OLIVIA’S POV
My eyes shifted toward Adrian, his arms still clutching his stomach. Julian adjusted his collar, breathing heavily, and I realized just how silent the café had gotten. Every single person was staring -some with shock, others with fear at the heated exchange unraveling before them.
–
–
Adrian finally straightened up, his frame unbending slowly like a spring recoiling. I was still trying to process what just happened when I heard a sound. a low chuckle. At first, I thought it was someone else, but as I focused on it, I realized it was coming from Adrian himself.
He was laughing
He just took a brutal punch to the stomach, and he was… laughing?
Julian’s brows furrowed. “And what’s funny?”
“You hit like a girl,” Adrian replied, his voice carrying that usual arrogance, but now with a dangerous undertone.
Julian’s jaw clenched. “You think this is a joke? You think Olivia is some kind of toy your can beat whenever you feel like it?”
There was so much fury in Julian’s voice that it echoed throughout the room. I could see it in his eyes too–the rage, the protectiveness–but it was beginning to feel too reckless. He needed to calm down before someone really got hurt.
“Since you’re such a woman beater, let’s see how you do against a real man,” Julian said, stepping forward with determination.
I reached out instinctively. “Julian, please don’t…”
But my words dissolved into thin air. No one was listening. I had tried to stop them so many times now, but I feared this might escalate far beyond my control. All I could think about was the child inside me, the one that no one knew about yet.
What if someone struck me again? I don’t want what happened to me the last time Dora pushed me to repeat itself, I didn’t want to lose this child.
“Educate me, then,” Adrian sneered, his stance loose but confident.
Julian launched at him, his fist aimed directly at Adrian’s face. For a moment, I was sure the blow would land. I thought, at the very least, Adrian was about to walk away with a black eye.
But what happened next stunned me to the core
Successfully unlocked!
Adrian caught Julian’s fist in mid–an. Lessly. Then, with precision, he slammed his knuckles, into Julian’s throat–a clean, calculated hit to a vulnerable point.
Julian gasped and collapsed to one knee, coughing and wheezing as he struggled to breathe.
I instinctively stepped forward, ready to help Julian, but Adrian’s glare froze me in. place. The look in his eyes–it wasn’t just anger. It was control. Possessiveness. A warning.
He didn’t want me going anywhere near Julian.
So I froze, torn between my concern for Julian and the fear boiling inside me. Adrian turned his attention back to Julian, who was still gasping for air. He stared. down at him like he was a pest.
“This is the pathetic man Dan and his men lost to?” Adrian scoffed. “I really need to fire those fools.”
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