Chapter 79 Violent Impact
Daisy didn't sleep well at all.
The bed was small enough as it was, and with another person beside her, his breathing right by her ear, his body heat seeping through the thin blanket. She spent the whole night drifting between sleep and wakefulness.
Her dreams were a chaotic mess—one moment Marcus was holding a knife to her throat, the next she dreamed Luna was kidnapped, with those people pouring gasoline on her, forcing Daisy to hand over the USB drive.
Daisy immediately jolted awake from the nightmare, Her eyes snapped open, heart pounding wildly. It took her a long time to calm down.
By then, it was already light outside.
She slowly sat up. The space beside her was empty, the blanket neatly folded, as if no one had ever slept on that side.
Still groggy, Daisy instinctively reached over to touch that side—it was cold.
After changing and washing up, she sat in a daze for a while.
Birds were chirping outside the window. Grandma was busy in the kitchen, the sounds of the spatula hitting the wok and the aroma of cooking oil drifting in together.
Just an ordinary morning, as if time had suddenly rolled back more than ten years.
When she came out of her room, Grandma was setting out bowls and chopsticks. Seeing her, she smiled so wide her eyes crinkled.
"Up so early! Come sit, I just finished making a pot of chicken soup. Try it and see if it's how you like it."
Warmth surged through Daisy's heart as she said playfully, "Grandma's cooking is definitely the best in the world."
Vincent was sitting on the sofa, already dressed and ready, talking on the phone in a delibrately low voice.
Seeing her come out, he glanced at her and said into the phone, "Got it," then hung up.
"Morning." He smiled.
Daisy rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things—did Vincent just smile at her?
She responded, "Morning."
"Where's Luna? Still not up?" she asked.
"She's sleeping. It's Saturday, so I thought I'd let her sleep in. You two eat first, I'll go check on her." Grandma said cheerfully, wiping her hands back and forth on her apron before heading back into the room.
"Should I just take you straight to the office?"
At the breakfast table, Vincent spoke first.
Daisy nodded, then added, "If you're busy, I can just take a cab."
"I'm not that busy."
After breakfast, Daisy and Vincent went downstairs. The bodyguards' car was already waiting below—the same black SUV with four people sitting inside. The windows were tinted dark, impossible to see through.
Vincent opened the back door for Daisy to get in, then got into the passenger seat himself.
The car started and drove out of the residential complex.
Daisy leaned back against her seat, looking out the window.
The streets on a weekend morning were quiet, not many pedestrians, with only a few cars passing by occasionally.
The sunlight was nice, shining on the plane trees along the road, their new leaves glowing bright green.
"Nice weather today," she said casually.
Vincent glanced at her through the rearview mirror but said nothing.
The car turned onto the main road, and traffic gradually picked up.
Daisy looked down at her phone. Shawn had sent a message asking how she was. She replied "okay" and was about to put her phone down when the car suddenly braked hard.
Daisy lurched forward, her phone flying from her hand, hitting the front seat, then bouncing back and landing on the floor mat.
"Hold on!" The driver's voice had changed. Before Daisy could figure out what was happening, the steering wheel jerked and the car swerved right.
Right after, a sharp screech of tires came from behind.
She looked back to see a black sedan ramming toward them from the side, close enough to make out the face of the person in the driver's seat.
Though wearing a hat and mask, those eyes—they were the kind of eyes only someone desperate and reckless would have.
Those eyes, she'd seen them before.
Daisy's whole body tensed, her fingers tightening. Not knowing what to do, she heard Vincent shout, "Get down!"
Daisy instinctively bent over, hands covering her head.
"Bang—"
Another car crashed into them. After the loud impact the car shook violently and glass shattered everywhere.
Daisy squeezed her eyes shut. Suddenly, she felt someone throw themselves over her, pressing down on her, shielding her entire body in the corner between the seat and the car door.
A warm body pressed against hers, breathing right by her ear.
"Don't lift your head." Vincent's voice came from beside her ear, carrying warm, moist breath.
Daisy kept her eyes closed, trembling all over.
In her ears were the screaming sounds of tires scraping the ground, the loud crashes of metal colliding, and people shouting something—voices both far away and close.
She didn't know how long it lasted before the sounds gradually faded.
Vincent got off her, and Daisy lifted her head to see a long gash on his arm, blood running down his wrist, dripping onto her white shirt and spreading into a crimson stain.
"You're hurt!" she cried out.
Vincent looked down briefly. "It's nothing, just a surface wound."
He turned to look out the window. Those black cars were gone, leaving only their car stopped crookedly by the roadside.
The door was dented in badly, half the window was shattered, broken glass scattered on the seats, glinting in tiny fragments in the sunlight.
The bodyguards' car was stopped not far away, several people running over.
"Mr. Black, are you injured?" The one in front stuck his head in, his face grim.
"Surface wound," Vincent said. "They got away?"
"Got away." The man gritted his teeth. "They knew the roads too well, ducked into a few alleys and disappeared."
Vincent was silent for a moment. "Did you call the police?"
"We did, but they said they have a shooting case to handle and can't get here that quickly."
Vincent said nothing more. He'd expected as much.
He turned to look at Daisy.
Her face was deathly pale, lips completely bloodless, fingers gripping the edge of the seat so tightly they trembled from the tension.
"It's over now," he said.
Daisy didn't speak, just stared at the wound on his arm. Blood was still seeping out, dripping down his hand onto the seat.
She took a deep breath and reached for the car's storage compartment.
She pulled out a pack of wet wipes and a clean handkerchief from the compartment.
She pulled his arm over and gently wiped away the blood around the wound with the wet wipes.
Her hands shook a little, but her movements were gentle.
Vincent's breathing was calm, his gaze resting on the top of her head, while Daisy was completely unaware.
She carefully cleaned the wound bit by bit. It wasn't deep, but there was a piece of broken glass embedded in the flesh, the skin around it torn, looking rather frightening.
She bit her lip and looked up at him.
"Does it hurt?"
Vincent smiled, his tone carrying a hint of teasing. "What do you think?"
Daisy turned to the driver. "Let's go to the hospital first."
--
They quickly arrived at the hospital.
In the emergency room, the doctor examined Vincent thoroughly, then disinfected and bandaged the wound.
Daisy stood nearby, watching him stay silent throughout, not even frowning once.
After the doctor left, Daisy sat down in a nearby chair and let out a long breath.
Vincent moved his injured arm slightly and looked at her. "What, scared?"
Daisy shook her head. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Vincent continue, "Good thing."
"Good thing?"
"Good thing Luna didn't come with us."