Kain scrambled up from the sofa, cradling his red, throbbing wrist against his chest. He glared at Atticus with pure hatred.

Realizing he was completely outmatched physically, Kain cowardly shifted his vicious attack back to the woman sitting on the bed.

He looked Avah up and down with extreme disgust. "You have always had filthy blood running through your veins, Avah."

Kain raised his voice, making sure the words hit as hard as possible. "Did you forget the bastard child you carried three years ago? You brought shame to your entire family."

"You never change," Kain sneered. "You'll hook up with a broke loser carrying a piece of baggage just to satisfy yourself."

The vile words hit their mark. Avah's face drained of all color. Her knuckles turned white as her hands gripped the bedsheets in a death grip.

The air around Atticus instantly dropped below freezing. A terrifying, murderous intent rolled off his broad shoulders.

He pushed Leo behind his leg and stepped forward, fully intending to give this arrogant fool a lesson he would never forget.

"Stop." Avah's voice cut through the tension. It was ice-cold and completely steady.

She looked at Atticus. "This is my trash. I will take out my own trash."

Avah took a deep breath. Gritting her teeth against the screaming pain in her ankle, she shifted all her weight onto her uninjured right leg. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the mattress for support, forcing herself to stand up. Despite her trembling left foot hovering just above the floor, her spine was completely straight.

She looked Kain dead in the eye. There was no trace of the weak, accommodating woman she used to be.

"You left me to burn in that room," Avah stated, her voice slicing through the air like a blade. "You ran to Jaclyn."

"Don't use my past to cover up the disgusting fact that you've been sleeping with my stepsister," she finished, hitting the bullseye.

Kain's face went from pale to green. His eyes darted around nervously. "You're crazy! You're making things up!" he yelled, his voice cracking.

Avah didn't give him another second to perform. She reached for her left hand and forcefully yanked the massive engagement ring off her finger.

She threw the million-dollar diamond ring violently at Kain. It struck him hard in the center of his chest.

The ring bounced off his suit and hit the floor with a sharp clink, rolling away into the dark corner of the room.

"The engagement is over, Kain," Avah announced, her voice loud enough to echo in the hallway.

Kain stared at the ring on the floor. His male ego had just been publicly crushed into the dirt.

He pointed a shaking finger at her. "Without me, who would want a stained woman like you?" he roared.

"Marrying you was a PR nightmare waiting to happen anyway," Kain spat, trying to salvage his pride.

"The Hopkins family will withdraw every single cent of funding from the Astraea Group immediately," he threatened.

Avah let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Even if Astraea goes bankrupt tomorrow, I will never be your disgusting puppet again."

Seeing that his ultimate threat had zero effect, Kain shot her one last venomous glare.

He aggressively smoothed down his wrinkled tie, desperately trying to reclaim some dignity.

"You will crawl back to me on your knees," Kain sneered, before turning and slamming the door so hard the walls shook.

The deafening sound of the door closing faded. Avah's rigid shoulders finally slumped.

She collapsed back onto the mattress, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but she stubbornly refused to let a single tear fall.

Atticus stood quietly, watching this woman. She was as fragile as shattered glass, yet as sharp as a knife. A strange, dark desire to conquer her flared to life in his chest.

A dead silence filled the hospital room, broken only by the rhythmic, mechanical beeping of the heart monitor.

Leo seemed to sense the heavy sadness radiating from Avah. He wiggled out from behind his father's leg and ran over, wrapping his little arms around Avah's knees.

"The bad man is gone. Don't be sad, Mommy," Leo said, his soft voice trying to comfort her.

The pure, innocent warmth of the child melted the ice around Avah's heart. She forced a small, tired smile and gently stroked Leo's soft hair.

Atticus stepped forward. He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a sleek, minimalist black business card. He handed it to Avah.

The card was heavy. It had only one word printed in silver foil: Atticus, followed by a private phone number. There was no company name, no title.

"If you require any further medical assistance, call this number," Atticus said, his tone strictly business.

Avah hesitated for a second, looking at his large hand, before taking the card. She placed it casually on the bedside table.

Atticus didn't linger. He scooped up a reluctant Leo, turned, and walked out of the room.

The moment Atticus stepped into the hospital corridor, he bumped into his close friend, investment banker Julian Vance, who was rushing toward him.

Julian stared at Atticus walking out of a standard VIP room, his face a mask of absolute shock and disbelief.

Julian grabbed Atticus's forearm and dragged him around the corner, lowering his voice to an urgent hiss.

"Are you insane? The board of directors is literally sitting in the conference room waiting for you to sign off on the acquisition, and you just vanished to come to a hospital for a random survivor?" Julian demanded.

Julian glanced back at the room number. "Look, I know the fire happened at one of your hotels, but you can't let the ghosts of your past dictate your actions today."

"Those old men are demanding an explanation. Don't throw away months of negotiations out of some misplaced sense of responsibility," Julian pleaded, his anxiety peaking.

Atticus coldly shoved Julian's hand off his arm. He slowly, deliberately adjusted his custom platinum cufflinks.

