2025-02-22 11:00:34The room turned into a battlefield of tension as Damien's second slap landed on Adrian's face. The sharp sound echoed through the massive living room, shattering the previous silence. Adrian stood frozen, his face burning red, caught between rage and disbelief. His pride as a Stratton, as a man who always believed he was above everyone else, crumbled before everyone's eyes.
"How dare you!" Adrian exploded, his voice filled with fury. He glared at Damien, his eyes blazing, his face as red as burning coal. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Damien remained calm, focusing his thoughts. He tried reading Adrian’s mind—though his ability was still far from perfect and needed practice. But it was clear: Adrian wasn’t planning to fight Damien himself. He would use someone else’s hands. Damien smirked. There was nothing to worry about when it came to his annoying brother-in-law.
Sure enough, Adrian spun around toward the door and barked out an order to the two guards stationed outside. He had no intention of dirtying his own hands.
"You two, get in here!" he yelled.
Two muscular men in black suits stepped inside. They looked at Adrian with confusion, seeing their young master so furious and out of control.
Just by their stance, Damien could tell these guys were ex-military, now serving as bodyguards for the rich.
"Teach this guy a lesson!" Adrian ordered, pointing at Damien, who sat calmly in his wheelchair.
Celeste and Eleanor, who had been watching anxiously, started to panic. Celeste moved toward Damien, while Eleanor stood frozen, her hands trembling. They both knew this wouldn’t end well.
"Adrian, stop this!" Celeste pleaded. "Do you even realize what you’re doing?!"
But Adrian ignored her. With fire in his eyes, he pushed the guards to act.
"Boss, are you sure?" one of the guards asked hesitantly. To them, Damien—a man in a wheelchair—looked way too weak to be a threat. But something about him felt… off.
"ARE YOU IDIOTS?!" Adrian snapped. "Just do what I said!"
Left with no choice, the guards moved toward Damien, gripping the handles of his wheelchair, ready to drag him out. Celeste immediately held onto the chair, trying to stop them.
"Let him go!" she shouted, her voice filled with anger and worry.
Damien, who had been calm the whole time, finally raised a hand. "Celeste," he said, his voice low but firm. "Let them. If they want me, I’ll face them. But I won’t let them harm you or your parents. Besides… they won’t be able to touch me."
Hearing that, Adrian seethed with rage, screaming in his mind, Bastard! You were just a street rat before coming here! You think I can’t kill you?!
Damien easily read Adrian’s mind and chuckled at his stupidity.
Celeste hesitated but eventually let go. One of the guards gripping Damien’s wheelchair suddenly froze. His eyes landed on Damien’s left shoulder, where the faint tip of a tattoo peeked out from his collar.
His eyes widened instantly. He let go of the wheelchair and stepped back, his face pale. Damien had made sure the tattoo was visible on purpose.
"Why did you stop?" Adrian barked, confused by his guard’s sudden hesitation.
The frightened guard turned to his partner, gripping his sleeve. "We can’t do this," he whispered urgently.
"What do you mean?" his partner asked, frowning.
The guard just shook his head in panic. "Trust me, we need to get out of here."
Adrian grew even angrier seeing his men disobey him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? TEACH HIM A LESSON!"
But the fear in the guards was stronger than Adrian’s threats. One of them finally spoke, though reluctantly.
"Sorry, Mr. Stratton," he said, bowing his head. "We can’t do this. This is too embarrassing. How could we attack someone so… weak?"
But what he really wanted to say was, How could we go against our real boss?
The excuse sounded like mockery, but Adrian failed to grasp the real meaning. The two guards immediately exited, leaving Adrian humiliated.
The room fell silent again. Damien remained seated in his wheelchair, his face as composed as ever, as if nothing had happened. Celeste and Eleanor looked at him, confused, trying to process what just went down.
Adrian, on the other hand, looked like a man who had completely lost control. "What the hell just happened?" he muttered, his face twisted in anger and confusion.
Damien finally spoke, breaking the suffocating silence. "So you didn’t come here to ask Celeste to come back—you just wanted to start trouble with me? I already told you, you won’t be able to lay a finger on me."
Adrian glared at Damien with pure hatred. But then, he forced himself to calm down. Losing his temper wouldn’t get him anywhere. Still, he wasn’t going to let this slide.
"Tch!" Adrian scoffed. "I was just trying to stand my ground and maybe scare you a little since you hit me first. That’s all. Besides, they didn’t even touch you, did they? So what’s your problem?" he said, trying to dodge his mistake.
The tension thickened. Adrian suddenly shifted gears, his voice turning warm and brotherly.
"Come on, Celeste. Come back to the company. Novatek needs you."
