Adelyn paused immediately and looked back at Dylan.

Although his expression remained as calm and composed as before, she could see it clearly now—

That dark, intense ... almost visceral emotion swirling in his blue-amber eyes.

And in that moment, Adelyn understood something crucial about him.

He might appear cool and restrained on the surface—

But beneath it, he was deeply vindictive.

He was not the kind of man who would settle things fairly, but the kind who would return every debt a hundredfold ... even a thousandfold.

But she had already settled the score here.

Anything more ... would cross the line.

So—

Tugging lightly at his sleeve, she spoke quickly. "I’m not letting them go easily. They ..." her gaze flicked toward the men on the floor, "... said they would have their descendants worship me."

The men heard that and immediately nodded, almost frantically.

"Yes—yes! We’ll have our descendants worship you forever!"

Adelyn turned back to Dylan. "See ... they’re promising that. Aren’t they nice—"

The words slipped out before she could stop herself.

Dylan’s eyes narrowed instantly.

Realizing her mistake, Adelyn coughed lightly and tried to make him ignore what she had just said.

"And besides," she continued smoothly, "they say kindness brings fortune. So what if they bullied me? I can still be kind to them. The universe will definitely reward me later."

The men had almost felt grateful a second ago.

Now?

They were speechless.

They bullied her? And the universe will reward her?

The audacity.

She was lying again —with a perfectly straight face.

They almost cried.

Could she not ... do that?

It made them feel more wronged than they actually were.

"You want rewards?" Dylan asked, his tone carrying a faint note of curiosity.

Adelyn hadn’t meant it seriously. But then again —who would refuse rewards?

So she nodded without thinking much.

Dylan seemed to take note of that.

"Fine," he said calmly. "If you don’t want me to settle this for you, then we’ll leave."

Adelyn didn’t hesitate.

Leaving the place meant ending all of this. And she just wanted that.

"Okay, then let’s go," she said at once —only to pause as something suddenly crossed her mind.

She turned around, searching for the little one. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

And then she saw Eira —standing quietly, exactly where she had asked her to.

Her eyes were still closed.

Adelyn’s heart softened instantly.

The little girl had been standing like that all this time—

Obedient.

Trusting.

She felt a twinge of guilt for leaving her like that.

But it had been necessary.

There was no way she could let the child witness everything that had just happened.

Walking over, Adelyn gently placed her hand on the girl’s head.

"Baby," she called softly, "you can open your eyes now."

Eira immediately opened them.

Tilting her head, she looked up at Adelyn.

"Mama, did Eira play well?"

Adelyn smiled warmly ...

"You did perfectly," she said. "And look —we won."

She gestured toward the men sprawled across the floor.

"Now all these uncles are satisfied."

Eira turned to look at them.

The men instantly nodded, almost in unison.

"Yes—yes, we’re very satisfied."

"Very satisfied."

Eira didn’t respond to them. She simply looked back at Adelyn. "Then ... does that mean we can go home now?"

Adelyn nodded, and her smile softened. "Yes, we can go home now. And look—" she gestured toward the door, "see who came to take you back?"

Eira followed her gaze.

And her eyes lit up.

"Your Dada is here," Adelyn said gently. "Come, let’s go."

Eira held onto Adelyn’s hand and nodded.

Together, they walked toward Dylan—

And then left the room.

Only after they were gone did the tension finally ease.

The men exhaled, relief flooding their expressions.

But just as the room began to settle —a sudden cry echoed from the corner, making them all flinch at once.

Turning toward the sound, they saw—

Karl standing there, unable to hold himself together any longer.

Crying.

Pier rushed over immediately. "Brother Karl, what’s wrong? Why are you crying now? Didn’t we escape death already?"

Karl looked at him —and cried even harder.

"We did," he said miserably. "But at what cost?"

Pier frowned, completely confused.

"What cost?"

Karl pointed dramatically toward the door through which Dylan and Adelyn had just exited.

"At the cost of discovering the harshest truth of all," he declared. "My brother is biased. He doesn’t treat me the same way he treats my sister-in-law."

Pier fell silent.

So that was it?

That was why he was crying?

Closing his eyes, he sighed.

"How can a man treat his woman and his brother the same?" he said patiently. "Of course, there will be a difference."

Karl frowned deeply.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why can’t we be treated the same? How am I any less precious than her?"

Pier shook his head, raising a finger.

"No, no—you’re not less precious," he said.

Then, smiling slightly, he added—

"It’s just that your sister-in-law is more valuable."

Karl paused.

Stared at him.

Then asked seriously, "Is there a difference between those two?"

"There is—" Pier began. But then he stopped himself.

After a moment, he simply shook his head.

"Whether there’s a difference or not doesn’t matter," he said instead. "What matters is that you now have a sister-in-law —and you should stay under her wings if you want to stay safe."

Karl sniffed and rubbed his nose.

"Of course I know that," he said proudly. "Didn’t you see just now how much my sister-in-law adores me? I’ll soon be her dearest."

Pier blinked.

"She ... adores you?"

Karl nodded confidently.

"Obviously. If she didn’t, why would she step in and help us? She even fought all of them for me. And just now —she even made my brother forgive me."

He puffed up slightly.

"She clearly treats me like her own child. There’s no way she’ll let anything happen to me from now on."

Pier opened his mouth —ready to clear a few of his misconceptions.

But before he could—

A voice interrupted from the entrance.

"Fourth Young Master, Sir has asked us to drag you home."

Karl stiffened.

"Drag ... me home?"

He swallowed.

"You must have misheard," he said quickly. "My brother seemed perfectly fine just now. He wouldn’t—"

The bodyguard didn’t argue.

"Please come with us," he said simply.

And that was it.

—————

Meanwhile—

Outside the restaurant—

Adelyn stopped walking as they reached Dylan’s car.

Dylan halted beside her.

So did Eira.

Both of them looked at her.

Adelyn hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Umm ... my place isn’t far from here," she said slowly. "I can walk back. It’s getting late —you should head home and rest."

Before Dylan could respond—

Eira tightened her grip on Adelyn’s hand and looked up at her.

"Mama ... won’t you come home with Eira?"

There was a quiet desperation in her voice—so soft ... yet so strong—that it made Adelyn’s heart clench instantly.