*****David stepped forward so fast that the chair behind him nearly toppled.Fear rose in his throat, a surge of panic as countless possibilities raced through his mind.Laura trembled again, a pool of tears welling up in her eyes. “I… I don’t know what happened to him,” she finally said, her voice raspy and her words shattering into a sob.The answer only deepened David’s terror, draining his face of every color.“You… you... what do you mean you don’t know what happened to him?” His voice broke as well, disbelief and dread mingling together. David failed to realize that Laura was speaking literally… And Laura, having no idea of the ambiguity in her words, nodded her head anxiously at her husband’s question, her voice trembling as she tried to explain.“He… he hasn’t come home since he left yesterday. And his number…” her voice cracked as she held up her phone, her hands shaking, “…I’ve called him over a thousand times, David. Not once has he picked up.” Her breath hitched

*****Before Xavier got convicted to prison, Laura had never been this… fragile about him.Back then, she was a woman of unshakable composure… strong, patient, and the kind of person who could go days without seeing her son and feel nothing more than mild curiosity and concern.He was busy with his company, and she trusted him completely. If he didn’t call, she would simply assume he was buried in work.It was normal back then, predictable and safe.But that was before prison.Ever since he came back, that fracture had never really healed.Every time Xavier left the house, her chest would tighten as if someone were slowly wringing the air out of her lungs.Every time he tried calling him and his number didn’t go through... or the call went unanswered, she felt her nerves tighten, as though something were scraping against them.And whenever he didn’t come back home on time, it felt as though invisible hands were tugging at her heart, strangling it with fear.She had taught he

*****At this moment, standing before the towering entrance of Villa Number One… a door so massive and opulent that it looked as though it were made for gods or giants, radiating both power and wealth that didn’t just intimidate but humbled anyone who dared to approach... four figures stood.At the front stood Xavier, appearing calm and composed as he carried the unconscious Williams in his arms, whose blood had dried against his shirt, its dark stains standing out like a grim reminder of what had led them here.To his right stood Grace, her face devoid of any readable emotion.At this moment, her beauty seemed to have been sculpted from ice, appearing stoic, unyielding, and silent… the perfect picture of the Ice Goddess known to the world.It was not the kind of stillness born of peace or indifference, but of someone who had been hurt so much to the extent that she had stopped believing in the world.And then finally, on Xavier’s other side, stood Susan, Grace’s mother.Unlike

*****Meanwhile, Susan, hearing the couple call Xavier Son, and Xavier, in turn, address the woman as his mother, stood frozen in place at this moment, unable to react for a moment, then finally...Her jaw dropped to the ground, her heart skipping a beat in her chest‘Son?’ Mother?’ Her mind stuttered, her breath hitching.Before she even knew it, Susan swallowed hard, unable to believe her ears.‘Did… did they just address themselves as that?’For a split second, the world around her seemed to blur, her mouth further opening, seemingly unable to make sense of anything again.But before she could even begin to process it, Xavier stopped in his tracks as Laura, still half in shock, raised her trembling hand.“Son, what’s going on here?” she demanded, her tone heavily laced with both confusion and fear, completely ignoring her son’s question as though she had never heard it.Her eyes darted to the unconscious man in Xavier’s arms. “Who is that you’re carrying? He doesn’t look g

*****Currently standing inside the breathtaking living room of Villa Number One, which screams of generational wealth and the kind of class that only belonged to the first rank powerhouse, Susan couldn’t help but feel her entire sense of reality twist in on itself.Her brain struggled to process what her ears had just heard from Xavier.‘My home?’Just moments ago, before the door opened, she had been terrified, convinced that they were trespassing into a private estate owned by some untouchable magnate from the first-rank powerhouse.She had even half-prepared herself for the humiliation of being dragged out by security, and even worse, punished.Yet when the couple who had emerged from within had addressed Xavier as their son, her panic had melted into awkward relief, making her realize that she had only been overtly paranoid.But even then… she had never imagined that they were the true owners of the mansion. That’s right.As said earlier, Susan wasn’t the kind of woman wh