CHAPTER 925: CHAPTER 925 CONFRONTATION 2

At the peak of Hera’s fury, Leo, who had been silent and merely observing, suddenly spoke. He uttered one simple sentence: "I don’t know you."

Those four words, said to Silvia, were what ultimately saved him from being murdered by his own wife. Only later would he realize just how close he’d come to losing his life. Had he continued to stay quiet and simply stare at Silvia, Hera might have snapped.

Thankfully, his instincts for danger remained intact, even with his amnesia. Perhaps, deep down, he felt the need to make it clear that he truly didn’t recognize Silvia, not just because of his memory loss, but because he had never paid attention to her before, not even prior to the accident.

At first, he had briefly considered the possibility that Silvia was the fiancée he kept remembering in fragments. That was why he looked at her more closely, searching her face for a hint of familiarity.

But no matter how long he stared, he couldn’t feel the connection. Her features didn’t match the blurred image in his memory. More importantly, the emotions didn’t align. When he thought of his fiancée, even through the haze of amnesia, he felt warmth, longing, and comfort. But when he looked at Silvia, all he felt was irritation and disgust.

That was the moment he knew Silvia wasn’t the woman from his memories. She was simply trying to take advantage of his confusion, using the opportunity to manipulate him into believing they had a bond that never existed.

After all, Leo was still a feared and seasoned businessman, someone who had dominated countless rivals in the past. His instincts were sharper than most, and when he felt that he truly didn’t know Silvia, it wasn’t just a guess; it was a certainty.

Unlike with Hera and the others, where he also claimed not to know them, there was an underlying sense of familiarity that tugged at him whenever he looked their way. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tolerated their presence, especially considering how loud and intrusive Dave was, exactly the kind of person Leo usually couldn’t stand disturbing his quiet life.

Yet he chose to listen, to question them, to observe. Part of him was hoping their words would spark a forgotten memory, while another part played along to avoid raising suspicion. It was a contradiction, yes, but a necessary one.

Even if they felt oddly close and showed no signs of hostility, only warmth and ease, it was wiser to remain cautious than to regret it later. Familiarity didn’t always guarantee safety.

But Silvia was different. He disliked even the way she looked at him; it was unsettling, like a cold, scaly serpent had wrapped itself around his body. Her gaze made his skin crawl, stirring something dark and frigid within him. So when he said, "I don’t know you," the words came laced with a chill, a subtle but unmistakable edge of hostility.

Silvia instinctively recoiled, a flicker of fear flashing in her eyes. Still, she forced herself to recover, clearing her throat and straightening her posture in an attempt to regain composure.

"Fair enough," she said, her voice strained but steady. "You have amnesia, after all. It’s only natural you wouldn’t remember me."

She tried to sound casual, but the tightness in her tone betrayed the fear she was struggling to suppress.

Zhane furrowed his brows. He had kept the information under strict control, no leaks, no loopholes. Leo was still a high-value target, and if the wrong people learned about his condition or location, an assassination attempt at the hospital was almost guaranteed.

Yet somehow, Silvia had found out. The realization made Zhane’s expression darken. It could only mean one thing: someone on his side had let the information slip. That thought alone chilled him.

Still, he reminded himself that Silvia was an Avery. It was possible she had accessed the family’s intelligence network. But even that didn’t sit right with him.

The truth was far more complicated. Gerald, not Silvia, held control over the Avery family’s intel department. And Gerald answered only to two people: Old Master Avery, the current head of the family, and Hera, the true heiress and soon-to-be successor. He was fiercely loyal and would never leak sensitive information, especially not to someone like Silvia.

Out in the world, Silvia’s status as an Avery seemed impressive. But within the family? She held no real power. She was a hollow figurehead, decorative, but ultimately irrelevant.

But where did she get her information?

Simple, she bought it. Silvia had paid a significant amount of money to dig up the details she needed. After all, what couldn’t money buy? A few well-placed bribes to Zhane’s staff and a handful of others had been enough to crack open the secrets she was after.

This was a rare opportunity, and she wasn’t going to waste it. Getting close to Leo was everything. In the Avery family, she might be nothing more than a decorative figurehead, but once she married into the Hendrix family and became its matriarch, the Avery name would mean nothing to her.

The Hendrixes were just as powerful as the Averys, perhaps even more. Their bloodline traced back to kings and monarchs, while the Averys, in her eyes, were merely the descendants of farmers who rose to power through examinations and royal appointments. To Silvia, the contrast was laughable.

She looked down on the Avery legacy and had no attachment to it. Her true ambition was securing her place beside the heir of the Hendrix. And when that happened, she would finally rise above everyone who had ever dismissed her, including the so-called real heiress of the Avery family. A wild, unruly girl who, in Silvia’s eyes, was no match for her in elegance, ambition, or worth.

"I said—I don’t know you. And don’t think flashing your status will make me warm up to you," Leo said coldly, his tone cutting and unyielding. "If you keep disturbing me, I might just call my grandfather and have him dissolve this so-called engagement between our families. We don’t need a marriage alliance. Our family is already at the top of other aristocratic families."

His voice was calm, but the hostile aura that seeped from him was anything but. His expression remained indifferent, yet every word dripped with threat. Leo hated being controlled, especially by those who assumed they could leash him like a dog and corner him with titles or blood ties. Not even his grandfather or parents could dictate his actions, so what gave a stranger the right to think she could?

If this woman continued to force the fiancée narrative on him, he’d rather sever the engagement completely than allow her even a sliver of power over his life.

The murderous look in his eyes made Silvia freeze. It felt as if a predator had locked onto her; one wrong move, and his teeth would sink into her throat without hesitation. Her bodyguards, sensing the sudden spike in danger, immediately shifted into defensive stances and stepped in front of her, shielding her from Leo’s gaze.

Leo’s aura wasn’t something anyone could brush off. He had played in the shadows of the underworld, dealt with monsters disguised as men, and survived circles where death was a daily gamble. His presence carried the weight of bloodlust, honed through countless life-and-death encounters.

Even Luke felt the temperature drop, a chill crawling up his spine as Leo’s full aura spread through the room. He turned to Hera in concern, but she remained still, her eyes fixed on Leo, silently studying him, as if trying to figure out whether this was just an act... or if the man in front of her was truly showing his real self.

But more than anything, Hera wasn’t afraid. Even as Leo’s patience with Silvia wore thin and his tone turned razor-sharp, far colder than anything he had ever shown her or any of the men in the room, she remained calm. Leo had never hurt her before, and deep in her heart, she believed he never would.

The same couldn’t be said for the others.

Dave, Luke, Zhane, Xavier, and Rafael all felt the shift in Leo’s energy. His presence had taken on a dangerously sharp edge, one that made the air feel heavy. Even Luke, who had long held his own in the underworld and led his own faction with an iron grip, couldn’t deny it; Leo’s darker side felt heavier, more refined, more lethal. It wasn’t just dangerous; it was dominating.

"L-Leo, please don’t be angry with me," Silvia stammered, her voice trembling despite her attempt to sound composed. "I just wanted to visit and see for myself if you’re alright. But if you’re not in the mood for visitors... I’ll give you some space."

She turned toward the door, signaling her bodyguards to follow, but paused mid-step when she noticed Hera and the others were still seated. Her eyes narrowed.

"Aren’t you going to leave and give my fiancé a chance to rest?!" she snapped through gritted teeth, barely suppressing her frustration.