Vivianne's suspicions were correct. The enemy group received a tip that Alfred Allamino's daughter would be among those attacking them tonight. They couldn't miss that opportunity.
They could take Vivianne and use her against Alfred to nullify their debt, or they could demand even more money.
"I'll get you out of here because if we stay, our fight becomes meaningless," Riz said.
But Vivianne still hesitated. Looking at their disadvantage, she was reluctant to leave.
"We can defeat them. We're your team, right? So trust us," Riz smiled, and Vivianne nodded in response. "Let's go."
Bryle and Riz nodded to each other. Riz pulled her from behind, and Bryle and some of his remaining men would attempt to catch up with them.
They ended up in the forest. Riz was about to run again when Vivianne stopped her. "Go back there and help them. I can run alone."
"But—"
"I'll call for backup," Vivianne interrupted Riz. "I'm telling you this as your boss, so you need to obey. Now, go!"
Reluctantly, Riz returned to the battleground, leaving Vivianne alone.
Vivianne hid behind a tree. She held a knife in her right hand while her phone was on her left. She panicked as she dialed a number.
"Send backup, Jill! We’re surrounded here!" Vivianne shouted when she heard the call being answered. "I'll pin the location to you. Track me immediately so you can find us—Ah!"
Vivianne cursed as she felt the bullet of a gun against her shoulder. She even dropped her phone in shock, but she didn't bother to retrieve it because her attention was now focused elsewhere.
There, she saw a total of three men approaching her. They were all armed, so she drew her own gun from her pocket.
The man in the middle grinned. He had blonde hair. "One woman against three? Do you think you can win... Especially when we're armed?"
Vivianne swallowed hard, feeling the fear coursing through her. Nevertheless, she managed to shout, "Jill, hurry! Otherwise, we might all die here!"
Vivianne didn't know if the call was still ongoing or if Jill had already died. But somehow, she hoped that Jill was making her way right now. That was her only hope of saving herself and her comrades.
But for now, she needed to deal with the arrogant bastards in front of her.
"Even if you're wearing a mask, we know you're Alfred's daughter because you have nothing to hide from us," the blonde-haired man laughed before taking out his phone. He showed Vivianne her picture. "See? We know what you look like."
"And I didn't expect you to be so beautiful, especially in person. Even your complexion, fair and... delicious," remarked the man on the right, the one with a lip piercing.
"So, we will not kill you right away. Let's play first," taunted the man on the left, the one in the red checkered shirt.
"You bastards!" Vivianne shouted before aiming her gun at the man in the middle. "Whatever you're planning, you won't succeed."
She wouldn't let them get her. She would fight to the death before that happened.
"Is that so?" The man in the middle grinned before walking towards Vivianne, his guns now aimed at her. "What if you're wrong—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he fell to the ground, causing Vivianne to gasp in shock, as did the two men on either side.
"What the—"
"Where did that come from?!"
But those were the last words they uttered because not even two seconds later, they too fell to the ground. Vivianne looked at them and gasped in shock when she saw that all of them were dead.
"They were all shot in the head," Vivianne said as she stared at the three corpses. "Based on the gunshot wounds, it looks like the sniper shot from above, but... How?"
Despite her nervousness, Vivianne looked up and saw a helicopter landing in her direction. Seeing that they didn’t kill her, she expected that those were the people Jill sent as backup.
So it came as a surprise to Vivianne when it wasn’t members of the Allamino Mafia who emerged from the helicopter, but different people. At first, she didn’t know who they were, but when she saw the man approaching her, she realized everything.
"Beckett..." she softly called out his name, her eyes widening as Beckett drew closer to her. "What... are you doing here?"
"You’re the one who called me," Beckett replied, showing his phone. Vivianne's call was in his call history.
Vivianne gasped. "Wait... I called you and not Jill?"
"It’s not important anymore. What matters is that you’re okay." Beckett checked her face and body, his expression darkening when he saw the graze on Vivianne's shoulder. "Let’s go."
"Wait!" Vivianne stopped Beckett just as he was about to pull her away. "My people are still out there. They’re being cornered by the enemies. We need to help them too!"
"They’re safe already. I have sent my people there to help them, and I know they would also prefer to ensure your safety first." Beckett held her arm and spoke. "Let’s go."
They were about to leave the area when suddenly, someone blocked their path. They were enemies, and even though Beckett had already killed their bosses, they were still determined to continue the mission they had started.
"Stay beside me," Beckett instructed as he went in front of his wife. "And give me that." He took the gun Vivianne was holding.
They took cover behind a tree, and there, Beckett began to shoot at the enemies trying to approach them. Beckett aimed accurately, especially since he was no longer afraid to kill. He had already conquered that fear during the Foedus Initiation.
Luckily, they didn’t have any guns, only knives. Vivianne managed to retrieve the three guns the men had earlier to prevent them from being used by others.
"What are you doing?" Beckett asked when he saw Vivianne handling the guns.
"Of course, I’ll help you." Vivianne aimed the gun at an approaching enemy and pulled the trigger. The man slammed to the ground, lifeless, as she had shot him in the head. "You can’t do it alone. You need my help too."
Beckett wanted to say no, but his wife was right. Their escape from the forest would have been faster if Vivianne helped, especially since she was also an accurate shooter.
Beckett remained calm as he fought, but his frustration was evident on his face. Vivianne noticed it but didn’t ask.
‘He must be busy... But why did he come here himself? He could have just sent someone,’ Vivianne thought.
Somehow, she felt guilty for disturbing Beckett like this. He always rescued her, yet she had never returned the favor.
Someday, she would.
But she was quickly brought back to reality by the events unfolding before her.