*****Inside a VIP dining lounge."Thank you." Xavier, unaware that his heartless ex-girlfriend and Victor had already plotted his downfall, suddenly spoke sincerely, gazing at Grace with an expression that was hard to read.Grace, hearing Xavier's words, which felt so genuine they seemed to be the most sincere words she had ever heard in her life, paused briefly, staring back at him, but then her countenance turned icy-cold again."Don’t mention it," she replied dismissively, before gently and elegantly taking her seat.Xavier, hearing her question remained silent for a second before shaking his head."This is the second time you've helped me today, and neither was a small matter," he admitted with a sigh, staring unflinchingly at the icy-cold beauty before him.Although Xavier could have managed on his own in both situations, Grace’s assistance had saved him a great deal of time and stress, so, he recognized that he owed her for that, and since he disliked feeling indebted, h
***** The document Grace handed to Xavier was a marriage contract proposal, detailing various clauses, including but not limited to Xavier's responsibilities within the marriage and what he would gain at the end if he agreed to it. Xavier read the contract more than once to make sure he hadn’t misread it, but even then, he remained utterly perplexed. “Why though?” He asked, his expression puzzled. “Why?” Grace mumbled blankly to herself, seeing his confused face after which she let out a small sigh. "This is the only way I can save myself," she explained, which only baffled Xavier further. Grace took a deep breath, her face blank and detached. "There’s a massive project my family is eager to win because it could elevate its position within the second rank," she began, pausing briefly to make sure Xavier was following before continuing in a calm, measured tone. "But... it's a project that many families are vying for, particularly those supported by first-rank powerhouses, and sin
*****By the time Xavier returned to the hospital, it was already very late into the night and his parents were already fast slept.‘How I wish I could find a genuine love like theirs, a love that never dwindles, no matter how old we both become or what happens,’ he thought with a sigh, gazing at his peacefully sleeping parents.Xavier sighed emotionally after a second and then he quietly excused them, not wanting to disrupt their sleep.He wandered to the spacious reception area after a moment of thought and took a long chair in the back, lying down on it.Although the hospital policy did not allow people to sleep in the reception, no one said anything to Xavier, given the connection they assumed he had to Grace, the queen of the business world.Xavier, having no idea that he had just broken the hospital’s rules soon fell asleep no sooner had he laid down.…Around 5 – 6 am the following morning, the eyes of Xavier, who had long honed his instinct to the very peak possible su
*****While Xavier was helplessly answering his mother’s endless questions, inside a crowded and rowdy underground fighting club that was filled with disgusting and heavy stenches, a bunch of sweaty gangsters with different sorts of menacing tattoos on their skins stood in agitation, mumbling listlessly to one another.“Silence!” A muscularly built man, who stood on a platform, constantly releasing dark, scary killing intent, who had gathered his men together abruptly barked and in the next instant, the bunch of menacing-looking thugs trembled all over and subconsciously focused their attention toward the platform.Jazzy, whose eyes were still crimson red and burning with pure hatred stared through the crowd below him, after which he clenched his fists aggressively.“I’ve just gotten all the information related to that motherfuk*r who turned my brother into a sudden monk,” he announced with a voice dripping with hatred, madness, and killing intent, and in the following second, all
***** Xavier had no clue that trouble was already knocking on his door; otherwise, he would have hurried to confront it or, better yet, decided to spend the rest of the day with his parents to face it once it arrives, was currently staring at them in a daze. “You—you are handing me the house you were given?” He asked vacantly, struggling to process his present emotions. David and Laura, hearing their son’s question exchanged smiling gazes after which David intertwined his fingers with Laura’s, and together, they nodded their heads to Xavier. "But..." Xavier began, intending to protest, but then his mother gently interrupted him with her kind and soothing voice. “Didn’t the two of us already have a house?” she asked, and before Xavier could reply, she continued. “As your father explained it, the house was given because of you, so it’s only fair that we pass it on to you and your wife, especially since your father and I can't live in two places at once. You wouldn’t want to live i
*****"Why hasn't he arrived yet?" Grace abruptly mumbled nervously, standing beside her sleek black car.Today, she was dressed in a formal attire of lemon-green palazzo and matching blazer, looking so stunning, like the goddess of the business world she was known for.She glanced around once more, for what felt like the hundredth time, and when she still couldn't spot the person she was waiting for; she began to fidget anxiously."Could it be he has forgotten?" she suddenly wondered after which she swallowed hard. "Or... could—could it be he wants to go back on his word?"A whirlwind of thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, and each one only increased her tension.Beside her, Dorothy, also elegantly dressed in formal attire, silently observed Grace, momentarily questioning whether this was still the same composed boss she knew—someone who would never lose her cool or panic, regardless of the circumstances. Finally, she sighed inwardly, understanding the reason beh
*****Inside a luxurious, spacious CEO’s office, a majestic elderly man with a head full of grey hair was currently seated on a sofa, his face heavily etched with a frown.Accompanying him was a young man of 22 to 23 years old, excluding an aura of arrogance and superiority, seated in an ergonomic chair behind the executive desk in the office, and a lady of about 25-year-old with an overtly pampered demeanor, seated beside the old man, both of them dolled up in expensive and limited-edition designer wear.The tension in the office was so thick at this moment that if an unrelated person were to enter, they would feel overwhelmed to the core.“Grandfather, are you truly certain that b!tch will surrender this company today?” Mason, unable to mask his anxiety any longer, suddenly broke the deafening silence in the room, focusing his attention on the old man.The old man, upon hearing his only grandson’s question and seeing his hopeful gaze, his lips curved into a faint smile.“Don’t
*****“You’re definitely going to love this news!” Honey began, casting an excited glance at Grace after dismissively addressing Xavier, but then a small frown appeared on her face after which she returned her gaze to Xavier.“Is it that you’re deaf or what? Did you not hear me ordering you to get your worthless self out of this room?” she growled harshly, causing both Grace and the previously unbothered Xavier’s eyes to harden immediately.In the following moment, Honey, who was staring at Xavier as though he were not a human being suddenly felt a cold sweat break out on her skin.She was so unnerved by the coldness in Xavier’s eyes that she almost broke down.“You…” She swallowed hard subconsciously in fear, but in the next second, her eyes turned aggressive. “How dare a lowlife entity such as yourself look at me in such a way?!” She barked in fury before looking at her grandfather, acting as though she had been bullied.“Did you see that, Grandfather? It must have been her wh
*****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