Chapter 1372:


    “Y—you! Let go of me!” Ss shouted, panic leaking into his voice for the first time.


    But Alice didn’t hear him. She was consumed by the need to defend Maia, anger surging through her veins.


    There was no way she would allow anyone to smear her mentor’s name.


    In that split second, with a bullet possibly ready to pierce his body, Ss finally abandoned the polished mask of the award-winning actor he had been wearing.


    He let out a furious roar, raw and animalistic. “Get out of the way!”


    But immediately, a sharp snap echoed through the hall. All the lights in the banquet hall went out at once, plunging the entire room into darkness.


    Adrenaline surged through Ss as his heart pounded violently. Summoning every ounce of strength, he wrenched himself free from Alice’s grip and threw himself to the floor.


    It was as if pressing himself against the floor might shield him from the bullet aimed directly at his chest.


    However, the expected shot never came.


    Death did not arrive.


    Instead, Ss could hear Maia and herpanions speaking calmly nearby.


    There were no screams, no chaos, no unusual disturbances—only the soft murmur of normal conversation.


    And there hey, trembling uncontrobly, pinned to the floor like a frightened animal.


    Within seconds, the lights flickered back on.


    The banquet hall brightened again as if nothing had happened, and the guests showed no sign of rm from the brief ckout.


    Under the sudden light, Ss’s ridiculous posture was impossible to miss.


    The famous actor now knelt on the floor, rear raised, head buried in his arms, like a deer caught in headlights.


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    For half a second, the room was still.


    Thenughter erupted.


    Guests nearly spilled their champagne as amusement spread like wildfire.


    “This is the award-winning actor? Afraid of the dark like that?”


    “That pose is priceless.”


    “Oh no, I can already see this going viral as a GIF.”


    “I’m done. His image is ruined. No way I can be a fan anymore.”


    Theughter and chatter crashed over Ss. Heat rushed to his ears, his face drained of color, and he froze.


    What happened?


    Where was the sniper? Wasn’t the ckout supposed to be the signal?


    The n was wless, the position perfect, the timing precise.


    Yet everything had been cut short by some unseen force.


    Ss looked around, mortified, and struggled to salvage the situation.


    He could only force the illusion of a “simple fall” as he slowly got to his feet, stering on a stiff, fake smile.


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