CHAPTER FORTY-TWO “Well, I think Ciro here shouldn’t be kept standing; let’s take him to the living room.” Mr. Hawkings said, getting up from the couch. Suddenly, he found himself and didn't seem to be resentful of the young man. “Please, Ciro. Come, come with me. What you did for my daughter was so amazing, I don’t know what to say to show how grateful I am.” He continued, walking through the hallway and gesturing to Ciro to follow him. After a few seconds of looking at him, Ciro sighed slightly, and then he turned around fully and followed him to the living room a few steps away from where he had been standing. The rest of the family members followed suit, with Maya coming a minute after the rest of her family members had left for the living room. She didn’t think she could stand the face-smacking stare of the young man she had overlooked. “Please, Ciro, have a seat.” Mr. Hawkings said. Immediately, he turned to see that Ciro was in the living room with him, his finger pointing

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR As soon as she heard the words that Ciro spoke, Jane gasped in surprise, and felt so excited. She looked at Elena, and smiled at her, with a clear indication that she was considering her very lucky to have a man like Ciro. Maya too was very much surprised, she turned to look at her husband who shared the same feeling with her, but she couldn’t get herself to say any words, she only dealt with the sudden guilt which started to creep into her body for the second time since she set her eyes on Ciro. Mr. Hawkings looked at Ciro, but all he could see was a man who was impatiently waiting for him to give his consent to the proposal that he made to him, and nothing else, and even though his appearance was little evidence to tell that he could be saying the truth, he just didn't want to let go of his pride. “Do I just accept this money from him? Won't that make me lose my respect? After all, I refused to give him the Herb when he first asked for it, and now he wants to

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN “Ok, I think this will do. How much are we talking about here?” Catherine asked, but Ciro was silent, he knew that the amount of the money in question was humongous and that Catherine was definitely going to object, and he didn’t know how else to convince her. “Hello? Ciro, I asked a question.” “Mmm?” “I said, how much is involved? What’s the amount they owe?” “It’s quite huge, Catherine.” “OK? How much? Hundred million?” Catherine asked, but Ciro shook his head to the right, and then to the left without saying anything.“Oh, five hundred million?” Catherine asked, but she got the same reaction from Ciro, which made her raise her eyebrows, wondering what the amount was. “So what’s the actual amount? How much really is involved?” Ciro took in enough breath, and then he let it out slowly, bracing himself for whatever was going to be Catherine’s reaction. “One Billion, Catherine. One Billion dollars.” He said in a low but audible tone, causing Catherine to ga

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE“Yeah, what are they going to do to him?” Elena asked again, dealing with theworry that had crept into her body. She looked up at Ciro, her eyes searchinghis calm face for any sign of panic, but as usual, he was as unbotheredCiro looked at Elena for a few seconds. He couldn’t possibly tell her the truth.He couldn't tell her that his men, led by Gregory, werecurrently dragging Marcos to a secluded underground facility to ensure he trulyunderstood what it meant to threaten the Supreme Regent. That would only raisemore questions.Taking in enough air, Ciro exhaled slowly and plastered his evergreen smile onhis face.“You don’t have to worry about him, Elena. My men are just... having a littlechat with him to ensure he understands that you are completely off-limits. Afterthat, they will hand him over to the proper authorities.”Elena gasped softly, her shoulders dropping as a wave of immense relief washedover her. She had been terrified that Marcos’s father,

CHAPTER FIFTYFor a few seconds after Mr. Hawkings signed the document, nobody said anything.The only sound that could be heard in the large living room was the faint ticking of the clock mounted on the wall, but even that seemed insignificant compared to the silence that had suddenly settled over everyone.Mr. Hawkings stared at his signature.He had expected the moment to feel different.Perhaps he had expected relief, or maybe regret, but what he felt was something he couldn’t properly explain.He had just handed over the most valuable possession his family had ever owned to a man who had entered his home as an outsider only a few hours earlier, and in exchange, that same man was about to clear a debt of one billion dollars that had nearly destroyed everything he had spent his entire life building.He slowly lifted his head.Ciro was still standing across the table with his usual calm expression.There was no excitement on his face.No arrogance.No smugness.It was almost as if h