The moment her lips left Richard’s, panic surged through her chest and she reacted instinctively. Without waiting for his response, she turned and hurried toward the villa entrance, her heart pounding wildly as though she had just committed a serious crime. She did not dare look back. Her mind replayed the moment over and over again -the warmth of his lips, the surprised look in his eyes and the brief stillness between them. By the time she reached the grand doors of the villa, her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. “What did I just do?” she whispered to herself. She placed a hand over her chest, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. For someone who had spent years carefully guarding her emotions, her actions just now had been completely reckless. She stepped inside the villa. The interior was even more impressive than the outside. The entrance hall stretched high above with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floors were polished marble, reflecting the warm

Richard remained calmly seated across from Isabella, but inside, his patience was wearing dangerously thin.He thought that he had already exhausted every ounce of tolerance he possessed for this woman. Yet here he was, still sitting in the cold room, listening to her babble. Across the metal table, Isabella nervously fidgeted with the sleeves of her dull gray jail uniform. Her fingers twisted the fabric over and over again.Richard leaned back slightly in his chair, studying her with the same cold and calculating gaze he used during high-stakes business negotiations.He had not expected this. When he first walked into the detention facility, he had assumed the meeting would be short and useless.Isabella had always been stubborn and difficult, and so he had expected that Rico’s men might need to pressure the truth out of her later through other means.Yet now, unexpectedly, she was already cracking. It seemed luck was on his side today.Richard watched her trembling hands carefully.

The elevator continued its silent descent deep beneath the towering structure of The Apex Group headquarters, moving far below the floors that ordinary employees used every day. Inside the elevator, the soft mechanical sound of the system was the only noise that accompanied Richard and Rico as they traveled downward. The digital panel above the door displayed a series of restricted levels that did not appear on any official directory within the building. Most employees believed the structure ended several floors below the lobby, yet the elevator continued to descend past those limits, revealing that the skyscraper hid far more than anyone outside the organization could imagine. Rico stood a step behind Richard with his usual composed posture, though his sharp eyes remained alert. He had been down here countless times over the past seven years while Richard had been unconscious, yet the significance of this place had never diminished in his mind. This underground section represented

The ride back from the Apex Group headquarters passed in complete silence.The black car moved smoothly through the busy streets of the city, blending easily with the traffic around them, yet the atmosphere inside the vehicle felt unusually heavy.Rico sat in the passenger seat while Richard occupied the back, staring in silence through the tinted window.Normally, Richard was never a man who spoke unnecessarily. He had always preferred silence over meaningless conversation.But this silence was different and even Rico could feel it.For years he had served beside Richard and had learned to recognize the different shades of his boss’s moods. There was the calm silence of strategy when Richard planned something complicated. There was the cold silence of anger when someone had crossed a line. There was also the thoughtful silence that appeared when Richard studied a difficult problem.But right now, it was none of those. It was something very personal and Rico did not dare interrupt. He

Night had fallen over the city, yet the energy of the streets below refused to die down. Inside one of the most exclusive bar houses in the city, soft music drifted through the air while dim golden lights reflected across polished marble floors and crystal glasses. The establishment catered only to the most powerful and wealthy individuals in the region, and every corner of the place had been carefully designed to maintain privacy and luxury.Very few people knew the truth about the place and that was the real owner. It was Richard Carter himself.Tonight, however, the owner sat within the private VVIP section like any other guest.The area was separated from the rest of the bar by tall dark partitions and soundproof glass that shielded the occupants from outside noise and attention. From the outside, only faint silhouettes could be seen.Inside the secluded space, the atmosphere felt tense than the surroundings suggested.Richard sat alone on one side of the low table, a crystal gla