But I was too tired to think about anything else. Latching onto his words, I closed my eyes and slumped against him, taking a deep breath. It felt like I finally found oxygen after such a long time.

He was here with me...

I didn’t want to think of what happened earlier. I was exhausted. Mentally, physically, and emotionally. Now that my Ace was in my arms, I wanted to sleep.

“Don’t leave me…” I murmured as my eyelids became heavy.

“I won’t. Sleep, baby. I’ll be right here when you wake up,” I heard him murmuring before exhaustion completely engulfed me.

He kept his promise. The next time I opened my eyes, I found his strong arms wrapped around me while he kept me against his chest. We were on our bed.

His gentle strokes through my hair and possessive grip over my waist had me sigh in content.

Sensing me awake, he looked down at me. “Rosebud?”

The husky and rough texture of his voice sounded pleasing to my ears.

I thought I’d never be able to hear his voice again…

My heart clenched painfully. Tears burned my eyes as the ominous memories flooded my mind.

“Rosebud? What happened, baby?” A crease set between his brows as he moved me slightly and sat up, placing me on his lap. “Did you have a nightmare again?”

I shook my head, sniffling. “I just…”

“Listen to me, Rosebud.” Cupping my cheeks, he locked our gazes. “I’m here with you, aren’t I? Nothing happened to me, baby. I’m absolutely fine and alive, without a scratch.”

“B-but how? I watched that video. The way that truck hit the car, the severity of it…” I shook my head, closing my eyes. Goosebumps crawled up my arms at the recollection of the sight.

“I know. But I wasn’t in the car, baby. I got out mid-way. So unfortunately for them, they couldn’t succeed in their plan.”

My eyes snapped open. “Y-you know who did it? Who was behind the conspiracy?”

A muscle of his jaw ticked. Gray eyes flashed with wrath. “Very well. I’ve known it for a long time now.”

I gasped.

“You knew? You knew Arthur was planning to kill you?” Something inside me burned with fire.

He knew everything? Why didn’t he do anything about it? Why did he let him do all this shit?

He shook his head, rubbing his hand over my back. As if he was aware of my suddenly dark mood.

“I didn’t know what he was exactly going to do until this morning. I found out about his whole plan after the meeting, when he went to meet Ivanov once the contract was signed,” he explained.