Athena gave a faint, indifferent smile. “No buyer, no deal. If you’re not making an offer, I’m already dead. So why should I waste my life for free?”

With that, she turned and made to step onto the bridge.

Her move stunned the black-clad men, their eyes widening in alarm. One of them barked urgently, “Hold it! Are you just going to abandon your friend? She got hurt protecting you!”

“I care about her life, but mine takes priority,” Athena said flatly, slipping the pawn ticket out of sight. “Bring me to your master. I want a face-to-face. Once I’m delivered, the rest will take care of itself.”

The black-clad men hesitated, caught in a dilemma. Their orders were clear: eliminate Athena and retrieve the pawn ticket. But with Michael blocking their way at every turn and involving the Osborne family in this, a severe punishment awaited them.

Athena’s words set their minds racing.

The black-clad men exchanged glances, then gave slight nods in unison.

At this sight, Athena let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“You’d better not try any tricks,” one of the black-clad men warned Athena. They knew returning empty-handed would mean facing severe punishment.

Athena nodded and shot them a mocking look. “You’re not scared of a defenseless little woman like me, are you?”

Athena jerked her chin at Jessa. “Give her the antidote.”

Despite being clearly at a disadvantage, Athena showed not a trace of the fear or submission expected from a captive. Defiantly, she even started barking orders at the black-clad men.

The black-clad men seethed with anger but had no choice but to comply. After all, they wanted to stay alive too.

The antidote took effect as Jessa swallowed it. Her mind gradually cleared, though her limbs remained weak.

Seeing the poison had cleared, Athena urged, “Go now!”

Jessa hesitated briefly, but after seeing the determined look in Athena’s eyes, she gave a reluctant nod. Clutching her injured arm, she staggered away.

The actions of Athena and Jessa left the black-clad men thoroughly perplexed. As they followed the pair, the black-clad men noticed something odd: Athena and Jessa didn’t act like a typical lady and her maid. If anything, they seemed more like sisters. But when real danger hit, that sisterly bond shattered in a heartbeat. Each one left the other behind without hesitation.

“So much for that sisterly bond,” one of the black-clad men said, scoffing. “She left her behind without a second thought.”

He had almost bought their little act, until it fell apart so easily.

Then, Athena, blindfolded with her hands bound, was forced to follow behind them.

After hearing the black-clad man’s words, a faint smirk played on Athena’s lips. “So, killing her would be useless, right?”

The black-clad men vaguely sensed something was off, but they couldn’t put their finger on it.

Looking at Athena’s pitiful state, the man sneered to himself. This delicate thing, I could snap her neck with one hand. As if she could ever escape.

However, suddenly, Athena cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground. Her fine dress was caked with mud, staining the delicate slippers and stockings.

Athena hit the dirt, grime smudging her face. But even then, she didn’t look broken. There was something raw and wild in her, something beautiful in its defiance.

The black-clad men looked at her with utter contempt, as if she were nothing more than a small insect.

One of the black-clad men barked at Athena, “Get up! Nobody’s gonna help you here, quit acting like some spoiled princess!”

Athena’s face twisted in pain. “I think I’ve sprained my ankle. I can’t get up.”

“What a nuisance,” another black-clad man grumbled, stepping forward to roughly haul Athena to her feet, then immediately let go and turned away, ignoring her.

With her hands bound and eyes blindfolded, Athena could only shuffle forward at a painfully slow pace. An hour later, they were still trudging through the mountains.

As the sun began to sink, one of the black-clad men grew visibly impatient. “At this rate, we’re moving way too slow!”

After days of relentless pursuit, the black-clad men were running on fumes. Seething with pent-up frustration, they now glared at Athena with undisguised malice. If it weren’t for this dead weight of a woman, they wouldn’t have to go through all this hell.

After a brief discussion, the group finally decided to find a sheltered spot to rest for a while. Soon, they found a cave at the foot of the mountain. The inside was relatively dry, with some straw scattered around.

A campfire crackled to life, its warm glow chasing away the lingering chill that clung to them. Before long, a black-clad man strode in.

With a smug grin, he flung a chicken at Athena’s feet. “Get to work, clean this up and cook it for us!”

Athena looked up at him in astonishment. “Me?”

“What? You think we’re here to wait on you?” the black-clad man snorted, his eyes flashing with menace.

Athena bit down hard on her lip, swallowing the deep humiliation as she forced herself to endure in silence. Then, Athena grabbed the wild chicken and limped to the cave entrance, where she began to clean it.

The black-clad men watched the scene unfold, sneers twisting their lips. Viscountess or not, now she was just their little bitch to order around.

Athena chose to ignore their hostile stares. She focused intently on roasting the wild chicken, and soon the cave was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of sizzling meat. The chicken skin glistened with a perfect golden crisp, its fat dripping onto the fire and sending up tiny flares that hissed and popped.

“Gimme that!” The black-clad man’s mouth watered with impatience as he roughly snatched the roasted chicken from Athena’s hand.

Just as the group crowded around eager to tear into the roasted chicken, one man suddenly paused, his hand frozen in midair. He tossed a pitiful chicken wing at Athena and said, “You eat first.”

So they don’t trust me, Athena realized with a wry smile.

She quickly accepted the chicken wing and nibbled at it. After finishing it, Athena still eyed the roasted chicken longingly, as if hoping they might let her have just a little more.

But the black-clad men wouldn’t spare her another bite. They wolfed down the roasted chicken, stuffing their faces without a shred of decency.

Meanwhile, Athena sat off to the side, tending to her injured ankle. Her ankle was grotesquely swollen, flushed an angry red. Even the slightest touch sent searing, bone-deep pain shooting through her.

Athena tore a strip of fabric from the hem of her skirt and wrapped it tightly around her swollen ankle. A subtle lift of her skirt revealed an ankle, as smooth and flawless as it could be.

Upon seeing this, the black-clad men exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with a lecherous glint.

One of the black-clad men nudged his companion and whispered, “Look.” She swallowed hard. The man’s gaze locked onto Athena, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

None of them had ever seen such peerless beauty.

The black-clad men exchanged knowing glances, and the one who looked like their leader gave a low, dismissive snort. The rest of them drew back, but their eyes stayed glued to her, barely able to hide their eager anticipation.

One of the men said with a leering grin, “Boss, the lads are all worn out. We’ve had our share of women, but none of us have ever had a Viscountess before.”

The leader sneered, “If anyone’s tasting the Viscountess, it’s going to be me first!”

The rest of the men broke into lewd, knowing chuckles at his words.

The group’s leader loomed over Athena, expecting to see her delicate features twist in terror, hear her break into hysterical sobs, and watch her grovel pathetically for mercy.

Yet, to his surprise, Athena remained entirely focused on tending to her injured ankle, not even sparing him a glance.

“Still a tough nut to crack, huh? I love breaking tough ones like you,” he sneered, reaching out to grab Athena’s wrist.

The moment that man bent down, a sudden, searing pain exploded in his chest. Suddenly, something sharp pierced through his chest like lightning. As realization dawned on him, his eyes widened in sheer horror. Then, a metallic taste welled up in the man’s throat as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

From behind, one of his men screamed. “She’s armed! She killed our leader! Kill her, kill her now!”

The remaining black-clad men all charged at Athena.