*****Although Xavier had anticipated that his father’s appearance would have changed as well, he still assumed he’d be recognizable like his mother, but he was completely mistaken.This person he was observing was so unrecognizable that Xavier couldn’t believe he had already seen him twice in a row during his search for his father just now.It was a frail old man whose body was currently hunched with exhaustion as he sat weakly on the ground of the construction site, with beads of sweat trickling down his aged face.“Is—is this really my father or his uncle?” he mumbled with a hoarse voice that didn’t sound like his own, dazedly watching the old man in tattered and worn clothes that were smeared with dirt and dried cement.He subconsciously lowered his gaze and stared at his father’s hands, which used to be very strong and masculine but now calloused and constantly trembling as they rested on the edge of a heavy bucket of mixed cement whose weight seemed to be several times heav
***** 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
***** David had been too shocked upon seeing Xavier—a son he hadn’t expected to see for another fifteen years. This was why he momentarily forgot how he had hit the young demon, the son of the site manager who was a full-fledged Demon. Otherwise, he would have long pushed Xavier to escape. David jumped to his feet without regard for his frail body after hearing the Demon's voice and his face twisted with terror. He yanked Xavier up and shoved him hard toward the exit. “Run now! Run!!!” he cried out desperately to the still-confused Xavier, as though the person approaching was scarier than any demon. “Father, what’s the matter?” Xavier, perplexed by his father's terrified state and frantic action asked. But instead of answering, David continued to push him with all his might, practically begging Xavier to flee. However, as the owner of the voice that had struck fear into everyone was already nearby before his voice sounded, it was too late for Xavier to escape, even if he wanted to
*****Everyone, except Xavier—who was clueless about the identity of the so-called Grandfather and granddaughter duo—was stunned upon hearing the reporter's words. They swiftly turned their attention to the young man on his knees, still gasping for breath, a clear indication that he had run over with all his strength. The workers then exchanged glances, their surprise evident.The following second, their eyes lit up with joy as though they had finally received a piece of good news after days of despair, leaving only the man who had almost captured Xavier grumpy and frustrated, wondering why the visitor had arrived at such an inconvenient time.Meanwhile, it took Bartholomew and Cornelius a moment longer to recover from their shock, and the instant they did, their faces became etched with shock, concern, and fear.“They didn’t inform me they were coming—what’s going on? Why are they suddenly here?” Bartholomew, who had been arrogant since his arrival, acting as though no one was a
*****David froze upon hearing Barth’s icy and abrupt threat—In the following moment, a powerful chill ran down his spine, but before he could react, Barth shifted to the back and the smile on his face brightened even more."How many times do I need to remind you to stop thanking me? I will always say this: your well-being as laborers is my top priority," he proclaimed loudly, as though wanting someone to overhear, and no sooner had he done this than a teasing voice echoed. "You are so considerate of your workers but neglected to extend the same care to yourself and your son, why?" This voice sounded like a beautiful tune at a single hearing, so pleasing to the ears that as soon as Cornelius, who like his father, hadn’t looked toward the entrance since the report was delivered, heard it, he blushed from head to toe. As for Berth, a shocked expression crossed his face, and he quickly turned around, gasping in disbelief. "Young Mistress, Sir Patriarch!" He exclaimed, appea
*****Staring at the unimaginable scene before them, the construction site fell into complete silence again, and this lasted for a while before Barth blinked his eyes thrice."I—this has to be a dream," he muttered in disbelief before pinching himself. But the moment he felt the sharp pain, it was as if a jolt of electricity shot through him.He trembled as he realized he wasn't dreaming, and in the next moment, he was consumed with anxiety."Sir—sir patriarch," he stammered, springing to his feet in a way that seemed to defy the laws of physics and scurried toward the old man, visibly terrified.“How—how can you be acquainted with a nobody like this?” He asked nervously, but immediately regretted his question, knowing he had crossed a line.As he had feared, the old man, who had been looking at Xavier with bright eyes and excitement, immediately grew furious and shot him a glare.“What do you mean?” He questioned darkly, making Barth instantly break out in a cold sweat.He un
*****‘Why—why is he asking an outsider such a question and not me, his project supervisor? Moreover, why is he being so respectful?’ Barth wondered in fear and upon guessing what the answers to his questions could be, his face turned pale."Sir—sir Patriarch, are you perhaps speaking to me?" he asked hopefully. But in the next moment, his hope was shattered as he saw the Old Man completely ignoring him as if he didn't feel his existence.Barth was enveloped in a wave of coldness.Meanwhile, David, who was the most stunned by the recent events—confused about how someone as powerful as the patriarch of the renowned Blackwood family would know and show respect to his son—forcefully shook his head to clear his confusion upon witnessing the lack of response Barth had just received.‘This must be a godsend chance for survival,’ he thought, his dead hope reawakening.Without hesitation, David rushed his frail body toward the old man, wanting to fall to his knees when Xavier, who saw t
***** Although the construction crew had always known that Barth was a tyrant—someone cruel enough to force mixed cement down a fellow human's throat, which almost ended his life—they had never thought he’d actually take a life, but yet, they couldn’t even dispute Elias’ words. Everyone stood in shock, their minds racing to grasp what Elias, a devoted worker and loyal supporter of Barth, meant and what had happened between the time he was away and now. It was the Old Master of the Blackwood family who finally managed to react after a moment. He trembled slightly with fury, almost suffering a heart attack, something that would have been unavoidable if not for Xavier’s earlier treatment. He was initially struggling with how to punish Barth because of his long service to him, even though he knew that Xavier was a valuable ally he needed to win over, but now... The old man inhaled deeply to steady his emotions before finally fixing his gaze on Elias, who was still shooting a
*****The atmosphere in the conference room was so stifling at this moment, the tension so thick it was almost tangible, as every eye remained locked on Lucius. “He… he is really young master Lucius?” one of the representatives stuttered.“What’s he doing here?” Another murmured in a daze.“Wasn’t he the one who ordered our various companies to pressure Sky Group?”“Or… could he be here to finish them off?”Murmurs spread among the representatives, their confusion evident in their wary glances at Lucius, trying to decipher the reason behind Lucius’s presence.Grace, however, remained outwardly indifferent, though her heart churned with a mix of nervousness, confusion, and suspicion.‘What’s he doing here again?’ she wondered, her cold gaze on him. ‘Didn’t I already make it clear to him yesterday that I would never have anything to do with him again?’Finally, Mason.He still appeared utterly dumbfounded right now. His earlier fury completely vanished, replaced by an overwhe
*****The atmosphere in the conference room was so stifling at this moment, the tension so thick it was almost tangible, as every eye remained locked on Lucius. “He… he is really young master Lucius?” one of the representatives stuttered.“What’s he doing here?” Another murmured in a daze.“Wasn’t he the one who ordered our various companies to pressure Sky Group?”“Or… could he be here to finish them off?”Murmurs spread among the representatives, their confusion evident in their wary glances at Lucius, trying to decipher the reason behind Lucius’s presence.Grace, however, remained outwardly indifferent, though her heart churned with a mix of nervousness, confusion, and suspicion.‘What’s he doing here again?’ she wondered, her cold gaze on him. ‘Didn’t I already make it clear to him yesterday that I would never have anything to do with him again?’Finally, Mason.He still appeared utterly dumbfounded right now. His earlier fury completely vanished, replaced by an overwhe
*****The tension in the conference room was suffocating at this moment, a taut silence following Xavier's nonchalant words. “Again?” one of the representatives whispered, their astonishment breaking the stillness.Suppose the representatives had initially dismissed Xavier’s earlier remarks as a slip of the tongue or some misunderstanding, his repeated references to Grace as his wife left no room for doubt, the weight of this revelation, striking them like a tidal wave.Their eyes instinctively turned to Grace, knowing that if she had failed to hear Xavier before, she must have heard him clearly now. To their shock, however, her expression remained composed—eerily calm.This lack of denial instantly deepened the representatives’ confusion, and they exchanged dumbstruck glances, as though they’d just stumbled upon a secret capable of shaking the very foundations of the world.‘Grace is married?’ all thought in unison, their hearts pounding at this revelation.Mason, Honey, and
*****The conference room was still as death right now, the air heavy with tension.All eyes continued darting between Mason, who currently stood in stunned silence, acting as though he had just eaten a bunch of flies, and the handsome newcomer, who had just casually stridden in, exuding confidence, his easy demeanor somehow commanding attention.Different thoughts went through the representatives’ minds and their confusion cackled like static in the silence.This continued for what felt like an eternity until finally;“Hmph!” Honey broke the spell with a derisive snort.“What’s a nobody like you doing here?” Her voice dripped with disdain, fury, darkness, and coldness.