A lengthy silence hung between them.
The car’s heating made the air inside slightly stifling.
Asher loosened his tie and partially lowered the window.
Cold air rushed in, bringing immediate relief.
Thalia carefully chose her words: “About what my father said-”
Before she could finish, Asher floored the elerator. Thalia lurched forward unexpectedly, the remainder of her sentence caught in her throat.
She pressed her lips together and quietly fastened her seatbelt.
Asher was clearly emotional, driving far too fast.
Thalia sat in the passenger seat, her heart racing with anxiety.
The security detail following behind panicked. “Bloody hell! Where’s Mr. ckwood’s car? How did we lose them so
fast?
The man in the passenger seat broke into a cold sweat. “You’re kidding me, right? How did you manage to lose
them?”
The driver mmed his fist against the steering wheel in frustration. “Come on! Mr. ckwood was going t out. That’s a Bugatti La Voiture Noire–this heap of junk doesn’t stand a chance! What the hell do we do now?”
His colleague frantically pulled out his mobile. “I’ll give him a ring and find out where they’re headed.”
The ck Bugatti sped along the road, the scenery outside bing a blur.
The roar of the supercar’s engine drowned out the soft vibration of the iing call.
Thalia’s heart was in her throat. Her face had gone pale as she gripped the seatbelt tightly. “Asher, slow down,
please.”
Asher stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched, his profile rigid with tension. His mood was visibly dark.
Though he didn’t respond verbally, the car gradually slowed.
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Your Gold Digger is Actually A True
96.4<b>% </b>
Thalia’s tense hody gradually rxed the looked out the window.
The Inuildings andndscape around them were unfamiliar. This wasn’t the route to Pan Penins, nor was it the way to the ckwood estate.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Asher replied coldly. “Pan Peninsda lurt safe anymore. You can’t go back there for a while. I’m taking you to a country estate to lie low until I sort this mess out. Then I’lle get you.”
“Is it far<i>?</i><i>” </i>
“Not really, just <b>up </b>ahead, there’ll be people waiting for you. You’ll get out and go with them. They’ve got top security personnel–you’ll be safe with them.”
Thalia immediately asked, “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
The car continued forward.
The city’s skyscrapers became fewer, reced by smaller buildings and wilderness.
Wild green vegetation flourished on both sides of the road, creating a refreshingly peaceful scene.
“We’re almost there. Lía, you need to go with them when we stop.”
Thalia turned to look behind them. “Where’s our security today? I thought you said never go out without them?”
Asher’s voice was grave. “After leaving the hospital, I spotted someone following us. I sped up to lose them, which is probably when our security detail lost us too.”
Thalia felt a stab of worry. “Won’t you be in danger when you head back?”
Just then, Asher’s phone began vibrating again.
As the car had slowed, he answered this time.
The security guard’s voice was urgent and serious: “Sir, where are you and Ms. Winters? We’vepletely lost you.”
“I’m at-”
Before he could finish, a loud “bang” resonated as a bullet struck the car body. Simultaneously, a ck Aston Martin appeared in the rearview mirror.
Asher wrenched the steering wheel sharply, narrowly avoiding a bullet aimed at the tire. The projectile hit the car body instead–fortunately, the tires remained intact.
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Your Gold Digger is Actually A True
96.5%
Thalia instinctively cried out in rm.
The Bugatti’s tires screeched against the asphalt.
Asher pushed Thalia down in the passenger seat. “Lin, get down! Now
Thalia had barely ducked when a bullet shot through from the side, missing her by inches, Had hopes not jok quickly, the bullet would have struck her head.
The bullet passed diagonally through the passenger side, hitting the windscreen, which immediataty devotesat a hole with fractures spreading outward.
Cold air whistled in through the bullet hole.
Thalia struggled to curl her body smaller, trembling with fear.
Once again, she had narrowly escaped death.
In this moment, she fully grasped Tom Malfoy’s murderous intent!
To use firearms so brazenly in London–he truly waspletely deranged.
Faced with this critical emergency, Asher remained coollyposed.
“They came prepared,” Asher said in a low voice, speaking rapidly. “Lia, stay down. Don’t move.”
He had been careless.
Asher thought he’d lost them, but they had caught up.
His Thalia had nearly been shot.
His brow furrowed, his eyes filled with deadly intent.
Asher pushed the Bugatti to its limits, the steering wheel spinning in his hands as he swerved left and <b>right</b>, <b>shifting </bnes unpredictably, moving like a dragon in flight, skillfully avoiding another shot aimed at the driver’s seat
“Bang!” Another bullet struck the rearview mirror, instantly shattering the ss, sending fragments flying<b>, </b>
Thalia was jostled from side to side, bumping against the interior.
Behind the Bugatti, two cars had caught up.
A ck Aston Martin and a silver Porsche 918, both traveling at extreme speeds, attempting to surround the But
In the passenger seat of the Porsche, a man wielded a heavy sniper rifle–the source of the previous shots..
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Your Gold Digger is Actually A True
96.7%
apter
Asher slightly reduced his speed.
With one hand on the wheel, he reached to the side of the driver’s seat and pulled out a gun, loading it single–handedly.
Ordinarily, Asher wouldn’t keep a weapon in his car, but he had specifically prepared this one as a precaution against Malfoy.
Just as the Aston Martin was about to draw level with the Bugatti, Asher suddenly decreased his speed, allowing the cars to run parallel. In that split–second window, Asher swiftly raised his gun and fired. The bullet passed through the gap in the window.
The Aston Martin’s window shattered with a hole.
The passenger seat was empty, but the bullet struck the driver. The car violently veered off course, crashing into the guardrail on the right side of the road.
The Aston Martin’s front end crumpled, the guardrail twisted from the impact, and thick ck smoke immediately billowed from the vehicle.
The Porsche 918, which had beengging slightly behind, visibly slowed–the driver distracted by his colleague’s ident.
Asher seized the opportunity, controlling the steering wheel with one hand while firing multiple shots at the pursuing vehicle with the other.
The bullets prated the Porsche’s windscreen.
To avoid the sudden gunfire, the Porsche driver frantically turned the wheel. Unlike Asher, the driverckedposure under pressure. The Porsche lost control, swerving wildly before breaking through the left guardrail and plunging off the cliff.
Thalia remained crouched in the car, unable to see what was happening outside. She had only felt the momentary deceleration, followed by the tremendous noise of a vehicle hitting the guardrail.
While chaos reigned outside, Thalia obediently stayed down, not daring to move.
The Bugatti finally escaped its pursuers, elerating forward for a considerable distance. Only after confirming they were out of danger did Asher rx. “It’s okay now, Lia. You can sit up.”
Thalia slowly raised herself.
Asher reduced their speed, ncing at her. Thalia’s face waspletely drained of color, her eyes still haunted by
terror–clearly severely shaken.
“Was that Malfoy himself?” Thalia asked, her voice trembling.
Asher shook his head. “He wouldn’t put himself out in the field like this. The guy with the rifle was probably
15:15
Your Gold Digger is Actually A True
someone he brought over from Russia. The way he handled that weapon–definitely one of Malfoy’s mercenaries.”
Thalia remained badly shaken, cold sweat drenching her clothes. “He’s absolutely insane.”
Asher felt a wave of guilt. “God, Lia, you must be terrified. I’m so sorry–being with me has put you in danger again.”
Perhaps, Asher thought<b>, </b>he should seriously consider Randolph’s words…
<b>(</b><b>4</b>)
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