CHAPTER 142: FELT DEEPLY HUMILIATED AND FURIOUS.

Guys like Derek—typical protagonists—always acted like the world revolved around them. If others didn’t behave the way he expected, it was suddenly they who had changed.

And then he’d go off on some righteous tirade, preaching like he was the moral compass of the universe.

Brain-dead?

This so-called Child of Destiny—was he really just that naive?

Just imagine replacing Veil with an ordinary rich heir.

It wouldn’t take long before that rich kid ended up bankrupt and ruined for offending Derek. And Mia? She’d be dragged into that hatred and lose every bit of hope and light in her life.

Why?

Because Derek was blessed by fate.

Did people really think everyone could treat a Child of Destiny the way Veil did—squeezing him for every benefit, turning his luck into their own fortune?

When ordinary people offended someone like that, did they ever get a happy ending?

If they didn’t die, they were guaranteed to shed a few layers of skin.

Mia blinked and twisted the hem of her skirt between her fingers. Her lips curled into a small pout as she stared at Veil and softly mumbled,

"But... I happened to meet you, didn’t I?"

Veil let out a long sigh and shook his head.

"You still haven’t taken what I said seriously, have you?"

To him, Mia was still a bit too naïve—too idealistic to see things clearly. And that worried him.

If she had met anyone else, Veil couldn’t even imagine how things might have turned out.

He gently pulled her into his arms, as if trying to shelter her from all the darkness in the world.

"Hungry? Want to grab something to eat?"

"Barbecue. Get me some grilled lamb skewers."

"Let’s go then!"

Kai and Cody linked arms, joking and laughing as they headed toward the door.

Tiger Roar, meanwhile, was busy barking orders to his men, having them carry out the injured and clear the scene.

Within minutes, the VIP lounge was emptied.

—

More than an hour later...

Only after Veil and the others had long since left did Tiger Roar send in one of his massage girls to check the room.

She crept in cautiously—only to find the room in a complete mess, like it had been ransacked.

Worse yet... Mia was gone.

Panicked, she followed the sound of water splashing from the bathroom inside the master suite. There, she found Mia wrapped in nothing but a towel.

"Are you insane?! Just because Young Master Lancaster asked you to take a shower doesn’t mean you should throw yourself at him!"

"This is your chance! What are you still being cautious for? Do you ever see rich tycoons getting rid of their mistresses?"

"If you end up pregnant, girl, you’re set for life!"

Mia casually wiped her damp hair with a towel and calmly replied,

"It wasn’t Young Master Lancaster who told me to take a shower... I did it on my own."

The two women blinked, speechless for a second.

They were the same two girls who had been massaging Veil’s legs earlier. Just like Mia, they had been untouched and were mentally prepared for anything.

Who would’ve thought Lancaster would pick Mia of all people?

Seeing how innocent she was made their teeth itch with frustration.

"You really are hopelessly dumb."

"And you think you have what it takes to be with Young Master Lancaster?"

"You missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Forget about this life—good luck even seeing him again in the next one!"

With a cold snort, the two women turned and stormed out, clearly jealous.

But Mia remained unfazed.

She sat quietly on the edge of the bed, her fingers lightly gripping a gold-embossed business card, her gaze more determined than ever before.

Young Master Lancaster had given her two choices.

One was a check worth ten million.

The other... was this business card.

She chose the card.

He hadn’t said much, but Mia understood perfectly well—this was an opportunity.

A test.

Only if she proved herself valuable enough would she have the chance to remain near Young Master Lancaster.

Mia had ambition. And more importantly, she knew how to wield that ambition to please the right people.

This was a gamble.

And Mia had just staked the rest of her life on it.

...

The night was pitch-black. Under the dim, flickering streetlights, the city lights grew distant as Mystical Star carried Derek on her back, racing through the darkness.

"Fourth Elder Sister, that’s enough. No one’s chasing us," Derek groaned, gritting his teeth in pain.

