Reborn: The Tyrant's Obsession-Chapter 209: Adrian... Stop...

Trigger Warning: This Chapter contains distressing content. Please read with care.

...

Ella struggled against the man. Her nails scraped his arms, legs kicking uselessly beneath her. "Get off me," she gasped, voice broken.

The man laughed, amused, as if her struggle was but a foreplay to him, "You escaped back then. Not this time!"

In her muddleheaded state, Ella could barely make sense of those words. But when the man yanked her back from her neck and pulled her close to his face, her heart chilled.

"Remember me, Ella Yu?"

"You..." Ella’s eyes widened as she looked at the bearded man.

"What? Do I look shabby now? Back then, I was at the peak of my career, photographing for one of the most popular magazines. If not for you, would I have ended up like this?"

’’I... didn’t...Ah..." Before the words could escape her mouth, the back of her head banged the door.

"My only fault was that I loved you? My golden career is gone and I ended up homeless because of that scandal... while you get to live a good life. Are you even worthy, bitch?!" The man pulled her forward and smashed her back against the door.

Tears rolled down Ella’s eyes as the pain turned her body numb. She remained frozen until the man pulled her close, "But at least, I get to finish what I left unfinished back then!"

’Rip’

"No!"

The sleeves of her white dress fell open as the man hovered above her.

"Forget about leaving tonight.. Ah!"

Ella bit down on his shoulder, hard.

The man’s grip loosened barely for a moment before he reared back, and slapped her across the face. White-hot pain split through her cheek and the room tilted in front of her eyes.

The man approached her again, panting in rage.

A ’knock’ reverberated in the room, and both of them froze.

Ella instantly turned towards the door but before she could make a single sound, a rough palm slammed against her mouth, holding her captive.

"Mo Jun, what are you doing here?" Ella heard Esther’s voice outside the door.

"I..."

"Did you want to meet my sis? I can introduce you guys later. She should be changing there right now." Esther said.

"Ah... Yeah. I needed to talk to her about something," Mo Jun said.

Ella raised her hand to knock but both her hands were captured in an instant, locked behind her back.

"You never never told me that you are familiar with my sis? Now, I am curious..." The voices faded into the distance as Esther led Mo Jun away.

A helplessness sank into Ella’s chest, rendering her immobile. The next moment, the man yanked her hair and dragged inside the room. Ella’s knees scraped the carpet as she was shoved back down, her breath knocked out of her.

The man hovered above her, breathing hard. His weight pinned her down, his hand smothering her mouth again before she could scream.

He didn’t listen. His hands were everywhere, grabbing, tearing and invading her in ways that made her skin crawl.

The man lifted the dress that was barely clinging to her body and Ella’s eyes widened.

"No—!"

She thrashed, panic overtaking everything else. Her foot caught the edge of the bed, but it did nothing. He shoved her harder, chest to chest now, hot breath on her cheek.

Ella’s mind fractured and her struggles ceased all at once. It felt like her soul had left her body. All she could feel was the cold and the helplessness.

’Bang.’

The door slammed open so hard it ricocheted off the wall.

A second passed.

Then two.

Then the man was ripped away from her like a ragdoll, thrown against the wall with a loud crash.

Adrian knelt in front of Ella, his gaze blank. Ella slumped on the floor, her body curled as her long hair draped over half her face.

The familiar scent of pines and burst cedar invaded her senses. Suddenly, the coldness seemed to fade as Adrian’s suit jacket wrapped around her.

As Adrian reached out to hold Ella, her body trembled involuntarily. A storm stirred in his eyes.

Loosening his grip on her, he moved his hand atop the suit jacket and pulled her up from the floor. As she leaned against the bed, he raised his hand.

With great gentleness, Adrian removed the hair covering her face, tucking the strands behind her ears.

Under the pale glow of moonlight, his gaze landed on her bleeding lips, her swollen cheeks...

Adrian’s hand froze, and something in his eyes snapped.

Adrian rose to his feet and turned towards the man who was lying on the floor.

With every step Adrian took forward, the man backed into the wall further.

"What... do you... You.. Stay there! Do you even know who I am..."

The man didn’t even get a chance to scream before Adrian’s fist collided with his jaw, a sickening crack echoing across the room as his body was flung to the side. Blood sprayed like a mist in the air.

Adrian dragged him up by the collar with one hand and slammed him against the wall hard enough to rattle the paintings off the hooks.

Again.

And again.

The man gasped, bones fracturing under each blow, but Adrian couldn’t hear anything anymore. The world had gone red.

He pinned the bastard down with his knee and punched him. Once... Twice... Thrice... Adrian kept punching until the man’s face no longer looked human. Until blood coated Adrian’s knuckles and dripped down his wrist.

The man’s howls reverberated inside the huge room, gradually dying when his life barely hung by a breath.

When Adrian finally took a step back, the man’s survival instincts kicked in. With every ounce of strength left inside him, he crawled to a distance. At every inch he covered, he turned to look at Adrian warily, his body shivering, and his eyes wide with fear.

Adrian did not budge from his spot.

A smile curved the man’s lips when he reached the door.

’Bang’

A bullet pierced into his shoulder.

The metal of the gun glinted in the dark as Adrian moved it to the side.

’Bang’

The other shoulder.

The man screamed, choked on it, sobbed but Adrian’s expression never changed. It was blank and soulless. Only his shaking jaw betrayed how close he was to completely losing control.

He slowly stepped away from the bleeding wreck of a body and aimed again—

’Bang’

This time, the bullet sunk into the man’s thigh, tearing apart the flesh.

’Bang’

Kneecap.

"Please... please..." the man whimpered, slipping in his own blood.

Adrian approached the man, his steps slow and lethal. And in the next moment, he stepped on the man’s broken leg.

"Ahhhh!" The man screamed, the pain exploding his entire body.

’’Let... me go... Please...’’ the man begged.

’Bang’

A bullet pierced through his heart.

The man slumped on the floor, his eyes wide open as if he could not process the cause of his death even till the moment he died.

However, Adrian did not stop. Like a killing machine, he kept his hand lifted, shooting the man again and again until his corpse was ridden in holes.

Suddenly—

A pair of trembling arms wrapped around him, hugging him from the back, "Adrian... Stop..."

His entire body stiffened as the voice cut through the fog. For the first time, something human flickered back in his eyes.

’Clang’ The gun in his hand landed on the floor as he turned on his feet and pulled her into his arms..

Ella trembled in his arms, small, broken shivers that ran down her spine and cold sweat soaked into his shirt.

Adrian held her tighter, brushing her hair back, but when he pulled back, her eyes didn’t meet his. They were vacant and glassy.

"Elle?" Adrian whispered.

Her fingers loosened for a moment. And then, she collapsed entirely.

Her lashes fluttered, then stilled as her body went limp against his chest. Adrian’s arms tightened instinctively, panic rising in his throat.

"Elle—"

Ella didn’t respond.

The room, once roaring with violence, was now too quiet. Except for the sound of his harsh breathing and the dull thud of his heart hammering in his ears, he could not hear anything.

At this moment, there were voices outside.

Esther’s voice rang out, sweet and loud, "I don’t know why sis called us here. Maybe she has another surprise for Mom and Dad? I can’t wait to know what it might be..."

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