At that moment, a hush fell over the room as the first bid cut through the silence.“Two million dollars!”Immediately heads turned sharply toward the bidder—a middle-aged man in an immaculately tailored suit, confidence radiating from him as he adjusted his cufflinks.For a split second, the room remained quiet.Then, murmurs erupted like wildfire among the attendees.“Did he just say two million? For an herb?”“Ridiculous! Just because someone called it the ‘King of Herbs’? No one even knows what it actually does!”“Maybe he’s just trying to flex his wealth. A stunt bid to scare off competition.”At that moment in time some of the so-called artifact experts exchanged uncertain glances. The way the auctioneer had spoken about the herb had piqued their curiosity, but none of them had ever heard of such a plant before.“Could it really be worth that much?” one of them muttered under his breath, eyeing the bidder carefully.Among the crowd, Jefferson watched silently, his fingers tappin

Immediately as the armed thugs fanned out across the auction hall, tension thickened the air like smoke. Guests hardly had time to catch their breath when the next wave arrived—three more men, strong and broad-shouldered, walking in with calm, deliberate steps.They wore black suits, sleek but dangerous, the kind of suits that didn’t belong at elegant auctions but in backroom dealings. Beneath their rolled-up sleeves, bold tattoos wrapped around their forearms—snakes, daggers, blood-red skulls. The moment they stepped in, no one needed to be told—they were the ones really in charge.Unlike the first group, they didn’t carry guns. They didn’t need to.The tallest among them, his jacket slightly unbuttoned and his hair slicked back, took two steps forward and scanned the room with a cold smirk.Then he spoke.“This audition is over.”His voice was deep, clear, and carried a weight that silenced the room instantly.“From this moment on,” he continued, “we’re in control. So everyone, be

At that moment Without wasting even a second, the men sprang into action. They were trained killers, each one known across the underworld for his unique abilities. One of them rolled up his sleeves, revealing a bandolier of gleaming silver daggers strapped across his chest—every one of them sharpened to perfection. His fingers danced over the hilts like a pianist warming up. Another stepped forward, pulling out a matte-black pistol with a silencer attached, cocking it with a deadly click that made the air itself shiver.Seeing what was going on the room tensed like a wire stretched to its limit.Gasps echoed. immediately Sophia covered her mouth,her heart racing, her eyes locked on Damien.Then—nothing. Not a warning. Not a shout. Not a blink.Damien vanished from where he stood.In less than a heartbeat, he reappeared right in front of the man with the gun. The assassin didn’t even realize what had happened until his wrist snapped backward, the gun flying from his hand like a toy. B

Not wasting a second more, Damien gathered everything they had won—each item stacked and arranged with a calm precision, as though the chaos moments ago never happened. Then he walked closer to Sophia, without asking, without waiting, he leaned down and lifted Sophia into his arms.She didn’t protest.Her body was still shaking, eyes unfocused. She had just witnessed death brushing shoulders with them, and if Damien hadn’t been there, she knew they wouldn’t be alive right now. Her legs couldn’t carry her. So she simply leaned her head against his chest, letting herself be held.Without glancing at Serenity.Without saying a single word to anyone else.Damien at that moment walked out of the auction hall.Everyone instinctively made space for him—none dared to move or speak until his figure disappeared through the doors.Then silence followed them Serenity exhaled harshly.Her jaw clenched as her eyes tracked the direction Damien left. Her hands trembled by her side—then suddenly, s

At that moment Damien’s hand hovered for a moment over the King of Herbs, his eyes locked on its quiet, radiant glow. A soft breath escaped him—a sigh of relief, After everything, he got it. The rarest of the rare. The kind of thing wars had started over. And it was his now.Then he placed it back inside the protective case and locked it away.**London was seated, facing the window with a bright smile on his face, knowing fully well how Damien would be dealt with very soon, and Sophia won't have any other choice then to come bag on her knees, then he's going to teach her a good learn then.Without wasting anymore time he brought out his phone wanting to call Winston when his phone suddenly ring.At moment his eyebrows pushed up when he saw who was calling.The phone was already pressed to his ear, the tension in his neck making the veins visible beneath his skin. His jaw clenched as he listened to the hushed voice on the other side of the call. It was the man he had assigned to monit