"You're not thinking about escaping upstairs and skipping lunch, are you?"Scarlett asked in a suspicious voice that echoed through the penthouse the moment Ethan stepped into the room.The afternoon sunlight spilled through the enormous glass windows while the city view was breathtaking beneath them.After spending days inside the hospital, simply standing inside the penthouse again felt strangely refreshing, everything felt comforting for a reason he couldn't come up with an explanation.Peaceful, quiet and safe, as if nobody can touch him here.... For several seconds, Ethan simply started wandering around, more like he still can't believe it was real and he has returned safely for real, but everything around him assuring him that it was real.The familiar living room.... The large balcony.... The comfortable furniture.Everything looked exactly the same, yet somehow, it felt different now from before, more warmer than usual.Behind him, Scarlett narrowed her eyes immediately."Etha

"Well..." Ethan started to say something, but stopped halfway through and shook his head slightly. "Never mind. It's nothing important, just ignore it."Scarlett immediately raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously."My dear husband," she said while folding her arms across her chest, "if something catches your attention enough for you to bring it up, then it's never unimportant."Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him."And I know you well enough by now. You don't waste time over meaningless things, so unless it's something serious, you wouldn't even bother thinking about it."A faint pause followed before she pointed at him firmly."So no, I'm not going to ignore it. Stop trying to change the subject and tell me what's on your mind already." Ethan remained silent briefly and glanced toward the Dragon Ring resting against his finger.... For a few minutes he observed carefully as if it was going to answer the questions running down in his mind.The same ring that had changed every

The assistant remained silent, because everybody already knew the truth. Favors only mattered when helping someone didn't carry consequences, right now, helping the Carvendish family carried enormous consequences and that's something none of them are prepared to face. Scarlett openly declared a war against the Carvendish family and the people who support the Carvendish family, at this rate, there is no guarantee whether the Carvendish family can survive her wrath or not, if a family like the Carvendish family itself can't handle it, then no other minor families can handle it, so they didn't dare to make an attempt to support Carvendish family. Jerome's expression darkened considerably, not out of regret or guilt, but pure anger, his jaw tightened visibly. Unfortunately, the bad news wasn't finished as the assistant still held several files in his hands. Jerome immediately noticed. "I thought you're done.... Anything else left? If so, what else?" The assistant visibly hesitated an

"A cooked up evidence?" Scarlett repeated those words in an amused tone. "Mr. Carvendish, are you really thinking everyone is just like you?" Sally frowned at Scarlett's words, "if it's not something you're using to frame us, what exactly is it? If not trying to blackmail us, what exactly are you trying to do?" "Well, Ms. Sally, I would never stoop as low as you all, I'm Scarlett Caspian, no matter what I do, it always has a meaning...." Scarlett answered, and glanced once at all of their faces, "coming to this in my hands, I'm not using this to frame you all or blackmail any of you, because what would I even get from a sinking ship?"They understood the meaning behind her mockery, all of them are fuming with anger but didn't say a word."This is something all of you should have seen years ago, since you turned a blind eye to it before, I thought at least now I could make you see it," Scarlett stated, her tone measured as she pressed play. The tablet illuminated, drawing their eyes

"Prison footage?" Ethan looked at her in surprise.Scarlett nodded slowly."Yes. Through my connections, I managed to obtain three years' worth of surveillance footage from the prison. I saw everything they put you through... every injury, every humiliation, every moment you suffered. I watched all of it."Her voice grew quieter."And I showed every single recording to your family as well."Christian paused briefly before taking another bite of his food."Okay," he replied, his voice calm, almost detached, as though she had mentioned something completely ordinary.That's it. No anger, no pain, no outburst, just a simple acknowledgment that frustrated something deep inside her. Scarlett set her spoon down, her voice rising with a mix of love and exasperation. "Why are you reacting like that? Why didn't you tell me?"He looked genuinely confused, tilting his head. "Tell you what?"She could hardly believe it, her heart aching as the words tumbled out. "The beatings you endured, the sta