Immediately Victoria's face went red. “You're disappointed in me?” Her voice climbed higher, shaking slightly at the edges. “For what, exactly? I'm sticking my neck out for you right now. I'm trying to give you a way out of this before it gets worse, and you're standing there telling me you're disappointed?” She stepped closer, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “What the hell are you even talking about?” Ethan looked at her without blinking. “Yes,” he said. “I'm disappointed in you. 100%.” “You—” “I told you Daniel tried to kill me.” His voice stayed level, calm, the kind of calm that made every word land harder. “I told you he sent men after me, and burned down my family's restaurant.” He paused. “You know how much that place means to me. Seventeen generations, Victoria. My entire family's history. And Daniel tried to burn it to the ground with me inside it.” At that moment Victoria's mouth opened but nothing came out. “And you're standing here,” Ethan contin

The room went completely silent.The guard dropped to his knees, cradling his ruined hand against his chest. “My hand,” he sobbed, his voice high and broken. “My hand, my hand, what the hell—”At that moment the other guards stared.They could all see it. His knuckles had collapsed completely, the bones visible beneath the skin at unnatural angles. His fingers hung limp, twisted, useless. It looked like his hand had been put through a machine.He was still crying, tears streaming down his face, when Ethan moved.And in pain the guard manage to stand up, but the pain was too much he couldn't move a finger.It wasn't a punch this time.Just a slap, It was a Light.The impact sent the guard spinning through the air. His body twisted once, twice, three full rotations before he hit the floor hard and went completely still.Ethan looked at the remaining guards. “Are you going to stand there,” he said quietly, “or are you going to do your job?”The guards looked at each other.Their faces w

Richard collapsed onto his knees, his body slamming into the floor with a sickening crack.And then he coughed.Blood sprayed from his mouth, dark and thick, splattering across the polished floor in front of him.The entire room recoiled.Gasps erupted from every corner. Hands flew to mouths. People stepped back instinctively, their faces pale with shock.“What—what just happened?”“He's bleeding!”“He can't move. Look at him. He can't even move a finger.”“This isn't possible. This doesn't make sense.”“Ethan was supposed to get destroyed. He was supposed to be taught a lesson.”“But look at him. He's just standing there.”“And Richard's on his knees.”Richard's whole body was trembling violently now, every muscle locked tight, his fists still raised uselessly in front of him. His eyes were wide, staring straight ahead, filled with confusion and rising terror.He tried to move.His jaw clenched. His shoulders strained. The veins in his neck stood out like cords as he fought against w

Ethan turned and walked toward the exit.The entire family stood frozen in place, their faces twisted with fury, their bodies rigid with barely restrained rage.Some of them wanted to move. Wanted to rush forward, to stop him, to grab him and make him pay for what he'd done.But they couldn't.The fear was too strong.The memory of what had just happened of Daniel lying broken and bloody, of the guards crumpled on the floor, of Richard collapsing without even being touched was too fresh, too vivid.Whatever Ethan had become, he was no longer the man they thought they knew.He was something else now. Something dangerous. Something they didn't understand.And that terrified them more than their anger could overcome.So they stood there, watching him leave, their fists clenched, their jaws tight, their eyes burning with helpless rage.Ethan's footsteps echoed through the silent hall, steady and unhurried, until he reached the door and pushed it open.Then he was gone.The moment the door

Ethan heard Victoria's words, her voice sharp and threatening, cutting through the night air like a blade.He stopped walking for a moment, then cleared his throat quietly."You shouldn't worry yourself about that," he said, his voice calm, measured. "I wouldn't even consider begging. I wouldn't even consider coming back."He turned slightly, just enough to glance at her over his shoulder. "Coming back to what? To bondage? To a place where I was never even seen in the first place? Coming back to where, exactly?"His eyes held hers for a brief moment. "Stop thinking so highly of yourself and come down from your high horse. Because you're not going to see me here again."He paused, his jaw tightening slightly. "And this should be your last warning to your family as well. Tell them to stay away from anything that has to do with me. If they come back for revenge, tell them I'm going to give them theirs too. Whoever they throw my way, I'll handle it. So tell them that."Then he turned and