The Dark Inheritance

Chapter 8

“You damn b***h!” Owen growled. “You dare...”

Everything just happened in a flash and Serah couldn’t react fast enough. One second she was still glaring at Owen and the next, she felt her back hitting a tree bark and Owen’s murderous eyes filled her vision. His hands were wrapped around her throat, choking the life out of her.

“I’ll f*****g kill you for this!” Owen roared. His handsome face seemed to have morphed into that of an evil monster as he glowered down at her.

With all her air cut off, the only thing she could do was scratch at the hands holding her in a death grip. The guy, however, refused to budge, his intent seeming to end her life right now.

“Stop it!” She vaguely heard another guy shouting. Shortly after, the pressure keeping her pinned to the bark suddenly left her and she fell in a kneeling position on the ground, gasping for breath.

She lifted her eyelids, noticing that a dark-haired guy now stood in front of her, holding off a mad Owen, who seemed hell-bent on getting to her. The dark-haired guy currently had his back to her, so she couldn’t make out his face.

“Don’t you interfere in this, Gareth!” Owen hollered trying his best to step around him. “This girl humiliated me and I need to teach her a lesson!”

Gareth he said? The name sounded familiar to Serah but she couldn’t place it in her disoriented state.

“I watched the whole exchange and you’re the one who was out of line here!” Gareth firmly retorted.

“What the hell is your problem with this?” Owen retorted back, shoving at his shoulders. “Since when have you bothered defending whoever I choose to target?”

“Well I feel like interfering this time, so you’d better step back.” Was Gareth’s stern reply.

“What? You want this girl for yourself?” Owen sneered. “Well you can have at her corpse once I’m done with her!”

“As if I’d let you.” Gareth snarled back. The two guys then started grappling against each other.

Serah was in a shocked stupor as she gaped at the scene playing out in front of her. She didn’t know who that Gareth was or why he chose to help her, but she was grateful to him. If it wasn’t for his interference, Owen would have killed her for sure.

“Am I seeing things right?” One of the students surrounding them said. “Gareth and Owen Valentine are fighting over the new girl?”

“But how can that be?” Another one exclaimed. “They usually aren’t interested in any of the girls here. Not to mention they’re the school idols and it’s normally the girls who are begging for their attention.”

Serah’s eyes widened in realization. So the dark-haired dude was the all-popular Gareth Valentine. But this knowledge just made the current situation seem more strange! Why would Gareth go out of his way to protect her? Still she didn’t feel like sticking around to find out. She’ll find an opportunity to thank Gareth later, but for now she wanted out of this awkward situation. She got to her feet, but darting her gaze around, she realized they were surrounded by a crowd of students on all sides. There wasn’t even a small space for her to sneak out through.

“What are you guys waiting for?” Owen hollered to the guys who had followed him here. “Help me out with him!”

The guys merely shuffled on their feet, their eyes wary as they glanced at Gareth. 

“You damn traitors!” Owen roared.

Gareth took advantage of Owen’s distraction to shove him back with so much strength that he almost lost his footing.

“Careful Owen!” He intoned. “Remember that I know a bunch of stuff about you which can get you into a heap of trouble. If you don’t want it all to be revealed, then you’d better back down!”

Owen, who seemed about to strike, hesitated at this. 

Gareth nonchalantly spun on his heels to face Serah, giving her a first sighting of his face. As expected, all his features were refined and alluring. Especially his kind but magnetic hazel eyes. He gave her a warm smile which further highlighted his handsome face. 

“Sorry about this.” He said, stepping closer to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She mumbled awkwardly. “Thanks for your help.”

“Don’t mention it.” He grinned. “And you don’t need to worry about this guy anymore.” He waved dismissively towards Owen. “He won’t dare hurt you ever again.”

“As if!” Owen grumbled, stepping forward towards Serah. “After what she did, I won’t let her get away!”

Gareth blocked his path. “Then you don’t care if I reveal your secrets?”

“Try it and I’ll make you regret it.” Owen warned.

He lifted an eyebrow in amusement. “And how will you do that?”

Owen ignored him, turning to address Serah. “Girl! If you do not want a fate worse than death, then you’d better follow me right now.” He extended a hand towards Serah, but she wasn’t foolish enough to give in at this point. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Another furious voice suddenly boomed out, cutting off her retort. He sounded familiar and when she turned, she was shocked to see Asher briskly approaching them, his expression dark with anger. 

He walked right up to them, then, to Serah’s indignation, he grabbed her elbow and unceremoniously pulled her behind him. She wanted to confront him about manhandling her in this way, but decided she’d wait until they had fewer spectators.

“You guys are still going around stirring trouble.” He sneered at Gareth and Owen. 

“Where’s your problem in that?” Owen growled. “I have unsettled business with that girl so hand her over.”

Serah’s hands tightened into fists, her fury spiking. Damn those guys for considering her as an object to be passed around. Asher, who had kept a firm grip on her elbow, tightened his hold.

“This girl is under my family’s protection, so you’d better stay away from her.” He warned.

Owen scoffed. “Like I give a damn about that!”

Gareth’s expression remained neutral as he kept glancing between Serah and Asher.

“If I catch you trying to approach her again, then be prepared to face my wrath!” Asher coldly intoned. “I won’t bother saying more.”

With those words, he spun on his heels and marched off, dragging Serah along with him. All the students were staring at them in wide-eyed shock. She herself felt the same way. She even tried blinking to make sure everything that just happened wasn’t her hallucination. But the warm hand wrapped around her elbow, which made her heart rate pick up, felt very real. Just how could she have gotten herself in such a surreal situation? With the three most popular guys at school no less!