Chapter 3 She Dare

In the dim and damp basement, an incandescent lamp shone a cold, feeble light amidst this quiet night.

John leaned his broad back against the back of his chair, his muscled legs crossed on the table before him. While he might've looked like he was lazing around, there was a hint of viciousness in his eyes.

Flicking the ash off his cigarette, he took another long drag and slowly blew out a smoke ring.

After a while, he glanced impatiently at the unconscious woman lying on the ground with her hands bound by an iron chain. "Wake her up," he barked.

He wasn't about to sit and wait for her to wake up by herself.

Felix, who was standing to the side, didn't say anything. Instead, he signaled the men behind him to fetch a bucket of cold water and pour it on Tasha's face.

In the middle of the freezing night, the icy winds would've been enough to send people shivering, let alone a bucket of cold water. Tasha woke up immediately to the freezing sensation that quickly enveloped her body.

Dazed, she curled up and shivered on the cold, wet floor. With a frown, she slowly reached up to touch her aching forehead. She struggled to open her eyes, wondering what was going on. Why did it feel like she had fallen asleep in an igloo?

Clank!

As she raised her hand, she heard the sound of metal clanking. To her, it sounded like an iron chain...

Iron chain?

Tasha's eyes popped open in an instant. Craning her neck, she turned to look at her wrists. She was stunned at the sight of the heavy iron chain.

No wonder it felt like her hands weighed a thousand pounds...

Her mind raced as she struggled to recall her memories from the night. She remembered the light that flashed before her eyes right before passing out. "Damn it!" she cursed. "I was anaesthetized."

"Are you awake yet?"

a cold, masculine voice sounded.

Tasha instantly froze and she felt all color drain from her face. Even after five years, she still remembered this unique, penetrating voice.

Finally, they had come face to face.

After five long years.

Watching the corpse-like figure on the ground made John smile coldly. "Since you're awake, there's no use pretending to be dead."

Tossing out his cigarette, John reached down and wrapped his thick fingers around the iron chain that restrained Tasha. All of a sudden, he yanked at it violently, causing Tasha to slide across the cold, wet concrete floor towards him.

Once he had yanked her close enough to where he was seated, he relaxed and propped his legs onto the table once more. "A model should act like a model. She should know the repercussions of getting famous by using scandals."

Tasha's back had been chafed by the rough floor just now and burned terribly. Biting her bottom lip, she refused to cry out in pain.

She struggled to get up from the ground and looked up to face the man's cold, expressionless face. "Mr. Gong, this is not a scandal... it's the truth."

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly provoking him.

"What did you say?" In the blink of an eye, his hand reached out and grabbed her by the chin.

His grip was so tight that Tasha felt as though her chin was going to be crushed. She struggled to keep her anger at bay and replied flatly, "I said, it's true."

"How dare you?" This was the last straw for John. His hand moved lower until his fingers were wrapped around her delicate neck.

'Ouch!

He's really strangling me!' Tasha's eyes watered from the suffocation.

Albeit being extremely angry, Tasha kept her cool and just looked back at him with her defiant, beautiful eyes as the man choked her.

Even after five years, the man was still handsome, and she felt herself drowning in his coldness.

Before, she had always averted her gaze from him. She was afraid that all her courage would evaporate if she looked him in the eye.

Five years ago, she never dared to look straight at him. But now, a strong sense of hatred filled her heart. As Tasha, she stared him straight in the eye.