CHAPTER 881: CHAPTER 881: WHO BULLIED YOU?

Warren Vance didn’t mention that the reason they couldn’t live past the age of twenty-three wasn’t solely because of a breach of contract.

—It was because they attempted to kill Warren Vance.

Only Ann Vaughn was different. When she was born, Warren personally went to see her.

Little Annie was asleep at the time and only woke up when he pinched her cheek; unlike other children, she didn’t start crying.

Her grape-like eyes opened wide, and her little mouth, bubbling with saliva, broke into a warm, adorable smile.

...Though toothless.

Warren’s heart softened, so he took out all his most valuable possessions and presented them to little Annie.

But the little one only fixated on the Dragon Marrow Jade, uninterested in anything else. So, Warren left the jade with her.

Usually, he would randomly pick a gift, leave it for the daughters of the Sheridan Family, and then leave. But that time, Warren wanted to give the world’s best things to that toothless little baby.

But these were things that Ann Vaughn never knew.

And Warren didn’t need her to know.

"Warren," Ann Vaughn’s voice brought Warren’s mind back, "Do you really want to marry me because you like me, or is it just because you want a bride, so you’re obsessed with me?"

Does Warren like her?

Probably not, it was clear that his possessiveness dominated.

In Warren’s dark red eyes, there was a trace of confusion. He spoke calmly, "You belong to me. There’s nothing wrong with taking back what’s mine."

Regarding whether he liked her or not, what does it matter? Why should she care about such trivial things?

Ann Vaughn: "..." She knew it.

A strong sense of helplessness surged within Ann. Arguing logic with Warren was just a wild fantasy.

His sophistries outnumbered logic.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you’re overly focused on me because of this deal? If the deal were off, your mindset would naturally change." Ann Vaughn tried to persuade him to end the deal.

To her surprise, Warren seemed to have grown shrewd, "Good idea, but why should I do that?"

An ellipsis practically appeared over Ann Vaughn’s head.

She was tired, truly.

Sure, murder was illegal, but was killing a vampire illegal?

Besides, how was this guy anything like a vampire? He clearly resembled a slab of barbecued pork—

At that moment, Quinn Bishop returned to the room with the doctor who had just left.

"Your Highness, you summoned me." The doctor stood not far behind Warren, full of awe and trepidation.

"Come here." Warren instructed gently, "Do as I previously ordered."

Hearing these words, Ann Vaughn immediately became alert, her eyes fixed on them, "What are you going to do?"

Warren glanced at her, smiling faintly, "You’ll know soon enough."

Before long, Ann Vaughn was pressed into a chair in the room by Quinn Bishop, and the doctor walked over, taking a pocket watch from his pocket.

The moment she saw the pocket watch, Ann Vaughn recalled what Miyi Yates had done to her in the elevator.

Could it be that Warren intended to...

"Begin." Before Ann could figure it out, she heard Warren command.

Instinctively, Ann Vaughn tried to struggle, but Quinn Bishop held her shoulders, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move an inch...

As the pocket watch in the doctor’s hand began to sway slowly, Ann Vaughn’s struggling diminished, and she could no longer hear anything aside from the doctor’s suggestive words.

It was unclear how much time had passed before the doctor put away the pocket watch and snapped his fingers in front of Ann Vaughn.

"Your Highness, it’s been done."

Warren nodded slightly, looking at Ann Vaughn who sat motionlessly on the chair, and asked her gently, "Who am I?"

Ann Vaughn’s eyes darted around, hesitating for a moment, then asked softly:

"Dad, why have you suddenly become so young?"

Warren: "?"

The doctor wiped the growing sweat off his forehead and hastily explained, "Your Highness, perhaps the Princess’s willpower is too strong, so the first attempt at hypnosis didn’t succeed; please give me another chance to try."

"You better make it work." Warren said with a calm face.

The doctor hurriedly took out the pocket watch and continued to hypnotize Ann Vaughn.

However—

"What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a top-notch hunk with all-around qualities of 188cm? Keep staring and I’ll eat you!"

"Boohoo, brother-in-law, this is wrong, sister would kill us if she knew we’ve betrayed her."

"Woman, your scent is torturously sweet!"

"You peasants, who allowed you to disrespect me? I will have all of you beheaded!"

"..."

Each time Ann Vaughn opened her eyes, it was as if she had become a different person, but her words left Quinn Bishop and the doctor utterly bewildered.

What on earth was going on inside the Princess’s head??

Finally, Warren’s face had darkened.

"Is this what you call guaranteed success?" Warren watched the helpless doctor, his gaze as cold as if staring at a corpse.

"You-Your Highness, it’s not that I didn’t try my best, but the Princess’s defenses against the outside world are too strong, and even I find it hard to penetrate her psychological defenses to successfully hypnotize her..." The doctor wiped sweat and said, "And there’s also the possibility that the Princess was recently hypnotized by someone else, causing a temporary immunity to it."

The doctor was profoundly troubled inside.

In all these years, he had never encountered someone this troublesome.

"What’s the use of you?" Warren coldly withdrew his gaze, a flicker of a strange color crossing his eyes as he thought of something, "Quinn, bring Ryan Wyatt over."

Upon hearing this name, both the doctor and Quinn Bishop’s faces changed, their eyes filled with dread.

"...Yes, Your Highness."

After instructing Quinn Bishop, Warren slightly bent over, looking at Ann Vaughn with her eyes tightly shut, a sinister smile played across his eyes.

"This time, I won’t let you go again."

...

The following late night, the breeze was gentle and cool, and all was silent.

The clock tower’s hands slowly tick-tocked towards midnight.

A tall, upright figure silently appeared on the balcony outside the room, backlit by the cold moonlight that scattered a bright halo around him.

At the same moment, the floor-to-ceiling window was quietly pushed open by a pair of slender hands.

Dressed in a white cotton dress, Ann Vaughn emerged from inside, walking step by step to the man.

Cyrus Hawthorne reached out to hold her slightly cold hand, lowering his gaze to her slightly reddened eyelids, though not obvious, still escaping not his sharp eyes.

"Who bullied you?" Cyrus asked, frowning, pulling Ann Vaughn closer into his arms, naturally wrapping her petite figure in his trench coat, as he tenderly brushed his warm fingertips over the redness below her eyes.

Then, he lowered his head slightly, planting a slightly cool kiss on it.

But tonight, Ann Vaughn seemed particularly silent, leaning against Cyrus Hawthorne’s chest for quite a while without response.

Until the sound of a bullet being chambered rang in her ears, the feeling of something hard pressed against her chest, Cyrus Hawthorne’s narrow dark eyes suddenly squinted.