Titan 209

Yolanda felt awful as she stared at the man, her eyes rimmed red and full of anguish.

He wore a black shirt and black pants, and the silver mask on his face looked so cold, it sent a chill deep into

her bones.

Yolanda’s voice trembled with fear as she whispered, “Who… who are you?”

Her mind was a total mess; she couldn’t remember a thing. Right now, the only reason she could even make a sound was because the fear of the unknown gripped her completely.

Before she could even process what was happening, she was yanked toward him.

Chaos. Darkness.

Her back to him, the world kept tilting and spinning in front of her eyes, like rain–drenched neon lights flickering through a city she didn’t recognize.

Eventually, she reached out, wanting to tear off his mask.

But he didn’t let her–his voice was colder than ever, shutting her down with zero warmth.

His voice was icy and emotionless as he ordered, “Don’t move.”

Yolanda’s mind was completely lost in chaos; she could barely form a single coherent thought.

At one moment, she even mumbled, “Honey.”

The man behind her responded to that title with a couple of cold, mocking chuckles.

Almost unconsciously, she swallowed and murmured, “Ian…”

He let out another mocking, icy laugh.

Yolanda buried her face in the pillow and stopped calling out any names.

Somewhere deep inside, she knew he was always in control, not leaving a single mark on her.

Sometimes she cried and kicked up a fuss, but his lingering kiss finally quieted her.

In her hazy state, she vaguely heard him murmur something.

*

When Yolanda woke up, she was in a hospital bed.

She stared up at the ceiling, the sharp smell of disinfectant filling her nose.

There were several people in the room–Simone, Ian, Xavier, Charles, Quinn, and Samuel.

They were all there–Simone Sinclair, Ian, Xavier, Charles, Quinn Cooper, and Samuel Grant.

Her mind flashed back to when she and Leo were locked up together–but judging by the scene, it looked like nothing bad had actually happened.

Xavier looked downright unhappy. Two days ago, when he finally tracked down Leo, the kid was totally passed out, his forehead covered in blood.

People said Yolanda had probably been taken by Andrew and tortured, and she was eventually found down at the base of a cliff. Most likely, she was pushed–but miraculously, she survived the fall.

Everybody knew about the beef between Andrew and Charles. This time, Andrew was clearly getting back at Charles on purpose.

Yolanda let her gaze sweep around the room, lingering on the group of men. Just then, Simone reached out and took her hand, holding it tight.

“You really scared the hell out of us! My crew happened to be filming nearby, so I rushed over. Yolanda, you almost lost your life this time–the fever only just broke! And Andrew’s gone missing, seriously, what a bastard!”

Yolanda lowered her eyelashes, but inside, she couldn’t help feeling a bit puzzled.

‘Did I really have a fever?‘ she wondered.

Her hand was tucked under the covers, and she could vaguely feel something different down there.

She’d slept with someone, but her head had been so foggy at the time that she couldn’t remember who it was, or even what the room looked like–all she knew was that it was dark.

‘I’m screwed,’ she thought.

Her throat was sore, and she could hear Simone add on.

“Andrew was just out for revenge on Charles this time, and you got dragged into his mess for no reason. He even locked you up with the Lawson boy. Luckily, nothing truly awful happened. The Lawson boy is still knocked out–when his brother found him, there was blood all over his head. You both really dodged a bullet.”

Yolanda looked pale as a ghost, like someone who’d barely made it past a serious illness.

Charles was sitting at her bedside, reaching out to muss her hair a little.

His guys spent two whole days searching before finally finding her down at the bottom of the cliff. She’d had a raging fever, and her clothes were stained with blood.

His heart instantly skipped a beat and he rushed her to the hospital without hesitation.

Her fever had finally gone down, but she’d really been put through the wringer this time.

Yolanda’s head was spinning with questions. ‘Did I really have a fever?‘ she wondered. The worry on Simone

and Charles’s faces didn’t look fake–she must have been burning up when they found her. And if Charles saw her looking like she’d just been with someone, he was bound to suspect she’d lost her innocence.

With his personality, there was no way he wouldn’t kick up a huge fuss about it.

She swallowed nervously, her thoughts a tangled mess of anxiety.

She was sure she’d slept with a man this time, but she had no idea who it was.

