Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 248: Yeah, I’m Really Scared

Natalie Vaughn was drugged and sedated, resulting in a deep, prolonged sleep. Zane Thorne stayed by her side, never leaving, nor sleeping.

He received a call from Quentin Donovan.

"That man started in the building materials business, named Liam Archer. He moved into real estate a few years ago, and that’s when his fortunes changed. I had someone look into him, and he has a kink."

Quentin Donovan paused at this point.

"He’s likely used that drug many times before. Originally, he planned to involve both Nina and Serena Blackwood... However, Nina smashed his head, preventing him from succeeding."

"It was Serena Blackwood who approached Liam Archer voluntarily, telling him Nina was her sister, a newcomer in the entertainment industry. Liam Archer thought Nina was there to climb the ranks."

"The plan with the restroom was Serena Blackwood’s idea. She hadn’t imagined Liam Archer would be so crazy, directly locking her to the bed after booking a room."

"Additionally, a bribed waiter dirtied Nina’s clothes, which is why she went to the restroom."

"We arrived at the surveillance room early, before they could destroy anything."

"Nina smashed Liam Archer’s head with a decorative vase at the door when he opened it. But that took all her strength, and she crawled to the corridor. Liam Archer chased her, but fainted temporarily from the bleeding, allowing Nina to reach the stairway."

"I have all these people detained. How do you want to handle it?"

Upon hearing how the usually proud young girl crawled through the corridor to the stairway, Zane Thorne’s eyes darkened inch by inch, like the deep sea during a midnight storm, chilling to the bone.

"Hold them for now, I’ll come by later."

Quentin Donovan didn’t object.

"How’s Nina? Still asleep?"

"Yes."

"Stay with her. She’s strong, but it’s the first time facing something like this, she must feel uneasy."

"I understand."

Ending the call, Zane Thorne pulled back the blanket, lifted her skirt to discover Natalie Vaughn’s knees were still red. It was his fault; he hadn’t noticed during the clothes change.

Zane Thorne fetched a medical kit, worried it might wake Natalie Vaughn, he warmed the ointment in his palm before applying it.

Natalie Vaughn woke at four in the morning, finding Zane Thorne seated by the bed. He saw her awaken in shock, quickly sitting up defensively, assessing the room.

Zane Thorne immediately went over and hugged Natalie Vaughn.

"Baby, I’m here, this is Lantheon."

Natalie Vaughn blinked, the prolonged sleep leaving her slightly sluggish. She processed Zane Thorne’s words, yet instinctively leaned closer to his familiar scent.

After a while, Natalie Vaughn asked.

"Back already?"

"Yes."

Zane Thorne gently patted Natalie Vaughn’s back, kissing her forehead as he did.

"Back now, baby. Nothing happened, you did well."

Natalie Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought I didn’t hit hard enough."

At the time, drugged, she retained awareness through self-inflicted pain, using the last ounce of will to hit the man. She wasn’t sure how powerful the blow was, but given the circumstances, even her full effort might not have been very strong.

Zane Thorne felt heartache hearing Natalie Vaughn’s words. Quentin Donovan was right; Natalie Vaughn was resilient. When she woke, rather than dwelling on grievance, she focused on her actions during the incident.

"Baby’s incredible."

Zane Thorne kissed her on the head, then picked up the water kept warm on the bedside table to feed her slowly.

After Natalie Vaughn had drunk enough, Zane Thorne asked.

"Are you scared?"

Natalie Vaughn was momentarily dazed, looking into Zane Thorne’s deep eyes, visibly pained. Her lips curled slightly as she raised her hand to gesture.

"A little bit. But, I feel like you were scared?"

Zane Thorne held her wrist, stopping her movements, admitting.

"Yes, I was terrified."

It started when Seraphina Sutton showed him the phone, and when he couldn’t reach Natalie Vaughn’s number. Even knowing it was the message she left him, realizing he detected the issue fastest, he felt his heart sink upon seeing the high heels and blood spots in the restroom.

His fear intensified at the sight of corridor blood stains and hearing obscene sounds within the room.

He was scared his girl might suffer irreparable harm; especially seeing blood stop at the stairway, deeply fearing he reached too late.

For the first time, Natalie Vaughn heard such words from Zane Thorne. Although curious, she didn’t feel like teasing.

Because she knew Zane Thorne’s fear was for her.

Natalie Vaughn leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I’m fine now, don’t fear anymore. What you need to do is stand up for me."

Natalie Vaughn always easily sensed others’ emotions, then dispelled them with a simple sentence.

"Yes, Quentin Donovan has them all detained at the hotel."

Natalie Vaughn blinked.

"Shall we go together at dawn?"

"You want to go?"

"Of course, that blow wasn’t enough to vent my anger."

Not really, the main reason was to prevent Zane Thorne from overreacting.

"Alright. Hungry?"

"Hungry."

"I’ll bring you soup downstairs, Phoebe Quinn wants you to call her when you wake."

"At this hour, she should be resting."

"If you wake her this time, she won’t mind."

Zane Thorne got up to kiss Natalie Vaughn’s cheek, admonished her not to move her injured hand, and then headed downstairs.

After contemplation, Natalie Vaughn called Phoebe Quinn, expecting to wake her but no grumpy reaction. Surprised when the call was answered within half a minute.

"Nina, you’re awake?!"

Listening to Phoebe Quinn’s voice, hoarse yet void of sleepiness, Natalie Vaughn asked.

"Didn’t sleep all night?"

"How could I sleep? Are you alright?"

Natalie Vaughn looked down at her hand.

"Just a small injury, nothing serious."

"Good, Serena Blackwood is such a bitch, finding a lunatic to harm you. Death by a thousand cuts isn’t enough."

At Serena Blackwood’s name, the smile faded from Natalie Vaughn’s lips.

"Where is she?"

As far as she recalled, Serena Blackwood was in the room, but she hadn’t seen clearly.

"She reaped what she sowed. Liam Archer’s madman locked her to the bed, whipping her until she’s unrecognizable."

Natalie Vaughn’s assumption was correct, Liam Archer indeed had a sadistic tendency.

"I think she’s gone mad."

"Ha, what a fake innocent goddess, truly disgusting. Knowing Liam Archer’s games yet scheming harm to you, thinking she’d escape. Utter fool."

Listening to this, Natalie Vaughn sneered.

"She’ll suffer more."