Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 398

"Cecilia, fancy some late night grub? It's on me."

Cecilia, not missing a step, continued to stride towards his car, responding, "After all the snacks I've had at the theater, I don't think I can stomach another bite." Owen fell silent for a moment. He'd slipped up by providing too many treats.

"Guess it's late. Let's head home."

Cecilia stood by his car, looking back at him.

"Alright."

Owen approached, unlocking the car, courteously opening the door for her. Once she was in, he shut the door, circled around the car and got in himself.

Glancing at her for a moment, he asked, "Did you enjoy the movie tonight?"

"It would've been better if you hadn't been all over me."

Owen looked genuinely apologetic. "I was really scared, didn't expect the movie to be that terrifying."

Cecilia scoffed inwardly: Yeah, right. You're such a bad boy!

"Next time, let's watch something different."

No more horror movies. Something romantic, something sweet.

Cecilia didn't respond.

Owen started the car, driving her home.

As they approached her home, a narrow lane, Cecilia asked him to stop.

"It's too narrow for you to turn around easily. Just drop me off here, I can walk the rest of the way."

Owen peered down the dimly lit alley, faintly lit by a few street lamps. His eyes flickered with worry, "It's late, don't you think it's dangerous for you to walk alone? What if you run into a drunkard or a pervert?" Cecilia had already exited the car.

"People who live here are all old friends. We've known each other for decades. There's no danger."

"You should head home, goodnight."

Cecilia waved him goodnight and disappeared into the alley under his watchful gaze.

Owen got out of the car and followed silently.

Cecilia noticed but didn't comment. She even gave him a few points in her mind.

Ever since he'd left Ruby, his positive attributes seemed to be increasing.

In truth, he'd always had many positive traits but they had all been directed towards Ruby.

Old neighborhoods like this one, even with streetlights, were dimly lit. Some of the lights were even broken, no one had bothered to replace them.

The areas without light were particularly dark.

As Cecilia walked into the darkest part of the lane, she suddenly noticed a shadow darting towards her.

The shadow was coming at her and instinctively, she dodged the glinting object in its hand.

It was a knife!

"A robbery."

She heard a low voice.

Immediately, the figure lunged at her again.

Cecilia didn't think twice, she shot her foot out to kick the robber, but he swung the knife at her leg. "Cecilia, watch out!"

Owen, who had been following behind, rushed forward.

His shout distracted the robber, causing him to miss Cecilia's leg, giving her the chance to pull back.

Suddenly, another shadow darted out, revealing a second robber.

Two robbers, both with weapons.

"Cecilia."

Owen rushed forward, standing in front of Cecilia. As the robbers lunged at them with their knives, he sprung into action, effortlessly repelling them. In the scuffle, he was nicked by one of the robber's blades. He bit back the pain, disarming the robbers before they could react. Realizing they were outmatched, the robbers fled into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

Owen made to follow them but was stopped by Cecilia.

"Don't chase after them, it's too dark. If they have other accomplices, you might fall into a trap."

Owing to the darkness, Cecilia hadn't noticed Owen's injury.

All she saw was Owen's exceptional combat skills. He'd disarmed the robbers and chased them off in no time. Without Owen, she would've been able to fend them off but it would've been much more difficult.

"I swear your mouth is cursed. I've been walking this path at night for years and nothing's ever happened. But the moment you mention danger, I get mugged."

Cecilia grumbled, retrieving her phone and using the flashlight to locate the discarded blades.

She moved closer, picking up the two knives, only to realize that one was a toy.

She sighed.

Yet, in such a situation, who could've told the difference?

There seemed to be blood on the real knife.

Cecilia shone her flashlight on it, even touching the blade. It was indeed blood.

She tossed the knife away, quickly spinning around and rushing back to Owen. "Are you hurt? Where?"

She scanned him with her flashlight, the beam landing on his right arm where a wound was bleeding.

"It's nothing, just a scratch from their knife. It's a superficial wound."

"Let's go to my place first. I have some first aid supplies. Once we've stopped the bleeding, we can head to the hospital." Cecilia tugged him along.

Fortunately, her home was nearby.

They quickly arrived at the Yates' residence.

The Yates were already asleep.

Cecilia found the family's first aid kit, using the disinfectant, hemostatic agent, and bandage to treat his wound.

"Cecilia, what's going on?"

Devon, who'd been sleeping lightly, woke up at the noise. He came out of his room to replace his granddaughter treating Owen's wound. He walked over, concern evident in his voice. "Owen, who did you get into a fight with at this hour?"

"Grandpa, I was attacked by robbers. Mr. Martinez helped me fend them off but he got a little hurt in the process. I've performed some basic first aid but we need to go to the hospital." As she explained, Cecilia got up to fetch her brother's car keys.

"Cecilia, use my car."

Owen reminded her.

His car was still parked outside.

Hearing about the robbery, Devon asked anxiously, "Cecilia, are you alright? Were you robbed? How did this happen?"

"I'm fine. Several of the streetlights are broken and no one's replaced them. It's quite dark, so it's not surprising that it would attract criminals."

Cecilia hadn't given it much thought.

Owen was feeling a little guilty.

He'd orchestrated the whole thing in an attempt to play the hero and change the Yates family's perception of him.

If Cecilia ever found out...

No!

He'd rather drop dead than spill the beans, unless his enemy blew his cover.

Stefan, he wouldn't, would he?

Owen was a tad unsure. He figured he'd have to catch up with Stefan when he had a moment, make him swear to secrecy.

Sigh, having an enemy who knew him inside out was a real pain in the neck.

But then, a thought struck Owen and he eased up. The very person who dished out his dirty tricks was Stefan.

If Stefan dared to spill the beans, he'd run to Lucinda and tattle. It would be a lose-lose situation. Humph!