"Let’s see what you can do now,” Irius said, settling the teacup on the ground.Desmond straightened, rolling his shoulders once, then drew in a slow, steady breath.He turned slightly, planting his feet firmly. The air around him felt chiller.He closed his eyes. In his mind, he pictured the teacup. Every invisible seam holding it together.He imagined it breaking. He lifted one hand slowly, palm facing forward, and let the Golden Onyx energy gather beneath his skin. For a second, nothing happened.Then, a sharp shattering sound broke the silence.Desmond’s eyes flew open expecting the teacup to have cracked in half or four pieces.But the teacup hadn’t cracked in half. It had shattered completely.Porcelain fragments scattered across the ground, broken into dozens of uneven pieces, some reduced nearly to dust. Desmond's eyes widened. “I actually did it…” he breathed.He looked up at Irius. Irius stood still, his gaze lowered to the broken remains, his expression unreadable.Desmon

“What kind of sounds?” Desmond asked quietly.The maid’s voice trembled. “Like…Like bones hitting metal.”“We rushed to the training room eventually,” she said. “But the door was locked from the inside. We kept knocking. He told us to leave.”Her eyes glistened faintly now. “But we didn’t. After some time, it became too quiet. That was when we forced it open.”Desmond’s jaw tightened.“When we entered…” she continued softly, “Mr. Stone was on the floor, bleeding. The equipment around him was damaged. The reinforced walls were cracked. There was blood on the impact panels.”Desmond slowly turned his head toward Asher whose face remained calm.“He had done it to himself,” the maid whispered. “He inflicted those wounds on himself.”“He told us not to inform you—”“I did it to punish myself,” Asher said, cutting her off but not harshly.Desmond just stared at him, trying to process the words.“That night,” Asher continued, “I spoke to you harshly. I was completely out of tone, yelling at

Back at the Golden Empire, Desmond and Asher had brought the affected man to a private room. The man was still groaning and muttering incoherently, so they had chained him to the side of the bed to keep him from thrashing about or harming himself further.Asher had explained that the man had somehow come into contact with Blackfinger’s aura, and it was trying to take over his body. Blackfinger was the total opposite of Goldenfinger. While Goldenfinger healed and restored, Blackfinger existed to destroy. It caused self-harm and self-destruction, feeding off chaos and pain.That was why the man had aimlessly leapt from the chandelier earlier, not caring if he broke bones, sprained muscles, or even died.Desmond looked at the man, then at Asher, his expression tense. “This is bad. What do we do?”He was genuinely worried. This man was a member of their staff, part of the Golden Empire, and Desmond couldn’t just stand by while he self-destructed. He had been so anxious earlier that he ev

“Is…she with you by any chance?”Desmond’s hands trembled as he held the phone to his ear. His heart pounded so heavily in his chest.“Zoe…I don’t understand. Vivian isn’t with me. Isn’t she with you?”There was a long pause on the other end.“Zoe, talk to me!” Desmond pressed, his voice already strained, panic rising in his chest.“Well…” Zoe stuttered, her breathing uneven. “After she left for school yesterday morning, she never came back.”“What?” “Yes,” Zoe continued. “I went to visit my parents yesterday because my mom was unwell. I only got back today. The house looked exactly the way we left it. Normally Vivian would’ve cooked something. There was nothing made. Everything was untouched. That’s when I knew she never came home. And she’s not taking my calls either.”Desmond swallowed hard. His throat felt dry. “Okay… okay. I’ll try to reach her.”He hung up abruptly.Asher, who had been watching him closely, stood and walked over. “What’s wrong? You seem uneasy.”Desmond wiped h