Chapter 610

611
611
The narrow, hard single bed forced them to press close together when they lay down.
Owen struggled to turn over, pulling Aria into his arms. “Madelyn,” he murmured, “this wooden board isn’t very comfortable. How about you just sleep on me instead?”
Aria opened her eyes. “I can’t possibly sleep like that.”
Owen coaxed with a grin, “Just try it.” He rolled over with Aria in his arms, the rickety bed creaking under their weight.
Aria ended up sprawled on top of Owen, the corners of her mouth twitching in silent exasperation.
Owen grinned, ruffling Aria’s hair. “See? Comfy enough?”
Just then, the door suddenly swung open. The landlady appeared in the doorway, holding a mattress pad. “The bed’s too hard, so I brought you some padding…”
The landlady’s eyes widened at their compromising position.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the flustered landlady blurted out. She hastily dropped the pad on the floor, spun around, and shut the door.
The sound of hurried footsteps faded into the distance, echoing in their ears. The room fell into dead silence.
Owen stole a careful glance, only to be met with Aria’s accusing eyes.
“My bad,” Owen said, giving her a sheepish smile. He took her hand and pressed it to his cheek with a grin. “Go ahead, hit me,” he teased.
Aria withdrew her hand. “Don’t push your luck.”
“Will you really punish me if there’s a next time?” Owen teased, flashing a mischievous grin.
Aria shot him a look. “What do you think?”
Owen grinned and said, “Go ahead, hit me now if you want.”
Aria rolled her eyes and teased, “You really love getting hit, don’t you, Owen?”
Owen nodded with a grin. “That’s love.”
Aria was speechless. Owen chuckled and sat up, letting her naturally settle onto his lap. She gave him a long-suffering look.
Owen rubbed his nose sheepishly. “I’ll grab the pad.”
“I’ll go get it. You hold onto the blanket,” Aria said, giving Owen’s cheek a playful pinch before getting up.
Owen rubbed his cheek and grinned.
Aria sighed. ‘I can’t figure this man out anymore. Let him be. Well, I chose him myself, so even if he’s a fool, I guess I’ll just have to put up with it,’ she thought.
With the mattress pad, the bed was much more comfortable to sleep on.
1/2
1:16 pm
611
Outside, the farmer cast a wary glance at their door as he passed by.
The woman lowered her voice and whispered, “Don’t worry. They’re indeed a married couple, just regular travelers passing through.
The man snorted. “Do ordinary tourists really travel to the border? How naive.”
Nervously, the woman pressed. “If you saw through them, why did you still let them stay?”
The man said grimly, “If they’re really from either of those two gangs, turning them away wouldn’t save us…”
He paused, then said in a low voice, “They’re no ordinary folks, but they don’t belong to either of those two gangs.”
The thin cabin walls let Aria and Owen overhear every word of the conversation.
They exchanged a glance, then silently fell asleep.
In the dead of night, a group of figures crept toward the farmhouse.
The farmer’s eyes snapped open. He grabbed the shotgun beside his bed.
The landlady jolted awake, whispering nervously, “What’s happening?”
The man said grimly, “We’ve got company outside, a whole group of them.”
The woman asked nervously, “Did those two travelers bring them here?”
The farmer shook his head. “Not necessarily. You stay put. I’ll go check it out.”
Panicked, the woman fumbled for a dagger, tucked it up her sleeve, and waited, trembling with fear.
A gunshot rang out, shattering the silence. The landlady flinched in fear.
The next second, a masked man kicked the door open, stormed in, yanked her by the arm, and dragged her out of the room. They have guns. She can’t act rashly.
The man of the house had been shot in the shoulder, his blood drenching half his body as his youngest son desperately
clutched the wound.
The granddaughter wailed in terror, while the eldest son and his wife clutched their child, their faces deathly pale.
1:16 pm