He looked at Julian. His blue eyes were dead calm, but beneath the surface, a terrifying obsession lurked. "She is not an ordinary victim."

Julian flinched at the raw possessiveness in Atticus's eyes. He stammered, "Then... then who is she?"

Atticus ignored the question. He turned to the head of his security detail standing nearby. "Lock down this entire floor. No one gets in or out without my approval."

He then looked at his executive assistant. "Contact the top orthopedic and burn specialists in the country. Assemble a private medical team for her immediately."

Julian listened to these insane orders, his jaw dropping. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Atticus, you can't do this! You're going to expose your location. The head of the Duke Consortium can't be seen doing this!" Julian argued.

Atticus shot Julian a single, freezing glare that instantly snapped Julian's mouth shut.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Avah picked up the black business card from the table. She rubbed her thumb over the thick, textured paper.

The material was incredibly expensive, yet there was absolutely nothing linking him to the hotel management.

She tossed the card into the drawer, deciding she wanted nothing to do with this dangerous man.

Suddenly, the door opened. Two doctors in crisp white coats, led by the head nurse, walked in.

"Ms. Raymond, we have been commissioned by the hotel to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your injuries," the older doctor said.

Avah stared at their faces. She recognized one of them from a major medical journal. A deep sense of suspicion twisted in her gut.

How could a regular hotel manager mobilize this level of terrifying medical power in less than thirty minutes?

The tires of Kain's Aston Martin screeched loudly as he slammed on the brakes in front of the Raymond family's sprawling Long Island estate.

He stomped into the lavishly decorated living room, his suit slightly wrinkled, his face tight with lingering anger.

Eleanor was sitting on a velvet sofa, sipping afternoon tea. When she saw Kain, she immediately set her cup down and plastered on a sickeningly sweet smile.

Kain skipped the pleasantries. He stood in the center of the room and announced, "I have officially broken off the engagement with Avah."

Preston, who was reading a financial report, slammed his bone-china teacup onto the glass table. His face darkened as he calculated the financial hit.

Jaclyn came running down the grand staircase. She widened her eyes, playing the perfect picture of innocent distress, and threw herself into Kain's arms.

Kain wrapped his arms around Jaclyn's waist. He looked at Preston. "Jaclyn is the only daughter-in-law the Hopkins family will ever acknowledge."

A greedy, calculating light sparked in Eleanor's eyes. She covered her mouth, hiding her triumphant smirk.

Preston felt a sharp ache at the thought of losing control over Avah's massive trust fund, but his mind quickly weighed the pros and cons.

Kain sneered, adding fuel to the fire. "Avah is currently in the hospital, hooking up with some broke, bottom-tier loser."

He used the most degrading words he could find, painting Avah as a desperate woman throwing herself at a peasant.

Eleanor let out a loud, mocking scoff. "I always knew that girl was useless. Once stained, always stained."

Jaclyn squeezed out two fake tears. She clutched Kain's sleeve. "How could my sister abandon our family's honor for a poor man?"

Preston made his decision. He completely discarded Avah in his mind. From now on, all family resources would be poured into Jaclyn.

He cleared his throat, changing the subject to what truly mattered. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art charity gala is next week."

A fanatical gleam appeared in Preston's eyes. "I have reliable information. Atticus Duke, the mysterious head of the Duke Consortium, will be attending."

The moment Kain heard that name, his arrogant posture vanished. He leaned forward, his face filled with desperate reverence.

"The Hopkins family is actively seeking funding from the Duke Consortium," Kain said eagerly. "This gala is our only chance to get close to him."

Eleanor grabbed Jaclyn's hands, her voice trembling with excitement. "You must look flawless at that gala, Jaclyn. You need to catch the eye of that titan."

Jaclyn's eyes burned with naked ambition. She silently vowed to make the mysterious billionaire fall to his knees for her.

The four of them sat in the luxurious living room, completely consumed by their manic fantasies of absolute wealth and power.

They had absolutely no idea that the "broke loser" Kain had just insulted in the hospital was Atticus Duke himself.

Back at the hospital, Avah was undergoing meticulous examinations by the top-tier specialists.

They treated her ankle with cutting-edge methods and even prescribed an incredibly expensive psychological trauma intervention program.

Avah tried to ask the nurse for the billing details, but the nurse simply smiled. "Everything has been paid in full by the hotel, Ms. Raymond."

This abnormal level of generosity set off massive alarm bells in Avah's head. She needed to know the truth.

Avah slowly opened her door to ask for a glass of water, just in time to hear two nurses whispering excitedly at the station down the hall. "Did you see the man who took over the Presidential Suite next door?" one murmured. "The one with the little boy. He's the one who carried her in." Avah pulled back into the shadows, her eyes narrowing.

Avah changed into a fresh hospital gown. Grabbing a medical crutch the hospital had provided, she carefully shifted her weight and slowly hobbled out of her room and down the hall.

She stopped in front of the slightly open door of the Presidential Suite. As she raised her hand to knock, she peeked through the crack and froze.