Chapter 53

Chapter 53
Lina's POV

I set down the champagne glass. Cecelia stood beside me. From her expression, she must have heard the commotion too.

"I'll handle it. Stay here and don't wander. Watch Maggie," I lowered my voice.

Cecelia looked at me, her lips moving as if to say something, but ultimately just nodded.

I moved my hand from the champagne glass and walked unhurriedly toward the corridor at the back of the auditorium.

Passing by Maggie, I patted her shoulder. It was intermission now. She was looking up drinking water and nearly choked when I patted her.

"What's wrong?" She blinked and asked.

"Going to the restroom," I said. "Drank too much champagne just now."

"Hurry back! The next song is a slow dance. If you don't come back, I'll drag Fred to dance. He dances slow songs so badly—" Maggie apparently hadn't noticed I'd used the same excuse twice. She just patted my shoulder urging me to hurry back.

Fred made an aggrieved protest from the side.

I curved my lips at her and turned to walk into the corridor.

The corridor's motion-sensor lights lit up the moment I stepped in, harsh white light hitting the beige marble walls. I stopped at the corner at the end of the corridor.

On the other side of the corner was where the back kitchen passage connected with the auditorium corridor—an iron door marked "Staff Passage" was left ajar.

I pressed my back against the corner wall, adjusting my breathing while listening to the sounds from beyond the door to judge the number of people.

At least four people. Tight stride frequency, very fast. Estimated to reach the connection point between back kitchen passage and auditorium corridor within fifteen seconds.

Four people. Division of labor was probably two forwards, one rear guard, one responsible for carrying the target during retreat.

They would lock onto the champagne tower's location the first moment after entering the auditorium, then wait for Cecelia to send the "target lost control" signal.

They didn't know the signal wouldn't come. They didn't know their communications had been monitored throughout by Luca's intelligence team. They didn't know that waiting for them behind this door wasn't chaos, but an already tightened trap.

Three, two, one.

The first person pushed open the iron door. He wore a black tactical vest, right shoulder tilted low, center of gravity on the front foot—standard CQB entry posture.

He seemed too confident, never considering whether there might be a trap behind this ajar door. Opening the door, he charged straight in.

So naturally he didn't see me at the corner. After he ran two more steps, I directly kicked out my right foot to sweep at the back of his knee.

The back of the knee is one of the most vulnerable positions for the body's center of gravity. After being swept, no matter how strong, one would lose balance. His entire body pitched forward. He instinctively reached out wanting to brace against the ground, but my hand had already gripped the back of his neck.

His body stiffened in my hand for a moment, then went limp.

The second person followed three steps behind him. Seeing the forward fall, he reacted extremely quickly, immediately raising his gun to aim at my position.

Unfortunately his reaction wasn't as fast as mine. My position had already changed the instant he raised his gun.

I slid sideways into the blind spot of his right hand, left hand gripping his gun-wielding wrist from below and pushing it toward the ceiling direction, while my right elbow struck his jaw.

His trigger finger twitched instinctively in his daze. The bullet hit the ceiling. Lime debris rustled down.

I took advantage to twist his wrist behind his back, using his own body to crash into the wall. His forehead knocked against the motion sensor light switch. The light flickered twice and went out.

The third and fourth people, hearing the commotion, didn't continue forward but stopped behind the iron door, using the door frame as cover.

I lowered the second person's body against the wall, crouched down, and picked up the gun he'd dropped.

Just then the fourth person flashed out from the other side of the iron door, holding a black small box in hand. I recognized it at a glance as Raven organization's exclusive detonator.

I didn't give him a chance to press it. I quickly raised my hand and fired. The bullet passed through the iron sheet at the door frame edge, precisely hitting the battery compartment of the remote control.

The remote control exploded in his hand, fragments cutting his fingers. His index finger instinctively sprang away from the detonation key.

This shot disrupted the third person's aiming rhythm by a beat. He leaned half his body out from behind the door frame wanting to return fire, but my next shot had already hit the wrist holding his gun.

His gun flew out and slid far across the floor, not stopping until it hit the baseboard at the end of the corridor.

The fourth person knelt on the ground covering his mangled fingers, mouth making incoherent wails. The severe pain in his fingers temporarily deprived him of mobility.

The third person leaned against the wall using his elbow to press the bullet hole in his wrist, breathing rapidly, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. He made a retreat signal in Raven internal tactical sign language to the fourth person.

I lowered the gun and walked toward them.

The third person covered his bleeding wrist and backed away, trying to pull a knife from his waist.

I didn't give him a chance. I quickly closed in, knee driving toward his abdomen. At the same time my left hand grabbed his arm, right elbow striking his temple. He gave a muffled grunt and fell to the ground.

The fourth person, seeing the situation was bad, turned wanting to run behind the iron door. I caught up in a few steps, grabbed his back collar, threw him to the ground, pressed my knee on his back, took the backup knife from his waist, and used the same method to deal with him.

I quickly checked their equipment. After confirming there were no other detonation devices, I pulled out my phone to message Luca: "Back kitchen passage intruders all subdued. No detonators. Any movement from Alessandro's side?"

Luca replied instantly: "His car was intercepted at the school's back gate. Person under control."

I breathed a sigh of relief, put away the gun, used their own tactical rope to bind the people on the ground, walked to the iron door, confirmed no other ambushes outside, straightened my dress, and turned back toward the auditorium.

When I returned to the auditorium entrance, Maggie was looking around for me. Seeing me return, she waved at me. Fred made a face from the side.

Cecelia stood beside the champagne tower. Seeing me, a trace of inquiry flashed in her eyes. I nodded slightly at her, indicating everything was safe.

I walked to Maggie's side. She grabbed my hand and said: "Quick, the next slow song, let's dance together!"

I smiled and nodded, letting her pull me into the dance floor.

The crystal chandelier's light fell on us, as if the earlier tension and danger had been just a dream.

But I knew this was only temporary calm. Raven wouldn't give up easily. There would be more difficult battles waiting for us ahead.

But at this moment, I just wanted to finish this dance with Maggie and let her enjoy this rare beautiful time.