“Hmph! Do you think I’d believe your nonsense? You think their arms just broke like that?” Melvin protested sharply.He was visibly furious. Not only had their plan failed, but his own teammates had also ended up with broken arms. He hadn’t actually seen Luke do anything to them. He just stubbornly believed that Luke was solely responsible.The question lingered, though. How did he do it? And how could he possibly do it without anyone noticing?On top of that, why had their arms snapped right at the middle of the wrist bones?Even a normal accident wouldn’t break bones that cleanly.“You’re going too far, Melvin! It was an accident, not Luke’s fault. Why are you blaming him?” Jacob shouted back, angrily pointing a finger at him.“Yeah, seriously. You think he could just break their arms because he felt like it?” Dominic added, clearly irritated by Melvin’s one-sided accusations. “Do you think any normal person could even do somet

Amid their confusion, Melvin let out a broken, uneven laugh. It was hard to tell whether it came from disbelief that Levi actually knew Luke, or simply from the sheer confusion of it all.“Sorry to ask, Mr. Levi, but are you talking about this man?” he asked, pointing directly at Luke as he cautiously tried his luck, hoping to confirm whether they truly knew each other.Or perhaps, deep down, he was hoping for a different answer. Something like no.Levi gave him a brief, questioning look, as if silently asking who Melvin thought he was to casually question him like that.Even so, he still answered.“Of course. Who else would I be talking about? Mr. Cruise is the one you’re accusing here,” he said in a somewhat annoyed tone, completely different from how calmly he spoke when talking to Alona.Everyone was even more surprised by the direct confirmation. But it didn’t end there. What Levi did next made their eyes widen in outright shock.He turned toward Luke and said, “Mr. Cruise, what

“Jacob, honey...”Jacob’s mother quickly stood up from her seat and hurried toward him, gently holding him by both shoulders as she looked at him for a brief moment. The way she gazed at him was unmistakably proud, almost glowing with quiet excitement.Jacob frowned, growing even more confused about what was going on.“What’s this? And... why are you all staring at that bottle of wine?” he asked, clearly puzzled.His mother guided him toward the sofa and gently seated him, positioning him so he was directly facing the bottle.“Look, that’s a Scharzhoberger Riesling. It costs more than thirteen grand. It could even be higher than that,” she said with a bright, pleased smile, gesturing elegantly toward the bottle.Jacob was slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected the wine to cost that much. Although he was fond of drinking, he didn’t really care about brands at all. What mattered to him was the taste he was already familiar with. If

“I’m sorry about my mom... you know how she is,” Jacob said quietly, running a hand through his hair as he let out a tired sigh.“It’s alright. I understand. You don’t have to get so worked up over something like that,” Luke replied calmly, offering only a small, restrained smile.Even so, he couldn’t quite shake the quiet disappointment settling in his chest. It wasn’t as if Jacob’s family was the only one like that. People with the same mindset existed everywhere in this kind of society. After all, Jacob was still his friend.The way they pressured him into doing things he clearly didn’t want, all just to meet their family’s standards, felt deeply unreasonable. Somehow, he couldn’t help but think of Kina.The situation reminded him of hers. It simply didn’t sit right with him, even though Javier had told him that Kina had agreed to marry Lance herself. He knew she was being forced against her will just to save the Alanis family.He just

“Mr. Velasquez.” Luke offered Lance a restrained, slightly forced smile, subtly lowering his head in greeting.“No, Mr. Cruise. I told you to just... call me by my name. Aside from that, you’re now Mr. Malcov’s new right-hand man. I should be the one addressing you formally, shouldn’t I?” Lance replied in an easy, casually measured tone.Fortunately, the background music was louder than their conversation, so no one else caught what Lance had said except them.Luke’s friends, who were already shocked, were clearly stunned again after hearing that. Their gazes shifted back and forth between the two of them.They couldn’t help but be taken aback that Lance already knew Luke had become a member of the Blazing Phoenix Gang even before they, his own friends, did. Just as Luke already knew that Lance was engaged. That could only mean they had already met before and knew each other.Tiffany, on the other hand, was surprised for the same reason. But what unsettled her even more was the fact t