?Chapter 520:


    “Mr. Flynn!”


    Phillips hesitated, visibly unsettled. This wasn’t like him at all.


    But Eric didn’t care.


    His knuckles clenched, his voice a low, menacing growl. “Where is my wife? What the hell did you do to her?”


    The buzz-cut man let out a strangled, bloodied chuckle.


    His lips curled into a twisted grin, his gaze shifting toward the red cardigan clenched in Eric’s fist.


    “Oh, so that woman is your wife?” he said, as if savoring the revtion.


    Leaning back slightly, he exhaled with a smirk. “If you’d just said so earlier, I might’ve remembered sooner. Quite the beauty, that one…”


    “You’re really going to push your luck today?”


    With a feral growl, Ericunched himself forward, fists flying—each punchnding with crushing force.


    “Is this funny to you? What the hell did you do to her?” His fear had reached its breaking point.


    Hadley—his Hadley—had been at the mercy of this scum. And it was all his fault.


    If he had protected her better—if he had never let her out of his sight, she wouldn’t have ended up in this nightmare.


    Just as things spiraled out of control, Ernest’s voice cut through the madness. “Eric! Stop!”


    But Eric couldn’t stop. That red cardigan—Hadley’s cardigan—was something he had chosen for her, delivered by Four Hours, meant only for her.


    Fresh chapters are live at gα?ησv???s


    And now, ity crumpled and discarded, tainted by the hands of this filth. His mind recoiled at the horrifying images wing their way in—Hadley, vulnerable, fabric ripped away, trapped in fear.


    “You dared toy your filthy hands on her? You’re gonna fucking pay for it!”


    On the verge of breaking, Eric’s mind spiraled, his breath ragged as he drove his fists forward, again and again, his voice hoarse, raw, repeating the same words like a fevered chant.


    “Mr. Flynn!” Phillips lunged forward, trying to pull Eric away—only to be shoved back with force. “Get lost!”


    If this went on any longer, something terrible was going to happen. Linda felt it—a bone-deep unease prickling across her skin. She had grown up with Eric, had practically known him his entire life.


    And in this moment, as she watched him spiral into violence, it was as if she was seeing the boy he used to be—the fierce, untamed fire hidden beneath the mask of a gentleman.


    “Eric!”


    Taking a sharp breath, Linda rushed forward, throwing her arms around his waist. “Stop! Please, stop! I beg you—stop!”


    Her voice trembled as she tilted her face up to him, her grip tightening.


    “If you kill him, how will we ever find Hadley?” She knew Eric better than anyone.


    “You can kill him,” she murmured, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. “I won’t stop you. But at least… wait until he tells us where Hadley is.”


    Finally—Eric stilled. His breaths came rough and uneven, his bloodshot eyes dark with realization.


    Yes. Hadley came first.


    .


    .


    .