Chapter 965

Bruce hit the button for the eighth floor, and the elevator began its ascent. With every upward tick of the numbers, Thalassa’s heart raced faster, her nerves frayed tighter, panic clawing at her insides.

Once inside that room, her chances of escape would dwindle to nothing.

No, she wouldn’t let Bruce, that twisted, repulsive man, ruin her.

“Ding…” The elevator reached the eighth floor just as Thalassa was on the edge of hysteria.

In the last second before stepping out, Bruce whipped out a scarf from seemingly nowhere and draped it over Thalassa’s head.

The scarf, matching the duct tape that sealed her mouth, obscured her face so that even if they encountered someone, it wouldn’t be apparent she was gagged.

Then Bruce slipped off his jacket, draping it over Thalassa’s hands that he held behind her back, making it seem as though she was carrying his clothes for him.

To any onlooker, everything would appear perfectly normal.

As the elevator doors parted, Bruce leaned into Thalassa, guiding her by the arm out of the elevator.

Thalassa was revolted, resisting, not wanting him anywhere near her.

But Bruce’s grip was iron-hard, pulling her close to his side.

He hissed a threat in her ear, “Make one more move, and I’ll release your mother’s video right now!”

Thalassa froze, teeth gritted in hatred, yet unable to resist any further.

She knew the devastating impact the video would have on Evelyn. The sheer panic of losing her mother was something she couldn’t endure again.

Stepping out of the elevator, Thalassa spotted someone approaching through the blur of the scarf.

Hope surged within her.

The stranger saw a man and a woman, seemingly intimate, the woman sporting what looked like a bridal veil, heading toward a room.

“People these days really know how to spice things up,” the stranger thought, “a hotel rendezvous with a touch of romance.” As the distance between them closed, Thalassa’s heart beat like a drum of tension and fear.

This was her sole chance for rescue; if missed, she’d plummet into an abyss.

If she were to fall, who would save her mother, who was still trapped in a web of trauma? Her four children would be left motherless.

She couldn’t let Bruce destroy her.

Just as they were about to pass the stranger, Thalassa stumbled, careening into the approaching figure.

The person caught her by the shoulders, annoyed, “Watch where you’re going, will you?”

That voice-Thalassa’s heart skipped a beat in desperation.

It was familiar!

It was Callum!

Oh, Callum, save me!

Her mind screamed for help as she prepared to throw herself against him again.

But Bruce’s grip on her shoulder tightened, threatening to crush her bones, yanking her back to his side.

“Sorry about that,” Bruce apologized to Callum, “my wife just twisted her ankle a bit. Really sorry.”

Callum, ever reasonable, replied, “It’s fine.”

Bruce smiled, nodded politely, and continued to drag Thalassa down the hallway with a threatening ownership.

Thalassa wanted to struggle, but the pain in her shoulder sapped her strength.

Her mind frantically cried out, “Callum, save me!”

But Callum couldn’t hear her silent pleas.