Juliet Must Survive | 𝒂𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒚𝒂𝒉.

Chapter 23

"Everybody put your hands in the air!"

The musicians abruptly stopped playing and the crowd of guests gasped as the party crashers made themselves known. Peering over Carl's shoulder, Trish's eyes lit up when she saw them. Of course they came, she never doubted them for even a second.

"Uh, yeah..." Lee awkwardly stood next to Carter, covered in shards of broken glass from their dramatic entrance, "and wave 'em like you just don't care!"

Carter looked around the ballroom and grimaced. "What's with the slave master costumes?" He asked aloud.

Trish could've almost burst out in laughter from how relieved she was. She finally remembered to breathe again, slightly distancing herself from her captor in defiance, though she was still under his grasp.

She swore she could see that Carl was a little destabilized by all the action. For once, it seemed that Trish had the upper hand and that she was ahead of his plans. Sure, this spontaneous rescue was as much as a surprise to her than it was to him, but she finally felt like they were starting to win this insufferable war.

Just as Trish was about to make a sassy remark to Carl, another figure emerged from behind the ex-cop duo, armed with a gun and a glossy leather jacket. Trish made eye-contact with Han and her stomach tightened. If fairytales were true, this would be the moment where her knight in shining armor arrived to save her from the wicked villain.

"Never out of tricks I see," Carl curled his lip, whispering in Trish's ear. "What's the meaning of this?!" He then said aloud.

Suddenly, another loud crash was heard, shaking up the ballroom once more. A chandelier ended up crashing near the middle of the dancefloor, Carl yanking Trish with him as he dodged the flying glass pieces and ornaments. Also coming crashing down were about ten heavily-armed men, all dressed in black. Trish recognized them right away.

"Nobody move!" Maurice shouted, slowly getting up and recomposing himself, raising his weapon. "We're here for- Dim Sum?"

"Maurice?" Han answered from across the ballroom. "What are you doing here?"

His frenemy shook his gun. "Saving y'all! Well, that was the plan..." He looked around at the almost party, most of the people present being Carl's bodyguards, but knowing more of his men were on their way.

"Nah man, you're good," Han reassured him. "We could use the backup."

"Enough!" Carl interrupted their brief catching-up session. " Security!"

With perfect timing, an influx of Carl's goons stomped into the ballroom, all properly armed with army weapons, no doubt from their boss' personal artillery. The guests started screeching and screaming with fear, rushing outside the ballroom to escape the conundrum.

However, this created a sort of stampede and Carl and Trish were caught in the middle of it. Carl recklessly shoved people away from him, shaking Trish up in the process. She tried to run away, but he tightened his grip on her, surely leaving bruises on her arm.

Near them, Maurice and his team made their way towards Carl's backup, opening fire on them in hopes of slowing them down. Some of them fell, but most were keeping up a good pace due to their protective gear.

At the other end of the ballroom, Lee and Carter looked at each other and nodded before nudging Han towards Trish. They were going to cover him in order for him to reach her.

Nodding in comprehension, Han took out his pistol and started running towards Trish and Carl, pushing past the stampede of guests and trying not to get squished by them. Lee and Carter followed closely behind, shooting back at carl's goons and keeping an eye on Han.