As Alexander charged at Ethan, the rest of his crew followed, fists and kicks flying.
“Watch the left punch!”
“Dodge right!”
“Incoming from the right!”
“Duck and hit the stomach!”
Warnings flooded Ethan’s mind, overlapping and chaotic.
He couldn’t keep up, so he just curled up, guarding his head.
Thud!
Thwack!
A storm of punches and kicks rained down on him.
The guys looked like they were out for blood, surrounding Ethan and laying into him without holding back.
Crouched in the corner, Ethan could only grit his teeth through the pain, bracing himself the best he could.
“Stop it! Stop!” Chloe shouted and rushed in.
Alexander shoved her hard on the shoulder.
“Stay out of it!”
Stumbling but refusing to back off, Chloe yelled again, “Hit me if you’ve got the guts!”
“Don’t push me!” Furious, Alexander shoved her a second time.
“Ah!” Chloe cried out and sank to the floor, landing hard in a corner.
“Don’t hurt her!” Ethan’s head shot up the moment he heard Chloe’s scream.
Charging through the chaos, he managed to slap Alexander across the face.
“You think hitting a girl makes you a man?!”
“You little—” Alexander snapped, his face stinging and red.
“You dare hit me now?”
His fury exploded.
He swung a fist at Ethan, shouting, “Get him! Beat him to death!”
The goons swarmed Ethan again like wild animals.
Back in the corner, Ethan did what he could to shield himself, but he was clearly overwhelmed.
“If you keep this up, I’m calling the cops!” Chloe suddenly yelled, phone raised, glaring at Alexander.
He paused, panting hard, staring back at her.
“Go ahead. I’ll beat him to death before they get here. You think I’m joking?”
Chloe’s hand trembled.
She didn’t dare press the call.
Her eyes filled with helpless tears as she looked at Ethan still getting beaten.
The elevator dinged—it had reached the top floor.
The door slid open, but no one outside dared enter.
Some turned away entirely.
With a heavy thud, one of Alexander’s men shut the doors again and the elevator started moving down.
Another several minutes passed with relentless hits until Alexander finally told his guys to ease off.
Then he pressed his foot on Ethan’s head with a mocking laugh.
“Is this the tough guy Ethan?”
Ethan stayed silent, protecting his head, refusing to look up.
“What, nothing to say?” Alexander sneered and kicked him again. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“I’m letting you off with this,” he growled.
“Next time, I’ll kill you.”
A few more kicks landed before the elevator finally arrived on the first floor.
Dozens of people were waiting outside.
Seeing the brutal scene, not one of them stepped in.
They all just watched, eyes full of pity.
“Let’s go!” Alexander ordered, delivering a parting kick near Ethan’s ear.
He and his men walked off without looking back.
Ethan finally caught his breath.
Oddly, though he’d been beaten for so long, he wasn’t feeling much pain—just this raging fury in his chest.
Getting thrashed in front of Chloe and a crowd like that—he couldn’t think of a word for the humiliation.
“Ethan, are you okay?” Chloe ran over and crouched down beside him.
He shook his head slightly and looked up.
“I’m fine… What about you?”
Chloe’s eyes welled up when she saw he was still worried about her.
“I’m okay…
Let’s go see a doctor.””I’m fine,” Ethan said, forcing himself to stand.
His legs felt like jelly, and his head spun for a moment, but the discomfort eased quickly.
The elevator was packed, but silent.
As Chloe helped Ethan toward the exit, the crowd instinctively stepped aside to make way.
“Ethan, we should really go get you checked out,” Chloe insisted, her eyes full of concern.
After the beating he took, there was no way she believed he came out okay.
“I’m serious, I’m alright.” Ethan stretched his arms to show her.
He glanced down at his body—no visible injuries.
Then, tapping into his Insight Vision, he scanned himself: bones, muscles, everything intact.
Not even a bruise.
Weird.
He should’ve had at least some scrapes after the mess upstairs.
Could this be the energy from the Insight Vision at work?
The idea got his heart racing.
If that’s the case, does it mean I can take a beating and walk away like nothing happened?
But the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got.
What happened today with Alexander—he’d pay that back, double.
“Didn’t expect you to be built like a tank,” Chloe said after checking him over again and finding nothing wrong.
“Guess I’ve always been tough,” Ethan grinned, tugging her toward the doors.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
But Chloe stood there, tears welling in her eyes.
“Ethan, I’m sorry.”
He blinked.
“What for?”
“When Alexander and his guys were beating you up, I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there. I… I feel like a terrible friend.” Her voice cracked, and then she covered her face and started crying.
Once, she’d acted like nothing could shake her.
But now, faced with real violence, she realized fear could shut her down too.
Ethan gave a soft laugh.
“What are you even saying? I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you. You’re safe—that’s all that matters.”
Seeing her face streaked with tears, he gently raised his hands to wipe them away.
Chloe’s heart clenched a little more.
Without thinking, she threw her arms around him.
“Chloe, what are you doing? Better watch out or you’ll get played,” a voice cut in, sharp and sudden.
Chloe looked over and saw Olivia walking up, her expression as blunt as ever.
“Olivia?
What’re you doing down here?”
“Had to pick up some stuff for Donna,” Olivia said, glancing at Ethan with a mix of caution and disapproval.
“Chloe, come on. Hugging a guy with questionable character? In public?”
Chloe gave her a cold look and didn’t reply.
She just grabbed Ethan’s hand and walked off.
Ethan smirked at Olivia as he slid an arm around Chloe’s waist and followed her lead.
“Hey! Chloe! Don’t walk away like that! You’re gonna regret this!” Olivia shouted after them.
But Chloe didn’t turn back.
Olivia gave Ethan’s back one more glare, then turned toward the store.
Once they were in the car, Chloe asked, “So, where should I take you?”
Ethan glanced at the street ahead.
“I was gonna head back to Carewell Pharmacy.”
Chloe sighed, looking at him like he was made of glass.
“Really? Ethan, just rest today. I’ll drive you home.”
He hesitated, then gave a small nod.
Truth was, he didn’t plan on resting.
He needed to train—build speed, learn to react faster.
Earlier, he could hold his own one-on-one, but once the hits came from everywhere, it was chaos.
If he didn’t prepare, next time might not be so lucky.
Just as Chloe was about to pull away, a car came screeching into view.
“Stop the car!” someone shouted.
Startled, Chloe slammed on the brakes.