Chapter 168 Dashiell Arrives

Chapter 169 You Only Have These Means

Hearing his command, Keira's fingers tightened slightly around her water glass.

She didn't look up, her back to him. "None of your business."

Right now, even one more glance at him made her feel suffocated.

"Keira." Dashiell suddenly stood up, walked over to Keira's side, and positioned himself in front of her.

"Aiden, since Keira doesn't want to go upstairs, let her sit here for a while. You've been forcing her for too long."

Aiden's gaze shot toward Dashiell like a hawk's, finally fixing on the hand resting on Keira's shoulder.

"Dashiell, it's not your place to tell me what to do. Let go of her!"

"The one who needs to let go is you, Aiden!" Dashiell didn't back down, his voice rising considerably.

"Look at what you've become! Look at what you've driven Keira to! Does it have to reach the point of no return before you'll stop?"

"What I've become is none of your business to judge!" Aiden was burning with rage.

He stared hard at Keira behind Dashiell, her head lowered, her expression dejected.

His heart felt like it was being repeatedly squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain nearly driving him to lose his mind.

Aiden and Dashiell—one cold and violent, the other gentle but firm—faced off silently across the dining table.

The air was thick with tension.

Aiden watched Keira's instinctive posture of dependence behind Dashiell.

He couldn't help but curl his lips into a bitter smile and threw out a question.

"You tell me to let go. Fine, then let me ask you this."

His eyes burned intensely, locked onto Dashiell before him. "If I step aside now, if I give her back to you, would you two be able to be together?"

This question struck like thunder over the dining room!

Keira's head snapped up, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Could they be together? Her and Dashiell? That warm boy from her memories was now separated from her by more than ten years.

Could they go back to what they once had?

And she couldn't even tell what her feelings for him were—was it love? Or gratitude for the only light in those dark years?

Dashiell was stunned too.

He looked at Aiden, momentarily at a loss for words.

Did he love Keira?

Perhaps in their youth, that innocent protectiveness could be called affection.

But more than ten years had passed. Everything had changed.

After waking up, everything he faced was no longer what it once was.

He wanted to protect her, wanted to take her away from this nightmare, but could he really do it?

He took a deep breath, turned to look deeply at Keira,

then turned back, his voice heavy.

"No matter what happens in the future, no matter how many years Keira and I have missed.

At least now, at this moment, I promised to protect her, and I will definitely do it. Aiden, let go. Stop making more mistakes."

His words were like a warm light, piercing through the fog in Keira's heart.

Yes, no matter what the future held, at least right now, there was someone willing to stand firmly before her.

Tears welled up in her eyes again, and her heart softened.

She stepped out from behind Dashiell, looked at Aiden, and said word by word,

"What will it take for you to let me go? To set us both free?"

Aiden saw the determination in her eyes, his heart feeling torn and bleeding.

He sneered and stepped forward. "Keira, listen carefully.

You will only ever be my wife!

You want to leave? Only over my dead body. No—even if I die, you still won't escape!"

Keira was so frightened by this extreme obsession that she stepped back, her face deathly pale.

A suffocating feeling gripped her.

Was he going to drag her down to hell with him?

No!

"Aiden, give up on that idea! Even if it kills me, I will leave you! One day!"

"Good! Very good!"

Aiden was furious beyond words. He grabbed Keira's wrist and dragged her toward the stairs!

"What are you doing? Let her go!" Dashiell was alarmed and immediately moved to stop him.

"Get lost!" Aiden kicked Dashiell aside, his eyes sinister. "Justin, hold him back!"

Justin and the bodyguards waiting outside immediately rushed in, blocking Dashiell from advancing.

Aiden ignored the chaos behind him, dragging Keira forcibly up to the master bedroom on the second floor, then locking the door from inside.

He even tied her wrist tightly to his own!

"You're insane, Aiden, you lunatic, let me go!"

Keira screamed desperately, her wrist aching from the rope.

But Aiden acted as if he couldn't hear. He just held her tightly in his arms, burying his face in the curve of her neck.

Only this way could he confirm she was still by his side, that she hadn't left.

"You can't escape, Keira. You'll never escape." He murmured in her ear.

In the first-floor dining room, Dashiell, blocked by the bodyguards, watched helplessly as Keira was roughly taken away by Aiden. The gentle light in his eyes was gradually swallowed by darkness.

He slowly straightened up, adjusted his disheveled clothes, and his expression returned to calm.

"Very well." He uttered quietly, his tone unreadable.

He turned and walked to the window, dialing a number.

Outside the window, tree shadows swayed.

Vague figures like ghosts could be seen silently approaching.

Late at night, the master bedroom was deathly quiet.

Keira fell into a drowsy sleep from extreme exhaustion, her brow furrowed, still full of unease even in her dreams.

But Aiden couldn't sleep at all.

He lay with his eyes open, holding Keira tightly in the darkness, feeling an indescribable heaviness in his heart.

Around two or three in the morning, a faint smell suddenly seeped in from under the door.

Someone was here!

And they'd used sleeping gas.

Aiden held his breath, his muscles instantly tensing.

He didn't move immediately, just held Keira tighter.

Then he heard the door code being cracked, and the door was pushed open a crack.

Several dark figures slipped in, clearly intending to take the unconscious Keira.

Just as one of them was about to touch Keira!

The bedside lamp was suddenly switched on.

The harsh light dispelled the darkness and illuminated the shock on the intruders' faces.

"Sleeping gas? That's all you've got?" Aiden's voice rang out in the silent room, cold as ice. "Too bad, it's not quite enough."

Dashiell stood in the doorway, backlit, his expression unclear.

But the chill emanating from him was palpable.

"Keira is mine." Dashiell's voice was tight, filled with unwillingness.

Aiden sneered.

His gaze swept over the men in black, finally settling back on Dashiell.

"She's my wife. Where she goes is my decision.

Dashiell, for old times' sake, I'll let this slide.
Dashiell, for old times' sake, I'll let this slide.

Take your people and get out now. If I catch you trying anything again, don't blame me for what happens."