“Whatever helps you sleep at night!” Alex snarled, his hand slicing through the air with impatient finality.Instantly, Discipline officers lunged forward, gripping George fiercely by the arms, yanking him from the room.“You’re going to regret this, Alex! My family controls the Union—you'll pay dearly for this!”George screamed, his voice cracking with furious desperation as they dragged him mercilessly across the threshold.Hans staggered forward, panic turning his face pale and sweaty.“Mr. Alex, please!” he begged, collapsing onto his knees in a pathetic heap.“I was wrong, terribly wrong! Give me another chance! I swear I'll never cross the line again!”“I got lost in a moment of greed!” Hans sobbed, clutching desperately at Alex’s feet, his pride dissolved into tears.“Think of my years of loyalty, sir! Can’t you forgive just this once? I promise—it'll never happen again!”Hans trembled violently, his hope evaporating like mist in sunlight as he watched even Mr. Smith, his stron

An hour had crept by, and Alex was scribbling patient records in the fading amber glow, preparing to shutter the clinic doors when the sudden thundering of heavy boots announced trouble.Florence and Jack stormed back inside, their pack of thugs swaggering arrogantly behind."You bastard!" Florence shrieked venomously, brandishing a fist in his direction. "How dare you cheat us with fake goods?"Alex released a weary sigh, his gaze fixed indifferently upon the paperwork."That was genuine ginseng. Why would I bother deceiving small-timers like you?""Who cares about your worthless ginseng?" Jack roared furiously."We want the main ingredient for the Emerald Elixir!""That ginseng," Alex drawled slowly, his tone dripping mockery, "is indeed part of the Emerald Elixir. Didn't anyone teach you morons anything?""You lying snake!" Florence snapped viciously, her eyes blazing with fury."The Emerald Elixir contains about fifty herbs," Alex sneered contemptuously, finally lifting his cold,

“Goddammit, Alex! What kind of monster have you become?” Sophia's voice trembled violently, each word cracking like lightning through a storm."Ever since Jasmine slithered into your life, you've turned into someone I don't even recognize.”“Was it really worth it—denying them even a sliver of that damned root? Would it have cost you an arm or a leg?”“Tell me, what's your price? A million bucks? Two million? Just name it! I’ll sell my soul if I have to—but stop hurting my mother and brother!"Her rage boiled hotter with every word, her fists shaking uncontrollably, knuckles white and eyes blazing.“What the hell is wrong with you, Alex?!” she exploded, tears of fury beginning to well in her eyes.“Have you completely lost your goddamned heart?!”Alex stood unmoved, his face cold and detached as stone. "You really think this is about money? Let me spell it out for you, Sophia—the root isn't mine to give."Sophia felt her chest clench painfully, fury slicing deeper at his indifferent to

At the modest clinic, Alex let out a slow, quiet breath, the weight on his shoulders dissolving into the sterile air like mist at dawn.He ended the call with the kind of calm that only comes from repetition—each silence afterward landing exactly where it had so many times before, in the aching corners of old wounds.She always shattered the calm like it was made of glass—every word from her a spark, every conversation a storm.And yet, some fragile, hopeless part of him still waited for the day she'd understand. The day love wouldn’t feel like a war.Trouble had worn a path to his door so often, its knocks no longer stirred fear—only a tired familiarity.He placed a hand over his chest, feeling the quiet thud beneath his ribs, and whispered with a faint, bitter smile, “Still holding on, huh? Why are you so damn stubborn, heart?”Then softer, almost like a confession to the emptiness around him:“What are you waiting for? Why not just let go… aren’t you tired yet?”Outside, the abrasiv

Alex slammed down the phone and turned sharply, grabbing a mop.Josephine was already scrubbing furiously at the floor, her eyes bloodshot and shimmering.She hadn't said a single bitter word, but grief hung over her like a funeral shroud.Her pets—her beloved Blackie, Brownie, and little Kitty—slaughtered by that monster Charles.Her silence was deafening, punctuated only by muffled sobs she desperately tried to hide.Watching her silent struggle twisted a knife deep in Alex’s gut.The quiet intensity of their cleanup was suddenly broken by the sleek rumble of an engine.A black limousine screeched to a halt outside, gravel crunching ominously beneath its tires.Alfred Kingston burst from the car, his expensive business suit rumpled from the rush, face pale as a corpse, breath ragged as if chased by death itself.When he caught sight of Alex's dark, seething expression through the glass, terror surged through his veins.Alfred stepped inside cautiously, taking in the chaos—broken equi