Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 280

Everything happened so quickly. He had scooped her up into his arms and whisked her away from the serpent's tail, her feet leaving the ground in an instant. There had been no wind on the small island, but his swift action had caused a slight breeze to brush against Julie's face, ruffling her hair.

A sharp intake of breath reached her ears.

Snapping out of her surprise, Julie looked down to see the python that had been ready to strike her. Its mouth was open with venomous fangs. Her sudden departure had caused the serpent to miss its target and strike his ankle instead.

He had a gun in his other hand and with one shot, he blew the serpent's head off. The accuracy of his shot was breathtaking. The snake writhed on the spot for a while before it finally died.

He then let her down and squatted beside her.

Julie was genuinely scared. In her world, creatures like these were far scarier than any weapon. Even now, seeing the dead body of the snake, she couldn't help but shudder. The python, over a metre long, had frightened her so much that she was still struggling to catch her breath.

Would he die here because he had saved her, and there was no antidote on this island?

"Are you okay?" Julie asked, her words coming out choppy from her laboured breaths.

Just a moment ago, he had been holding a gun at her, and she had thought of a thousand ways to escape. But she never imagined that he would risk his life to save hers.

"What do we do now?" She asked, her eyes welling up as she watched his ankle swell rapidly. She held the two ends of his wound, thinking of scenes from TV dramas.

She looked up at him, her eyes full of helplessness, her face etched with worry. She asked, "Would sucking it out work? What should I do?"

He was sitting on the leaf-littered ground, quietly watching her. Sunlight filtered down through the leaves and fell on her hair. She was kneeling beside his ankle, her hair swept to one side.

He had never thought that he would one day get injured while saving a woman. However, the decision to save her had been made without a moment’s hesitation. He knew that the snake wasn't venomous.

She had dropped her backpack as though ready to make a difficult decision.

Julie never thought she would be held hostage at gunpoint, nor did she think that her negligence could cost someone their life. Even if there was only a one-in-a-million chance, she didn't want anyone to sacrifice their life because of her mistake.

She was going to try.

She took out a bottle of mineral water from her backpack, poured it over his ankle, took a deep breath, and prepared herself for what was about to come. She closed her eyes and leaned in to do what needed to be done.

But then, her forehead hit his broad palm.

"Pythons are non-venomous," he explained calmly, lifting her head with his hand to prevent any contact between her mouth and his ankle.

Julie was speechless.

She was pissed and wanted to kill him!

"Why didn't you say so sooner?!" She exclaimed, pointing at his nose.

"Even non-venomous snakes can cause swelling due to bacteria and toxicity in their teeth and saliva," he explained calmly. "use the first aid kit to disinfect the wound."

Regardless of everything, he had saved her life.

Julie took out the disinfectant and carefully cleaned his wound.

"What's your name?" He asked out of the blue.

Concentrating on her task, Julie almost blurted out her real name. But remembering his unknown identity, she decided against it.

"I am Patriot. My mom and dad both love the country, so they named me Patriot. My last name is Newell, but you can just call me Patriot."

He looked at her with an expression that said 'I'd be a fool to believe you.'

"Although I think the name is not pretty, it was given by my parents who gave birth to me and raised me. Everyone calls me MoMo."

It seemed like he didn't care whether she was lying or not.

After doing the basic disinfection and care for his wound, Julie started to explore the island. She gave him a bottle of water to drink.