At that moment, Cecilia's body locked in place.Her leg, mid-step, refused to obey. Her heart thudded against her chest so loudly that she could barely hear her own thoughts. She knew she had been caught. That voice from Sophia had sliced through the room and landed straight on her spine like ice water. All the courage she had gathered to make that quiet escape vanished into thin air.Her breath stuttered.She slowly turned her head, trying her best to force a smile one that didn’t reach her trembling lips. With a shaky voice, she muttered, “I-I didn’t forget anything… I was just, I was just looking for… where is—”But she didn’t get the chance to finish.Before her words could even form properly, a thunderous voice broke the air one filled with fury and urgency.It was David’s uncle, he snapped his head toward David and barked, “What the hell are you still standing there for? Are you trying to kill us all?! Get down on your knees now and beg!”David flinched, even Cecilia jolted at t

At that moment, David still on his knees and shaking like a leaf in a storm suddenly spun around and stretched out his trembling hand to point directly at Cecilia.“It wasn’t me!” he shouted, his voice cracking from fear and desperation. “It was Cecilia! She’s the one who called me here. She told me to say those things about Damien. She begged me to insult Sophia. I swear, I didn’t even want to come!”All eyes snapped to Cecilia, who stood frozen in place, her lips slightly parted, her pulse racing. But David wasn’t done.“She planned all of it!” he continued. “The immigration nonsense, the insults, the whole setup everything! I only met Damien today, I didn’t even know who he was. It was Cecilia who fed me all the lies. She said Damien was just a useless nobody pretending to be important. She said Sophia was a low-class gold-digger trying to climb through Damien’s name. I didn’t know it was all fake, I was just… just playing along. Please, I didn’t mean any harm. It was all her doing

At that moment, Damien would slowly turn his gaze toward Sophia, his eyes sharp but calm, his hands loosely tucked into his pockets. He wasn’t angry at least not in a loud way but the kind of quiet Damien that sent chills down spines. The kind of calm that made people feel even more afraid because they didn’t know what would happen next.“If my girlfriend wants me to deal with David,” Damien said slowly, his voice steady like a blade slicing through the air, “and not show an ounce of mercy, then I’ll do it without blinking. But if she chooses to forgive them, or decides to let this go…”He shrugged slightly“then that’s what will happen too. Because right now, their fate lies completely in Sophia’s hands.”He didn’t look at David. He didn’t even glance at Cecilia or the others. He didn’t need to.Immediately, like clockwork, David’s knees hit the floor, followed closely by his uncle, his brother, and even Cecilia who had clearly given up on pride at this point. The entire room felt tens

David’s uncle straightened his shoulders, his face tightening as if he had just swallowed something bitter. His voice came steady, but there was weight in the way he spoke, each word pressing down like stone. “I’m very grateful for what you’ve said, Mrs.Sophia,” he told her, his tone carrying both respect and relief. “We will do exactly as you’ve asked. I will make sure David keeps his distance from you. Far. Extremely far. He won’t come near you again. I’ll see to that with my own eyes.” Then he shifted, turning his attention toward David. His stare grew sharper, the kind of stare that cut through silence and sent a chill crawling over the room. His lips barely moved when he spoke next, but the words hit harder than a scream. “And as for your second request…” his jaw tightened, his voice colder than the winter wind. “David. Cecilia. This is over for you. The party is over. Right now, the both of you will leave this place. Immediately.” The force in his voice left no room for

Another voice followed, equally charged. “You’re asking us to flirt with destruction. You know what happens if we unleash him. You all know! Even OP himself made it clear if he’s ever brought out again, entire cities could fall. We’re not just talking about erasing a threat we’re talking about risking innocent lives! Children, families, everything we’ve sworn to protect!”A third elder, with trembling fingers and a long silver beard, slowly stood and added with a raspy voice, “Have we forgotten who we are? We are not tyrants. We are not monsters. We were formed to protect this land from oppression. We fight against rulers like the Supreme King because they use power without control, without care. We were never meant to become the very thing we swore to destroy.”A heavy silence followed, broken only by the rhythmic ticking of the massive clock that stood in the shadows behind them.The man who had made the initial proposal the one whose eyes burned with urgency remained seated, but hi