Chapter 327

Vincent

I didn’t even notice when this happened.

One moment, the beach bar was bustling—tourists laughing, couples posing for photos, the usual noise of a luxury resort. Now? Nothing. Empty chairs. Abandoned drinks. The distant sound of waves, but no human voices.

Eerie.

Unsettling.

I let my guard down. Stupid. So stupid.

I look around slowly, scanning for threats. Not a single tourist. Not a single customer. Just empty space and the woman sitting calmly beside me.

I stand up.

"Sit down."

Her voice is soft, but it’s a command. The kind you don’t question.

More commands. Females Alphas and their moods. Always needing to prove something.

I ignore her, staying on my feet. If she wants me to sit, she can make me.

"Why don’t you call your twin?" I gesture vaguely. "I’d like to talk to him. Man to man. Settle this like adults."

She tilts her head, a faint smile playing at her lips.

"Oh?"

That single syllable carries so much amusement it makes my jaw tight.

"Yes. Your brother. The mayor." I enunciate each word carefully. "The one who’s been playing games with me through you. Call him. Let’s end this."

"Hmmmmnn." She hums, tapping her chin like she’s actually considering it.

"You see." She leans back, casual as anything. "My brother and I do not have such a close relationship that we would sit around and scheme against you. We barely tolerate each other at family dinners."

"Don’t be ridiculous." My voice rises. "The IP address traced from the leak that took down my men came from a warehouse. And nearby security footage showed an employee of your company leaving the building. I’m not fucking naive." I step closer, getting in her space.

"Don’t be a fucking bitch."

She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t move. Just looks at me with those dark, unreadable eyes.

"Oh dear." Her voice is syrup-sweet. "Such aggressiveness. You must be very popular with the Omegas."

"You think this is funny?"

"I think you’re adorable." She smiles, and it’s the most infuriating thing I’ve ever seen. "Truly. All that rage, all that power, and you couldn’t even protect your own bedroom from being robbed."

I lunge.

I don’t think. Don’t plan. Just move.

But I don’t reach her.

My head explodes in pain—slammed against the bar counter. Once. Twice. Three times. The world fractures into bright, blinding white. Then I’m on the ground, cheek pressed against sand and spilled alcohol, gasping.

"Now you’ve got blood on my shirt."

Her voice floats down from above, calm as ever. I look up through blurred vision.

She’s examining her sleeve, frowning at a small red smear. Like I’m an inconvenience. Like I’m nothing.

I didn’t even see her move. She was across from me, then she was here, and I was on the ground. The speed,it was almost inhuman.

I try to stand. Push myself up on shaking arms.

A foot presses down on my chest.

A sandal.It feels like a boulder.

I can’t move. Can’t breathe.

"We could have had a normal conversation." She shakes her head, disappointed. "You just had to."

I struggle. Nothing.

Her foot on my chest might as well be a mountain.

"Your reactions are so funny." She sounds genuinely amused. "This is why I couldn’t resist messing with you."

I look up at her. At the calm smile. The bored expression. The utter lack of fear.

And it clicks.

The mocking messages. The taunting tone. The way the Panther always seemed to know exactly what would make me angriest.

"Y-YOU!" The scream tears from my throat. "YOU are the Panther!"

She doesn’t deny it.

"It’s not your brother!" I thrash uselessly beneath her foot. "It’s you! The whole time—all of it—you!"

"Like my brother would have the balls to dabble in the underworld." She snorts.

"Why?" The word grits through my teeth. "Why me? What did I ever do to you?"

She considers the question like it’s genuinely interesting.

"Why not?" She shrugs. "It was fun."

I freeze.

"Fun."

"It was fun." She repeats, smiling.

"Watching you unravel. Seeing you lose piece by piece. The way you’d rage and threaten and never once look in the right direction." She shakes her head.

"Entertainment value alone was worth the effort."

"You did all of that because it was fun?"

"Mostly." She tilts her head. "Also because you’re a rapist and a murderer and generally terrible person. But mostly? It was fun."

I can’t breathe. Not from her foot—from the sheer weight of it. Months of chaos. Months of loss. Months of watching my empire crumble.

And it was a game to her.

A joke.

The rage hits me like a wave is hot, blinding, consuming.I surge up, gun raised, aiming directly at her beautiful, smug face.I see the rage reflected in her eyes—but it’s not fear. It’s not even concern. It’s... amusement?

"I’ll make you pay." My voice shakes with fury. "I’ll make you pay a thousand times worse than anything you’ve done to me. I’ll strip you down and have you ruined and before I’m done since you have such a pretty face, I’ll keep and fu—"

Pain. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

White-hot, explosive pain in my leg.

I scream. The gun clatters to the ground. I follow it, clutching my thigh, blood pouring between my fingers.

"How can a person be such a consistently horrible character?" Daphne asks, genuinely puzzled.

She crouches beside me, watching me bleed with the detached curiosity of a scientist examining a specimen.

"You know." Her voice is almost conversational. "I don’t want to be a killer in this life." She tilts her head.

"You’re making it very hard."

I try to crawl away. My leg won’t cooperate.

A knife appears in her hand and before I can react, she stabs it into my other thigh.

I scream. The sound echoes across the empty beach, swallowed by waves and indifference.

"Then again." She twists the knife slightly, and I see stars. "I can’t kill you. The world won’t let me. Not yet, anyway." She pulls the blade free, wipes it on my shirt. She’s not making any sense what is she saying.

"But I just thought of the perfect revenge. For an Alpha macho type such as yourself."

She stands.

Looks down at me with something almost like pity.

Then her foot connects with my head.

Everything goes black.