UNDER HIS RULES

The blonde woman grumbled repeatedly, occasionally glancing back reflexively. Who knows if someone was following their speeding motorcycles. Several times, she heard blaring horns and curses from drivers ahead of them.

Gerald.

“We’re heading out of town,” he shouted.

“Whatever,” Bella muttered, closing her helmet and following the rider’s lead. Half an hour ago, when she felt hopeless and resigned to her fate, she heard a disturbing commotion.

Not wanting to be disturbed, she chose to retreat under her blanket. She could spend the whole day sleeping in this room undisturbed, except for the occasional unexpected visit from Eland. That man was so damn annoying! Why did she have to encounter someone like Eland?

How could she enjoy every touch from Eland, which was far from gentle and careful? Throughout her time as Sam’s woman, visited by him whenever he needed comfort, Sam treated her with respect.

Eland?

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the lingering sensation of Eland’s touch from her body. She noticed every detail of her skin, which had a few scratches. Not many, but enough to bring tears to Bella’s eyes.

“Eland, you bastard!” she cursed, wiping her hands, stomach, and the visible part of her chest beneath the shirt she was wearing. She didn’t want to wear it, but there was no decent clothing available. She was certain that Eland had provided the paper bag. Bella was forced to wear it against her will.

It took her a while to compose herself. Her intention of going to Flown wasn’t to meet Eland, let alone share pleasure with him. She just wanted to see Sam, just once, before executing the plan she and Jimmy and Gerald had carefully crafted. Bella was confident that her offer would motivate them to act promptly. It would be beneficial for both of them, right?

Unfortunately, Bella didn’t expect Eland to be at Flown.

Her burning vengeance intensified. Her eyes were filled with the image of Eland, who would beg for mercy from her. She imagined herself sitting helplessly as he received the cruelest judgment. Bella stared at him without mercy or compassion, just like how Eland had treated her. Yes, she would do that soon.

But how could she make Eland be in the seat of torture while she was the one confined under tight guard? Damn! Her luck was so unfortunate. She should have listened to what Jimmy said. Not to leave the mansion until everything was clear, including Alfred’s intimidation. But she was powerless as she gazed at the Flown building in the distance.

The building where they first met. It always held a special place in her heart. Her love and heart belonged only to Sam, but why did he turn away from her? What had she done wrong? After all, three years had passed between them, which was not a trivial matter.

“Brother, how could you?” she whispered tearfully. Bella quickly wiped away her tears. She couldn’t appear weak because Eland would surely show up at any moment.

The commotion grew louder, prompting Bella to move closer. Before she could even reach the door, it was forcefully kicked open. Gunshots and cries of pain echoed immediately, startling Bella.

A tall, sturdy man, still wearing a helmet, accompanied by several individuals dressed in black, armed with sharp weapons and pistols, stood there challenging numerous opponents.

“Let’s go!” he said, urging Bella with a half-shout.

His words made Bella blink. Her mind quickly processed the recent events, including the two of Eland’s henchmen lying helpless on the ground. They were either shot dead or knocked out by Gerald. Yes, that heavy voice, although muffled by the face covering, belonged to Gerald.

Bella nodded quickly and followed the man’s instructions.

“Where are we going?” Jack blocked their path with a long-barreled rifle. His eyes scrutinized Bella and the black-helmeted man sharply. He aimed his gun directly at Bella, who looked at him in disbelief. Jack wouldn’t do this to her, would he?

But if Bella thought about it, she knew that none of Sam’s subordinates would treat her kindly, especially since they were all on Eland’s side. Luckily, Gerald pushed her aside without hesitation. Gunshots rang out again, making Bella’s heart feel like it would jump out of her chest.

Her shoulder hit the wall on the right. Her body slid to avoid the attack.

“Damn it, Gerald!” Jack cursed, unwilling to accept it. He quickly moved away as Gerald fired a shot. But Jack wouldn’t give up. He was furious with Gerald’s behavior, and this chaos was happening right in the place where he was guarding.

