DEREK MORRISON CAME BACK FOR REVENGE

Chapter 4

Madison stepped forward, her hands already clenched at her sides. “She is only a War Goddess Princess, yet she thinks she can treat Derek like this after her family agreed to the marriage?”

“A mere Queen of War,” Savannah said with a cold laugh, her eyes burning with fury. “She sent a letter to cancel an agreement made by both families, and she believes she can insult him without facing the result?”

Brooklyn’s face had turned red, and she looked more offended than Derek did. “I am going to find her.”

“You are going to do what?” Derek asked.

“I am leaving this mountain,” Brooklyn snapped. “I am going to find Patricia West, and I am going to teach her what happens when she looks down on you.”

“I will go with you,” Savannah said at once. “If she wants to act like she is better than everyone else, I will bring her down myself.”

Sophia’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the purple seal. “She should be grateful that Derek is not the kind of person who cares about such an insult, because if he were, the West family would not be able to hide her behind her title.”

Madison nodded sharply. “She needs to be crushed.”

Derek looked at the four women, who were all furious on his behalf, and shook his head.

“There is no need for any of that.”

“There is every need,” Savannah argued.

“No.” Derek placed Patricia’s letter on the table. “Like I told you before, women are not part of my problems right now.”

The four women stared at him in disbelief.

Derek continued before any of them could interrupt him. “If Patricia wants to cancel the marriage, then she has saved me the trouble of dealing with it. I have enough things to worry about without adding a marriage arrangement to the list.”

“But she insulted you,” Sophia said.

“She made her choice.”

“She said your family is no longer worth anything,” Madison replied, her voice shaking with anger.

“She did not have to say it directly.”

The words silenced them.

For a moment, none of the women spoke, because they understood that Derek had already seen the meaning behind Patricia’s letter. He did not need anyone to explain it to him, and he did not need them to fight a battle he had never asked them to start.

Derek picked up the second letter.

This time, the seal belonged to Master Zachariah.

He broke it carefully, unfolded the paper, and began to read.

The first lines made his eyes narrow.

Master Zachariah told him that today was the final day of his life on the mountain. His training was finished, and he could no longer remain hidden from the world. The time had come for Derek to leave the mountain and begin the path his father had prepared for him before his death.

Derek continued reading, and the words that followed made his expression change.

His father had left one final wish.

Before Derek’s family was massacred, his father had arranged for Derek to marry Patricia West of the West family. It had been a serious agreement between two powerful families, and his father had wanted the marriage to be completed as soon as Derek was old enough and strong enough to leave the mountain.

Master Zachariah explained that this was not only Derek’s father’s dying wish.

Derek’s father had also been his closest friend, and because of that, Zachariah had accepted the responsibility of protecting the promise and making sure Derek completed what his father had begun. He wanted Derek to go to the West family, finish the marriage arrangement quickly, and honor the final wish of the man who had given him life.

Derek’s eyes moved farther down the page.

There was another reason he had to leave immediately.

Old Master West, Patricia’s grandfather, was seriously ill.

The old man had grown weak, and his illness had become so severe that even the best healers in the West family could not cure him. His condition was getting worse by the day, and Master Zachariah believed that Derek was the only person who could save his life.

Derek had been trained in healing for fifteen years, and along the line he awakened his family abilities, which his master told him to keep to himself and never show it.

But besides his family abilities he knew how to treat rare illnesses, how to make powerful medicine, and how to heal wounds that other doctors could not touch. Master Zachariah had spent years teaching him skills that no ordinary healer possessed, and now he wanted Derek to use those skills to save Old Master West.

The four women remained quiet as they watched him read.

The anger in their faces was still there, but it had been pushed aside by their growing curiosity.

Derek reached the final part of the letter and found a small black card hidden inside it. The card was smooth and hard, with an old family mark carved into its surface.

Master Zachariah explained that Derek was to present the card to the West family as proof of his identity. They would not need to question him, challenge his name, or demand unnecessary explanations once they saw the card, because it would confirm that he was the last surviving member of Derek’s family.

Derek read the final instruction once more, his eyes resting on the words for several seconds.

He was to leave immediately after receiving the letter and go straight to the West family to heal Old Master West and fulfill his father’s last wish.