Chapter 236

Zachary Evans had just helped Isabella Valentine into the ambulance when Ethan Roscente turned back toward the dressing room. He pushed open the door to find it empty.

As he pulled out his phone to order his men to track someone down, his peripheral vision caught Vivian Ashcroft rushing out of a convenience store with shopping bags.

Following the direction she came from, a flicker of understanding passed through Ethan's eyes. Sure enough, just a dozen meters away, Sophia Lowell sat alone in her car.

"Sophia." He rapped on the window, his voice icy. "I'm talking to you."

Silence.

His expression darkened. Without hesitation, he yanked the car door open. Sophia was scrolling through her phone, refusing to even glance at him.

"Playing deaf?" he sneered.

She finally looked up, lips curling in mockery. "Oh, it's Mr. Roscente. I thought it was some stray dog barking."

"Do you always have to talk like this?" His knuckles whitened.

"What? Now you're policing how I speak too?" She snapped her phone shut. "Did your precious darling not teach you that being too controlling shortens your lifespan?"

"Sophia!"

She moved to slam the door, but Ethan seized her wrist and dragged her out. Stumbling in her heels, Sophia tried to wrench free. "Let go!"

"Come with me." His grip didn't budge. "We need to talk."

"Sophia!"

Vivian came sprinting with two ice cream cones, only to freeze at the sight before her. She lunged forward but was intercepted by a black-clad bodyguard two meters away.

"Back off!" Vivian's eyes turned sharp.

The bodyguard remained impassive. "You can't win against me."

Vivian: "..."

What kind of toxic masculinity was this?

She kicked out, but within three moves, her arms were twisted behind her back and pinned against the car hood. The ice cream splattered on the ground, cream staining her pants.

"Vivian!"

Sophia's pupils constricted as she whirled on Ethan. "Tell your man to release her! If she loses a single hair, I swear I'll turn Isabella's face into a canvas!"

Ethan recalled her threat about mutual destruction yesterday, his temple throbbing. "Get in the car with me, and she'll be fine."

"Sophia, don't listen to him! I'll fucking—ow!"

Vivian's bravado was cut short as the bodyguard pressed her face-first onto the hood.

"Miss Ashcroft," the bodyguard said calmly, "former special forces combat instructor. You really can't beat me."

"Fuck you! Fight me fair!"

The bodyguard gave her a look reserved for idiots and increased the pressure.