“What?” Sonia frowned and turned to see where the voice was coming from, but before she could get a proper look at the commotion, her body was suddenly pulled into a rough embrace.

Toby had his arms wound tightly around her as he spun her toward the other side before a second later, the sound of glass breaking came from the space where Sonia had been standing earlier. It was then followed by an intense sizzling that mimicked the low buzz of an electric current.

At that moment, he let out a low grunt.

Upon hearing the pain in his voice, she looked up at him. As she was alarmed by the large beads of cold sweat on his forehead and his pallor, she urged, “What is it? Are you okay?”

He released his grip on her without answering her and clamped his left hand over his right wrist by his side, which trembled slightly.

Her gaze fell on his right hand before her breath hitched as she stammered, “Y-Your hand—”

“My hand’s fine. What about you? Are you okay?” He looked up at her, his face pale as he appraised her anxiously and she could tell that the fear in his eyes were genuine.

She opened and closed her mouth, unable to describe her complicated emotions into words. Is he an idiot? His own hand is injured, but all he cares about is whether I’m okay!

Toby stiffened at her lack of response. “Are you hurt?”

Sonia shook her head. “No.”

He held his gaze on her for a few more beats; it was only after he was certain she was telling the truth that he let out a small sigh of relief. As he flashed her a feeble smile, he assured, “That’s good.”

“Good? What the hell are you talking about?” She bit on her lip as she glowered at him. “Look at your hand!”

“It’s nothing,” he insisted.

Sonia pointed at his hand as an incredulous, humorless laugh escaped her. “Oh, it’s nothing?”

There was an open wound the size of a date on the back of his right hand. The skin looked like it had been peeled off from the mess that was blood and flesh; and the edges of the wound were erratic and burnt black—the result of a harsh corrosion.

Sonia could easily whittle down the list of potential substances capable of such erosion to one thing—acid!

turned her icy gaze to the spot where she had been standing earlier. It didn’t take long for her to put two and two together when she saw how the corrosive substance had spilled all over the driver’s side of the car. The acid had eaten away at the paint

he instantly reacted by pulling her into his arms and shielding her from the acid. However, when the glass bottle landed on the car and shattered,

the bottle of acid would have spilled on her and its contents would have

she could be lucky enough to survive, but her skin would have been disfigured beyond repair. She would then lock herself away forever to prevent anyone

surge of fear seized her as such thoughts flashed in

eyes rimmed red as she glared at the person who had

the head of security. The perpetrator was an ordinary-looking man, and at the moment, there was a pair of gloves stuffed into his mouth to prevent him from speaking. Even so, the look on his

her. That didn’t matter, though, because everything

had witnessed the entire incident as well as the audience watching the livestream. They were

ever occur in soap operas, and yet here they were, bearing witness to it in reality. Before long, they came to

Toby’s side. Her brows were knitted tightly together as she gazed at

me your keys,” she demanded hastily. “I have to drop

answered, “The

precious time, given how she was in a rush to get him to the doctor. “Do you mean the pocket of your

Since he did not dare to

of his keys, Sonia rubbed the divot

this. He didn’t think she would actually reach for the keys herself. Seeing that his left

his pocket, and he could feel the softness and warmth of her paw through the thin fabric. His skin tickled where her fingers brushed over it. As a result, his thigh muscle twitched involuntarily and his

after she met his dark, piercing gaze that

the pocket of his pants without thinking! She blushed all the way to the tips of her ears and she quickly grappled for the keys before withdrawing her hand. She

been in such a hurry to grab the keys that she didn’t know

and responded hoarsely,

fluttered slightly at this and she hummed

knew she was still dwelling on it. He sighed a little and swiftly changed the subject. “Did

from the embarrassing incident, Sonia opened up her palm to

leave the driving in your capable

as she glanced at

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