She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 556

While they claimed no one would see the tape, a high-end camcorder sat perfectly mounted on a tripod, aimed directly at the chair.

The men fanned out, forming a tight, inescapable circle around her.

Watching the driver hit the record button, a small red light blinking to life, Loyce calmly asked, "Are we rolling?"

Her absolute lack of fear was deeply unsettling. She even offered a helpful suggestion. "Shouldn't someone lock the doors?"

A few of the men hesitated, unnerved by how cooperative she was being. It was completely unnatural.

But lust won out. Eager to get started, one of the thugs jogged over, hauled the heavy iron doors shut, and secured them with a heavy padlock. The click echoed through the empty space.

Tossing the key onto the floor near the table, the men rubbed their hands together, leering as they stepped closer.

Then, everything changed.

Loyce strolled over to the table and casually picked up the most formidable weapon available: a thick, weighted black bullwhip.

Seeing the weapon in her delicate hands, the leader burst into laughter. "Oh, so the princess likes it rough?"

Loyce met his gaze, a dark, chilling smile curving her lips. "You could say that. It seems we have a shared interest."

With a flick of her wrist, the heavy whip sliced through the air with a terrifying, supersonic crack. The weighted tip struck the driver squarely across the face, shredding the skin to the bone.

The secluded warehouse, hidden deep within the mountains, quickly filled with a chorus of agonizing, blood-curdling screams.

A few minutes later, Loyce took a seat on the wooden chair, her designer clothes completely unwrinkled. She casually ran a hand through her hair, smoothing a stray lock. The concrete floor around her was littered with groaning, bleeding men, several of them nursing shattered bones.

"I barely had to use a fraction of the strength it took to survive the gladiatorial death matches," she murmured, sounding profoundly bored. "Thane's hired muscle is incredibly subpar."

"Mercy! Please, God, have mercy!"

They wailed endlessly. Never in their wildest nightmares could they have imagined that this fragile-looking rich girl fought with the lethal, calculated precision of an elite assassin.

Staring down at the broken bodies, she asked flatly, "Whose bright idea was the group assault? Was it Thane's?"

Seconds later, a sleek black SUV tore up the dirt road, slamming on the brakes inches from where she stood.

A tall figure stepped out, crossing the distance in a few massive strides. Lucian gripped her shoulders, his dark eyes scanning her frantically. "When you didn't show up, I pulled the traffic cams. Your car went the wrong way. I knew something was wrong."

Just then, the warehouse doors creaked open. Over a dozen bruised, battered, and visibly broken thugs limped out, leaning heavily on each other for support, moaning in pain.

Lucian's gaze shifted from the pathetic group of mercenaries back to Loyce's perfectly serene face.

The tight, murderous tension in his jaw instantly evaporated, replaced by a flicker of deep amusement.

"It seems I overreacted."

Releasing her shoulders, he smoothly slid his hand down to interlace his fingers with hers, his thumb gently stroking her knuckles to ensure she was truly unharmed. "Next time you run into an ambush, call me first. Not because I think you can't handle it, but because I don't want you getting your hands dirty."

He said it so casually, yet the absolute, unquestioning support behind his words warmed her heart.