Zane's response was unwavering. "If you had chosen not to remove your makeup by yourself. Then, it would be my pleasure to cleanse your makeup in a unique style."
He had a devilish smile on his lips as he gestured to the king-sized bed behind him, and she caught a glimpse of it through the partially open door.
Anastasia recognized the devilish smile on his face and understood his intentions, for he only smiled that way at her in the past when he wanted to have his way with her. She can't allow that to happen.
Suddenly, she heard her cell phone vibrating inside her purse and took it out, which displayed her manager's caller ID on the screen. She thought of seizing this chance to leave his room as soon as possible.
"I know, I've never gone barefaced on media or the internet, and you're curious to see my barefaced. However, that will have to wait until another day when we meet again." Anastasia said with an enticing smile and then added. "Right now, my manager needs me to be present in the hall."
She tried to pull away from his arm, but Zane pushed her back, and her back roughly slammed on the wall nearby, with his hand wrapped around her throat. She gazed up at him, frightened.
"It seems you have a poor memory to remember what I said to you earlier, Ms. Beverley," Zane said while tenderly removing her makeup, with a cotton pad soaked in cleansing water. "I wonder where your manager found such a person like you to have the voice of a deceased woman. What appearance is behind your makeup of yours? Is it a pretty or an ugly face?"
"What you are doing is not right and I won't accept your rudeness." Anastasia scowled at him. She tried to break free from his grip but he was holding her bound.
"Am I being rude in serving you?" Zane asked in a polite tone but there was a trace of taunt in his sultry voice.
"Of course, you are being rude, mister. And I do not appreciate such service from you." Anastasia countered at the sight of his grasp on her neck, which caused her heart to pound drastically.
Zane didn't utter a word afterward. After he meticulously removed her makeup, a stunned gasp escaped his lips as he observed her actual features, his jaw tightening.
"Are you content with how ugly I look?" Anastasia's nervous voice cut in.
She noticed the displeasure that settled on his face, and the resentment in his eyes grew extreme at the sight of her genuine face.
It was how shocked Selina was when she first saw the real Anastasia Beverley. It was on that day she knew there was someone out there in this world who looked exactly like her.
Zane remained speechless for a long time, overwhelmed with shock, without expressing a hint of excitement or sadness. He could not believe what he was seeing before him.
No way she is Selina. There was no way she could resemble and sound like Selina without a hint of difference. She is pulling a trick on him, Zane thought as he struggled to believe the face he just observed now.
He pinched her face, touching her soft and warm flesh as the bitter reality struck him hard that her face was real and so was Anastasia before him.
"How dare you have this face?!" He roared angrily, slamming his fist on the wall beside her, the loud thud causing her shoulder to tremble from the violent impact.
His other hand was still strangling her steadily like he wanted a slow death for her as she choked under his merciless grasp.
Anastasia desperately clutched his huge hand, her fingers frenziedly trying to loosen his cruel grasp around her throat, but it only constricted tighter, her feet dangling helplessly above the floor as she was lifted into the air.
She fought to hold back the tears that brimmed in the corner of her eyes, refusing to beg for his mercy again.
Anastasia could barely breathe, her voice choked with emotions as whispered. "I...It hurt...I can't breathe."
Zane coldly stared into her misty eyes and realized he was about to kill someone whose identity he wasn't sure of because she looked like Selina. Even though he didn't want her presence around him, he could not take her life on his ceremony day.
"Having this face is a death wish," Zane warned in a dark tone. "Do not appear before me with this face of yours or my hand will show no mercy."
He eventually let go of her neck, and she flopped on the floor, panting for air.
Zane adjusted his suit, trying to stay poised, and then stepped out of the room, leaving her behind.
As he headed to the elevator, he felt something suddenly triggered inside his body, causing his stomach to ache and his heart to thump rapidly, like it wanted to explode.
He leaned on the wall for support when he could not take his next step as his body was gradually becoming weak with his vision blurred. As he felt a bit relaxed after a short time, he continued to the elevator and entered it.
Meanwhile, Anastasia was still gasping, her chest heaving up and down as she struggled to draw a breath.
"Tasia?" Anastasia heard Emery apprehensively call her name from the entrance, though she could not find her voice to answer.
"Tasia, are you okay? What did that monster do to you?" Emery asked anxiously while she hurried to Anastasia, who was struggling to breathe on the floor and grasping her dress in her chest position with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Emery noticed Tasia was having an irregular breath again and looked pale. She jerked up from the floor and rushed to Zane's open kitchen to search for water.
Luckily, she found an untouched bottle of water and took it, bringing it to Tasia as she took out a pill from her purse, which she then gave to Tasia.
Anastasia gulped down the water with the pill.
"Slowly, take a deep breath," Emery instructed, and Anastasia followed her guidance.
Anastasia took slow, deep breaths until her breathing steadily became more stable.
"I was stupid to leave the hall alone. I should have allowed you to come with me." Anastasia sobbed in Emery's arms as she regretted she left the hall without Emery.
Also, what happened between Zane and her previously left her so traumatized that she nearly lost her life for the second time.
Seeing Anastasia in a vulnerable state once again, Emery's heart broke. She panicked when she could not find Tasia at the ceremony hall after she heard the conversation between Tasia and Zane earlier over the spy earpiece before it disconnected.
Fortunately, she found her here still safe but she could not imagine how exhausted and terrifying it was for Tasia to stay courageous before her killer, who was the man she once loved in the past.
"It's not your fault he's cruel to you, but I won't let him take you away from my sight again or harm you again. Please, don't break down. You are now the brave Anastasia." Emery said in a soothing voice as she rubbed Tasia's back to calm her nerves.
Anastasia pulled away from Emery's embrace as she sensed her nerves calmed. She brushed away her tears before asking, "How much time does he have left?"
"He's not in good shape right now; his condition deteriorates with each passing minute." Emery replied, offering her a smile.
A mischievous smile curled on Anastasia's lips while she said. "Okay then. We should go join everyone else in the ceremony hall and start the fun,"
They both rose from the floor and exited the room, walking confidently alongside each other.