Nathan for his part, who hadn't looked away from his fiancée's eloquent face since the moment she laid eyes on the newcomer whose identity had just been confirmed by the emotions on display, chose to speak up.
"It's him, Crystal, it's the real Nicky."
Crystal didn't even need to speak to affirm it, so much her whole being shouted the truth to her.
"I see."
Hearing the name, Nicky tensed, then slowly turned to face the young woman. Whether he had been aware of her presence all along, she didn't know, but one thing was certain: he could no longer ignore her because of the intervention of his former love's new love.
The impact of their eyes meeting was such that Crystal thought she would faint, but she didn't. She hadn't fainted, she will not. She hadn't fainted despite all the emotions his presence and eyes had provoked in her, just as she hadn't died of grief when they parted seven years ago, despite all the misery this separation had brought her.
But everything was about to be turned upside down again when, without calling out to anyone, five people, armed to the teeth, rushed noiselessly into the reception room and set them all at loggerheads. Five people dressed in the uniforms of sanitary agents fighting pests. No one could have imagined controlling them, not to mention the fact that false papers and front tools were readily available.
Everyone seemed to be still too shocked by this unexpected and terrible intrusion to realize at first what was happening, but when they all seemed to realize the full gravity of the situation, its almost mortal danger, they panicked and wanted to leave the room, but this was without counting the criminals who had invaded and were now making them their hostages. Barbara, as was probably to be expected, had to behave as she really was, screaming hysterically and hiding behind the others.
The one who clearly was the boss as he stood out from the group by his aura and malice reached out and closed his fingers over Nathan's mother-in-law's face, and warned her in a voice that was soft but even more terrifying than if he'd been screaming.
"I'm only going to tell you this once and only once, if I ever hear another sound come out of your repulsive witchy maw, I'm going to rip your jaw off, and you'll never utter another scream for the rest of your life. Understood."
Barbara Bowen nodded, her whole body sweating. When the chief finally removed his hand, pushing the woman back against her husband, she was so shaken she looked like she'd been through a crusher.
It didn't take long for the criminals to round up all their hostages and take them to a wall, where they sat on the floor.
The leader then explained that the only way they could escape alive was to follow his orders to the letter.
And to make the situation clear to everyone, he raised his gun and shot Ronnie in the stomach, who cried out in pain and collapsed against Leonie, who in turn cried out as she caught him in her arms.
"My darling!"
Barbara, of course, didn't let this opportunity pass, screaming hysterically again before stopping just as quickly under the threatening, murderous gaze of their jailers.
Crystal for her part, unlike all the others, turned towards her twin who, seated at the far end of the group next to her friend Karl, to her great astonishment, watched the scene with fixed eyes that somehow terrified her even more than the hostage-takers combined.
As she sat quietly in her fiancé's arms, she felt ashamed, frighteningly ashamed of herself for thinking that she was glad it wasn't Nicky that this dastardly being had chosen to shoot.
It was in situations like this that people's true nature was revealed, both to themselves and to the rest of the world.
She recognized without artifice that, in a way, she was just as bad as these people who were stealing their freedom.
"What do you want?"
The leader, a taller-than-average, strongly built man, gave Uncle Karl a long hard look, and he bravely withstood the terrifying stare, before laughing, followed by his men.
"You hear that, boys? Our friend the billionaire is asking us what we want. How funny."
Their laughter redoubled.
"Why don't you answer him?
"I want a magic pony that can spit gold.
"Me, I want a tree that doesn't grow leaves, but banknotes."
"And I want a harem of a thousand women! Including this one!" he pointed at Crystal.
"Wow!" said his comrades, leering at the young woman like hungry beasts.
The young victim snuggled up tighter to Nathan, who held her close, yet was as powerless as she was to fight off their attackers.
"Boss, can I..."
"When it's all over, yes, you can have this one!"
This time, Crystal really thought she was going to faint, a feeling of deep disgust the likes of which she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy invaded her mouth, her whole being, so what if this filthy, repulsive being was going to kidnap her and...She closed her eyes to push her dark thoughts as far away as possible.
Then she turned once more to Nicky, who continued to wear that strange expression that made her shudder.
The chief turned to one of his henchmen and ordered him to guard the entrance, before addressing his hostages again.
"Here's what we're going to do. Two men will pass in front of you. To the first, you'll hand over your phone, if it's not with you, you'll tell me, and then you'll pick it up gently from where you left it, there being eleven of you, the phone we pick up must have the same number."
Otherwise, you won't get out of here in one piece. The message was clear.
"As for the second man, he'll come along and collect any valuables you have on you. I'm sure you won't try anything stupid or cheat of any kind."
Otherwise, you'll be dead. This message, too, was very clear.
The phones were deposited in a cardboard box. The second man was about to pass while the hostages prepared the expensive items they had on them when the unexpected rescue occurred. Nicky removed his glasses and placed them beside him, then pulled a silenced weapon from behind his back and fired at the four criminals with incredible, deadly accuracy.
Crystal and the others watched as men were killed before their very eyes. Their blood now flowed from their fatal wounds and glowed red on the wooden floor. Barbara as usual screamed hysterically, which alerted the lookout at the entrance. Nicky wasted no time. He got up and ran to the door. No sooner did he show his arm than Nicky arrived and hit the door with a violent kick that must have shattered his bones, then pulled him back with that damaged arm and shot him in the head.
It should have ended there, but the boss was tougher than they'd expected, and although he was wounded in the head, it wasn't as bad as it looked; he was dexterous enough to dodge Nicky's bullet and not die.
Then he stood up, gun in hand, and pointed it at Nicky.
"Nicky!" cried Crystal, Karl and Leonie together.
But he had already turned around to see that his enemy was alive and about to kill him.
He used the body of the henchman he'd just killed to shield himself from the bullets of his adversary, who, while continuing to shoot, took advantage of the fact that he was momentarily blinded by this body, and prevented himself from shooting so as not to injure the hostages, to rush at Nicky and take him by the arm. He wanted to shoot Nicky in the head, as Nicky had shot his men, but he couldn't, because his opponent was, like him, an incredible fighter. So began a fierce struggle of fists and feet. The chief managed to grab Nicky by the waist and squeeze him to the point of crushing his bones and organs. Nicky fought back, climbing on top of his enemy and slamming his elbow into a head full of obscure ideas. The latter howled in pain as he tried to tighten his grip, then saw a sharp candlestick on the wall in front of him and had the idea of impaling his formidable adversary on it. Sensing a fatal idea, Nicky turned and saw the candlestick too, and immediately understood the leader's plan, who was already running with him still clutched in his arms towards the candlestick. Nicky struggled to his feet, then having an idea of his own, raised the head of the chief and struck his fist with all his might at the neck of his enemy, who was struck by the blow and immediately let go to put his hand to his stunned throat. Nicky tried to use his advantage to hit the criminal in the head again, but the latter, not letting up, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him away. Nicky landed hard on the ground, knocking the cake table to the ground. The cake had been doomed all along, one way or another.