*****Sky Group’s doors would slam shut forever for the Sky group once their scheme was revealed, and with them, every benefit, every advantage, and every scrap of power he had lusted after for his precious grandson, and the family would be gone.Thinking this, the patriarch’s fingers dug into the armrest of his chair, his knuckles turning white.Sweat prickled his back despite the chill in the room.Truthfully, he had known right from the start that he was gambling on a double-edged sword when he decided to fabricate the lie of cancelling Grace's arranged marriage. But he had believed he could keep the blade under control, convincing himself that it was a calculated risk with minimal chance of losing.But now the blade had turned in his hands.Yes, he didn’t give a damn about Grace’s family ties.If their fragile bonds turned to ashes, he would lose no sleep over it. But completely losing control over Sky Group?That was something he could never afford.If it were a few da

*****At this moment, a pin-drop silence enveloped the room… so thick, so oppressive, and almost tangible that the air itself seemed to have turned heavy, pressing down on every chest until even breathing itself felt laborious.Seated in his throne-like chair, the elderly patriarch looked as though he had been turned to stone. His mouth hung open, his jaw slackened, and his eyes bulged slightly as if he were staring at a ghost instead of his granddaughter.He had thought he knew Grace. No… he had been certain of it.And this had always been his pride, always assuming he understood her more than she understood herself… which certainly was, in fact, one of the many reasons he had grown to resent her.Grace was too proud, too stubborn, and too unwilling to bow or bend. She never yielded, never accepted control, and always acted according to her own mind and will, regarding everyone with icy-coldness and indifference.And yet, ironically, that very defiant streak was what he had cou

*****Right now, Grace’s mouth had hung open, her eyes wide and gleaming in disbelief, while her jaw dropped.She looked like someone who had just been told that gravity was optional.The silence that followed stretched painfully long before, finally, Grace frowned and demanded, “What are you talking about?”Her tone wasn’t laced with anger... it was just stunned. She was so dumbstruck that she hadn’t even noticed that her mask had slipped.Inside, though, her mind was a whirlwind.'Cancelled my arranged marriage? When? 'she thought, staring at her father in utter bewilderment. ‘What on earth is he talking about?’Williams blinked back at her, completely puzzled himself. “What am I talking about?” he repeated slowly, then frowned as though she were the one being unreasonable.“Didn’t Father say he had already canceled the marriage because he didn’t want you to resent him for life by forcing you to marry someone you didn’t want?”A thick silence slammed into the room.Grace f

***** Currently, Williams stood trembling, his face twisted with confusion, disbelief, and something darker… fear. His eyes darted from Grace to the empty space, as if desperately searching for a loophole or some rational explanation for what he had just heard. His body quivered uncontrollably, his teeth chattering together in a jagged, uneven rhythm. He looked possessed… wild and desperate. Then finally… his gaze locked on Grace, who was still composed, cold, and unmoved as stone. “You…” he stammered, his voice breaking. “How could that… are you joking? Was what you just said a joke?” Grace blinked once. Then her brows drew together in faint confusion, and she stared at her father like he had just asked if gravity was real. “Why,” she asked flatly, “would I joke about something like that?” Her voice was calm… almost unnervingly so, standing in stark contrast to Williams’ shaky, nervous tone. And with that, silence once again reigned through the room. W

*****For all the years Williams and his wife had known the elderly patriarch, one thing had always been clear… he had never given a damn about them or their daughter. Not once, and not ever.So why, in the name of reason, would he cancel a marriage that promised so much benefit to the family?It doesn’t make sense at all, and they should have realized this.They should have known right from the start that something was wrong with every word he said and how he had said them; after all, the warning signs had been glaring.But they had been too blinded by misplaced hope to see them and too naïve to question the sudden show of “kindness.” Instead, they had thanked him… actually thanked the man who had been playing them like puppets.Recalling it now, the thought alone made their stomachs twist.The elderly patriarch and his precious, most favored part of the family had stripped them of their pride, crushed their confidence, and convinced them to surrender when in fact… they had ab