‘Was it Leo?‘ she asked herself.

Her eyes flicked over to Xavier, who looked pissed off and sneered, “Lucky for you, nothing happened between you and my brother. If it had, you’d better be ready for him to tear you apart when he wakes up!”

Yolanda let out a sigh of relief. ‘Good thing it wasn’t Leo. If it had been, he’d probably never let me go for the rest of my life,‘ she thought.

‘Could it have been lan?‘ The question gnawed at her.

Ian was always shrouded in mystery, and Yolanda never wanted to dig too deep. Maybe he had some kind of shadowy organization backing him.

Her gaze flicked over to Ian again.

He stood quietly off to the side, and when he caught her eyes, there was a brief flash of worry and puzzlement in his gaze.

Yolanda felt a cold shiver run through her. ‘If it’s not Ian… then who the hell is it?‘ she thought.

Now, only Samuel Grant and Quinn Cooper remained in the room.

Quinn Cooper might treat her well, but as Charles’s close friend, he was notoriously cold toward women.

Her head throbbed from all the overthinking, and she looked even more ghostly.

Charles gently pulled her into his arms. “I’ve already sent people to look for Andrew. Right now, you need to rest, alright?”

Yolanda nodded, slowly lay back down, and closed her eyes.

One by one, everyone else left the room, leaving Simone behind, still gently nagging at Charles.

“Don’t go too hard with this,” Simone said softly. “If you hadn’t left Andrew with no way out back then, would he have been clinging to you like this for so long? Once you find him, maybe clear the air while you have the

chance.”

“Aunt Simone, you honestly think a guy like that would ever listen to us?” Charles shot back.

Simone pressed her lips together, worry flickering in her eyes. She was just speaking as an elder—she didn’t want to see anyone in the Sinclair family get hurt.

Charles’s gaze was full of danger. Andrew started by messing with Joelle, but Joelle got rescued before he could act, so he shifted his focus to Yolanda instead. He even deliberately locked Yolanda up with Leo. Good thing Leo had zero interest in girls–according to Xavier, Leo actually bashed his own head on a brick wall just to fight off the drugs, knocking himself out cold and ending up covered in blood.

So, nothing happened between those two.

When Andrew saw his plan flop, he just shoved Yolanda straight off a not–too–high, not–too–low cliff. She ended up lying out there for two whole nights–honestly, it’s no wonder she came down with a high fever.

Charles felt irritable as hell. Stepping back into the hospital room, he spotted Yolanda, ghostly pale and curled up under the blankets.

“Honey, feeling scared?” he asked softly.

Yolanda was terrified, of course. She still had absolutely no clue who she’d ended up sleeping with.

She might’ve been totally out of it at the time, her memories all fuzzy, but that weird, floaty, tingly feeling from that night stuck with her clear as day.

She closed her eyes, her voice coming out rough–her throat was probably wrecked from all that shouting.

“I’m feeling dizzy. Let me rest for a bit,” Yolanda murmured, her exhaustion obvious.

Charles reached out and gently tapped her on the head. “Okay, just get some sleep.”

Yolanda spent another two days in the hospital. Charles visited as often as he could, but there were still stretches when he wasn’t around.

That was when Quinn dropped by, a conflicted look on his face.

“Yolanda, do you remember what happened that night?” Quinn asked, sounding a bit hesitant.

That

put Yolanda instantly on guard. She gave him a quick, searching look. “What are you trying to say?”

Quinn caught the confusion in her eyes and let out a quiet breath. “It’s nothing, really. Just get some rest.”

Quinn had barely walked out when Samuel came in, took a seat by her bed, and poured her a glass of water.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly.

Yolanda leaned back against the bed, taking her time with her drink, and kept her questions to herself.

“Don’t overthink it, just get some rest,” Samuel said gently.

With that, he got up and left.

Yolanda lowered her lashes, feeling agitated inside. She was pretty sure the guy she’d slept with was one of these men, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out who.

Not long after Samuel walked out, Leo kicked the hospital room door open with a bang.

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Yolanda jumped out of her skin when Leo burst through the door, marching straight toward her like he was about to start a fight.

Xavier chased in right behind him, grabbing Leo by the arm to stop him.

“Leo, enough! Let it go, alright?” Xavier said urgently, trying to reel his brother back.