Mystical Star glanced over her shoulder. Only after confirming they had fully left the noisy city behind did she slow down and carefully set Derek down on a patch of grass.

"I’ll remember this grudge. One day, Veil will pay back tenfold!" Derek growled, his voice full of venom.

After taking a healing pill, the bleeding from his wounds had stopped, but the bullets were still lodged deep in his flesh. If they weren’t removed soon, they would leave lasting damage.

"Let’s find a hospital. I need to get the bullets out and then rest for a while," Derek muttered, his voice heavy with frustration and sorrow.

Tonight was supposed to be the night he avenged his parents. He had only managed to kill a single mine owner—and in return, he was humiliated, beaten, and nearly crippled.

All because of that bastard Veil’s interference.

Even now, just thinking about it made his blood boil.

All he wanted now was to recover—then wash away the shame with blood.

Clack.

Mystical Star crouched beside a pile of dry twigs and branches. She struck a flame, then carefully placed a steel knife into the fire, letting the blade glow red with heat.

Derek blinked, frowning. "Fourth Elder Sister... what are you doing?"

"Taking out the bullets," she replied without looking back, rotating the hilt of the knife to evenly heat the blade.

Once it was glowing red, she turned to Derek and knelt beside him, positioning the blade over his leg, ready to dig in.

Derek swallowed hard. "Actually, maybe we should go to the hospital after all. It’s not far—I can make it. Don’t worry about me, really."

"We can’t," Mystical Star replied, her tone serious as her eyes glinted with caution. "That man... he’s too dangerous."

"I warned you not to go after him. All of this was a trap, carefully laid out by him from the start. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already has people waiting at the city hospitals."

She wasn’t being paranoid. As a top-tier assassin, Mystical Star had always been cold, ruthless, and efficient.

But when it came to Veil, something about him felt deeply unsettling. It was like he could see through her—through everything.

And that eerie sensation made even the number one ranked assassin on the global bounty list hesitate.

"I let you charge into danger once already. This time, I won’t allow it."

Her tone dropped cold as she looked at Derek. "I’ll inform the others about your injuries. Once we regroup, even Veil won’t stand a chance. No one gets away with hurting you like that."

"Fourth Elder Sister..." Derek’s lips tightened, his eyes softening as he looked at her. He couldn’t deny he was moved. Especially after Mia had just betrayed him, her care hit harder than ever.

But his pride refused to let it end like this.

"Anything else, I’ll listen to you. But not this. I won’t let the other Elder Sisters get involved," he said firmly. "It’s not that I can’t beat Veil—it’s that he fights from the shadows. I was in the open, and he ambushed me. That’s the only reason I lost today. Next time... I’ll rewrite everything."

Ask his Elder Sisters for help against Veil?

That would be the same as admitting he wasn’t strong enough on his own. No way.

Mystical Star saw the determination in his eyes and knew there was no convincing him otherwise. She sighed deeply.

Hiss—!

The glowing knife pierced his flesh. The sound was sharp and sickening. She quickly dug the bullet out of his leg, then moved to the other wound.

The bullet in his shoulder had passed clean through, so there was no need to extract anything there.

She ripped a white cloth into strips, bandaged his wounds tightly, and only then did she let out a breath of relief.

Through the entire process, Derek didn’t utter a single word—not even a grunt of pain. He simply clenched his jaw, his brows furrowed.

Even Mystical Star, who had seen more death than she could count, felt a rare flutter in her chest. She felt... something. Pity? Admiration? It was hard to tell.

"It’s done. So... what now? Are we heading to Big Elder Sister’s place?" she asked softly after a long silence.

Derek looked toward the distant city lights and exhaled slowly.

"Let’s go to Veyport City. If Big Elder Sister saw me like this, she’d be worried sick."

"You’re already worrying too much over me. I can’t drag her into this too."

"And besides..." He paused, a trace of emotion in his eyes. "It’s been way too long since I last returned to Veyport City."