When I glanced at my watch the next morning, it was only 7:00 AM.
I looked over at Clara and Sera beside me in the dim light of the master suite. "You two can sleep a little longer if you want," I murmured softly.
"No, we’re already awake," Sera replied, stretching lightly with a soft yawn. "Once I wake up, I can’t fall back asleep anyway."
"Me neither," Clara agreed, rubbing her eyes with a smile. "Let’s just get up."
After taking quick showers in the master bathroom, Clara and Sera changed into a pair of casual spare clothes they kept in my dressing room. When we stepped out into the quiet hallway together, the door to the opposite guest suite opened. Sophia stepped out alone, offering a gentle smile. "Good morning..."
Without a single word, Sera and Clara walked right past her, heading down the hall toward their own rooms.
Sophia froze, the bright expression on her face instant vanishing. She turned to me, her eyes filled with confusion. "Why... why are they ignoring me?"
"Where’s Daisy?" I asked first, stepping closer to her.
"She’s still sleeping," Sophia answered quickly, her voice trembling slightly. She grabbed my arm, her gaze desperate. "Julian, please tell me... why did Clara and Sera just ignore me like that?"
I let out a quiet sigh, looking at her with a serious expression. "Sophia... I think they’re upset because they feel you went behind their backs to get together with me."
The color completely drained from Sophia’s face. The sheer devastation in her eyes pierced right through my heart.
"I... I told you we shouldn’t cross boundaries," she whispered, her voice cracking as tears welled in her eyes. "I should have known... because of my silly imagination, I just lost the very first friends I’ve made in five years..."
Seeing her genuine heartbreak, guilt rushed through me. I couldn’t keep up the act for another second.
I gently cupped her cheeks, lifting her head so her eyes met mine. "Hey... look at me. It was just a joke. I asked them to play along. I’m so, so sorry, Sophia. I didn’t realize it would hurt you like this. I thought if I teased you first, all your anxiety about our relationship would just wash away once I revealed the truth. I’m so sorry for making you worry."
Sophia blinked, her tear-filled eyes searching my face. "Really? It was just a prank? They... they actually accept me?"
"Of course they do," I said earnestly. "Come on, you can hear it straight from them."
Just then, Sera and Clara walked back into the hallway, fully ready for the day. I took Sophia’s hand in mine and stepped forward to block their path. "Hey, hold on a second. We need to clear something up."
Sera and Clara locked their eyes on our intertwined hands, their expressions instantly hardening into cold glares.
"Oh? So now you’re holding his hand right in front of us, Sophia?" Clara said, crossing her arms with a chilly tone.
Sophia winced, shrinking back slightly, but I held her hand tighter. "Sera, Clara, drop it. I already told her we were just joking around."
Sera scoffed, taking a step closer. "Joking? What joke are you talking about, Julian? We considered her our sister, yet she went behind our backs to steal our man. She stabbed us in the back!"
My brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you two talking about? Didn’t I explain everything to you last night? Why are you acting like this? To tell you the truth, I was the one who pursued her and made the first move. If you’re genuinely angry, direct it at me, not her! And if you really can’t accept her, I can easily buy a new estate for Sophia and Daisy—"
I stopped mid-sentence.
Looking at the fierce, angry expressions on both Sera and Clara’s faces, a sudden realization hit me. A polite, genuine laugh burst from my lips.
"Honestly..." I chuckled, shaking my head as I looked at the two of them. "I could believe the sun rising from the west before I’d believe this act. I know you two far too well. No matter what happens, neither of you would ever treat a woman I love like this."
The strict, icy facade on Sera and Clara’s faces broke instantly. They looked at each other, then at me with amused, curious pouts.
Sophia blinked in shock. "Wait... what?"
Sera burst into a bright laugh, walking over to hug Sophia warmly. "It was our plan to fool him! Last night, Julian told us he wanted to tease you this morning, so after you went to your room, the three of us texted and set up a trap to prank him instead! But he saw right through us."
"You really have sharp eyes, Julian," Clara giggled, hugging Sophia from the other side. "We almost had you!"
"I told you, you need a better script if you want to fool me," I laughed, pulling all three of them into a brief, warm group embrace.
"Good morning!" a sweet, sleepy voice piped up from behind us.
We all turned to see Daisy shuffling out of the suite in her adorable pajamas, rubbing her eyes. I walked over, scooping her up into my arms with a smile. "Good morning, my little princess! Let me carry you down for breakfast."
We all walked down to the grand living room, taking our seats on the plush leather sofas. I picked up the remote and turned on the massive wall-mounted TV just as the morning news broadcast began.
[BREAKING NEWS] "In a shocking turn of events, Metro City’s decades-old conglomerate, the Young Group, alongside the prominent Young family, has officially declared full bankruptcy overnight! While the exact financial mechanisms behind this sudden collapse remain unclear, the market vacuum left by their demise is already being systematically absorbed by the rising giant, Cosmos Group, stabilizing the regional economy."
"Furthermore, multiple high-ranking members of the Young family have been taken into custody by the Bureau of Investigation on charges of fraud, racketeering, and corporate crime. However, innocent family members and low-level employees are currently being integrated under the protective umbrella of Cosmos Group. Public sentiment praises the mysterious Chairman of Cosmos Group for his swift, decisive, yet remarkably merciful actions..."
Just then, five uniformed maids wheeled in three lavish dining carts, laying out a spectacular breakfast spread across the central glass table. I instructed one of the staff to prepare a fresh breakfast tray and deliver it directly to Mr. Lin’s room upstairs.
As we began eating, Clara set down her coffee cup and looked at me with a knowing smile. "Tell me the truth, Julian... were you the sole hand behind the downfall of the Young family?"
I met her gaze with a calm, subtle smirk. "Well... they dared to target my women. I was simply settling the score."
At the banquet, when you turned down Tan Young’s invitation to dance, he tried to spike your drink," I explained calmly, my tone dropping an octave. "I personally made sure he was crippled, ruined, and thrown into a cell. Patriarch Young assumed you were the one responsible for his grandson’s downfall, which is why he turned his crosshairs toward you.
Sera smiled gently, resting her hand over mine. "If they were corrupt and using underhanded tricks, then they brought this punishment upon themselves. You did the right thing."
As Sera spoke, a sudden memory flashed through my mind.
Wait... Sera’s family used to be extremely wealthy before their business suffered a sudden, tragic bankruptcy that wiped them out...
I hadn’t given it much thought before, but looking at how effortlessly I had dismantled the Young family’s multi-hundred-billion-dollar empire behind closed doors, a chilling thought struck me: Was the downfall of Seraphina’s family actually an orchestrated attack by an unknown enemy, just like what I did to the Young family?
I was about to ask Sera about her family’s past, but looking at the household staff moving around the living room, I stopped myself. This isn’t the right place or time to dig into sensitive memories.
Bzzzt.
My phone vibrated on the table with an encrypted message from my chief shadow guard:
Shadow Chief: Boss, we should head out in thirty minutes. The authorities are preparing to escort Patriarch Young from his estate to state prison for his life sentence at 11:00 AM. Please select your preferred vehicle; multiple major news outlets and reporters have already gathered at the scene.
I typed a brief reply:
Julian: Understood. Inspect the fleet and prepare the most suitable motorcade. I’ll be down shortly.
Setting my phone down, I stood up from the sofa. Today, for the very first time, the financial world would catch a glimpse of the man behind the Cosmos Group.
As I walked upstairs to my dressing room to select my tailored suit, my mind remained fixed on a single, burning question—one that I was determined to resolve as soon as the Young family was buried for good: Who was really responsible for destroying Seraphina’s family?