Alistair slowly closed the menu, his placid, freezing gaze drifting up to meet Albert's eyes. "So, it was the Connors who sent this message. I see.""Indeed. They practically begged us to take your life in exchange for their survival," Albert laughed, a twisted, arrogant smirk pulling at his lips. "But your life isn't enough. You broke into the Holden Luxury Tower last night and turned young Master Sean into a vegetable. The Patriarch demands you return with us immediately to reverse whatever demonic trick you played on him. If you refuse, we will shoot you right here, and then we will return to the Holden estate and peel the skin off your wife's back piece by piece."The moment the words "Holden estate" and "your wife" left Albert's mouth, Alistair’s eyes darkened into a profound, terrifying void.The air temperature inside the cafe plummeted instantly.The decorative plants in the corners of the room began to wither and freeze, a thin layer of frost rapidly spreading across the glas

"Alistair... Alistair, wait!" David stumbled backward, his knees buckling until he fell heavily into his leather executive chair.He raised his hands in a frantic, pleading gesture. "It was a misunderstanding! I didn't know... I didn't know what you were! Sean... Sean provoked you first! Name your price! The Holden conglomerate, our offshore accounts, our real estate... I will transfer all of it to your name by sunset! Just spare my life!"Alistair stood perfectly still, looking down at the billionaire patriarch with eyes that held the cold, unbothered silence of the starry void."You believe your wealth can purchase the heavens," Alistair said softly, his voice carrying a vibrating resonance that caused the heavy concrete walls of the study to begin developing deep, jagged fractures. "You used a mortal's petty authority to torture a woman who bears the karmic seal of my household. And you dare to bargain?""I am Patriarch of the Holden family!" David screamed, desperation driving him

Alistair slowly rose from his chair.He didn't unleash his celestial qi—if he did, her fragile mortal heart would likely stop beating instantly—but the sheer, psychological weight of his presence seemed to cause the very walls of the room to close in on her.“Don't make me regret helping you, Sara Connor. It would do you no favour.” Alistair coldly remarked. Sara bit down on her lower lip. “I'm not… You know what, it's fine. I was just telling you how I felt.” “Perhaps it may be time I take my leave. You may want to call your family to come here.” Alistair said. “You can go, but I won't be calling anyone,” Sara said. Alistair raised a brow. “Why?”“Because I realise now that the people I consider my family see me as nothing more than cattle,” Sara muttered with a pained expression.“Oh?”“Do you know what my mother did after I told her that Sean Holden tried to rape me?”“Enlighten me,” Alistair said. Sara let out a bitter, hollow laugh, her fingers tightening around the sterile

“You… What are you doing here? Who are you? Are you a relative of the patient?” The doctor asked.“People like you disgust me.” Alistair coldly said, catching the doctor off guard.“What did you say?”“You took the Hippocratic oath to save lives, yet you are abandoning a patient when she needs help? How dare you still call yourself a doctor?”“You! Who are you to speak to me like this? Do you know who I am? Listen here, you'd better watch how you speak to me or else!”“Unbelievable. Unrepentant until the last moment. Fine then, listen closely. I'll help you and do your job, but know that once I do so, you can forget about being a doctor anywhere ever again.” Alistair coldly remarked.The doctor laughed in Alistair's face. “Do you think this is a movie? Stop trying to be a hero and just get out of here! That patient is already a lost cause! No one can save her! Not even the gods can!”“That remains to be seen.” The doctor snorted. “Enough of this! I don't have the time to waste on foo

Hearing the rustle of clothing and the sound of footsteps, Sara’s eyelids fluttered.She slowly, agonizingly forced her eyes open, her blurred vision resolving into the faces of the four people who shared her bloodline.For a second, a primal instinct of familial relief flared within her chest.But then, the memory of her mother’s stinging slap, Patrick’s bitter resentment, and the image of them groveling on their knees while she was dragged away as a sacrificial lamb rushed back into her mind.The relief vanished, replaced by a cold, hollow numbness."Sara!" Jocelyn was the first to break the silence, rushing to the side of the bed.But instead of reaching out to comfort her daughter or touching her hand, Jocelyn hovered over her with a tense, demanding expression. "My goodness, look at you! You're a mess! What on earth happened at the Holden estate? Did David Holden do this to you?"Sara looked at her mother, her voice a weak, gravelly whisper. "Why... why are you here?""What do yo