Before Jack could pull the trigger aimed at Gerald, another gunshot was directed at him.

“Protect us!” Gerald shouted loudly.

Jack could guess that they both intended to escape quickly. Jack wouldn’t let that happen!

“Do you think you can just get away like that?” Jack aimed his pistol at Gerald, ah… no. This time at Bella, who was trying to flee. He didn’t actually need that woman here. Since Bella entered Sam’s life, he had never liked her.

Especially considering her behavior that annoyed him but tried to suppress it as much as possible.

But…

“ARGH!!!” The heat he felt right on his shoulder made him lose his balance. The pistol in his hand fell, including himself, who ended up sitting down. His eyes could only watch Gerald and Bella leaving with satisfied grins on their faces.

“Damn it!” Jack cursed, trying to get up, but the pain in his shoulder prevented him from moving much.

“Boss!” one of his subordinates said.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“Chase them!” Jack ordered immediately.

Unfortunately… it was all too late. The motorcycles they used as their getaway vehicles had already sped away.

***[]***

This two-story house was surrounded by many lush and tall trees. The house’s location was somewhat secluded, with not many people passing by on the main road that connected to the outside world. Why did Bella refer to it as the outside world? Since she entered the area outside the Southern Territory, they had only come across rural areas. Dense forests lined both sides, with houses of residents scattered at a considerable distance from one another.

It was a perfect place to hide.

“Come in,” Gerald said as he took off his helmet. He felt a pain in his waist that he had been suppressing since earlier. When he first broke into Flown’s security, he had been in a bit of a hurry. Besides Sam not being here, he didn’t want to surrender easily.

He couldn’t underestimate Sam’s men guarding Flown. So when he faced Jack, he truly risked his life. It wasn’t that Sam was merciless towards anyone who angered him. But he needed AnaBella.

Damn it, that woman was incredibly foolish.

Why did she go to Flown? She was insane! Didn’t she know that Flown was a place they couldn’t just visit casually? If the situation were still like the past few months, Gerald wouldn’t feel afraid. In fact, infiltrating Flown was one of his top desires for a long time. But because of the failure of his plan with Alfred, everything had turned upside down.

Damn it!

“Where are we?” Bella asked with a seemingly calm gaze, but she was actually observing her surroundings.

“You really are an ungrateful woman, Bella!” Gerald snorted disapprovingly. He walked quickly into the house where Jimmy was already present. Another one of Gerald’s subordinates was also around this comfortable house.

Bella yawned briefly before finally saying, “I’m really grateful, Gerald.”

The man just turned his head and sneered, shaking his hand quickly and dropping himself onto one of the sofas. Grimacing because his waist bumped against the sofa’s edge.

“Are you… injured?” Jimmy asked, barely holding back his laughter. “You’ve been in the headquarters for too long. You get injured out of nowhere?”

“Shut up!” Gerald grumbled irritably. “Get me the first aid kit!”

Out of gratitude for taking her as far away as possible from captivity and Eland’s intimidation, Bella stepped forward. “Let me do it. Show me where it is.”

One of Gerald’s subordinates looked suspiciously, but since Gerald gave permission, he showed them where it was. Bella hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed some other supplies, including a basin of warm water. It made sense that along the way, she felt something warm on her knee.

However, due to the rush and the need to ensure their steps were safe, Bella didn’t pay much attention to it. She herself was afraid that Sam’s men would chase them to the border. Fortunately, none of them followed once Gerald’s motorcycle turned at the southeastern border of the Southern Territory.

Gerald had already opened his clothes. He grimaced when he realized that his wound was quite severe. He remembered who did this to him, but suddenly, he was hit with a headache. His shirt and sweater were already soaked in his blood.

“Damn it.”

