The crystal projectile whistled through the air. Bella jerked her head to the right, instinct taking over. The ashtray grazed her cheekbone, a stinging line of fire, before smashing into the wall behind her. Shards of crystal rained down on her shoulders.
Bella screamed. Her hands flew up to protect her face, and the silver tray crashed to the floor.
The sound was cataclysmic. Metal hitting wood, china shattering. To Bella, it was loud. To Adonis, it was a nuclear explosion.
He staggered, a raw shriek tearing from his throat as he clawed at his temples. The sound didn't just enrage him; it physically assaulted him. For a moment, he seemed to lose all coordination, stumbling blindly like his strings had been cut.
Bella didn't even have time to turn. Fueled by pure, agonizing instinct, Adonis slammed into her, pinning her against the wall. His hand, large and calloused, wrapped around her throat. He lifted her off the floor.
Bella kicked her legs, her toes scraping against the wall. She clawed at his wrist, but his arm was as unyielding as an iron bar.
"Make it stop," Adonis hissed. His face was inches from hers. His eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with exhaustion and madness. "Why is it so loud? Make it stop!"
Black spots danced in Bella's vision. Her lungs burned. She couldn't breathe. She was going to die here, strangled by a billionaire lunatic in a room that smelled of despair.
Think. Think.
Her right hand flailed, brushing against the pocket of her newly-donned apron. The herbs. The emergency sachet she always carried for her grandfather's anxiety attacks.
Adonis squeezed tighter. Bella's vision tunneled.
With her last ounce of strength, she jammed her hand into her pocket and grabbed the small fabric pouch. She didn't try to pull it out. She squeezed it, crushing the dried leaves and resin beads inside.
She ripped her hand out and shoved the crushed sachet right under Adonis's nose.
A cloud of peppermint, lavender, and concentrated valerian root exploded into the air between them. It was sharp, cold, and piercing.
Adonis froze. His nostrils flared. The scent cut through the sensory overload in his brain like a laser.
Bella saw the hesitation. She saw the pupil contraction. She remembered her grandfather's lessons. The reset button.
She forced her left hand up, reaching behind Adonis's ear. She found the soft depression just behind his earlobe-the Yifeng point. She dug her thumb into it with everything she had left.
Adonis groaned. It wasn't a sound of anger anymore. It was a sound of relief. The pressure point sent a numbing signal straight to his overactive nervous system.
His grip on her neck loosened. Bella gasped, sucking in a ragged breath of air.
Adonis blinked, the red haze in his eyes receding, replaced by a heavy, drugged fog. His eyelids fluttered. The tension drained out of his body all at once.
He slumped forward.
Bella wasn't ready for the weight. He collapsed against her, his forehead landing in the crook of her neck. He pinned her to the wall, not with aggression, but with dead weight.
"Quiet," he mumbled against her skin.
Then, he went limp. His breathing leveled out, deep and rhythmic.
Bella stood there, pinned against the wall by the sleeping body of the man who had just tried to kill her. The room was silent again, save for the sound of their synchronized breathing. She was alive.
