Themes: Action, Romance.

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Ever since she received a soulmate-identifying watch from her father, she had dreamt of the day she would meet him. Her father had said, when the clock counted down to zero, she would meet her life partner. It would be a cold day in Hanoi: she would wear a pretty dress and have her hair down just like her mother, and he, an intelligently vested Asian man, would approach her and confess his love to her. Afterwards, they would get married and live happily ever after.

She still retained that thought even after her parents had died and she had become a notoriously influential member of the Diamonds organization. How idiotic she was, she bitterly thought while simultaneously elbowing a tall middle-aged man and dodging a kick to her stomach. It was the day that she would finally meet her fated spouse, yet, there she was, fighting alone against a group of criminals in a deserted seaport.

Three minutes until her soulmate's arrival. She glanced at the watch and continued dealing with the men who were all launching themselves onto her. If she had a gun, a falchion or even a pocket knife to defend herself, she would be safe by now. But no; the only gun she carried with herself had been in the hand of her foolish companion who forgot to bring his. The gun fires had stopped 5 minutes ago and she still hadn't seen the fool around. He was probably dead.

Nonetheless, luck was still with her today. All the men around her were a bunch of idiots. Easily evading a head height kick, she knocked the man in front of her down with one finesse hook. Another bloke wrapped his arms around her neck, but she twisted his right arm within seconds. Darting her eyes around before launching a series of low kicks and elbows, she noted that there were still ten men remaining. Maybe her soulmate would come and help her get out of this blasted situation. He could be a young policeman who was having a detour around here. She didn't like the police, but his arrival would be welcomed here. All she had to do then was to avoid transition to ground fight-

And then the unexpected happened. She felt someone's hands on her neck, and before she could comprehend what was going on, her upper body had been grappled down and everything had blackened for a moment.

Conscious. She was still conscious. The dark mantle had been removed, but yellow dots still blotted her eyesight. A warm liquid was flowing from her nose. Blood. She staggered behind and tried to resist, but two men had gotten hold of her arms. Someone's voice came out, but her ears were still buzzing. Thai. A Thai man? A hand seized her jaw and forced her to look up.

Amber met gold. She had never seen someone with eyes so bright. Standing before her was a young, tall and bespectacled man with broad shoulders, wavy dark brown hair and dark skin. The formal suit he wore did not reek of blood like those of his companions. He swept his eyes from her head to her toes and smirked before speaking again with perfect British English:

"You are Vy? I am Ekkarach."

He shortened his sleeve, revealing his soulmate-identifying timer which had reached zero and displayed two succinct characters: Vy. Her body froze. She threw her own timer a glance and saw the word Ekkarach imprinted on the surface.

Great. Fucking great. She had just fallen prey to her enemy, and he just so happened to be her future spouse.

"You… Are you the boss around here?"

A snicker resounded from behind. She wanted to give the bastard a good kick in the groin, but her head was still spinning, and she was not in the state to fight eleven men at once.

"You could say so." Ekkarach still said endearingly as if he had not just pulled her into a clinch and finished her with his knee. "I also happen to be the head of Spades in Thailand, but introduction later. Time is running out, so please forgive my impoliteness."

As soon as he finished his speech, someone covered her mouth with a wet cloth. She rasped and jerked herself free, but the drug had already taken effect and made her unconscious. After signaling his subordinates to let go of her, he carried Vy in a bridal style and said:

"Mission completed. Tell Rai that he can come back to Chiang Mai. Now we will return to Pattaya and proceed with the next stage of the plan."

Obeying his command, his underlings disintegrated to carry the loads and contact other members of Spades. Meanwhile, Ekkarach remained still and peered at Vy's sullen face. He had known about her before he came to Vietnam: she was a rare young woman who took the lead of Diamonds in Vietnam despite misogynistic prejudices. He just did not expect that she would be the soulmate that he had been waiting for during the past 28 years. Spades and Diamonds were natural enemies. Arthur Kirkland would kill his family if the man heard about his involvement with Bonnefoy's underling. And of course, Vy would never be fond of marrying into an organization that had sent her Diamonds comrades to an early grave.

"Our future marriage in Bangkok will have to wait then, ana." Ekkarach murmured into her ear. "For now, let's continue being enemies."

Then, he walked toward a car nearby, ignoring the timer which had fallen from his wrist. He would bring her to Thailand, and if she did not manage to escape his interrogation and kill him, maybe the two of them would have more time to get to know each other.