Return of the Legendary Cyber King

CH 4

The Grand Imperial Ballroom was filled with bright golden light from giant crystal chandeliers. Hundreds of wealthy business owners, foreign investors, and city leaders mingled across the shiny floor in suits and evening gowns. Tonight was the opening of the Municipal Smart-City Summit, the biggest corporate event of the year.

At eight o'clock sharp, the heavy doors opened, and Rose Humpton stepped onto the red carpet beside Brandon Thorne. Flashes lit up their path as reporters rushed forward, shouting questions about Humpton Tech's bid. Rose wore an icy-blue dress, keeping a wide smile on her face as she waved politely to the cameras.

Beside her, Brandon held her arm with pride, nodding to passing executives with an easy smile. But behind her calm face, Rose felt a sharp pain shooting up from her right foot with every step she took. Without the soft lambskin pads Henry used to stitch into her shoes, the hard leather was digging straight into her raw, bleeding blister.

"Hold your head high, darling," Brandon whispered softly into her ear. "Tonight, the whole city will watch us win. Your company and mine will stand together at the very top."

Rose forced herself to nod, ignoring the throb in her heel as they walked into the hall. "You are right, Brandon. We worked too hard to let anything distract us tonight."

Several board members and rival owners walked over, eager to flatter the young heir of Thorne Telecom. "Miss Rose, you look amazing tonight!" an older man laughed, raising his drink. "With Brandon backing your system, Humpton Tech is sure to win the two-hundred-million-dollar deal."

"It is all thanks to our Brandon," Eleanor Humpton bragged loudly from behind them, wrapped in a heavy fur shawl. "My daughter finally threw that useless beggar out into the street yesterday. A stray dog belongs in the gutter, while real gold belongs with true wealth!"

The guests laughed in polite agreement, nodding as Eleanor praised her family's bright future. Rose listened to their warm words, feeling a pleasant surge of pride in her chest. She looked at Brandon’s handsome face and told herself that throwing Henry away was the smartest choice she had ever made.

Suddenly, the chatter in the room began to quiet down. People near the stairs turned their heads toward the private balcony, whispering with excitement. "Look at the VIP lounge," someone murmured in awe. "Chairman Victoria Vance has arrived."

Rose stopped walking, her heart skipping a beat. Victoria Vance was the head of Vance Logistics, a powerful billionaire who controlled the city's shipping ports. Rose had tried to book a short meeting with Victoria three times last year, but she had always been turned away at the door.

Rose looked up at the balcony, eager to see the most powerful woman in the city. But the second her eyes landed on the railing, the breath was knocked right out of her chest. Her smile froze, and her whole body turned completely cold.

Standing right beside Chairman Victoria Vance, holding a glass of water, was a tall, broad-shouldered man. He wore a sharp black suit that fit him perfectly. The clean fabric gave him a quiet authority that caught everyone's eye.

Rose blinked hard, thinking her tired eyes were playing tricks on her. But when the man turned his head under the chandelier light, she saw his sharp jaw and steady eyes. It was Henry.

The world seemed to stop moving around her. Rose’s mind went totally blank as she stared up at the balcony in shock. There was no sign of the quiet husband who had spent four years scrubbing her kitchen floor in faded clothes.

Standing on that private balcony, Henry looked like a prince who owned the whole world. And what made Rose’s blood boil was the woman standing at his side. Victoria Vance wore a dark green silk gown, her beautiful face tilted upward as she talked to Henry with a warm smile.

Victoria wasn't looking at him like a servant or a beggar. She was looking at Henry with real respect, leaning close and gently touching his sleeve as she laughed at something he said. Henry didn't look nervous at all; he simply nodded, speaking to the billionaire queen with complete ease.

A sudden, hot spike of jealousy ripped through Rose’s chest. It burned through her veins like fire, so bitter that her fingers began to shake against her evening bag. Why was Henry here?

More than that, why was *her* penniless ex-husband standing beside the most powerful woman in the city? Rose had spent months begging for a handshake from Victoria Vance, only to be ignored like dust. Yet right now, Victoria was treating Henry like the most important man in the room!

"Rose?" Brandon frowned, noticing her pale face. "What is wrong with you? What are you looking at?"

Brandon followed her frozen stare up to the balcony. The moment his eyes landed on Henry, Brandon’s smug smile vanished. His face darkened with angry shock. "What is that trash doing in the VIP lounge?"

"He is standing with Chairman Vance," Rose whispered, her voice shaking with bitter rage. "How is that possible, Brandon? He was kicked out of my house with nothing last night! He should be begging for bread in the street!"

A wave of ugly jealousy choked Rose’s throat. She had thrown Henry away like trash, expecting him to suffer, cry, and realize how small he was without her. She wanted him to regret losing her wealth!

Instead, less than a day later, he was standing in an expensive suit beside a woman who made Rose look small! He had no right to look so dignified! He had no right to stand beside someone greater than her!

"Look at that shameless parasite," Brandon hissed through his teeth, trying to hide his own rising fear behind a sneer. "He must have used his quiet, sad act to trick Chairman Vance into feeling sorry for him."

"He tricked my grandfather the exact same way four years ago," Rose snarled, her nails digging into her palms. "He plays the poor, humble victim to get pity from rich people!"

"Exactly," Brandon sneered, grabbing her arm. "Vance Logistics is the main sponsor of the city project. Henry must have seen the deal details in your office files and snuck in here to run a con!"

