has a weapon. If she resists…"

Kenzo's cold glance at him made the soldier's heart sink and feel as if he had asked something wrong.

"Kill her at the site." This was Kenzo's indifferent answer.

Planet Hope had only a small patch of land with abundant resources and was habitable for humans. The other areas were either covered by ice or vast and endless oceans.

In the Western suburb of Hope City, Mountain Theresa was separating Hope City from the ocean.

Emerald, wrapped by her thermostat suit, walked with difficulty along the road on the mountain. Finally, about two hours later, she decided to rest at a huge trunk beside the road.