Emily stood in the hallway, watching with furrowed brows as Alex stuffed belongings into a duffel bag, shoving clothes, documents, and valuables with uncoordinated urgency. The sound of drawers slamming echoed like warning bells in the air.

    "Alex… why are you packing your things?" Emily asked, her voice small, uncertain. "Where are we going?"

    No response.

    Alex kept packing, jaw tight, eyes cold, refusing to even glance her way.

    Emily stepped forward and tapped his shoulder.

    "Alex, please—answer me!"

    In a flash, he shoved her aside, sending her crashing to the ground. Pain flared in her back as she hit the floor, stunned.

    "Why are you such a pest?" Alex snapped, venom dripping from every word. "All you do is cling to me. It''s annoying."

    Emily tried to lift her gaze, lips trembling.

    "I—I just—"

    "Shut your bitch ass mouth."

    "I don''t want to hear anything from you."

    His next words were colder, laced with cruelty.

    "My dad was right about you… your just useless."

    With that, Alex returned to packing, throwing anything valuable into the bag, acting like she didn''t even exist.

    Emily sat frozen on the floor, her eyes reddening with tears. Her heart pounded, not just from the pain of the fall, but from the deeper ache now tearing through her.

    ''Why…? Why would Alex treat me like this? I thought… I thought he loved me…''

    Tears fell freely as she silently wept, her world crumbling in seconds.

    Meanwhile, Alex rushed to the door, zipping the bag. He didn''t look back once.

    ''I can''t believe it… Dad''s dead.''

    The ring on his finger—a family heirloom enchanted to glow so long as his father lived—had gone dark this morning. Alex didn''t need details. He didn''t care who killed his father. All he knew was one thing:

    ''Whoever did it… might be coming for me next.'' Sear?h the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He reached for the doorknob—

    But before his fingers touched it—

    CRACK!

    A bolt of lightning surged through the metal, exploding in a flash of light and hurling Alex backward, sending him slamming into the far wall with a crunch. His bag tumbled, scattering its contents across the floor.

    Emily gasped and scrambled to her feet, heart racing as she ran to him.

    "Alex! Are you okay?!"

    She crouched down, gently checking his arms, his chest—desperate to see if he was hurt.

    Alex coughed, dazed, before glaring up at her and shoving her away again.

    "Don''t touch me, bitch."

    The words cut deeper than lightning ever could.

    Emily froze in place, pain flashing across her face—not from the push, but from what he had said.

    Then—

    Both of them turned toward the door, eyes wide.

    A figure stepped into the doorway, crackling arcs of fading lightning coiling around his body before retreating into his skin. His black hair settled back into place, his expression calm.

    But his eyes?

    They burned.

    "Where do you think you''re going?"

    Ethan Cross smiled—cold, calm, lethal.

    Alex shivered at the sound of his voice, fear sinking into his bones like ice.

    ****

    From the moment Alex Tusk could walk, life had bent around him.

    As the only son of the Vice Leader of the Green serpent Clan, one of the strongest and most politically influential Clans in the City, he had everything—wealth, protection, and unchecked power.

    He used that power recklessly. Teachers feared him. Students obeyed him. Enemies disappeared. Alex was a born tyrant, and his father never scolded him—only cleaned up the mess.

    He was untouchable.

    But then… Ethan Cross entered his life.

    At first, it didn''t seem like much. His father pulled him aside one day, voice sharp and quiet.

    "Keep an eye on that boy. Ethan Cross and.report to me whatever you find."

    So Alex obeyed, half out of loyalty, half out of boredom. At first, it was surveillance. Then, manipulation.

    He ordered Emily, one of the girls he was casually seeing, to get close to Ethan. The plan was simple: gain his trust, use the Devotia drug—an illicit alchemical concoction that permanently heightened attraction and emotional vulnerability—and make Ethan fall for her.

    It worked perfectly.

    Ethan opened up, shared pieces of his life, and let Emily in. Alex and his handlers picked through every word, every interaction.

    But what did they find?

    Nothing.

    No hidden bloodline. No ancient secret. No forbidden magic.

    And to top it off, when Ethan awakened—he was a measly E-Rank Forsaken.

    The lowest of the low. Powerless. Cursed. Forgotten by the system itself.

    Alex had laughed when he told his father.

    "He''s a waste of time. Just another loser."

    He dismissed Ethan entirely. Another pawn broken under his boot.

    But then...

    Ethan began to rise.

    At first, it was just whispers. Then murmurs. Then alarm bells.

    A Forsaken climbing the ranks—fast.

    Defeating monsters, outmatching awakened students, even surviving dens meant to kill.

    Each new report sent chills down Alex''s spine.

    The boy he manipulated… the one whose heart he crushed for fun, the one he left in the dirt...

    …was now standing in front of him.

    And he didn''t look happy.

    Alex opened his mouth, his voice weak with disbelief and panic.

    "Ethan, wait—"

    But he never finished.

    CRACK!

    Ethan''s boot collided with Alex''s skull, sending him crashing into the wall with brutal force. Bone met concrete. His head snapped back, a sharp crack echoing through the apartment as his vision blurred, swimming with fog and pain.

    The room spun. His pride crumbled.

    The boy he once called nothing was now the storm ripping his world apart.

    And Alex?

    He was finally realizing—

    This is what hell feels like.

    ****

    Emily''s heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the figure standing in the doorway.

    Ethan Cross.

    Lightning still crackled faintly in the air around him, his once-dark hair now dimming back to black, but that wasn''t what shook her. It was the look in his eyes. Cold. Detached. As if he wasn''t just here to confront Alex—but to end him.

    She watched in horror as Ethan''s foot smashed into Alex''s skull, sending him flying into the wall. The brutality of it snapped something inside her.

    Even as pain throbbed through her body, a quiet fury burned in her chest. She pushed herself off the floor, her eyes locking on Ethan, trembling but resolute. She moved in front of the dazed Alex, arms spread protectively.

    "I won''t let you harm him," she said, voice steady despite the fear.

    Ethan blinked, then chuckled, low and amused. His voice carried a sharp edge.

    "I can''t tell if you''re brave… or just stupid. Don''t tell me he used Devotia on you too. that will just be hilarious"

    Suddenly his expression shifted to disinterest, as if she were nothing but an obstacle.

    Before Emily could even react, he vanished.

    "W-Where did he—"

    CRACK.

    In an instant, he was right in front of her, hand already mid-swing. His palm connected with her cheek in a force-concentrated slap, a thunderclap of motion that twisted her face from the impact.

    Her cheek rippled from the force before she was launched back, crashing into the wall.

    As Emily''s body crumpled to the ground.

    Unconscious.

    Ethan didn''t flinch. No remorse, no hesitation.

    Not even the previous Ethan had truly loved her. It had all been manipulation, illusions built on lies and Devotia. She meant nothing to him—then or now.

    He turned his gaze to where Alex had been.

    Gone.

    A slow grin formed on Ethan''s lips.

    "What an interesting ability..."

    He lifted a hand, lightning dancing at his fingertips.

    "Gray."

    Suddenly a white wolf materialized beside him in a surge of arcane light—its fur glowed with runes etched in flowing silver, and a golden horn crowned its head, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat of divine energy. Its eyes locked on Ethan, awaiting command.

    "Sick him."

    Gray let out a fierce howl, lightning surging under its paws as it vanished with a crackling step, tearing through the veil of space.

    Ethan remained in the silent apartment, standing over the unconscious Emily. He gave the room a casual glance, as if committing its shape to memory.

    Then, without another word, he turned and left, closing the door behind him with a final click.