"I gave you money to make sure that woman stayed away from me—and especially my son!"Seth hissed, barely audible, but Victor clearly heard him on the other end of the line."But what did I get? You let her roam around the exact same building as my son?!""I didn't know you would be there—and Leila was supposed to be sick." Victor exhaled heavily, knowing full well his excuse sounded incredibly weak."Sick? She could jump and run!" Seth retorted cynically, recalling how the woman looked perfectly healthy as she tried to kidnap Dustin."Yeah... about that... she fooled me." Victor couldn't argue much. Dustin and Leila ending up in the same hospital was a crazy coincidence, but Victor taking his eyes off her and allowing them to cross paths was entirely his fault."I already punished my stupid subordinates." Victor had ordered his men back to base the moment Seth called him on his way back to the hospital."Do I need to pick Leila up? I will drag her back to the holding cell and—""You

"Who said you could touch me so casually?" Chloe hissed, turning her blushing face away."I just... ah, never mind." Seth finally shook his head, feeling far too exhausted to entertain Chloe's eccentric personality right now."I also know the consequences would prove disastrous—Dustin would constantly remember it. Even until he reaches adulthood, that memory would never fade if he directly witnessed the moment his mother died."Chloe didn't prolong her annoyance. She stroked Dustin's leg incredibly softly from over the blanket. Her eyes stared straight ahead—yet her gaze looked empty. She stared deep into her memories, not at Dustin."It serves a child much better if they never witness such horrors," Chloe murmured softly.Seth, still observing her from the side, immediately caught the anomaly. He saw Chloe's expression look this calm for the very first time—but a painful kind of calm. A profoundly heavy burden hid behind the girl's words.'System, mind reading,' Seth commanded in his

"Chloe!" Seth pinched Chloe's lips shut, but the girl's gaze remained heavily glazed over—she didn't care how he touched her; she accepted it all as long as Seth provided the touch."You can... act this submissive?" Seth stared into Chloe's brown eyes, which showed zero intention of resisting—while a warm rush began to stir within his body.Seth had easily rejected Tracy before because he could predict her moves with ease—making the decision to refuse her just as simple.But the entanglement of Chloe's arms right now fell completely outside his expectations and plans.Seth's own raw lust flared up much easier—responding with rising heat. And that felt insane, because Chloe was his cousin!'But a distant cousin...' his heart whispered, as he watched Chloe press her face against his stomach, and slide lower!'System! Turn off the Aura! TURN IT OFF NOW!' Seth barked in his mind—finally managing to issue a proper command.[ Absolute Suppression Ended. ]The thick air in the room seemingly

In the past, Seth shared a fairly close bond with Wayne.However, Seth harbored absolutely no intention of maintaining that relationship, knowing exactly how nauseating the Corbyn family's behavior had turned out in his past life.When Seth lay dying from Leila's poison, when his business crumbled to dust and he desperately needed a loan for medical treatments, Wayne's family had blocked all his contacts. Instead of helping him, they completely pretended not to know him.Back then, Seth would never have lowered his pride to borrow money from them had he not remembered how Wayne once begged him for financial help, and Seth had come to his aid without hesitation.At that time, Seth only hoped for a little reciprocity, yet he received nothing but a slammed door in his face."Dad... who is this uncle?" Dustin asked in confusion, having forgotten that he had ever met Wayne.Wayne, who initially shrank back under Seth's freezing gaze, immediately looked down and forced a genial smile when h

"YES!" Chloe snorted roughly before throwing her body back onto the sofa, looking completely drained. "For days, I have not been able to do anything in my room other than chat with a stupid teddy bear!"Initially, Seth still intended to mock the girl's suffering, but he held back. Seeing Chloe genuinely stuck and suffering because she could not act like her true self felt slightly pitiful."I never forbade you from coming here. You can play games here to your heart's content, provided you promise not to curse whenever Dustin is in the room." Seth pointed toward the guest room, which they had already converted into Chloe's personal 'nest.'The room served as a place where Chloe could play freely, type code at lightning speed, and take off her foolish mask without fearing any watching spies. However, the trade-off stood clear—if Chloe visited frequently, the probability of her crossing paths with Seth inside the apartment would increase drastically.Chloe glanced at the bedroom door. Sh