Perhaps by then, he would already have been crushed completely.

Meanwhile, Mr. Green ignored the sarcasm hidden in Alex’s words.

"I know you have suffered a lot," he spoke quietly.

For the first time in years, his voice no longer carried the same arrogance as before.

"How about this?" He slowly looked toward Alex. "Let us put all of this behind us and start over from the beginning. I will support you this time. All you need to do is return and work at my company."

The moment those words entered Alex’s ears, he immediately let out a laugh filled with disbelief.

"Do you truly not know, or are you simply pretending not to know?" Alex leaned back slightly while staring directly into Mr. Green’s eyes.

"Have you forgotten how Jasper constantly tormented me?"

His voice gradually turned colder.

"He made sure I starved regularly despite living under the same roof. I barely even had proper clothes to wear."

Alex’s fingers slowly tightened unconsciously beneath the table.

"Oftentimes, I was beaten and locked inside dark rooms," he continued quietly. "Even when he clearly knew I had a phobia of being locked up."

The moment those words were spoken, Mr. Green completely fell silent.

Back then, he had only viewed Alex as a tool for revenge.

A living reminder of hatred.

But now that Alex was directly recounting those memories, Mr. Green finally realized how deeply his hatred had blinded him over the years.

Meanwhile, Alex continued speaking calmly, though the pain hidden beneath his tone remained impossible to conceal.

"I had to work triple shifts just to pay for my tuition fees."

His lips curved into a self-mocking smile.

"Even after all that, I still ended up drowning in debt."

Then his gaze sharpened.

"But you remained silent the entire time, didn’t you?"

His voice became heavier with disappointment.

"You allowed Jasper to continue harassing me over and over again."

Alex stared at him emotionlessly.

"Do you not feel even the slightest bit of shame hearing all of this?"

Mr. Green remained silent.

His lips trembled faintly, yet no words came out.

Seeing this, Alex suddenly snorted softly.

"I will not make some grand promise," he spoke indifferently. "But I can indeed promise you one thing, Mr. Green."

Mr. Green instinctively lifted his head.

Alex slowly stood up from his seat.

He looked down at him coldly.

"I will finish all of you off quickly," he declared calmly. "That way, at least you will not have to suffer for too long."

The moment those words fell, Mr. Green’s face instantly stiffened.

However, this time, he did not dare stop Alex from leaving.

He could only watch silently as Alex turned around and walked toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Alex’s eyes had unknowingly become slightly moist.

Honestly, he had never imagined he would one day sit together with his father and have such a conversation.

Yet despite everything, a faint trace of disappointment still lingered inside his heart.

Somewhere deep down, he had hoped Mr. Green would completely break down.

He had hoped the man would beg desperately for forgiveness or at least lower his pride enough to sincerely ask for help.

At that point, perhaps Alex would finally feel a sense of satisfaction.

But none of that happened.

Maybe Mr. Green was simply too prideful.

Or maybe he already knew that nothing he said could ever undo the past.

Either way, it no longer mattered.

’He is no longer related to me anymore.’

With that thought in mind, Alex continued walking toward the hotel lobby.

As he walked past one of the corners, he suddenly heard an angry voice.

"You do not even know how to clean properly! You are such a useless maid!"

Alex instinctively glanced toward the source of the commotion.

A young maid stood there nervously, lowering her head apologetically. Meanwhile, a middle-aged head maid continued scolding her loudly in front of everyone.

The maid was clearly doing her work properly.

Yet the head maid kept deliberately making things difficult for her.

Alex frowned slightly.

’Workplace harassment truly exists everywhere.’

After thinking briefly, he finally decided to step forward.

He calmly walked over before stopping beside the young maid.

"I do not see any problem here," Alex spoke indifferently. "Why are you speaking so harshly to her for no reason?"

The moment Alex intervened, the head maid’s expression instantly changed.

She hurriedly forced out an awkward smile.

"Sir, I know this may appear normal to you, but trust me, this is not our standard."

Meanwhile, the maid named Mira secretly glanced at Alex before quickly lowering her gaze again.

