The entire room fell silent in tacit agreement.
A moment later, Christan asked in a low voice, "Then how did you manage to escape? Especially with both feet injured?"
Thinking back to what had just happened, the fear in Serena's heart slowly gave way to anger.
She gritted her teeth. "That bastard tried to get close to me, of course I fought back! In that moment, I didn't care about anything-I just grabbed whatever I could and threw it at him! Thank god, a small porcelain bottle hit him right on the forehead. He collapsed, and I took the chance to crawl out."
Even though her tone still carried anger, her expression had calmed considerably.
After she finished, Vega's eyes turned red. She couldn't stop herself from expressing relief. "Oh my god, thank goodness you were lucky and managed to get away! If that scumbag hadn't been hit, I can't even imagine what might've happened!"
"Is he still upstairs?!" Christan asked coldly, his face darkening.
"I don't know!" Serena shook her head. "But I hope he's still unconscious. If he escapes, we won't even know where to find him. I don't even know who he is-we have no history, no connection. He must've been sent by someone. If we want to find out who's behind this, we absolutely can't let him get away!"
Frowning, Christan stood up. "I'm going up to the 36th floor to check!"
"Hey!" Serena quickly called out to stop him. "That guy's freakishly strong-stronger than a regular person! If you go alone, you might not be able to handle him! Don't go-just call security and have them send someone!"
"If we wait for them to arrive, that'll take ten minutes at least. What if he runs during that time?" He turned around and gave Serena a reassuring look. "If he's awake, I won't confront him head-on."
With that, he resolutely turned and left.
Watching him walk away, Serena suddenly felt that Christan wasn't as annoying as she once thought.
36th Floor – Presidential Suite
When Serena had escaped, the door had still been open.
But when Christan arrived, it was already closed.
Standing at the door, he hesitated for a second before raising his hand to knock.
After a long wait with no response, he frowned, instinctively thinking that the attacker had regained consciousness and fled.
He turned toward the elevators and called hotel security to urge them to hurry.
At that moment, Brody, head of the security team, was already on his way with two guards.
Five minutes later, they met Christan outside the elevator on the 36th floor.
"Mr. Ryder!"
Christan gave a slight nod. "The door's shut. I think he's already run."
"Let's check the room and collect evidence from the scene. It'll help in tracking the attacker down," Brody suggested.
"Alright."
With permission, Brody took the lead, using a special security keycard to unlock the door.
With a beep, the door opened. The moment they looked inside, they saw a chaotic mess-items scattered everywhere from Serena's frantic resistance.
In the corner behind the door, there was a small but distinct pool of blood.
Christan's eyes paused on it, quickly trying to recall-
As far as he remembered, Serena didn't have any visible wounds. That blood must belong to the attacker.
Brody and the two guards took photos of the crime scene and collected some of the scattered items as evidence.
A few minutes later, Brody turned to Christan and asked, "Mr. Ryder, should we inform Mr. Blaze about this?"
Christan frowned, hesitated briefly, then said, "We can't keep this from him. He'll find out sooner or later-better to tell him now."
"Alright, I'll report it to him right away."
Brody could already imagine how furious Xavier would be when he found out Serena had been in danger.
As head of security, Brody knew he'd be held responsible for letting a drunk man make it up to the 36th floor.
He wasn't prepared to be chewed out in front of his subordinates, so instead of calling, he just sent a text explaining the situation in brief.
After the message was sent, they started tidying up, preparing to leave the room.
Just as they reached the door, a faint rustling sound echoed through the air-like the sound of someone getting dressed.
Christan was the first to stop, turning his ear toward the sound. He whispered, "Did you hear that?"
Brody and the two guards froze, holding their breath to listen. "It does sound like something... it's coming from the bedroom, right?"
They all turned to look at the tightly shut bedroom door nearby.
"Let's check it out," Christan said, already moving forward.
Brody quickly reminded him, "Mr. Ryder, that guy reportedly drank a lot and was in a crazed state-very strong and dangerous. Please wait here. We'll go check it out first."
But Christan didn't even look back. He kept walking, as if he hadn't heard a word.
Normally, he wouldn't care enough to get involved.
But in his mind, he kept seeing the image of Serena-curled up in the corner of the elevator, clothes torn, teary-eyed and trembling.
His heart was filled with rage. He wanted nothing more than to tear that bastard apart himself.
Standing at the bedroom door, Christan didn't hesitate-he lifted his foot and kicked it open.
The door slammed open. He peeked in first.
With just one glance, he quickly turned his head and stepped back out.
Brody, right behind him, also took a few steps back. "Mr. Ryder? What's wrong? Why did you come back out?"
"Inside..." Christan pressed his lips together, clearly at a loss for words.
"What's inside?!" Brody and the two guards looked at him curiously.
"..." Christan walked to the side and said nothing.
Brody walked into the bedroom. Immediately after, a startled voice rang out from inside the room:
"You... what are you people doing here?!"
***