Realizing he was going to die, Wilfred panicked. “Young Miss, please save me from this monster! Save me!”“Confess!” Alistair bellowed.“Okay, I'll tell the truth. Just spare me.” Wilfred begged.“Go ahead.”Lips quivering, Wilfred remarked. “I didn't have a choice.”Isabella grimaced upon hearing this. “It was your stepmother who ordered me to do it! She said I should kill Master Julian and force you to come back to the palace. I didn't have a choice.”Isabella glanced at Wilfred. “You, more than anyone else know why I left, yet you wanted to force me back there and what's worse, by killing my brother. How dare you!” “I didn't have a choice!”“What did she offer you?” Isabella asked. Wilfred gritted his teeth, unwilling to respond. “I asked you a question!”“Everything that you own now!” Wilfred spat out. “She offered me everything that you own. Diamond Incorporated and everything that Isabella Heart has in her bank account!”Isabella could hardly believe her ears.She even thoug

Once in the living room with Alistair, Isabella stepped aside for a bit before returning with a jewelry box.“Here. Please take this.”Raising a brow, Alistair took the box and opened it only to lay eyes on a rather unique necklace with an emerald centerpiece. Alistair sensed a soothing power surging within the necklace.“It was a gift from my grandmother. To my knowledge, it is quite useful to cultivators like you, Mister Reid.”Alistair lifted the necklace from its velvet cushioning.The emerald didn't just shine; it pulsed with a rhythmic, deep-seated vitality that seemed to resonate with the ambient Qi in the room.It possessed a Wood-Attribute Spirit Core, likely harvested from a centenarian spirit tree."This is no ordinary jewelry, Isabella," Alistair remarked, his eyes tracing the faint, crystalline veins within the gem. "A piece like this could facilitate a breakthrough for a bottlenecked cultivator, or prolong the life of a dying man by decades. Its value is... immeasurable

Instinctively, a thought came to mind and Sara glanced at Alistair. “Do you really not know anything else other than using your looks to attract women? Since when did you become a shameless gigolo, Alistair?”Alistair didn't even blink at the accusation.He stood there with a detached, clinical stillness that made Sara’s outburst seem like the tantrum of a child rather than the insult of a former spouse."A gigolo?" Alistair repeated, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in a dry, mirthless arc. "You’ve spent three years calling me a 'useless pauper.' Now that I'm standing in a place you can't afford, next to a woman you can't compare to, your mind has to invent a reason to keep me beneath you. It’s a fascinating defense mechanism, Sara."Sara’s face flushed a deep crimson. "You—! How dare you speak to me like that! I was the one who kept a roof over your head while you did nothing but play with herbs and talk to beggars!""And yet," Isabella intervened, her voice smooth as silk b

“Elizabeth? I believe she is currently resting,” Jacob said, his voice dripping with false concern. “She had a bit too much to drink.”Alistair’s eyes flicked to the woman in white standing behind Jacob.She was staring at him—not at his face, but at his chest, where the Emerald Heart was tucked away.She had sensed the Wood-Attribute energy.“She’s not resting, Jacob. You and I know you did something to her,” Alistair said, his voice carrying across the foyer, silencing the nearby guests.Jacob’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second. “Alistair, your imagination is as wild as your medical theories. You’re clearly unwell. Guards, escort this man off the property. If he resists, use whatever force is necessary.”The woman in white stepped forward, placing a hand on Jacob’s shoulder.“Wait,” she said, her voice like wind through dry leaves.She looked at Alistair, her pupils dilating as she attempted a spiritual probe. “Who are you, really?”Alistair felt the probe hit the barrier o

At this point, Isabella could tell that something was going on, but what it was, she couldn't figure out. “That…”Just then, the sound of a glass being tapped with a spoon echoed throughout the ballroom.Everyone's attention shifted towards the balcony where Jacob now stood with a wine glass and Celine behind him.A warm smile was on his lips and he looked like the epitome of a good soul.Underneath the exterior though, Alistair could detect the wickedness in his heart.This was a man whose desires had completely consumed him. “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for honoring my invitation, especially you, Miss Heart. I did not expect you to come but the fact that you did means a lot to me.” Jacob began.At this point, waiters had begun to go around ensuring that everyone had a glass of wine in their hands as Jacob was about to propose a toast. “Tonight, I wish to celebrate my position as heir of the Lowe family. It is a position I never thought I'd get but with it, I hope to pro