The head maid was about to continue speaking when Alex interrupted calmly.

"This hotel chain belongs to one of my close friends."

The moment those words fell, the head maid’s face instantly turned pale.

Alex casually glanced at the name tag attached to her uniform before chuckling faintly.

"Karen."

There was obvious mockery hidden inside his tone, as though he was silently ridiculing how fitting her name truly was.

Karen’s entire face immediately turned red from embarrassment and anger.

"Sir, you do not understand the protocols here..."

However, before she could finish speaking, Alex had already turned around and started walking away.

The moment she saw him leaving without hesitation, genuine panic finally appeared on her face.

"Sir! Please wait!" Karen hurriedly shouted anxiously. "I will not do it again! Please listen to me!"

Unfortunately for her, Alex never looked back.

The next day, Karen was directly dismissed from her position after an investigation.

Meanwhile, Mira remained completely stunned after hearing the news.

At the same time, gratitude filled her heart.

Back then, she had thought Alex would at most help her slightly.

She never imagined his help would completely remove the person tormenting her.

The following weekend, Mira met her best friend, Adeline, at a small café.

The moment Adeline saw Mira, her eyes widened slightly.

"You have slimmed down so much lately."

Mira chuckled awkwardly while stirring the coffee in her cup.

"I was trying to become an actress," she replied softly. "Of course I needed to lose weight."

Adeline merely laughed quietly without exposing the truth.

Because she knew very well that Mira’s real dream was never acting.

Mira wanted to become an architect.

However, she simply lacked the money needed to pursue that dream properly.

Even now, she was still struggling under the burden of her loans.

Thinking about this, Adeline suddenly remembered Miss Dawn.

’What if I try pulling some strings...?’

After all, Alex himself had once mentioned that Miss Dawn was actually very kind and helpful beneath her cold exterior.

As long as someone genuinely sought help, Aurora would often lend a hand.

After hesitating briefly, Adeline finally looked toward Mira seriously.

"Have you thought about the proposal I mentioned before?"

Mira paused momentarily before shaking her head.

"I do not think I am talented enough to stand out."

Adeline sighed helplessly. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"What could Miss Dawn find interesting in me?"

Mira immediately chuckled bitterly.

"In my entire life, if there was ever a person who thought my talent had any value, it was only you."

Her fingers slowly tightened around the warm coffee cup.

"No one else would ever care about my talent."

A faint trace of self-mockery appeared across her face.

"Why would anyone think an orphan’s talent is something valuable?"

Mira was not lying.

Her mother had died early after years of abuse from her violent father.

Ever since then, life had never shown her much kindness.

Her father had eventually been sent to jail, but Mira knew very well that he would most likely receive bail sooner or later.

The moment he got out, the threat hanging over her life would return once again like a nightmare she could never escape.

Not to mention the orphanage director.

That disgusting man had always looked at her with greedy eyes filled with hidden intentions.

He constantly refused to let her leave peacefully unless she paid him one hundred thousand dollars.

Every time Mira remembered his gaze, her stomach twisted with disgust.

Still, she did not want to continue dwelling on the depressing reality surrounding her life.

She forced a faint smile onto her face before looking toward Adeline.

"Let us not talk about me anymore," Mira spoke softly. "Tell me about yourself instead. How has everything been going for you lately?"

Adeline sighed lightly before smiling.

"Everything is going great."

She deliberately started talking about lighter topics afterward.

Mira’s tense mood finally relaxed slightly as the conversation drifted toward random stories and daily gossip.

However, Adeline had already noticed something.

Mira was on the verge of collapsing mentally.

Even if Mira refused to ask for help directly, Adeline could still see the exhaustion hidden behind her tired smile and bloodshot eyes.

Since Mira would never willingly allow others to interfere in her life, Adeline silently decided she would handle things secretly instead.

After returning home that evening, she organized Mira’s achievements, portfolio, and personal records before forwarding everything toward Miss Donne.

She even managed to arrange a meeting through her connections.

Fortunately, Aurora was surprisingly accommodating and quickly agreed to the meeting.