Eleanor was shocked, and even Celeste was at a loss for words. To break the awkwardness, Adrian pulled an unexpected move—he gently held Eleanor’s hand.
"Mom, tell her to come back to Novatek. You always helped us make up when we fought as kids, right?"
Adrian’s sweet-talking immediately worked on Eleanor. She had always longed for Adrian’s acknowledgment as a good mother. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Eleanor turned to Celeste.
She never thought Adrian would come to her, calling her "Mom" and asking for help like a real son. Her heart swelled with happiness. Even after everything Adrian had done tonight, she forgave him. To her, Adrian was still just an immature child.
As Eleanor stepped forward to persuade Celeste, Damien blocked her path. "Seems like you still don’t get it, huh? If you want something from someone, you ask nicely. You think forcing them will get you what you want? What are you, a seven-year-old?"
Adrian’s face turned bright red. His ego and anger flared up again. "You think I can’t secure that contract without Celeste?!"
"No! You can’t!" Damien shot back instantly. "If you could, you wouldn’t be here begging!"
Adrian fumed, while Eleanor and Celeste were left speechless.
The commotion finally drew George out, and he found his family in a heated argument.
"Enough!" he commanded firmly. "Do you all realize what you’re doing in my house at this hour?!"
Adrian sneered, clearly annoyed by his father’s presence.
"Great! Since you’re here, let’s make this quick! We all know you failed to run the company, which is why Grandma took over. I won’t let that happen to Novatek. I need this contract to succeed, so order Celeste to obey me and support me—if you have even a shred of responsibility left, Dad!"
Damien scoffed, disgusted by Adrian’s pathetic desperation. After failing to sway Eleanor, now he was trying to use George as leverage.
"I’m not doing it!" Celeste finally shouted, cutting through the chaos. Seeing her father humiliated and insulted by his own son hurt too much.
"Adrian, just leave. You wanted Novatek? Then handle your own damn problems! I can build a company ten times bigger than Novatek if I want to. So choose—either give Novatek back to me, or figure it out yourself. Now get lost, bastard!!"
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Adrian swung his fist in a fit of rage, but Damien moved with surprising speed. Even in a wheelchair, his movements were precise. With a quick motion, he caught Adrian's wrist before the punch could land on his face.The grip was so strong it sounded like something cracked. Adrian screamed in pain, his piercing cry echoing through the room and freezing everyone in the Stratton family. “Aaaah!” he yelled, clutching at Damien's hand, trying to break free.Damien stared at Adrian with cold, unwavering eyes. The tense atmosphere in the room shifted into a suffocating silence, broken only by Adrian’s ragged breaths and the faint creak of Damien’s wheelchair moving slightly forward. Still holding Adrian’s wrist, Damien spoke, his voice low but cutting through the air like a blade.“Celeste is my wife,” he said firmly, directing his gaze to everyone in the room, who looked on in shock. “From now on, no one is allowed to mess with her. Consider this your warning.”With that, Damien released A
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Chapter 5: Resolve Amidst Insults
At the Stratton family estate, everyone had gathered in the grand villa. The atmosphere in the main hall was tense. Celeste’s grandma, Margaret Stratton, sat in a large red master chair, surrounded by lavish decorations that reflected the family’s status as one of the wealthiest in the country.Standing before Margaret was Adrian, exuding his usual arrogance. Celeste’s brother had always been the family’s favorite—an ambitious man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.“Celeste,” Adrian said in a commanding tone, “hand over the family business. You know it should have been mine from the start. You’re only holding onto it because of grandma’s pity.”Celeste stood tall in front of her brother, her face flushed with anger. “Pity?” she snapped, her voice filled with emotion. “I worked hard to build that company from nothing! You have no idea what I’ve been through!”Margaret raised her hand, signaling them to stop. Her wrinkled face bore both wisdom and authority. “Enough,” she
Chapter 4: The Struggle to Rise Again
Damien knew his time with Celeste was running out. If he wanted to prove himself, he had to act fast. But every step forward felt like smashing into a brick wall—an insurmountable challenge for a man still confined to a wheelchair.What nobody knew, not even Celeste, was that Damien had secretly joined a classified military rehab program. This program, designed for severely injured war veterans, offered a chance to recover using experimental methods.The program wasn’t cheap, though. Damien had to fund it himself after leaving the military and cutting all ties. He’d also abandoned his past as one of the most influential people in the country, effectively erasing his identity from everyone who once knew him.For the past year, Damien had been disappearing for a few days each month to attend rehab sessions. These weren’t just about physical recovery—they involved intense mental training and martial arts to regain control over his body. Although he wasn’t back to his Grandmaster peak yet
