“Go on. Untie her. It’s no fun if she’s bound.” James’ words were directed at Liam.

“Understood.” Liam walked toward Tessa.

It was clear that everyone heard their conversation. James had ordered his men to violate her, so they wasted no time making their way to her as they salivated over their prize.

Tessa was lying at the edge of the building, quite a distance away from them.

They were halfway to her when they heard James’ command. So, they all came to a halt and swallowed with anticipation, their eyes eagerly fixed on Tessa. It was clear that they could barely wait for Liam to free her from her bonds.

Tessa shot James a fierce glare. It was as if she wanted nothing more than to have him sliced into pieces just with her gaze alone.

Unfortunately, James, the twisted man that he was, reveled in her hatred. A smile tugged at his lips, and his voice was filled with delight as he said, “Do you hate me?”

Then, he continued, “It’s a real shame that you’re as squishy as an ant. You can’t do anything to me even if you do hate me. God, I do love it when weak prey like you get angry.”

Liam took a few strides forward, yanked Tessa away from the edge of the building, and reached out to untie the ropes binding her.

The second the ropes were undone, Tessa charged at James recklessly.

James was right next to her after Liam dragged her away from the edge. So, there was barely any distance to cover to get to him. In fact, Liam couldn’t even react in time when Tessa charged at James.

Although James’ goons were fixated on her, their minds were clouded by their lewd thoughts. All they could think of was how they could have their way with her.

They had all assumed that Tessa was practically a sitting duck. Therefore, none of them imagined that she would dare to throw hands at James after she was freed.

As a result, no one reacted in time to stop Tessa, allowing her to get close to James.

James reacted swiftly, dodging Tessa’s very much lethal strike.

Then, he immediately retaliated, shouting, “Don’t stop her!”

James’ eyes flickered with excitement as he fell into a frenzied state, shouting at

his subordinates to stay out of it and leave the fight to him.

He had sent his men to monitor Tessa in the past. The videos they sent of her in the past had shown her crying and lamenting her broken romance with Stephen while drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

James had then thought that Tessa was merely a beauty with as much substance as an empty glass. He had assumed that she was a love-addled fool who couldn’t live a

life without a man in her life.

Sure, he knew that Tessa was a lawyer, but that didn’t exactly win her any brownie points from him.

In James’ opinion, Tessa was merely an idiot with nothing but love in her brain.

He couldn’t understand why someone like Stephen would find her appealing.

While she was indeed a gorgeous woman, there were plenty of beautiful women in the world. Why was Stephen so infatuated with this particular one?

Plus, none of his subordinates tasked to capture Tessa had informed him that she possessed fighting skills.

When they dragged her up the building, she looked pale, and her eyes were filled with terror. James naturally concluded that she was no different from those delicate, pampered ladies.

All they had on their minds was love, and the slightest bit of danger was enough to send them whimpering in fear. Honestly, those women and their tears were nothing but annoying.

So, he didn’t expect Tessa to have such courage to charge at him with the full intent to end his life. It was also surprising that she actually had some skills to back up her recklessness.

James had grown up in Arcton with his foster father, who was a gang leader. He had endured training that was beyond what most could possibly withstand.

When James was 12, his foster father had tossed him on a deserted island and forced him to survive in the wilderness as training.

At 16, he was thrown into a gladiatorial arena to fight ferocious beasts to the death.

James gained his first private armed force on the day he was set free of the arena and began to do his father’s dirty work. He clashed with the other gangs, killed countless men, and smuggled all sorts of goods while undergoing military training similar to that of

mercenaries.

By 18, James’ power had grown significantly, so much so that he could rival

Arcton’s local military.