Chapter 670 The Next Victim

Liam suddenly clenched his teeth hard.

A sharp clarity cut through the heavy fog that the fruit had wrapped around his mind. He forced himself to focus. The heat still burned in his body, and the soft weight of Irina on top of him still pressed against every sensitive place, but he refused to let the effect win. He knew the truth clearly now. Irina had never been with a man in her entire life. He was not about to let her first time become a mistake caused by some strange fruit.

His hand moved with precise control.

He struck the back of her neck with carefully measured force—just enough to knock her unconscious without causing real harm. Irina’s body went limp against his chest almost immediately. Her full weight settled on him as her breathing turned slow and even. The desperate grip she had on him loosened, and her head rested quietly against his shoulder.

Liam stayed still for a few seconds, listening to her steady breaths.

Then he carefully shifted her off him and laid her down properly on the bed. He pulled the sheet up over her body, covering the damp clothes that still clung to her. Her long dark hair spread across the pillow, and her face finally looked peaceful instead of lost in lust.

A quiet sense of relief settled over him.

He had stopped it in time.

He was not going to let her do something she might regret forever once the effects of the fruit disappeared.

Liam stood up from the bed. His own body still felt uncomfortably heated, and the sweet scent of the fruit still lingered in the room, but he forced himself to walk out without looking back. He closed the door quietly behind him and returned to his own room.

Once inside, he lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

His mind kept returning to the feeling of her lips on his.

Even beyond the influence of the fruit, a quiet part of him wished things could have gone further. The softness of her mouth, the way her body had pressed against him, the heat in her eyes—all of it remained clear in his memory. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, pushing the thoughts aside as best as he could.

The rest of the night passed in silence.

Morning light eventually filtered into the house.

Irina was the first to wake.

Her eyes opened slowly. For a moment she simply stared at the ceiling of the unfamiliar room, her mind still hazy. Then the memories of the previous night began to surface one after another.

Her body stiffened.

She sat up quickly and looked around the room in shock.

She could not believe she had done all of that.

The hugging. The tears. The confessions. Climbing on top of Liam. Kissing him so desperately. Touching him through his clothes. Letting him grab her so freely.

A wave of embarrassment and disbelief washed over her.

"Oh goodness..."

She pressed a hand against her forehead.

She had been so close to losing her first time to an accident. If Liam had not stopped her when he did, things would have gone much further. She closed her eyes and felt a deep sense of gratitude toward him. He had protected her from herself.

But another feeling sat quietly beneath the gratitude.

Deep in her heart, a small, honest part of her wished things had been different. She wished he had never stopped them. She wished they had gone all the way.

She did not fully understand why.

The memory of his hands on her body returned without permission. The way he had grabbed her ass through the wet clothes. The firm pressure of his palm on her breast. The heat of his mouth against hers. The solid strength of his body beneath her.

"So hot..."

The words left her lips before she realized she had spoken them out loud.

Irina’s eyes widened slightly.

She looked down at her own hand—the same hand that had wrapped around the hard length of him through his clothes. The memory of how thick and solid he had felt under her fingers returned clearly. She stared at her palm for a moment, almost able to feel the shape of him again.

"So big..." she muttered under her breath.

The quiet words hung in the air for only a second before reality crashed back into her.

Irina’s face heated. She quickly raised her hand and hit herself lightly on the forehead.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?"

She threw the sheet aside and stood up from the bed. Her clothes from the previous night still felt unpleasant against her skin. Without wasting another second, she left the room and went straight to wash herself completely, determined to clear both her body and her mind.

In the other room, Liam had also woken up.

He sat on the edge of his bed for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck as the events of the night replayed in his head. The system’s late warning. The heat of the fruit. Irina’s tears. Her confession. The way she had kissed him. The decision he had made to stop everything.

He let out a quiet breath and stood up.

The morning had arrived, and with it came whatever consequences the previous night would bring.

A sharp knock suddenly echoed through the quiet house.

Irina froze on the other side of the door.

She had been sitting on the edge of the bed for nearly half an hour, staring at the floor and trying to gather enough courage to step outside. She had already bathed and changed into fresh clothes, yet somehow that had done nothing to solve the real problem.

How was she supposed to face Liam?

Every time she closed her eyes, fragments of the previous night returned to her mind. Her confession. Her tears. The things she had said without thinking. The way she had clung to him while under the strange fruit’s influence. She wanted nothing more than to pretend the entire night had never happened, but unfortunately, her memory was painfully clear.

Another knock came.

"Irina?"

She immediately straightened.

It was Liam.

She stared at the door for several seconds before hearing his voice again.

"Irina, there’s been an emergency."

Emergency?

That single word immediately cut through her embarrassment.

Irina jumped to her feet and hurried toward the door. She opened it only slightly at first, allowing her head to peek through while her eyes searched Liam’s face.

"What happened?" she asked quickly.

Liam stood outside already dressed in fresh clothes. His hair was still slightly damp from his bath, and his expression was serious enough to make Irina forget her embarrassment for a moment.

"I don’t know," he admitted. "I just got summoned."

Irina blinked.

"You got summoned?"

"Yeah."

Liam glanced toward the stairs. "Apparently something happened in the village."

The moment Irina heard that, whatever hesitation remained disappeared.

She opened the door fully and stepped outside.

"Then let’s go."

Liam nodded.

Neither of them mentioned what had happened the previous night.

Not one word.

They simply walked downstairs together and left the house.

The silence between them was strange, but neither seemed willing to be the first to break it. Liam occasionally glanced sideways at Irina, while Irina kept her eyes forward, pretending the road ahead was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

There was no hostility between them.

No awkward argument.

Just an unspoken agreement that they would deal with last night’s events later.

Right now, there was a more important problem.

They moved quickly through the village streets, following the growing sounds of people gathering somewhere ahead. Several villagers were already rushing in the same direction, their expressions tense and frightened.

Liam’s brows gradually pulled together.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

As they moved closer, the crowd became thicker. People stood outside their houses, whispering among themselves while others hurried toward the same location.

Liam’s eyes swept across the surroundings.

Then he recognized the street.

His footsteps slowed.

This was the same place he had walked through yesterday.

The same street where he had first met the little boy.

The same house.

The same family.

His eyes narrowed.

Leo.

A bad feeling immediately settled in his chest.

Liam pushed through the crowd without hesitation.

"Excuse me."

People immediately moved aside when they recognized him. The man who had arrived in their village promising to find whatever had been killing their loved ones was suddenly moving through them with an expression they had never seen on his face before.

Irina followed closely behind.

Then Liam saw her.

Leo’s mother was on the ground.

She was crying uncontrollably, her hands trembling as she held her son’s unconscious body against her chest.

Her face was filled with terror and despair.

"Leo!"

The woman’s voice broke as she desperately called her son’s name.

Liam stopped.

For several seconds, he simply stared.

The little boy who had looked at him with innocent curiosity yesterday was completely motionless in his mother’s arms.

And in that instant, every trace of humor disappeared from Liam’s expression.

His eyes hardened.