Chapter 169: Don't Be Afraid, I'm Here
"Ryan."
Will's eyes instantly narrowed with vicious coldness.
Ryan only glanced once in Ava's direction, and rage surged through him, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
He clenched his eyes shut hard, then walked toward Ava step by step.
York quickly led his men to surround Will.
Ava lay on the ground, her white clothes stained red with blood, barely breathing. Ryan's expression was terribly grim as he stepped forward and gently gathered Ava into his arms.
With just that gentle movement, the clothes covering her body slipped down slightly. Just past her shoulder, he saw her skin marked with winding, crisscrossing whip marks in varying shades of purple and blue.
He didn't dare look further. The pain in his eyes was unbearable. He took off his own jacket and wrapped Ava in it. "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Ava's breathing was weak, with no response at all.
He only felt hatred—hatred that he hadn't come earlier. He was angry—angry that this useless Joshua couldn't even protect one person.
Damn it all.
Ryan lifted Ava with the gentlest movement of his life.
Will's men weren't pushovers either. He had people lying in ambush all around, and now they were all mobilized.
Ryan had rushed over from Astoria and hadn't brought many people. Holding Ava, with York and others in front wielding knives and guns, standing against a hundred with the strength of one, blocking Ryan's path, "You take her and go first, leave this to us."
Ryan carried her out. Ava needed treatment—not a minute could be wasted.
"Stop them!" Will roared. After planning for so long today, how could he let Ryan leave easily?
Ryan's eyes were filled with overwhelming coldness. "What? You want to die?"
"Since you're here, stay. Don't leave." Will stared coldly at Ryan and the person in his arms.
"That depends on whether you have what it takes."
Ryan handed Ava to York. "Take her."
"Boss..."
"You think I can't handle him?" Ryan's eyes were dark, full of murderous intent.
Ryan's bottom line was Ava.
Those who harm Ava must die!
As Ryan's words fell, he shot out like a sword, exchanging blows with Will fist to fist.
Before York could step out of the dark room, a powerful punch came at him. As he dodged, the person in his arms was already snatched away.
Joshua, his face grim, took the scarred, dying Ava into his arms.
His gaze fell on Ava's haggard face, pale as paper, his eyes full of coldness. His freezing look swept over York. Joshua recognized this man at a glance—the very man from the photo that day.
That person's subordinate.
Seeing Ryan's woman taken, York's whole body ignited with murderous intent.
Will was kicked flying against the wall. Ryan, radiating killing intent, walked out, looking down with disdain at the person on the ground.
He turned his head, his gaze falling on Joshua holding Ava, impossibly cold.
Joshua's gaze also fell on Ryan.
The two men's eyes met, and in an instant, tension spread wildly.
But Joshua didn't linger. Holding Ava, he turned and left.
Ava's body couldn't take any more.
She had to get to the hospital immediately.
"Boss." York looked at Ryan in surprise. "Why didn't you take Ava back?"
Ryan gave York a speechless look. "If we fight over her again, she'll die."
Ava couldn't take any more. She had to get to the hospital immediately. Joshua understood this, and of course Ryan understood it too.
Their grudges could wait. Ava was what mattered most.
Ryan looked coldly at the Howard family bodyguards and kicked one of them. His cold lips curved slightly. "Who beat her injuries?"
The man had just witnessed Ryan's terrifying power. "It wasn't us, it wasn't us, it was... it was Mia who beat her, it was Mia, it has nothing to do with us! We tried to stop her, she wouldn't listen."
The veins on Ryan's forehead bulged. His clenched fists cracked audibly. "Very good."
The two men in black kneeling before him trembled violently.
"Bring her here."
"...Yes, yes."
Still unaware of what had happened, Mia lay enjoying herself in a rocking chair, with several people attending to her. Her mood hadn't been this good in a long time.
The more Ava suffered, the happier she was...
The appearance of two men directly interrupted Mia's leisure. Without a word, they pulled her up.
Seeing the two men in black expressionless, Mia panicked, a bad feeling rising in her heart. "You, what are you doing?"
The men ignored her, dragging her away despite her screams.
Mia was thrown hard to the ground.
Ryan turned around coldly, his eyes devoid of any human warmth as they fell on Mia's panicked face.
"You, who are you people?"
Mia looked at Ryan in terror. Ryan's eyes were filled with bone-chilling coldness. Just that one look made her feel like all the blood in her body was freezing.
Ryan held a long whip against Mia's chin. "You dared to touch my person?"
"What? What are you talking about? I don't understand." Mia's eyes kept darting away. Everything around her told her something was wrong.
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. You're about to die anyway." Ryan directly tossed the whip to York.
"What are you going to do..." Mia looked at the whip in terror. This was the very whip she had used to beat Ava.
This whip was so thick—how much would it hurt? No, no. Mia desperately begged for mercy.
York gripped the whip and stepped forward, his eyes full of killing intent. The next moment, with lightning speed, he brought the whip down hard.
York had practiced martial arts for years—his strength was no joke. With one strike, Mia screamed and passed out.
York didn't stop. However many lashes Ava had received, she would receive the same—not one less.
Mia passed out from the pain, then was jolted awake by it, passed out and woke again, over and over. No one knew how many lashes she'd received. The entire space was filled with Mia's screams, utterly chilling to hear.
Only when she didn't even have the strength to scream anymore, with just one breath left, did Ryan coldly call a stop.
Ryan looked coldly at the half-dead woman on the ground, without a shred of pity in his eyes. "Throw her out. When she's dead, then send her to the hospital."