Jefferson remained frozen on the ground, his body pressed flat against the cold pavement, his arms splayed out in front of him in complete submission. He couldn't move. Couldn't even bring himself to lift his head or push himself up onto his knees.Because something inside him was screaming that this was a trap.That Alex was lying to him. Testing him. Waiting for him to make a move so he could strike him down the moment he tried to stand.Jefferson had seen what Alex could do. Had felt the crushing weight of his spiritual energy. Had watched him destroy an entire squad of elite monsters without even breaking a sweat.And now Alex was just... letting him go?It didn't make sense.People like Alex people with that kind of power, that kind of authority didn't just forgive. Didn't just let things slide. Especially not when someone had disrespected them, betrayed their trust, broken their promises.So this had to be a trick, had to be.Jefferson's mind raced, trying to figure out what the

The moment Rose's mother's words registered in Jefferson's mind, the world seemed to tilt on its axis.His vision blurred, his knees buckled slightly, and for a terrifying second he thought he was actually going to faint right there in the parking lot — collapse onto the pavement like a puppet whose strings had been cut.He couldn't believe what he was hearing.Couldn't believe that Rose's mother was calling him right now, at this exact moment, mere minutes after he'd nearly been killed, mere seconds after Alex had given him a final, absolute warning to stay away from anything and anyone connected to them.And here she was.Calling him.Talking to him about Rose.About their arrangements.About whatever twisted plan they'd been scheming together behind everyone's backs.Jefferson's hand tightened around the phone, his knuckles going white, and when he finally found his voice it came out harsh and desperate, barely controlled."I'm sorry," he said, cutting her off mid-sentence, "but th

Inside what looked like a conference room, a space dominated by a large, polished round table that gleamed under the soft overhead lighting, more than four men five in total were seated in heavy silence.The chairs were expensive, the kind you'd find in the boardrooms of powerful corporations or the private meeting rooms of influential organizations. The walls were bare except for a few pieces of abstract art that seemed chosen more for their intimidation factor than their aesthetic value. The entire room had an air of seriousness, of weight, of decisions being made that could alter the course of lives.And yet, despite the five men already present, despite the fact that they'd clearly been waiting for some time, nobody had said a single word.They just sat there in tense, expectant silence, their hands folded on the table in front of them, their expressions carefully neutral, their eyes occasionally flicking toward the large double doors at the far end of the room.Waiting.And the

The room fell utterly quiet.Completely, absolutely silent. Nobody said a word. Nobody moved. They just sat there, frozen in their seats, staring at the man who had just spoken, their expressions ranging from shock to disbelief to barely concealed fear.Some of them looked like they'd been struck by lightning, their eyes wide, their mouths slightly open, their faces pale. Others had gone completely rigid, their hands gripping the edges of the table, their knuckles white with tension.They weren't expecting this.Not in a million years. Not in their wildest nightmares. Not in any scenario they had prepared for or planned around.The Supreme King.Back.After all these years. After everything they'd done to make sure he could never return. After all the blood they'd spilled, all the lives they'd destroyed, all the careful, meticulous planning they'd put into making absolutely certain that this exact situation would never, ever happen.And yet here they were. The silence stretched on,

The statement carried implications—suggested that Raymond had some special status, some particular position that meant his presence wasn't necessary because the system would handle this case properly without his involvement, that his time was too valuable to be spent attending to matters that law enforcement could manage on his behalf. Raymond smiled slightly—acknowledging the Chief's words, accepting the respect being shown, but clearly having his own reasons for being here regardless of necessity. "Well," Raymond said, and his voice came out smooth, controlled, carrying its own authority that was different from the Chief's institutional power but no less real, no less commanding, "I really wanted to see his father. I heard that his father was actually here. Heard that he was uttering nonsense. Saying all sorts of rubbish. Making threats. Attacking the victim. Demanding that I be arrested for defending someone in my own home." His eyes moved to Marcus—assessing, evaluating, tak