***** Patricia’s voice shook as she spoke… not from fear, but from the sheer intensity of her fury. “After everything?” she demanded, her eyes burning like raging flames. Hearing her outburst, Jacob’s mouth fell open, unable to react. He simply stared at his wife, then back at his daughter, appearing dumbfounded beyond words. Meanwhile… Zach, watching from the side, hadn't seen any of this coming. Back then, Patricia had adored him like a child and his family like hers. She had treated them like relatives she cherished dearly, often going out of her way to show warmth and respect. And Anita… She had always been the same. She had treated his parents like her own, calling his mother “Auntie” with that bright smile of hers, and running around the house as if she belonged there. Yet… Zach’s gaze slowly moved between Anita and Patricia. The animosity burning in their eyes right now was so natural that even Zach couldn’t help but find himself momentarily unsure how to re

***** As it was, everything had begun the very next day after the tragedy ten years ago. While the Rex’s loyalists were still grieving, the other elite families, allies, and the city’s upper echelons exploited the Rex Family’s fall. According to Anita, rather than mourn the fallen Rex clan, they had rushed to divide its resources among themselves. The powerful families and other top powers had rushed out like vultures descending upon a corpse, each one scrambling to claim the most valuable parts of the Rex clan’s enormous legacy. And just like that, the countless businesses, properties, investments, territories, and alliances that the Rex family had spent generations building had been quickly seized and redistributed. Naturally, the strongest forces had taken the best portions first, while what remained afterward… they were nothing more than scraps. And even then, they refused to let go of those scraps. Instead, they had been left for the smaller powers of the city… grou

***** During that same period, Patricia’s mother, the last direct blood relative she had left in the world aside from her daughter had fallen seriously ill and required an urgent, expensive operation to survive. Patricia had desperately begged her husband to spare some of the money for the surgery. But Jacob’s eyes had only been for the land, and the result of that decision… it was something Patricia hadn’t forgiven. Her mother had died while Jacob had continued pursuing the purchase of the Rex estate. After the city’s second price inflation, the money he had gathered was no longer enough to buy the land he had originally intended. In the end, all he managed to secure was a tiny space… barely ten square meters. It was on that small piece of ground that the remains of the Rex patriarch, wife, and their second son were eventually laid to rest. But even that sacrifice had not been enough to satisfy the city’s cruelty. According to Anita, that had only been the beginning o

***** Just thinking about everything Anita had narrated, sent a cold shiver rushing down Zach’s spine. He felt… genuinely overwhelmed. Usually, Zach wasn’t the type to involve himself in other people’s affairs. He believed that everyone had their own path to walk and their own burdens to carry, but this situation was different. From the very moment he saw Jacob again… his frail body, dilapidated house, and his family, confusion had grown quietly inside him. And now… with everything Anita had recounted, that confusion exploded into something far heavier. His parents had begun to prepare both him and his younger brother to assume the responsibilities of the Rex family. From a young age, Zach had been exposed to how things worked within the clan… how power was managed, how influence was maintained, and most importantly… how loyalty was built. The Rex family had always followed a simple philosophy. People who worked for them would never lack for anything. That had been

***** Most women would have walked away the moment their lives began to collapse. They would have filed for divorce before things ever deteriorated to this miserable point. Yet Patricia hadn’t. She had stayed. Yes, she was resentful, her temper flares, and she spoke too harshly to her husband, but even then… The anger and the hostility she displayed toward Jacob weren’t the same kind she showed toward the Rex family. That difference was painfully obvious. The bitterness she directed at Jacob carried frustration and exhaustion… but it was not genuine hatred. The ones she directed at the Rex family, on the other hand, were real and intense, filled with years of festering pain. To anyone paying attention, the contrast was impossible to miss. Patricia had been holding herself back with Jacob far more than most people ever could. After all, from her perspective, Jacob’s stubborn loyalty had destroyed everything. If he had let go of the loyalty and chosen his own family i