Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

Chapter 24

By the time he slumped unconscious beneath the seats, Sylvia finally ceased her assault. She adjusted her clothes, stumbling and rolling out of the car.

As she propped herself up, not a word could escape her lips; dragging a blood-soaked, deformed purse, she shuffled step by step towards the exit.

Halfway there, a car's dome light suddenly flickered on across the way.

Sylvia shielded her eyes momentarily, and then, as her vision adjusted, she saw Rupert, impeccably dressed, stepping out of his vehicle, in stark contrast to her disheveled state. Their eyes met, and Rupert frowned. It wasn't until the sound of police sirens filled the air that Sylvia snapped back to reality.

A gloved officer approached her, extending a hand, "Ms. Lloyd, we need the evidence you're holding."

"Is he dead?" Sylvia asked coldly.

"No, he's been taken to the ER."

Noticing her distressed state, the officer's response was cautious.

Sylvia nodded, though a tension remained in her mind.

an evidence bag,

latched onto something

in?" she asked, turning to the

Rupert, who was leaning against his car smoking, and without saying more,

his cigarette and approached Sylvia callously, his black suit exuding a forbidding aura, out

front of her, his gaze briefly flitting over the swelling on her forehead, and remarked sarcastically, "Quite the catch, isn't

Sylvia heard his words, the tension in her mind

gazing at him, "You saw me, didn't you? While you

Rupert silently acknowledged.

head down, she casually wiped away the blood stains

What do you want then? For me to kneel and apologize? If that's the case, you could've said so." Stepping back to put distance between them, she bowed, her voice thick with emotion, and laughed bitterly, "I

was cold and deep, his expression turning stormy like the night sky covered in oppressive

him, attempting to walk past to somewhere else. But he grabbed her hand, pulling her

to comply? Refused to

him? Did

shouldn't have agreed to the

pulled away, her neatly adjusted collar coming