Thrown off guard, Asher hastily shoves his hand into his backpack, burying the syringe beneath his things.

"How the hell?!"

Adrian shrugs nonchalantly, looking somewhat indifferent. He meets his gaze before saying, "I have my connections, and I want you to do it."

Asher feels his heart stop then. He can't believe what he's hearing right now.

"What?" he breathed.

"You heard me..." he muttered, unwavering..

"Do it."

Asher curses out loud, looking away. Adrian remains firm and still, which perplexes him even more. This isn't what he's expecting at all.

"Listen, I think your wife's disappearance is making you delusional. Maybe I should report you and put you under suicide watch."

That seems to amuse Adrian a bit. With a small smile tugging at his lips, he continues, "I'm not suicidal, Asher. I'm just making the choice for you. I can see your indecision from miles away. You're not exactly good at hiding it."

"What the hell, Shade?! Do you think that's an excuse for you to die...?!" Asher bolted out, clenching his fists tightly.

"I-I... I don't want anyone to die. Not you. Not Cassie-"

"So, they threatened my wife too, huh? If you don't do it, she'll die. Both of us don't want that."

"As if I want your death on my conscience instead!"

Asher is starting to lose his cool. He stomps forward and reaches for the button by his bedside before he warns him, "That's it. I'm calling the nurse."

"Asher."

Adrian's voice is grim and stern. He called his name as if it's a death sentence. That's enough to make his blood run cold.

"I'm not asking you, Asher-"

"Well, I'm not saying yes, either...!" he cut him off exasperatedly, running his hands through his hair.

"You don't get it, do you?"

"I do get it, Asher. I know how important Cassidy is to you too."

"But you're different. You're one of a kind."

Asher pauses for a second. Then, grinning wanly, he added, "No homo."

The comment is an echo of inside jokes spanning over years' worth of memories. Adrian lets out a fond chuckle upon hearing it. The light in his eyes brightens up a little. When he starts losing air to humor, Asher rolls his eyes and says, "Anyway, save your breath. I don't want this one to be your last.

Adrian seems to read his thoughts as he offers him a resigned smile. With that, they're back to discussing that infamous love poem again.

"You know, if you're the Shepherd, instead of declaring your undying love, you're pledging not to kill me. Still, my response would be the same as the Nymph's. I'd tell you that's not an option," Adrian remarked.

"Don't use literature against me, you bastard. You know that I used to cut classes," Asher hissed, causing him to chuckle once more.

"I know you have the formula in your bag, Asher. I implore you. Kill me."

He glances at Adrian and finds him looking so resigned - like a man who's willing to walk to his own death. But that alone will not convince him to act. He sees something else in those blue irises of his - something that is decidedly resolute. It's the part of him that always just knows.

And it's that part of him that convinces Asher to act and brings him to take the syringe from his backpack.

'Forgive me, Shade.'

---

Hours later, Asher watches impassively as Gilmore walks up to Edward.

Everyone is outside of Adrian's hospital room at the moment. Irish and Olivia are beside him. Aira is seated in a wheelchair next to Joshua and Hugo. Charles brushes up next to Asher, finding his place at his side.

They wait with baited breaths and racing hearts. Then, hesitantly, as though not quite believing it at all, Gilmore gives out his announcement.

"He's dead."

--- Side Story ---

[This is an excerpt from the author's latest novel, Married Again: The Billionaire's Enemy Turned Lover, which is posted for promotion purposes]

"It would be my honor to take you home tonight, my dearest Ercilia."

Ercilia frowns then. Drystan simply smiles.

In the span of ten years that she didn't get to see him, he seems to have gotten quite playful. He has become more roguish, and as if to make up for the trouble it brings to her, he has become more handsome too. She can't believe that she'll start living under the same roof with such an attractive rascal from now on.

They're in the airport at the moment.

Ercilia has just arrived. Drystan came to pick her up and take her home - to his home, more specifically.

Everyone around them is starting at him, beholding the godly masterpiece that he is. Ladies are captivated by his looks, and men are drawn to his presence. As if catching attention like this was not enough, he just also had to welcome her the way a lover would, thus making a scene.historical

Drystan suddenly swept Ercilia off of her feet and pulled out a princess carry.

"So, you're really going to act like we're engaged now?" she deadpanned, unamused.

"That's the agreement," he replied, smirking.

"Aren't you embarrassed? The reputable head of Claire de Lune carrying some woman no one had ever seen before. Won't you be ashamed?"

"I can never be ashamed of you, my dearest Ercilia."

Now that he said and did the deed, he goes ahead and carries her all the way out of the airport then into the parking lot where their service is. She stayed silent the whole time, waiting for him to break character and cut the lovey-dovey act. Yet he never did. He continued wearing that soft and gentle smile of his until the end - treating her with warmth, kindness and care.

And so, she had to resort to her final option.

"Drystan Allaric, I think you're forgetting something."

Ercilia pulled out a revolver from her purse and aimed straight at Drystan.

He stopped on his tracks just as he realized that he's being threatened with a gun at point-blank. His bodyguards who'd been following them from behind had also taken out their weapons as soon as the scene dawned on them. Almost instantly, they encircled them and aimed at her, demanding her to put down the revolver.

However, Ercilia isn't fazed at all. And so is Drystan.

For a fraction of time, the two of them just keep staring at each other quietly. Her expression is steely yet haughty while his is perplexed yet calm. Eventually, she spoke up again and broke the silence.

"Okay. Forget about being embarrassed or ashamed. But don't forget that I should've been the Viatrix crime family's ringleader. I'm capable of killing you however and whenever I want to," she taunted, not buying all his lovey-dovey act - not now, not ever, especially after ten whole years of waiting in vain.

Drystan can tell right away that Ercilia testing him.

He can see that she is still doubting his good intentions. Skeptic and a little bit afraid. It makes sense. Even then, he knows that she will not pull the trigger. He's confident that she needs him even if it's not as much as he needs her.

And so, Drystan only smiles again, much to Ercilia's surprise.

"Of course, I will never forget how fearsome and powerful you were back then, my lovely fiancee..." he quipped with a smirk on his face as he put her down and held both of her hands.

"I'm not sure why you're taunting me all of the sudden. But if I did do something wrong and I had to be punished, could you please wait until we're all alone in our room later? I promise to lock the door."

With that, Drystan leaned down and kissed the backs of her hands.

It took a moment for Ercilia to understand the dirty meaning behind his words. When it did, she couldn't help but turn bright red and shout at his face.

"You bloody pervert!"