By the time she woke up, Tony had already arrived outside her apartment.
The moment she opened her eyes, which were still bleary with sleep, she was immediately cradled in his firm embrace once more as he carried her into the building.
His arms were like a warm cage containing her scent. She was fully awake now and she clung onto the front of his shirt as she quietly buried her face into his chest, breathing in and growing attached to his familiar scent.
Tony tightened his grip on her as they made their way through the green boulevard and toward the apartment lobby. They then ran into an anxious Estelle, who had been waiting outside the building.
Estelle had been feeling uneasy ever since she saw Kris earlier that afternoon. After she found out that Myra was going to meet up with Thomas for dinner at Zion Club, she had cajoled Shawn into going as well.
When Shawn called Estelle earlier to inform her of what had happened, she had wanted to go up to Kris and give her a good beating.
It did not take a sleuth to figure out that Kris had something to do with all of this.
Estelle was enraged, but she was more concerned about Myra. She dared not think that something terrible could have happened to Myra.
Upon seeing Tony making his way over with Myra in his arms, Estelle half-jogged up to him and asked frantically, “How is she? Is she okay? Was she hurt?”
Tony’s face was grim. Myra, on the other hand, looked up from his arms when she heard Estelle’s voice. She softened when she saw the panic in Estelle’s eyes and said softly, “I’m fine. Tony, Deputy Mayor Hart, and Elliot all arrived in time.”
It was obvious that Estelle had found out about tonight’s tumultuous events.
Meanwhile, she let out a sigh of relief at Myra’s words. Then, she registered Myra’s disheveled appearance—her hair was rumpled and her cheek swollen. She was sure that the girl had been assaulted by that sleaze from the Management Department.
At that thought, Estelle felt the fury rise within her. She rolled up her sleeves like she was about to hit something before she let out a string of abuse as she yelled, “That sleazy piece of trash! How dare he lay his dirty hands on you? If Shawn hadn’t held me back, I would have marched right into Zion Club and beat that creep into a pulp! And this applies to Kris, too! Don’t think I don’t know what that wretched b*tch is planning. She must have given that creep the idea that he could have his way with you! Myra—”
Tony glared at her darkly and she trailed off. She pursed her lips and let her words die on her tongue as she registered the icy look in his eyes.
After hearing the part where Estelle had mentioned Kris’ involvement in the whole thing, Myra tightened her grip on Tony’s shirt. The defeated look in her eyes was swiftly replaced by a grim one and she asked slowly, “Was Kris behind this?”
Estelle hesitated. She saw Tony’s brows drawing closer together, but she nodded anyway and told Myra about her encounter with Kris at the City Hall earlier that day.
Upon hearing Estelle’s explanation, Myra clenched her fist, bunching the front of Tony’s shirt in her grip. Her knuckles turned white as the anger and hatred rose within her.
She had thought that something was off about the entire thing. Cameron was far brainy to discuss anything about her with the likes of Thomas. After all, Tony had only just told Cameron about their relationship—Cameron would have to wait until the former had broken up with her before he could even try to set her up with Thomas. She knew Cameron well enough to understand that everything he did was calculated.
However, things were making sense now that Kris was added into the equation.
It was no wonder that Kris had wanted to take the same elevator that Myra did. Her words of encouragement were nothing more than a snide forewarning and she had said them with the confidence that Thomas would ruin Myra’s reputation.
She gritted her teeth as she remembered what had happened to her mother. Following his advances on her, she had felt a piercing anger that radiated within her and it only deepened as she thought about how Kris and her mother were parading around in Stark Group.
Myra loathed herself for being powerless to cast Kris and her mother out of the Stark Family; for failing to come to her own mother’s defense and prevent her tragic death; and for being so careless even after returning to the Stark Group that Kris’ schemes could get the better of her.
Just as Myra was drowning in rage, she felt Tony’s arms tighten around her, cutting off her breath. He loosened his grip just as quickly, but the warmth of his embrace lingered on her skin nonetheless.
She looked up and locked eyes with him. She saw the worry in his dark gaze and the erratic beating of her heart slowed to a steady rhythm.
Knowing that both Tony and Estelle were worried about her, she took a deep breath and said hoarsely, “I’m okay.”
“Myra—” Estelle was about to say something, but Tony interrupted by turning, obscuring Myra from view as he headed determinedly toward the apartment elevators.
“Hey! I’m not done speaking!” Estelle cried out as she made to follow him, but when she saw the cold silhouette of his back, she sighed. Fine then, I’ll just let him do all the comforting tonight.
She turned to leave, but the moment she thought about the Elsinore Garden Project of which Myra was in charge, she gritted her teeth. She resisted the urge to stomp her foot. I’m going to get Shawn to do something about this!
Meanwhile, Tony carried Myra into the elevator and under his gaze, she reached out to press the button designated for her floor.
However, as she did so, his gaze flickered to her arm and storm clouds began to gather dangerously in his eyes.
It did not take long for them to arrive at Myra’s apartment. He carried her into the bedroom, then left and returned with a first-aid kit in hand.
She stiffened when she saw the first-aid kit and it was not until after Tony drew her arm toward him that she remembered the wound she had inflicted upon herself. While the bleeding had stopped, the cut had crusted with dried blood and it looked all the more garish against the pale skin of her arm.
He did not say anything as he took out the antiseptic to clean her wound. He had probably never done something like this before; there was something careful and gentle in the way he tended to her wound. She even hissed at the sting of the antiseptic.
Tony glared at her, all the tenderness gone from his eyes. He grew infuriated at the sight of her injuries and his tone was clipped and icy as he snapped, “So, you’re not completely immune to pain, after all.”
Myra understood how he felt. She had been the one who insisted on keeping their relationship under wraps. If they had gone public, then no one would dare to lay a finger on her like how Thomas did, lest they had a death wish. She was also acutely aware that if Tony and the others had not figured out something was wrong—that if they hadn’t been at Zion Club in the first place—then things could have ended on a worse note tonight.
Her other hand slowly reached out to grasp his, but she retracted when he shot her a cold look. She muttered, “I didn’t think that Kris would do something like this.”
Myra pondered on this. Kris knew about her relationship with Tony, yet she went on with her plan anyway. She must have thought that my feelings for Tony are shallow enough to play to her advantage. It’s either that or she truly believes she could emerge victorious out of this.
Myra had never thought of herself as a saint, but she held back from plotting against Kris after returning to the Stark Group. After all, the time she had spent in the company was hardly long enough for her to build her network, so she could not possibly cause a scene and strike against Kris. Her capabilities were also extremely limited for her to expand and she could not shoulder all the responsibilities that came with the company—at least not yet.
