2026-06-24 17:12:02Vaughn Croft stopped his assault and slowly stood up. His face twisted into a dark, ugly scowl. He looked at the young man standing in his doorway, wearing cheap jeans and a plain t-shirt.
"Who the hell are you?" Vaughn spat, pointing a thick finger at Dane. "How dare you barge into my home and try to take my woman? Get lost right now if you don't want to die."
Vaughn was absolutely confident. He was a ruthless underground boss. He puffed out his chest and laughed cruelly. "This woman belongs to me. Her stepmother sold her to me for a business contract. She is my property."
That was a lie. The business contract was just an excuse. In reality, Vaughn had taken a massive bribe directly from Lana Hayes. Lana was insanely jealous of Mara, who was far more beautiful and much smarter than her. Lana had secretly promised Vaughn ten million dollars in cash to completely ruin Mara and make her disappear. Vaughn did not need the money, but he was a greedy monster. Who would refuse a beautiful woman and a mountain of cash?
Dane did not say a word. He stepped into the room. His eyes were completely dead, locking onto Vaughn with the cold intensity of a predator.
Before Vaughn could even blink, Dane moved. He crossed the heavy marble floor in less than a second. He grabbed Vaughn's thick wrist with a grip like iron.
"You said you bought her with money?" Dane whispered viciously. "Who sold her to you? Give me a name."
Vaughn's face turned bright red, then completely pale. The pressure on his wrist was unbearable. The bones began to grind together.
"Let go of my hand!" Vaughn screamed, his arrogant attitude instantly vanishing. "My hand is breaking! Let go! Take the woman if you want her! I just bought her marriage from her stepmother! I don't know anything about her family drama!"
A freezing cold glint flashed in Dane's eyes. He twisted his grip sharply.
Snap.
Vaughn let out an agonizing, blood-curdling scream. The tendons in his right wrist were completely severed. His heavy hand went completely limp, dangling uselessly at his side. He fell to his knees in pure shock.
"Who are you?!" Vaughn cried out in absolute despair, clutching his ruined arm. "I won't let you off! You took my woman and crippled my hand in my own home! Who gave you the nerve?"
Dane still did not answer. He simply kicked Vaughn in the chest, sending the heavy man flying backward across the slippery marble floor.
Vaughn hit a pillar and screamed for his life. "Guards! Get in here! Kill him!"
Ten massive bodyguards, armed with heavy steel batons, rushed into the main hall from the side doors. They saw their boss bleeding on the floor and immediately surrounded Dane.
"Beat him to death!" Vaughn coughed out, spitting blood. "I want him in pieces!"
The ten men charged at once.
Dane did not even flinch. Having faced brutal assassination attempts from rival billionaire families since he was a small child, his martial arts skills were perfected to a deadly level. These street thugs were nothing to him.
He ducked under a swinging baton and struck a guard in the throat. He grabbed another man's arm, flipped him over his shoulder, and smashed him into a glass table. In less than two minutes, the sound of breaking bones and heavy thuds filled the room.
When the dust settled, all ten bodyguards were unconscious on the floor.
Dane slowly walked over to Vaughn, stepping over the groaning bodies. Vaughn backed away in pure terror, trembling like a leaf. He quickly begged for mercy, crying huge tears.
"Please! Take her! I'm sorry!" Vaughn sobbed.
Dane reached down and grabbed Vaughn's uninjured left hand. Without a single ounce of pity, Dane snapped the wrist backward, severing the tendons in his left hand as well.
"Since you can't control your own hands," Dane said coldly, dropping the screaming man to the floor. "You might as well not have them from now on."
Dane turned his back on the monster. He walked over to Mara, who was shivering uncontrollably on the floor. Her dress was badly torn. Dane quickly stripped off his suit jacket and wrapped it gently around her shoulders, covering her completely.
He lifted her carefully into his arms. She felt so light, so fragile. His heart ached as he carried her out to the waiting car.
