*****“Grandfather, how—how can you want someone like that, who probably doesn’t have any idea about treatment, to treat you?” Cassandra asked helplessly, staring at her grandfather in disbelief.“Moreover, I don’t even think there’s any truth in what he just said—it’s nothing but gibberish that could only be understood by fools like him!” She spat, then glared hatefully and aggressively at the still-composed Xavier.Just then, however, she heard heavy breathing beside her, compelling her to look, and upon realizing the heavy breathing came from her grandfather, whose face was now rapidly shifting between red, blue, and purple several times faster than earlier, and her anxiety returned and her eyes became filled with unshed tears.“Grandfather, grandfather, please don’t die on me, please! Is it him you want, I will—”“I’m not dying!” the old man, who seemed to be taking his last breath, abruptly snapped, glaring at Cassandra.“You—how dare you little brat call me a fool?”Cassa

*****The place that was filled with the murmurs of the crowd and Cassandra's furious cries a second ago fell into a hushed silence in an instant and everyone gaped dumbly as if they had just seen a real-life alien.They stared at the old man, whom they had all assumed had already lost his life at Xavier's hands in a trance.‘Am I dreaming?’ ‘Did a ghost just come back to life?’ Many people thought blankly in stupefaction, and just at that moment, the old man who had just opened his eyes slowly sat up and amidst the stunned gazes, he sat in a lotus position and shut his eyes, appearing enigmatic in an instant.Everyone was further perplexed by the old man’s actions and they exchanged bewildered glances, trying to make sense of what was happening.‘He doesn’t look like the person on death’s door a moment ago.’ ‘Why does he look completely different from the dying old man from earlier?’ they all wondered and then slowly turned their gaze to Xavier.‘Could it be that he actuall

*****The crowd's jaws dropped and their eyes widened as though trying to pop out of their sockets, gaping at the person who had just revealed the old man’s identity.This moment of shock, however, only lasted briefly before everyone slowly turned their gazes toward the old man and his granddaughter.Although the crowd had initially sensed that the grandfather-granddaughter duo wasn’t ordinary—especially after knowing that they own bodyguards, something very uncommon in the city—they had never expected their identity to be to this extent and be this scary.After all, who in Riverton City doesn’t know about the one and only prominent Blackwood Family? None.…Like every other place, families in Riverton City are also classified into various ranks, starting from the ordinary-ranked families to the first-rank families, and in between, there are several other ranks, each progressively harder to attain than the previous.In fact, many families have been stuck in the ordinary rank si

*****While everyone else was eager to share the news of what they had witnessed that day and brag about seeing the patriarch of a first-rank family up close, Xavier, the one who should have been the most excited did not even take anything to heart and promptly erased the entire event from his mind the moment he got into a taxi.He quickly dismissed Cassandra and her grandfather from his mind, gave no thought to the cards he was handed, and contacting the old man became the last thing on his agenda.It wasn’t that Xavier looked down on them, no, he just couldn’t be troubled with matters that were of insignificance, a thought that would have caused a storm in Riverton City and make him the number one public enemy if known.…‘Knowing my father, he’d definitely be furious upon seeing me for all the distress And pain I've caused Mother over these past few years,’ Xavier thought to himself in the back seat of the taxi, his expression heavy and brows furrowed.After a moment of brood

***** As if time had stopped at the construction site, everyone was caught in mid-action at this moment, with each person frozen in a comical stance. Some were swinging their hammers, others pulling on ropes, some picking something from the ground, and so on. Apart from all of the pausing in unison, their gazes were currently fixated on Xavier as though he were an alien, gaping at him in both shock and astonishment. The scene, enveloped in an eerie silence lasted for what felt like an eternity before eventually, everyone returned to their senses and were covered to the brim in fear and trepidation. “He—did he just hit the little demon?” Everyone murmured at each other in shock and disbelief before hissing coldly, feeling a sudden sense of fear. “He’s done for,” they thought in unison, and just then, the Fatty whom Xavier had sent flying slowly began to sit up. In the next moment, however—gruh!—he spat out three teeth mixed with blood and his complexion paled signif