---"Your mouth is still as sharp as ever," Trevor shook his head in disbelief before letting out a quiet chuckle. "Please, show me your legs. Trust your brother on this."Hearing his words, Diana was silent for several seconds. After some visible internal struggle, she slowly lifted her skirt away from her legs.Due to being paralyzed for over two years, her legs had not moved in so long that they had thinned out considerably. Her knees carried several bruises, most likely from dragging herself around the room over the years, and the joints themselves showed a noticeable degree of displacement — bones sitting slightly out of their proper positions, likely from the original dislocation that had never been properly treated.Seeing this, despite having mentally prepared himself and fully expecting it to be a manageable situation, Trevor was still left momentarily stunned and quietly burning with a rage he forced himself to keep contained. He had never once imagined that his sister had b

---Trevor unceremoniously produced the prescription and laid it out plainly."The Blood Jade Grass, Bone Renewal Vine, and Snow Mountain Lotus listed here must all be at minimum a hundred years old. There are also tiger leg bones required, and they must come from a fully grown adult male tiger, not a cub and not a female."Manuel Jokester's heart sank the moment those words landed.Every single ingredient on that list was considered extraordinarily precious within traditional medicine circles. If someone were to go out and source all of them together at the quality being demanded, the combined cost would run to no less than one million Federation Dollars at the very minimum.This was clearly the young man's way of making him pay for what had happened today.But as much as it hurt him deeply in the chest, he had no real choice but to agree. The alternative was facing the wrath of the woman standing behind him, and that particular outcome would cost him significantly more than one mill

---The name hit Andrew like a bucket of ice water tipped directly over his skull.His face drained of colour so completely and so instantly that it was almost impressive.It's over.Those were the only two words his brain could produce."I — I did not recognise you, Miss Dukester! Please, I beg you to forgive this ignorant fool! A person of your standing surely would not lower yourself to bother with someone as insignificant as me!"He was on his knees before he had consciously decided to kneel, his forehead moving toward the floor with genuine urgency.And with good reason.Elizabeth Dukester was not simply a prominent name in Light City. She was a legend in every circle that mattered. The number of genuinely dangerous individuals who had met their end at her hands was not a small figure. Anyone with real knowledge of the city's power structure knew better than to position themselves as her problem.Elizabeth looked down at him without any particular expression."Stop talking. If yo

---Diana had never once spoken aloud about wanting to find her biological parents. But Trevor knew his sister well enough to know that the question lived somewhere inside her whether she voiced it or not.Roughly two hours later the medicine had reduced down to a thick, dark paste sitting heavy in the pot.Diana looked at it with an expression that sat somewhere between curiosity and distrust."Brother. Is that actually supposed to heal my legs? It looks like something you would use to waterproof a roof.""You will see."Trevor carefully applied the Blood Jade Bone Setting Ointment across both of Diana's legs in even layers until they were thoroughly covered in the dark paste.Diana wrinkled her nose at it.No girl with any sense of dignity was going to feel good about having both legs coated in something that looked like that, regardless of what it was supposed to do.But then something shifted.A cool sensation began spreading from the paste into her legs. Gentle and deep, nothing

---Reginald Winchester's expression remained level, but there was no mistaking the weight behind his words."This is no longer a matter open to your discretion. If you refuse to marry Trevor, I will sever ties with you as my daughter. The Winchester name will no longer extend to you."Veronica went still.She had never imagined her father capable of saying something like that to her, especially not in that calm, measured tone. No shouting. No theatrics. Just quiet, absolute certainty.And that was exactly what told her he meant every word."Fine," she said after a long pause, her voice tight but controlled. "I will do as you ask."Reginald allowed himself a brief, satisfied smile. "Good. Then let's not waste time. Get the certificate processed now."Though everything in her resisted the timing, Veronica said nothing further. Arguing with her father once he had made a decision rarely accomplished anything, and she had learned that lesson the logical way, through experience rather than