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Chapter 149
"Stand down, you feral boy," the Patriarch chuckled, his voice dropping back into its usual gravelly rumble, though the edges were completely softened by an immense, undeniable warmth. He waved a dismissive, highly amused hand toward Dane’s aggressive combat posture. "Nobody is threatening your precious heiress. In fact, I am the one who currently needs protection. I believe she was just about to buy my entire estate out from under me and fire my staff."Dane frowned deeply, refusing to lower his guard. He turned his head just a fraction of an inch, keeping his body positioned as a shield, and looked down at Berry over his shoulder.Berry was not trembling. She was not crying. Her chin was held high, her beautiful eyes burning with a fierce, untouchable pride. She reached out, her soft, delicate fingers gently wrapping around Dane’s tightly clenched fist. The absolute second her warm skin made contact with his, the paralyzing terror in Dane's chest instantly vanished."I am perfectly
Chapter 148
Absolute panic was an entirely foreign concept to a man who had conquered the Earth Grade, yet it was the only thing violently tearing through Dane Mercer’s veins as he obliterated the heavy oak doors of the Patriarch’s study.The massive, reinforced double doors did not simply swing open; they were catastrophically blown off their heavy steel hinges by a sheer, concussive wave of terrifying kinetic energy. The thick wood splintered and shattered, flying across the cavernous room and smashing against the priceless bookshelves.Dane strode through the swirling dust and ruined wood, looking like a god of war who had just descended to exact apocalyptic vengeance.For the first time in his entire adult life, the invincible grandmaster was physically out of breath. His broad chest heaved heavily beneath his crisp white dress shirt. The man whose heart rate had remained perfectly, mathematically flat while dismantling an entire syndicate of elite mercenaries was currently gasping for oxygen
Chapter 147
Berry leaned slightly forward, resting her hands flat on the edge of the mahogany desk. She met his oppressive, terrifying aura with a fierce, burning gravity of her own, completely refusing to be swallowed by his shadow."Under my sole leadership," Berry continued, her words precise and lethal, "I completely purged the board of every single dissenting, cowardly executive who wanted to play it safe. I restructured the entire corporate hierarchy from the ground up, firing anyone who proved incompetent. And as of midnight last night, after a brutal, six-week negotiation campaign, I finalized the absolute acquisition of a revolutionary synthetic cellular regeneration patent."The Patriarch’s eyes remained locked on the scrolling financial graphs illuminating the tablet screen. He was a master of global markets; he could read and process complex, high-level economic data instantly. The numbers staring back at him were not fabricated projections or hopeful estimates. They were authenticate
Chapter 146
Berry did not reach for the gold fountain pen resting on the polished mahogany. She did not lower her gaze to the floor in shame, nor did she allow the tears burning at the back of her eyes to spill over her lashes.The profound, agonizing heartbreak that had gripped her chest only seconds ago—the crushing realization that the most powerful man in Dane’s life viewed her as a pathetic, disposable liability—instantly fractured. But it did not break her. Instead, the emotional agony calcified, transforming in a fraction of a second into a spine of absolute, unyielding steel. She looked at the blank check lying on the desk. It was a tiny slip of paper meant to quantify her worth, a cheap bribe designed to erase her existence from the only man she had ever truly loved.The Patriarch sat perfectly still, expecting the inevitable conclusion to his test. He waited for the trembling hands, the desperate, choked sobs, or the indignant, naive speech about how true love could not be bought or mea
Chapter 145
The Mercer ancestral estate did not look like a home. It looked like an impenetrable, sovereign nation. Acres of perfectly manicured, ancient gardens stretched as far as the eye could see, surrounding a massive, multi-level architectural masterpiece forged from dark stone and reinforced glass. Dozens of highly trained, Earth Grade shadow guards patrolled the perimeter, their lethal auras completely unsuppressed, projecting a terrifying warning to anyone foolish enough to approach.The car came to a smooth halt beneath a massive stone portico. The operative opened her door, gesturing silently toward the entrance.Berry stepped out. Her high heels clicked sharply against the imported marble steps. A pair of silent, elderly but terrifyingly capable servants guided her through the cavernous halls of the estate. The walls were lined with priceless historical artifacts and original masterpieces, but the air was suffocatingly cold. There was no warmth here. There was only absolute power.The
Chapter 144
The armored black town car idling at the private curb outside Horizon Corp did not belong to Dane.Berry Sterling knew this the absolute second she walked out of the glass revolving doors. Dane always parked exactly three inches from the curb, always stood at a forty-five-degree angle to monitor the street, and always looked at her with a quiet, grounding warmth that instantly erased the stress of her corporate battles. The man currently standing beside the rear door of this vehicle possessed none of those traits.He wore a charcoal grey suit completely devoid of any corporate insignia, and he moved with the lethal, rigid discipline of a high-ranking military operative. He stepped directly into her path, entirely blocking her access to her own waiting vehicle. He did not ask for her identity. He did not offer a polite, deferential greeting. He simply extended a thick, gloved hand, presenting a heavy, cream-colored envelope sealed with dark crimson wax."Miss Sterling," the operative s
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