*****The next day… at the Palmers' estate.At this moment, the servants and workers were moving about like ants whose nest had just been kicked apart.Sweat soaked their uniforms as they worked tirelessly to restore the estate to perfection.The extravagant decorations from the previous day were stripped away one after another, expensive ornaments carefully removed, banners taken down, carpets cleaned, and every visible trace of the engagement banquet erased.The entire estate was being polished until it gleamed once again, spotless and dignified.Meanwhile, inside the Matriarch’s main villa… a massive duplex that practically screamed authority, wealth, and power, the atmosphere was far from peaceful.The entire Palmer family sat gathered together in the luxurious living room. However, none of them appeared like members of a prominent family. They looked more like survivors of a disaster.Other than Robert, who appeared relatively composed, dark circles could be seen beneath almost e

*****At the same time, Wellington Manor… inside Kelly’s small duplex.Completely unaware that her family was currently plotting behind her back, digging into Nicholas’s background so they could find a way to force him to annul their marriage, Kelly stood before him.She was already dressed for work, wearing a perfectly tailored cream blazer and matching trousers that projected authority, competence, and executive presence.Every line of her outfit seemed meticulously arranged, making her appear like a woman born to stand at the top of the corporate pyramid. Combined with her naturally cold beauty and unreadable expression, she looked less like a person and more like an untouchable force.Her gaze remained fixed on Nicholas.And the contrast between them was almost comical.While she looked sharp, disciplined, and intimidating, Nicholas, on the other hand, still stood there in his pajamas, looking as though he had only recently crawled out of bed after losing an argument with sleep it

*****The drive took about two nonstop hours, so long that Nicholas couldn’t stop himself from frowning in confusion and dissatisfaction.The taxi kept rolling and rolling. Buildings gradually thinned, traffic faded, and the city’s usual noise gave way to long stretches of road and silence until even Nicholas, who was usually lazy, began to suspect something was off.‘Are we traveling now or what?’ he wondered inwardly, his brows knitting together.But outwardly, he said nothing.He remained sprawled in the back seat with the air of a man who had been kidnapped too politely to complain.At some point, the monotonous hum of the engine and the endless road wore down even his mild curiosity, and he ended up dozing off three separate times, each nap short and broken by potholes, turns, or passing vehicles' constant horns.By the time the cab finally began slowing near the city’s outskirts, Nicholas had already reached the level of tired annoyance where even blinking felt like unnecessary

*****The captain took in Nicholas’s plain clothing, relaxed posture, and overall unremarkable appearance, and with each passing second, the sycophantic smile that had just formed on his face withered away completely.In its place came a frown, then disgust, and finally a cold, dismissive contempt, the kind reserved for something he considered unworthy of even notice.“Are you the so-called guest?” he asked at last, the revulsion in his eyes and voice naked to everyone present.However, he didn’t wait for Nicholas to answer. He behaved as though Nicholas were too low to speak directly to him.So, instead, he turned back to the guard.“Is he the visitor you claimed you were attending to?” he demanded, sounding so stupefied and offended that it was as though the guard had dragged a stray beggar to the gate and announced him as royalty.Hearing that, a look of helplessness and frustration flickered across the guard’s face. ‘Of course he is! Are you that blind?’ he was sorely tempted to a

*****Still at the Hunters’ main entrance.For one long second after that furious roar exploded through the air, neither the captain, the guard on the verge of laying hands on Nicholas, nor the rest of the men stationed at the gate moved a single inch.They just stood there, frozen stiff, all of them staring in the direction the voice had come from as if their necks had been locked in place.Yet it wasn’t because they had already seen the speaker.No. The voice had come from farther down the road, still some distance away.What truly rooted them to the ground was something else entirely.At this moment, a vehicle was hurtling straight toward the main entrance at a terrifying speed, barreling over the road like a beast that had broken free of its chains.It was as though the driver had death itself chasing behind him with a butcher’s knife. And that earlier roar had come from inside that very vehicle.It was also the sight of that same vehicle that rendered them speechless, because…“I