The thought made Rose’s blood boil over. She convinced herself that Henry was doing this just to spite her, to publicly embarrass her on the biggest night of her life. "I will not let that dirty freeloader ruin our name," Rose said coldly.

Ignoring the raw pain in her foot, Rose lifted her skirt and marched straight toward the grand stairs. Brandon followed closely behind with an angry scowl, while Eleanor hurried after them, spitting curses under her breath.

Several guests turned in surprise as Rose pushed past the velvet ropes of the private balcony. Henry was quietly listening to Victoria speak when the sharp click of heels sounded on the marble.

"Henry Smith!" Rose’s sharp voice cut through the quiet lounge, drawing every eye in the room.

Henry paused. He didn't turn around in a panic; he calmly took a sip of his water and set the glass down on the stone banister. Victoria stopped talking, her gray eyes narrowing with cold annoyance as she looked at the intruders.

Rose stormed right up to the railing, stopping three feet from Henry, her chest heaving with anger. Brandon stood tall beside her with his chin up, while Eleanor glared at Henry with bulging eyes.

"You have endless nerve showing your face here," Rose spat, glaring at his fine suit with pure bitterness. "Who paid for those clothes, Henry? Did you steal money from my house, or did you rent that suit to pretend you are somebody?"

Henry turned around slowly. He stood tall, his broad shoulders relaxed, and his face was completely still. He looked at Rose, but there was no hurt in his eyes, no anger, and not a single trace of the husband who used to care for her.

His eyes were as cold and flat as a sheet of winter ice.

"Miss Humpton," Victoria Vance spoke first, her voice smooth and chillingly firm. "This is a private lounge. Who gave you permission to cross the ropes and shout like a rude child?"

Rose turned to Victoria, quickly putting on an urgent, worried face. "Chairman Vance, please forgive me! I only came up here because I respect you, and I cannot watch you get tricked by a con man!"

Victoria raised an eyebrow, looking down at Rose with total indifference. "Tricked? By whom?"

"By this man standing beside you!" Rose said, pointing a shaking finger straight at Henry’s chest. "His name is Henry Smith. He was my live-in husband until yesterday, and he is a lazy fraud!"

Several executives gathered near the entrance, murmuring in surprise. Rose felt bold from the attention, raising her voice so everyone could hear.

"For four whole years, he lived in my house as a freeloader!" Rose declared with disgust. "He never earned a single dollar! He spent his days washing dishes and playing games while living off my family's hard work!"

Rose stepped closer, looking at Victoria with fake sympathy. "He used his quiet act to trick my late grandfather into an arranged marriage years ago. Now that I finally divorced him, he is trying to pull the exact same trick on you, Chairman Vance!"

Brandon stepped forward smoothly, placing a hand over his heart with a noble look. "Chairman Vance, my fiancée is telling the truth. Henry is an uneducated nobody with no real skills."

Brandon gave Henry a look of pity, shaking his head. "Henry, if you are starving, I can give you some money for food. But trying to scam Chairman Vance will only land you in a jail cell."

"Throw this beggar out into the cold!" Eleanor yelled from the stairs. "He is an ungrateful stray who brings bad luck wherever he goes!"

Rose stood with her chin high, waiting for Henry to break. She waited for him to lower his head in shame, to stammer, and to beg her to stop, just like he used to do when her mother scolded him.

She waited for Victoria Vance to look at Henry with disgust and call the guards to throw him into the street.

Instead, a heavy silence fell over the balcony.

Victoria Vance did not move an inch. She didn't look shocked or angry. She simply looked at Rose and Brandon as if they were two noisy flies that had flown into the room.

Then, Henry took his hands out of his pockets. He took a single, calm step forward, looking directly into Rose’s angry eyes.

There was no shame on his face. There was no fear, no guilt, and no sadness. There was only a chilling emptiness that made the air feel like frost.

"Are you finished, Mrs. Humpton?" Henry asked softly.

The question was quiet, polite, and completely empty of any feeling.

Rose froze on the spot. The breath caught in her throat, and the next words she wanted to scream died on her lips.

*Mrs. Humpton.*

He didn't call her Rose. He didn't call her Babe.

For four long years, through every cruel insult, every cold night, and every bitter fight, he had always called her Babe with patient warmth.

Now, he called her by the stiff, distant title of a total stranger.

His voice wasn't full of hate. If he had yelled at her, cursed her, or called her heartless, Rose would have felt justified. She would have known that he still cared, that she still had the power to hurt him.

Instead, he looked right through her. To him, she was nothing more than a noisy stranger who had interrupted his evening.

A sharp, hollow ache ripped through Rose’s chest, hurting far worse than any slap. Her lips parted, but her voice came out weak. "Henry... what did you just call me?"

"If you have business with the gala, speak to the staff downstairs," Henry said calmly, turning away. "Do not interrupt my conversation again."

He didn't give her another second of his attention. Henry turned his back on her, looking out over the balcony as if she didn't exist.

Rose stood frozen on the marble floor, her face burning with deep humiliation. She realized with sudden dread that she no longer held any power over him.

Beside her, Brandon’s face turned bright red with pure rage as he saw Henry ignore them completely. Brandon lunged forward, reaching out a hand to grab Henry’s shoulder. "You arrogant scum! What gave you the right to talk down on us like that?! Just because you're no more married, you think.."

Before Brandon’s fingers could touch Henry’s coat, a massive, stone-faced bodyguard stepped out of the shadows, blocking Brandon’s path like an iron wall.