"Tess..." Stephen murmured in response.


    Tessa blearily opened her eyes and saw Stephen. Her eyes glowed with


    happiness before churning with worry and nerves.


    "Why are you here? You need to leave. Forget about me!" Tessa croaked with great difficulty.


    "Tess..." Stephen trailed off, touched by her words.


    James pped his hands as he looked at Stephen and Tessa before sarcastically saying, "What a touching love story."


    Stephen looked up and met James'' gaze, saying, "I''ll switch ces with her while you send one of your men to get her out of here."


    James was practically beaming as he clicked his tongue. "And here I thought you two were a ride-or-die couple. What''s this? Are you two tossing the other aside now that the going has gotten tough?"


    Stephen ignored James. Instead, he carefully picked Tessa up, afraid of hurting her further.


    Tessa had multiple cuts on her body. Fortunately, they weren''t deep ones. Still, they were oozing enough blood to stain her clothes red. Stephen''s already tattered heart shattered further at the sight.


    Nevertheless, he stated in a tone of finality, "I''ll carry her downstairs, and you can arrange for someone to send her away."


    However, his body nimbly shifted aside whilst he held Tessa in his arms as he spoke.


    At that moment, a red dot appeared on James'' forehead.


    Nary a secondter, all of James'' subordinates also had red dots dotting their foreheads and chests.


    "You brought fucking snipers?" James shouted furiously upon seeing the red dots on his subordinates.


    Stephen merely curled his lips into a disdainful smirk.


    A few of James'' men exchanged nces, clearly not expecting Stephen to have a backup n.


    "Fucking hell. Didn''t hee alone? Who was in charge of checking things out earlier?" one of theckeys muttered under his breath.


    "He definitely came alone earlier," someone answered.


    "Then, where the fuck did those snipers came from, huh?"


    "Well..."


    James had been through simr situations countless times in the past.


    So, he swiftlyposed himself after a moment of surprise and shrugged indifferently. "There we go. This is the Stephen I know. If you truly hade here alone for a woman, then you certainly aren''t worthy to be my opponent."


    Based on how James was acting, it was evident that he had been prepared for this all along.


    After all, there was a reason why he had managed to survive despite risking his life day in and day out.


    Nevertheless, James and his men were out in the open while Stephen''s men were hidden in the shadows. Aside from the snipers, James had no idea just what other forces he had up his sleeves lurking in the dark, more than ready to strike.


    As a result, the situation was now unfavorable for James.


    Yet, James remained utterly calm and collected.


    Just then, a helicopter approached the abandoned building, heading straight for their position on the 26th floor.


    As the helicopter was aligned with


    the rising sun, Tessa was


    momentarily blinded by the morning rays when she turned her head to


    look. §, she instinctively narrowed her eyes and blinked the bright spots away.


    In the very next second, she heard a familiar, fearful voice saying tremulously, "Tessa."


    Tessa''s eyes widened in shock.


    Seline had appeared in her line of sight and was being held hostage by a brick wall of a man.


    They were close enough that Tessa could see the terror etched on Seline''s face.


    Tessa''s face became drained of all colors the next instant, and her blood froze in her veins.


    After she went missing, Samuel and Marianne had been busy searching for her. They had been so worried that they neglected Seline, who had been in the Yates residence.


    Marianne had lulled Seline to sleep before she left. Unfortunately, she didn''t know that James'' men had arrived at the Yates residence and kidnapped Seline shortly after her departure.


    James looked at Tessa and Stephen with a smile on his face. "Tell me. What kind of mess will she make if she falls from this high up?"


    "No! Don''t hurt her!" Tessa screamed, uncaring of how grating her voice sounded.


    James burst intoughter at her response. "Don''t tell me that. Tell your boyfriend. Tell him to let us all go. Otherwise, your darling sister will turn into a bloody st against the pavement."