The Devil's Favourite Obsession

Their tall, dark shadows stood between the crowd like patient collectors waiting for a harvest that had already been decided. None of them looked at her, or recognised her, or perhaps did not care. They simply waited.

Her hands moved frantically over her own body, touching her arms, her shoulders, her face, checking whether she had somehow slipped out of herself again. But she was completely awake.

’I am still conscious.’

While she had only looked away from the crowd briefly, the gunshots rang out. She lifted her head reflexively and was immediately met with pitch-blackness.

Her eyes were covered with a cloth. Cassian himself had tied a handkerchief tightly over her eyes, blindfolding her.

Somewhere nearby, she heard similar movements. His men had blindfolded Marion and Lily as well.

One murder was more than enough for Cixi to witness.

Cassian did not care about her friends in the slightest, yet he recognised how deeply terrified Cixi was for them.

He did not even know why he was considering Cixi’s reaction.

He did not know why he cared whether she saw it or not.

He barely understood why her discomfort registered in his mind at all.

Perhaps because she was his fiancée.

The word still sounded foreign even inside his own thoughts.

How had he even decided to marry her or anyone?

To love someone requires a heart.

And he was certain he did not possess one.

Wait, did he ever tell her that he loved her?

He needed to speak to Mark. Bloody Mark had conveniently forgotten to inform him about this supposed fiancée. His right hand was growing far too comfortable keeping information from him.

Cixi, Marion, and Lily stood trembling in the total darkness. They clutched their freezing hands on their purses, biting their lower lips hard enough to draw blood to stop themselves from screaming.

With every gunshot that exploded through the club, the three women violently jolted.

Cixi could not believe Cassian was genuinely executing them all. He was slaughtering every innocent person who had stayed behind, showing a zero ounce of mercy, all in her name.

She had made a catastrophic mistake telling him she was his fiancée. Because surviving as the Devil’s fiancée came with a massive cost, and it was currently being paid by dozens of strangers with their lives.

Once the gunshots finally faded into a deathly silence, Cixi spoke through her tightly gritted teeth. ”You truly did not have to do that,” she forced out the words. Heavy tears slipped freely from underneath the dark blindfold. They were not tears of fear or sadness. They were tears of pure, helpless anger. ”You have absolutely no right to take other people’s lives. You are not God.”

Cassian leaned forward smoothly, entirely closing the space between them. His chest pressed against the back of Cixi’s head, creating an intense connection. ”You are right, Fiancée. I am the Devil,” he whispered directly into her ear. ”The same Devil who removed the people who were more interested in touching you than helping you. The same Devil who noticed the women filming you from the corners, planning to make you viral before sunrise. These were the same people who didn’t leave...”

His breath brushed her ear again. ”Did you genuinely believe their pathetic words when they promised to keep quiet? I have no place for mercy anymore. Especially when it concerns ––You.” Cassian clicked his tongue in deep mockery. ”How did I ever decide to marry someone so painfully naive? I am officially beginning to doubt my own historical decisions.”

For once, Cixi could not formulate a single reply. Her brain completely short-circuited the exact second he mentioned someone recording a secret video. Her lips were sealed completely shut.

”Do you want me to remove the blindfold right here, or should I take you far away from this room?” Cassian asked in his husky, taunting voice, deliberately offering her the choice—stare at the fresh corpses, or allow him to take her away.

”I don’t want to see anything!” Marion’s voice broke loudly beside her. ”Please!”

Cixi turned her face toward Marion’s voice even though she could not see her. Then she gave a small nod.

Without warning, he lifted Cixi into his arms as if she weighed nothing. The movement stole her breath. Behind them, his men did the same with Marion and Lily.

His heavy footsteps echoed as he walked away, followed closely by his guards escorting her trembling friends.

The next thing Cixi knew, she was sinking into the luxurious leather seat of a moving car.

Cassian reached over and smoothly untied the heavy blindfold. Her light grey eyes rapidly adjusted from the absolute darkness to the passing streetlights, finally settling directly onto his sharp, passive profile.

She quickly looked around the spacious car.

Marion and Lily were missing.

”What exactly have you done to them?” Cixi demanded instantly. Cassian looked at her calmly.

”You should seriously work on the manner in which you speak to me,” he replied flatly. ”And your expressions. I might start smoking out of depression.”

”Where are my friends?” she repeated, forcing herself to control her voice this time.

”They are safely on their way home,” he answered.

Cixi frantically dug into her small purse, pulling out her mobile phone. She immediately dialled Marion and then Lily.

Hearing both of their exhausted voices confirm they were safely driving home in separate cars, she allowed a heavy sigh of relief to escape her chest.

She quickly sent them a text message asking them to update her the exact second they locked their front doors.

The moment she dropped her phone back into her purse, the heavy scent of tobacco filled the enclosed space.

She snapped her narrowed eyes instantly toward Cassian. ”I thought you said you wouldn’t smoke if I fixed my tone,” she accused him.

”You doubted me,” he replied calmly. ”You relaxed the moment you confirmed they were safe. My fiancée clearly does not trust me. That is truly depressing.” Cassian stated dramatically, like a heartbroken man.

He took another drag and exhaled toward the open window.

”Is there genuinely no winning with you?” Cixi snapped in utter disbelief. ”You always find a reason to prove yourself right.”

Cassian took another long drag. He turned his head from the open window, locking his pitch-black eyes directly onto hers. ”I have exceptionally valid points,” he countered smoothly. ”Tell me exactly why you agreed to become my fiancée. You are clearly not meant to be my partner. In fact, you are incredibly noisy.” He exhaled the thick smoke sideways, turning his perfect face back toward the passing city.

”You begged me to be your fiancée,” Cixi shot back defensively.

That made one of his eyebrows rise. ”Be careful with your false narratives,” Cassian warned softly. ”Even with my alleged amnesia, I know for an absolute fact that I would never do that.”

”Then explain the coin,” Cixi dared him. The terrifying events of the night had completely eviscerated her filter. ”The coin you gave me. You made it sound exactly as if I had been blessedly chosen, as if it were given by a guardian angel for my ultimate protection. That no one could touch or harm me.” She let out a sharp, cynical laugh. ”Look at exactly what happened tonight. Your words are complete lies.”