You Hit My Heart by Kylie Stanford

Chapter 2064: The Beginning of Internal Strife Luther heard the noise coming from the stairs. He recognized Joyce's footsteps, and his previously suppressed heart suddenly began to race. Not wanting to cause any commotion outside, he waited patiently. She had told him to wait for her, so he kept waiting.

As soon as Joyce opened the door, her wrist was firmly grasped, and in the next second, she was pulled into a familiar embrace. The familiar scent, the comforting feeling, the warm body temperature-everything she had longed for day and night was right there. She knew it was him.

As she fell into his arms, the door behind them closed with a click. At that moment, the string in Joyce's heart seemed to snap. She couldn't help but cry softly, her hands pressed against his chest.

"I missed you so much." Luther held her tightly, his arms wrapping around her more and more. Even then, it felt unreal to him. He was really holding her; it wasn't a dream.

"Joyce, is it really you? Is it really you?" He repeatedly asked for confirmation, wanting a definite answer.

Joyce nodded vigorously in his embrace. "It's me. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I should have listened to you. Grayson, he..." Her self-reproach was interrupted by his passionate kiss.

The kiss was long and urgent but filled with warmth and longing. He kissed her deeply until he could be sure that she was indeed in his arms at that moment, being kissed by him. Only then did his frantic heartbeat gradually calm down as he slowly released her. Initially pressing her against the door, he now picked her up and carried her to the sofa. They embraced each other tightly. His lips lingered on her cheeks as he spoke in a low, magnetic voice, "Do you know how worried I was? Thank goodness you're okay. Thank goodness I came." Joyce panted lightly. "I didn't finish what I was saying earlier. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have saved Grayson. I never thought he was the crown prince. I brought a wolf into our hbecause of my overconfidence. Even though I sensed danger, I wanted to investigate further, thinking I could handle it. But I didn't expect..." Luther placed his long finger on her lips. "Don't say that; it will makefeel even more guilty. It's not your fault. If we must assign blame, it's all my fault. Without Athena, Clint wouldn't have known about you or targeted you. The fault lies withfor letting my guard down after the wedding, giving him an opportunity." Joyce nestled in his arms, feeling somewhat relieved. "Alright then, let's not bleach other." Luther kissed her forehead gently. "What happened during this time? Can you tell me?" Joyce nodded and recounted everything that had happened since she woke up in East Palace, except for the dark magic part.

As Luther listened, he frowned and supplemented information about South Island's structure and its history as a former military base of Rohomes. He told Joyce everything he knew. Unexpectedly, Clint had developed special feelings for Joyce and was so persistent about it that Luther couldn't help but clench his fists.

After hearing everything, Joyce furrowed her brows even more deeply. "Clint is harder to deal with than any opponent we've faced before. Now it's just the two of us here, isolated and without support. What should we do next?" At that moment.

Luther suddenly pressed a remote control button and turned off the lights.

Joyce looked at him warily. "What's wrong?" "There's movement on the road outside; it's early morning now, so office lights shouldn't be on at this hour. If someone comes up to check, do you have any identification?" Luther asked.

Joyce shook her head; she had been brought here by Clint and couldn't possibly have any identification documents.

Only now did she realize this serious problem-without identification documents, how could she leave the country? "How did you get here?" Joyce asked.

"I took a regular flight under a false identity." Luther picked up a backpack from beside him and took out two sets of documents from it. "I brought your identification documents along with a set of fake ones just in case." "Impressive," Joyce praised Luther with admiration in her eyes. "You could change careers; maybe Karl can find you a position." Luther knocked lightly on Joyce's forehead. "Still in the mood for jokes? The important thing now is how we leave Rohomes." Just then, there was a heavy rumbling sound as an armored vehicle rolled down the road, shaking the entire building. Joyce's eyes darkened. "On my way here, I saw the Yoshikawa family deploying armored vehicles; I suspect the emperor has passed away." "He didn't leave the throne to Clint?" Luther frowned and continued.

Very likely not," Joyce analyzed houghtfully Before I sneaked out, Clint's expression was very unusual From what I've observed over these lays, the calmer he appears on the surface, the more turbulent things re underneath. If he were to inherit he throne, it wouldn't be like this." "So it's most likely that the emperor passed the throne to Reuben?" "No wonder we haven't been able to reach Reuben." Luther got up from the sofa and walked towards the window to take a look outside; clearly, military control had been established on the streets.

"The Yoshikawa family has always held military power; although the Tanaka family also has sinfluence, we as outsiders have no idea how they internally maneuver their forces." Luther took a deep breath and continued solemnly in the dark room.

"We have no choice but to face reality." "The internal strife has begun." Joyce's heart tightened instantly. "Fortunately you made Kane leave earlier; once internal strife starts and borders are sealed off, all airports and exit routes will be closed too. It seems impossible for us to leave through normal channels now." "When I arrived here it was already difficult to enter; now leaving is certainly out of question." Luther sat back on the sofa and pulled Joyce into his arms again. "Eastern Capital is vast, no one will know about this place we're in right now-so we are safe here for now." Joyce nodded.

Luther took out his phone and tried searching for information as well as making phone calls.

Moments later his voice turned cold: "Not only can we not leave now but all external communications have also been cut off-all international calls can't go through properly anymore-and even inteaccess is restricted-they acted fast." "Are they going to war?" Joyce had never experienced war before.

"Yes," Luther rubbed his temples while holding Joyce tighter: "But don't worry-as long as we're together-it doesn't matter what happens-we'll watch things unfold-I know people here too-we'll take one step at a time." Joyce bit her lip-she still had dark magic within her-it wasn't something that could be solved by hiding somewhere waiting for an opportunity- "I..." She hesitated- "What's wrong?" Sensing something amiss-he asked concernedly- Joyce knew she had no choice but to speak out- Just then-a sudden sharp pain surged through her body-so intense that she couldn't help but curl up in Luther's arms- "What's happening?" Luther grew even more anxious-not knowing what was wrong with Joyce- Joyce realized-it must be Clint discovering she was missing-and using dark magic to inflict pain upon her-as a warning-