"I don’t want to do anything painful anymore. But if you force me..." Marc said, raising his index finger. "Believe me, this will be far more terrifying than anything you've felt before.""Do you think I’m afraid of your threats?" Harper shouted back, just as intimidating. "With just one command, everyone in this place will come here and capture you! At that point, even if you grovel at my feet, I won’t even consider forgiving you!"Harper had already faced trouble multiple times because of the man standing before her. If he was pressuring her again now, she would do whatever it took to fight back."Alright, let’s put that to the test," Marc said calmly, raising his index finger once more. It seemed there was no gentle way to deal with this girl. "I want to see if you can still gather your people by the time I count to three.""One."Ba-dump!Harper's heart pounded violently as an invisible force seemed to grip her shoulders. It was far more painful than before."W-what is this?" she

"This is odd!" Edward muttered, unable to hide the panic on his face. "The event is set to begin in just a few minutes—so why did Harper leave without telling me?"Not only had she not returned, but she also wasn’t answering her phone. At that moment, a growing sense of worry filled his heart."Is there any update?" asked Patriarch Winslow as he noticed that Dominic had just finished coordinating with the other bodyguards."Sir, we cannot yet confirm whether this is connected to Miss Harper’s disappearance. However, it appears there are two guests who look extremely suspicious," Dominic replied, showing the tablet in his hand to the patriarch. "They forced their way in after claiming to be from the Brown family.""The Brown family?" Edward furrowed his brow as he took the tablet and examined the images of the two individuals whose faces were clearly visible in the CCTV footage."No, I’ve never seen these two before." Edward was on good terms with Newell, the mayor of Cammont, and had

Without saying a word, Harper opened the car door and stepped out. Although she had initially been reluctant to come to this manor, she now found herself hurrying toward the front door. What she had just witnessed ignited a mix of jealousy and frustration in her heart."Welcome, Miss Winslow." A male servant bowed his head with a wide smile as Harper stepped inside."I assume you've come to pick up the Young Master, haven't you?" The servant assumed that the young lady had arrived to escort her fiancé to the party."Go away," Harper scoffed, struggling to conceal her irritation. Though her tone wasn't loud, there was an unmistakable curt chill in her voice.She knew this servant was one of Nicholas’s closest attendants. Seeing him now only brought back the fresh memory of the baron’s son leaving with another woman. The thought made her blood boil."My apologies, Miss." The servant bowed once again and was about to leave immediately.However, at that very moment, something clicked in H

"Never mind, let's continue," Marc said calmly, entirely unaffected by Harper's words. He knew the girl was subtly trying to intimidate him."You!" Clenching her fists in frustration, Harper turned around without saying anything and resumed walking."Welcome, Miss Winslow." As soon as she reached the door, the two bodyguards who had recognized her immediately lowered their heads and opened the door for her.Nodding without a word, Harper stepped inside, followed by Marc. Since the young man had arrived with her, the bodyguards assumed he was her personal guard and did not stop him.The moment Marc set foot inside the room, he was immediately engulfed by an atmosphere thick with internal energy. Unlike the previous room, this one had normal lighting, yet that only served to make the space feel even more ominous.Under normal circumstances, an ordinary person would feel suffocated by the presence of a single high-level cultivator. In this room, there

"Thank you, sir." Flashing a wry smile, Harper wasted no time in grabbing Marc's hand and pulling him away from the scene. They made their way to the corner of the room where a staircase led up to the fourth floor—the baron’s private quarters."Have you completely lost your mind?" Harper couldn’t hold back her anger as they reached the second floor. Her face was flushed, and her breaths came in short, sharp bursts. If she hadn’t remembered Marc’s mysterious pressure technique, she would have slapped and beaten him right then and there."Just because you've reached level 10 and have that mysterious technique, do you think you can take them on? That’s completely absurd! I never thought you were this foolish! Do you have any idea how your actions affect me and my family?"Harper continued to vent her frustration. She had almost landed herself in serious trouble with those cultivators because of Marc’s reckless words, which