Saving the Villain

"Henry, what are you…?"

At this point, Cosette already took down the two lackeys that attacked her all at once. She was standing near the lackey's unconscious body, putting her foot on the back of one of them. Little did Cosette know, Henry was walking behind her discreetly.

Amie's eyes went wide upon noticing the bottle in Henry's hand. Before she knew it, Henry lifted the bottle to attack Cosette from behind.

"Cozie! Behind you!" Amie yelled before she could even think about anything, frozen on the spot, heart skipping a beat.

Amie's call caught Luke's attention as the latter instinctively glanced in Cosette's direction. His breath hitched, seeing that Henry was jumping behind Cosette with a bottle in his hand.

"Cozie — ugh!" a punch suddenly landed on Luke's face with that second distraction. Luke winced in pain as he was tossed to the side because of that punch.

Time seemed to stop for Luke and Amie, eyes fixed on Cosette. However, Luke couldn't do anything as another kick landed on his abdomen. Pain erupted in his stomach at the continuous attacks from the leader, taking advantage of the situation.

"Ugh —" just as another kick was about to hit Luke, a huge hand suddenly grabbed the leader's face.

*

*

*

"Ahhh!" Cosette froze and looked back. The moment she looked back, her pupils went wide upon seeing Henry about to smash the bottle to her head.
'No,' she whispered in her head, knowing that would hurt a lot.

But just before Henry could smash the bottle to her head, a huge figure came flying in her direction. The person looked like a doll being tossed in the air, crashing into Henry. Both Henry and the person crashed against the wall, knocking Henry unconscious at the weight on him.

"What…" Amie breathed out as she had been holding her breath. When she moved her eyes in Luke's direction, all she saw was Remo offering his hand to Luke. The latter grabbed Remo's hand, grunting at the pain in his abdomen.

Luke held his stomach, casting Remo a look. "Took you some time…" he trailed off when Remo glanced at the door.

'Shit…' Luke hadn't looked back to the door, but a chill had already waved down his spine.

Meanwhile, Cosette heaved a sigh of relief as she fixed her eyes on the two slumped on the ground. The leader was sent flying as if he weighed nothing, and now, both of them were unconscious. Her eyes shifted to Henry's friends, squeezing themselves into the corner.

"Gosh…" Cosette slowly turned around to face Luke, knowing Remo arrived just right on time.

There was no way the leader would be sent flying if not for Remo. Remo was a big guy for his age and he was also unbelievably strong. Sending the leader flying like that was something Remo could do. Her guess was correct before the moment she turned, her eyes landed on Remo standing beside Luke.

However, her attention was immediately snatched by the other figure entering the room. Cosette's heart instantly dropped to her stomach, catching Maxen enter, still wearing a business suit underneath his coat as if he just came fresh from his meeting.

'Oh, my god…' Cosette mentally gasped in horror, gazing at Luke on instinct. Much to her dismay, Luke also bore the same horror on his face, even though he hadn't looked back.

The two of them… were in big trouble.

'I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Luke!' Cosette mentally offered flowers to Luke.

Even though Luke contacted Maxen, Cosette and Luke agreed to not do anything until Remo or Maxen arrive. However, the situation calls for it.

"You got hurt." Luke froze the second Maxen's voice caressed his ears, turning his head to face Maxen like a robot.

"Max…" Luke called awkwardly, catching the aloof countenance plastered on Maxen's face.

Maxen scanned Luke from head to toe, catching some bruises on Luke's cheek. His lips were drawn into a thin line before a shallow breath slipped past his lips. He didn't keep his eyes on Luke as he turned his head to search for Cosette. His eyes immediately caught Cosette, though.

Maxen didn't hesitate to march in her direction, stopping in front of her. Just like how he scanned Luke, Maxen gazed at her from up and down. Because of Luke and Cosette's fair complexion, it was easy to catch any bruising. His eyes lingered on the red handprint on her shoulder where the leader squeezed it.

"Max," Cosette called under her breath, fiddling with her fingers nervously. "I just dragged Luke into this mess. He wanted to wait for Remo or you, but I…"

Cosette trailed off when Maxen raised a hand, brushing her bare shoulder with his thumb.

"It will bruise," he said, ignoring her explanation as his eyes were fixed on her shoulder. "Did you get hurt anywhere?"

Maxen snapped his eyes up ever so slowly, locking eyes with her. "Where?"

"I'm — I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm." Cosette nodded, holding his eyes before Maxen rocked his head in understanding.

"Alright." Maxen glanced at the group in the corner. "Who are they?"

"Uh…" Cosette cast the group a cursory look, and then answered, "I don't know. They were just here when we came in."

"I see. Who's that other guy?" he asked, and Cosette shifted her eyes to Henry. "Amie's boyfriend."



Maxen kept his lips in a thin line, shifting his eyes to the figure in the other corner. The second their eyes met, Amie's shoulder tensed up. His eyes went from head to toe, but Maxen didn't say anything. Instead, he set his eyes back on Cosette before glancing over his shoulder.

"Take those people to the other room, Remo. And drag those people outside in here. I want to have a chat with those who hurt these two," ordered Maxen calmly. "Also, bring some pain reliever and first aid kits for Luke. They did a good number on him."

Remo's expression turned firm as he nodded. "Alright."

With that being said, Remo did as he was told. He snapped a finger to get the attention of Henry's friends before he motioned to those men in uniform outside the room to assist them. Meanwhile, Cosette kept quiet, studying Maxen. Although Maxen was calm, she could tell Maxen was definitely angry.

That leader and Henry… were doomed for sure.