Raymond felt his heart racing uncontrollable at the terrified expression on Charmaine's face. She looked at him, and with her eyes pleaded for him not to do anything rash to set Kevin off.

Kevin took a step towards Raymond. With the knife securely pressed against Charmaine's neck, he had the advantage. "I'm glad you're back Raymond," he said as he smiled wickedly. "Charmaine and I were awaiting your return." Kevin softened his expression as he looked down at her. "Weren't we?"

Charmaine didn't respond. She was too frightened to.

Raymond kept his gaze on Kevin, "Why don't you let Charmaine go? You don't want to hurt her do you?"

Kevin turned cold hard eyes on Raymond and shrieked, "You're the one who's hurting her! You can never love her as much as I do!"

In a quiet, firm voice Raymond spoke, "You're wrong. I love her more than my own life."

Kevin laughed loudly, as if he just heard the most unbelievable thing in the world, "You're incapable of loving one woman Raymond Lam! Now I truly love Charmaine and I am not going to allow you to hurt her!"

Charmaine tilted her head back so that she could look up at Kevin. In a gentle voice she said, "You don't want to do this Kevin. We're good friends remember."

Kevin looked down at her with sadness and achingly asked, "Why him and not me?"

With regret, Charmaine could only whisper, "I'm so sorry."

During this time, Raymond was slowly inching towards Kevin. If he could get Kevin to take an aim at him with the knife, then Charmaine could break free and make a run for it. Kevin noticed Raymond's subtle movements and looked sharply at him. "Stay right where you are!" he ordered. Raymond stood still immediately as he looked at Charmaine who returned his stare, the unspoken love between them was written in their faces. Seeing the way Charmaine looked at Raymond, Kevin felt his rage swell and with a loud angry cry, he brought his foot up and smashed it with full force into Raymond's stomach. Raymond fell down, doubling over in pain at the sudden attack.

"No!" Charmaine whimpered as she made for Raymond, who still laid on the floor writhing from the kick. Kevin caught Charmaine by the hair and pulled her head back causing her to cry out.

"What's the matter?" Kevin taunted, "Does the sight of him hurt upsets you?" Without preamble, he landed another kick into Raymond's back. Then another and another.

Charmaine felt herself dying away inside hearing the sickening thuds of Kevin's kicks and watching Raymond slipping into unconsciousness. "Please stop Kevin! Don't hurt him any more," she begged, her voice hoarse from her crying.

Kevin stopped and with a crazed look turned to stare at her. "I'm going to finish him off for good now," he said. "With him out of the picture, you will definitely belong to me," he bought his knife up and made to stab at Raymond.

Just then the door burst opened and Bosco stood at the entryway, gun raised and aimed at Kevin. "Put the knife down!" he ordered.

Kevin hesitated then raised his arm to strike. Bosco pulled the trigger and the bullet went through Kevin's shoulder causing the knife to fall involuntarily from his hand. Charmaine took the opportunity to push Kevin away and ran towards Raymond, who was regaining his strength and senses. "Raymond, are you okay?" she asked as she helped him to his feet and onto the nearby couch.

Raymond took her hand and said, "I'll be fine. Just a few bruises that will eventually go away. Are you okay?" When she nodded her head, he then turned to look at Bosco with gratitude, "How did you know?"

Bosco watched as officers came in and placed handcuffs on an injured Kevin. "Joe called me. Our latest victim woke up and Kevin Cheng. Also, Linda came to me for help."

Raymond was stunned by the news, "Linda?"

"Yes. She didn't want to see you hurt and she regrets what she did to you. She came with me but left when we arrived downstairs."

Raymond smiled, Linda totally forgotten now. The only person in his mind was Charmaine and as he turned to look at her, he was thankful that both of them were unhurt by the incident. "We're both safe now and Kevin will never harm either one of us ever again," he promised. Charmaine allowed Raymond to pull her into his arms. She leaned her head against his chest and said, "As long as you're with me, I can withstand anything."

Raymond tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head, "I'll always be by your side."