The afternoon sky was beginning to glow golden when your soft voice came over the phone.

"My dear husband, I've told you over and over again that I'm fine. Gosh, I'm so tired of your constant questions~"* you said with a soft chuckle, rubbing your now perfectly bulging belly—eight months of love and the life you've created together.

On the other end, Elros sighed heavily.

"I know... I just have a bad feeling, honey."* His voice was soft, but there was a hint of anxiety he couldn't hide.

"I'll be landing soon. I want to go home. I want to see you. See that sweet little one..."*

"Hmm~ and I can't wait to see what gift you bought me,"* you replied with a teasing chuckle, trying to calm your paranoid husband.

"You care more about that gift than your beloved husband? My heart aches so much~"* Elros replied teasingly, though the tension in his heart still simmered.

But suddenly, the atmosphere changed.

Your call abruptly ended.

Elros stared at his phone screen, his breath coming in short gasps.

"The CCTV is down... all of it?" he muttered as he remotely checked his security system. Everything was dark. Silence. Too silent.

Without thinking, he left his assistant at the airport, refused an escort, refused a driver. He drove himself—and fast.

It took him only twenty-two minutes to complete a journey that usually took forty-five minutes. Tires screeched around the bends, but Elros didn't care.

When he arrived, he forced open the automatic gate—then smelled something that made his blood run cold.

Blood.

The familiar scent of iron. Too familiar.

With one kick, your door swung open.

And there you were, your body sprawled on the floor, in a pool of warm, red water.

You were still alive—but only barely. Your breath was ragged, your hands weakly covering the stabbing pain in your stomach. Your eyes still searched for the figure you had always longed for.

"Elros..." you whispered softly.

Elros's world collapsed.

Before him, on the living room sofa, now stained with blood, sat a man in a luxurious suit, holding a teacup as if this were just another meal. Around him, several lightly armed men stared at Elros without hesitation.

"Long time no see, Noxmere. Or... should I call you the Phantom Killer?" The man's voice was cold, his grin sharp. "The legendary assassin who disappeared two years ago for love? How sweet."

Elros stood frozen. His head bowed... his shoulders trembled...

But not out of fear.

Out of anger.

Because the murderous desire he had buried deep within him had reawakened.

Elros's gaze was sharp, no longer that of a loving husband—but rather like a legend who once sent shivers down the spines of the underworld.

"You touched what's mine," he hissed coldly.

And in an instant... the house had become a killing field.

With such speed, precision, and brutality that his enemies forgot he even existed, Elros Noxmere danced among his enemies—and not a single one made it out alive.

The man on the couch... didn't even have time to finish his tea.

And when it was all over, Elros reached for your frail body, cradling you tightly in his trembling embrace. "Hold on, my love... Hold on for me... for our child..."