“No... this can’t be real,” Elaine whispered. Her hand trembled, the phone nearly slipping from her grasp. Her heart raced as the weight of the recording echoed in her head—Harry’s voice. Clear and unmistakable, talking about drugging her, sending her to a hotel like some object to be delivered. Her eyes lifted, full of disbelief and horror. Harry’s face had gone ghostly pale. Beads of sweat formed on his temple. He looked like he’d just been punched in the gut by a freight train. “Elaine—please—let me explain!” he stammered, voice shaking. Elaine turned on him, her voice low and dangerous. “You drugged me?!” “No! I—I would never—” Harry staggered forward, eyes wide with mock desperation. “Elaine, think about it. Think about who gave you that phone.” “You’re really going to believe Antonio? That snake? That loser?” Elaine’s gaze faltered. Her breathing was ragged. “But the voice… it was your voice…” Harry clutched at his chest like he was the victim.

The garden behind Celestine Manor was a breathtaking oasis with its marble pathways winding through neatly trimmed hedges and elegant fountains. Soft lantern light bathed the space in a warm glow, casting long shadows across the flowerbeds. The scent of roses and jasmine lingered in the night air, but Antonio had no interest in admiring the scenery. As he stepped onto the path, he noticed Alder leaning against a stone bench with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "Welcome, Antonio!" Alder said sarcastically, a slow smirk spreading across his face. Antonio remained silent, casually slipping his hands into his pockets as he studied Alder with a calm, unreadable gaze. Alder reached into his bag and pulled out a sleek black bank card, holding it between two fingers like it was a golden ticket. With an exaggerated sigh, he extended it toward Antonio. "Now, listen! This card contains three hundred thousand bucks," Alder said smoothly and confidently. "Take it. Walk away.

Elaine’s heart pounded furiously in her chest, seeing her brother grope on the floor helplessly. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Antonio had beaten her brother like an animal? How dare he? Her face twisted with fury as she stormed toward Antonio with her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. "You bastard!" she snapped. "This was all about me, wasn't it?!" Her hands balled into fists at her sides. "First, you beat Harry, and now you didn’t even spare my brother?!" Her voice rose to a shout, echoing in the garden. "This is your revenge for the divorce, isn’t it?! You couldn’t hurt me, so you decided to hurt my family!" Antonio’s cold eyes met hers, unblinking and unwavering. How could Elaine even think he was taking any revenge for the divorce? For what exactly? Of course, their divorce was just good riddance to bad rubbish, so why would he even take any revenge? With a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, he said coolly, “Don’t flatter your

Meanwhile, back at her home, Elaine paced restlessly across the grand marble floors. The silence of the enormous house wrapped around her like a suffocating shroud as she stared out the tall windows into the night. Memories of Antonio came flooding back. She remembered his gentle touch when she was sick, the way he laughed softly under his breath when she made a joke, how he had always brought her coffee just the way she liked it even when they were fighting. Her heart ached bitterly that she could barely breathe. She had dispatched her personal team which was an elite group of hackers and investigators with explicit orders to dig into Antonio’s life and uncover everything. Any secrets including any secret lovers—anything that could explain how Antonio had slipped into Cynthia’s arms! While Elaine sat stiffly on a velvet armchair in her study, her lead investigator walked in and reported: “We found nothing, Miss Greene. No shady business deals, no hidden bank accounts

Within seconds, the man swung a crowbar at Antonio. However, before anyone could register what happened, Antonio caught the weapon mid-swing with one hand. With a sharp twist of his wrist, he disarmed the man, then drove a brutal elbow into his chest. The thug dropped like a sack of bricks, gasping for air as he crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll! Another thug lunged from Antonio’s blind side with a chain, aiming for his neck. Antonio ducked fluidly, slammed a palm into the attacker’s knee, and then swept his legs out from under him. The man flipped backward, crashing into the asphalt with a groan. Seeing Antonio defeat their partners, the other thugs became more furious! Two more charged together, one with a pipe, the other with a stun baton. He sidestepped the first, grabbed his collar, and flung him straight into the other. They tumbled to the ground in a heap of groans and tangled limbs. Cynthia watched, rooted to the spot with her mouth slightly ajar. The man s