“You need a hospital, Gerald,” Jimmy said this time without a silly expression. Despite not liking Gerald’s every move and decision, they had no choice but to work together to bring down the common enemy. It was pointless to attack each other like the day before.

It wouldn’t change what had happened between the two of them.

“I’ll contact Paul to come back immediately.”

“Don’t!” Gerald quickly interjected. “Let him continue monitoring Alfred’s movements. We can’t let that old snake slip out of our surveillance even for a moment.”

Jimmy sighed. “You could bleed to death.” He stared in horror at the wound. “How could you endure with a wound like this?” He scanned the surroundings to find anything to stop the bleeding from this gaping wound. “Bella! Hurry!”

“Yes, I need alcohol. But I don’t see any.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Jimmy became very frustrated. “Here! Hurry up! Gerald needs treatment now.”

“Don’t be noisy!”

Jimmy moved aside as Bella approached Gerald, who leaned against the sofa. His face showed signs of pain. His breath became labored. Meanwhile, Bella started to concentrate on stopping the bleeding.

Occasionally, she heard Gerald grunting in pain as Bella touched his wound. But Bella didn’t pay much attention to it. She only handed him a clean towel to bite down on as she poured alcohol onto the wound. Since living with Sam, she had often dealt with the ruler’s injuries at various points.

Unfortunately, now she was carefully tending to a wound that became Sam’s biggest enemy.

She began stitching up the wound. Her eyes continued to monitor how the blood flow was slowing down but still made her worried. “We have to take him to the hospital.”

“The distance to the hospital takes up a lot of time.” Jimmy sighed in frustration. “I asked Paul to contact Jenna.”

“Who’s Jenna?” Bella asked, confused.

“My acquaintance, a doctor.”

“Thank goodness. I can only slow it down, but we need much better equipment. Especially for blood pressure. I’m afraid too much bleeding since earlier could endanger him.”

“Don’t worry too much about me,” Gerald said, trying to get up. Part of his waist was already wrapped in a long cloth, and he felt much better.

“Don’t be stubborn, Gerald,” Jimmy said, displeased. “Jenna is on her way here.”

Gerald didn’t want to meet Jenna. Really. But if his vision started to blur like this…

***[]***

Sam growled angrily multiple times. He paced around the ward. Some of his men were receiving intensive treatment there. Two were severely injured by samurai strikes to their shoulders. Others mostly had gunshot wounds around their legs. Sam was sure that Gerald wasn’t targeting the deaths of his men. He just wanted to cause chaos and free Bella.

But… why did Bella have to end up confined here? He wanted to ask Eland many questions, but the man was busy with Jack in another room.

“Boss,” a voice he recognized well called out.

Coincidentally, Eland had already come out of Jack’s ward.

“Jack wants to talk.”

“Don’t you have anything to say, Eland?”

Beatrice, who had been near Sam all this time, didn’t say much. Besides the murky mood of Sam, the man’s face also seemed unapproachable. His hand tightly gripped Beatrice, especially now. Sam’s voice seemed much more menacing than his behavior since leaving the resort.

“I’ll tell you inside the room with Jack,” Eland grinned.

Sam sighed in annoyance. “You owe a lot to Flown.”

“We?” Eland widened his eyes in disbelief. “You’re really infuriating, Boss!”

“Is Jack okay?” Beatrice asked, drawing Eland’s and Sam’s attention.

“Don’t worry about Jack, Beatrice. He’s fine. It’s just… um, yeah… I think we’re in big trouble.”

Beatrice, who didn’t understand, could only look puzzled at Sam’s and Eland’s behavior. Just as they reached Jack’s bedside, where the muscular man grimaced awkwardly, Sam’s phone rang loudly. Hugo’s name appeared on the screen.

“What’s up?”

“Anne got Bella’s last location, Sam.”

“Prepare yourselves, wait for my orders.” Sam immediately hung up the phone. His eyes shifted between Jack and Eland. “Tell me what you’re hiding. How is Bella with Gerald?”