“Huh…” The representatives blinked, stunned.‘Was he really not the powerful backer that brat had been arrogant about?’They thought, the realization hitting them like a punch.In the next instant, all their attention swung back to Mason, whose face was now a shade of crimson—embarrassment, anger, and disbeli
*****“So, President Mason, you said we only needed to wait a minute. It’s been almost three hours now since then. What exactly are we waiting for?” One of the representatives asked without standing up, now showing his complete disregard for Mason and the entire Sky group as a whole.While the question sounded as polite as possible, it was tinged with simmering frustration and unhappiness.They had thought that having been made to return to his senses, Mason would at least try to address them now, but contrary to their thoughts;Mason, slouched arrogantly in the president’s chair, shot the speaker a venomous glare, his irritation still lingering from his earlier defeat in the video game.“Then get the hell out of my company if you can’t wait again!” he snapped, his tone as sharp as broken glass.“This…” Everyone flinched, following which a stunned silence fell over the room, the representatives staring at Mason, their jaws slack with disbelief.“P-President Mason…” one of them
*****Back in Sky Group.“President Mason, what exactly are we waiting for?”The voice of Praise, one of the representatives suddenly cut through the heavy silence that had settled over the conference room like an oppressive fog, her question echoing what everyone in the room had been thinking for the past hour as their patience eroded like sand in an unforgiving tide.As soon as her voice sounded, all eyes immediately darted toward Mason, who had returned over an hour ago only to slump lazily in the president’s chair, hunched over his cell phone, completely absorbed in a video game.That’s right.One would have thought he would have addressed the room after his return, but no. As though he wasn’t the one they were waiting for, he had been frantically playing the video game since his return, his thumbs clicking rapidly across the screen of his cell phone, sweat glistening on his brow, as though he were locked in a life-or-death struggle in the virtual world.….“Die! Just die
*****”Young… young master,” a trembling voice abruptly broke the silence inside a lavish hotel room.The speaker was a flushed, naked woman who was currently sprawled across a king-sized bed, gazing up with watery eyes, her breath shallow and uneven.Perched on the edge of the bed, Lucius—equally unclothed—was just setting down his phone.His sharp, cold eyes immediately flicked toward the naked lady, and in the next instant, his expression darkened with unrestrained disgust.“Snap out of it already, you whore!” he barked, his voice cutting through the intimate atmosphere like a whip.“This…” The lady jolted as though slapped, the haze in her eyes dissipating like the wind.She stared at Mason in bewilderment, unsure how the man who had just shared a heated moment with her—whom they were just planning another round together could transform so quickly.She couldn’t react for a moment, but then recalling that this was how Lucius always turned cold and dismissive after getting wh
*****For a brief moment after Mason shattered the palpable tension in the room, silence reigned, everyone staring dazedly at him, frozen in disbelief.This stillness stretched on, only to be broken by the nervous shuffling of the representatives, who hastily wiped the beads of sweat from their brows, their gazes flitting nervously toward Grace, her earlier icy demeanor still fresh in their minds.‘As expected of the Ice Goddess,’ they thought uneasily, recalling the sheer weight of the presence she had released from a mere question alone.‘No wonder no one else from the company dared come, no matter what bonuses were promised,’ some of them thought, swallowing hard.Grace, meanwhile, sat motionless, her gaze fixated on Mason with a mixture of confusion and incredulity.She had been moments away from taking control of the situation, fully prepared to salvage what she could—even when she knew perfectly well that she’d ultimately lose the company to Mason.‘Why would he do that?’ th
***** At first, Grace had been deeply shaken by the coordinated actions of the partner companies, whose perfectly timed decisions to cut ties and demand repayment of debts seemed almost too calculated. The coincidence had been heavily weighing on her mind, and this was what she had been trying to process when Mason's sudden accusation hit her like a bolt of lightning. His words left her momentarily stunned. But as she regained her composure, her gaze fixed on Mason, her eyes narrowing, and her expression turning cold and resolute. “You… seriously believe I’d sabotage the company I’ve spent my life building?” she asked, her voice sharp and frosty, cutting through the charged silence like a blade. “What will a desperate witch not do?” A derisive snort responded, drawing everyone’s attention to the speaker, Honey, who was currently glaring venomously at Grace, her lips curling with spite. Grace’s brows immediately knitted with dissatisfaction. “What do you mean?” She ask