*****Without pausing or hesitating, the officer prepared to strike Xavier, thickening the air with dread and causing everyone's hearts to tremble, especially Selene’s.She could already foresee the inevitable—that the same brutal beating that had been inflicted upon her husband was about to claim another victim, her husband's friend.Desperation surged through her in an instant and she subconsciously raised a trembling hand, ready to plead for Xavier’s life.Tears blurred her vision as she opened her mouth to cry out, but just then, however;“Stand down.”A sudden voice echoed, slicing through the tension like a whip.Although it was casual, almost playful, it seemed to carry an undercurrent of authority that directly silenced the chaos, also making the officer, who was on the verge of reaching Xavier stop in his tracks.He had been planning to make a good impression of himself from the landlord, thereby getting one step ahead of his colleague, but now…A sudden chill seemed

*****Xavier and Darius frowned at this scene. But before they could react, however, the landlord waved dismissively, his tone dripping with derision.“I’ve already wasted more than enough time on you pests tonight, and If I weren’t already so tired, I would have loved to learn to source of your arrogance that made a worm like yourself think you can be rude to me. But lucky for you, I value my sleep more than your existence.” he uttered, and then glared venomously at Xavier for a moment, really regretting that he couldn’t teach him a lesson he would never forget.The old man snorted at this and then yawned again and eventually, his gaze shifted to Selene, who was still kneeling on the ground.“And you!” he barked, his voice sharp and cold, making Selene flinch, her face pale as she subconsciously looked up.“You bitch dared to sell me out and still had the audacity to call that useless piece of garbage your husband even though you have already agreed to be my concubine?” he fumed

*****Although several moments had passed since Selene had leveled her accusation against Xavier, no one in the crowd had yet regained their composure.The air continued hanging heavy with disbelief as their gazes fixed on her, all of them too stunned and unable to reconcile her words with what they had just witnessed.All the neighbors, apart from Selene and the cops had been in front of the landlord when the incident occurred, and they had clearly seen that Xavier hadn’t even laid a single finger on the man, yet….Their earlier sympathy for Xavier wasn’t due to any thinking he had actually touched the obese old man. Rather, it stemmed from their shared understanding of the landlord’s shameless nature and the certainty that he would cripple Xavier, accusing him of losing his own face.However, none of them could have anticipated that Selene would turn on Xavier first, accusing him even before the landlord had a chance to return to his senses and order the pummeling.Various tho

*****Like everyone else, Selene wasn’t able to react for a moment after hearing the landlord’s chilling order. The weight of it sank in slowly, but deeply.This was why she had turned on Xavier earlier even though she was well aware he was only fighting on behalf of herself and her husband.As earlier stated, in Riverton City, God’s Time is her number one priority and she loves him above anything else, even herself.…She continued standing in a trance, unable to react for what felt like an eternity, the words reverberating nonstop in her ears until eventually, she found her voice back.“You… you can’t do this,” she stuttered, the desperation and fear in her voice slicing through the silence that had settled over the street, and upon hearing her, a wicked, malicious grin crept over the landlord’s face.“I can’t?” He mused mischievously, his tone dripping with menace, making Selene’s heart shake in her chest.“That’s… that’s not what I mean.” She faltered, her panic rising in

*****It was as if the souls of everyone present had been ripped from their bodies right now, leaving behind lifeless bodies.No one moved, not the landlord, not Selene, not the two still-baffled officers, and the stunned crowd.Every single person other than Darius had been so sure that Xavier was finished—that he’d be pummeled into an unrecognizable heap, or, if fortune favored him, left a cripple. But the reality before them was a brutal contradiction.Their eyes continued darting from the four immobile bodies on the ground to Xavier, who continued standing calm and unarmed, and back again, bewilderment twisting their faces. At the same time, their minds raced with different questions they had no idea how to voice.This suspended moment seemed to drag on for what felt like a torturous eternity until, eventually,“I’ve always heard that people tend to become nice once they are nearing their graves,” a sudden calm, emotionless, and unhurried voice echoed, slicing through the si