His voice was hoarse, tinged with a sob.

"I demand compensation for emotional distress! I want her court-martialed! I... I..."

Before he could finish speaking, he convulsed again and collapsed completely on the ground.

Caleb Shaw took off his gloves, the tips of his fingers faintly glimmering with a cold light.

His eyes were indifferent, not giving Heath Vance another glance.

He casually tossed the pair of blood-stained black leather gloves at Heath’s face.

The gloves drew an arc in the air and landed with a smack on Heath’s cheek.

"Go ahead and sue,"

Caleb’s voice was low.

"I’ll personally watch tonight."

When he said this, there was even a faint smile on his lips.

After speaking, he took a step, bounding up the stairs two steps at a time.

The sound of leather shoes hitting the wooden steps echoed crisply.

The smell of blood slowly drifted up the stairs.

The iron-like scent pierced the nostrils.

The air seemed to still hold the agitation leftover from the fight.

He feared that if Selene Kane got truly angry, she might actually swing the child around.

This thought flashed through his mind, his heart tightening abruptly.

He knew Selene’s temper was fiery and her methods ruthless.

Once truly enraged, she was capable of anything.

Though the child wasn’t her own, it was nonetheless an important bloodline in the clan.

If anything real happened, the entire situation would spiral out of control.

Heath lay on the ground, his body curled up, teeth grinding audibly.

His hands tightly gripped the gap in the floorboards.

Pain spread from his abdomen to his entire body.

But he dared not move, nor raise his voice again.

Because he knew, this time, no one could save him.

He was completely isolated within the ruins of this power struggle.

Those two were truly troublesome.

Caleb at least, was his boss in charge.

High status, great power, able to oppress with rules at any moment.

But Selene?

Just a female, why was she so overbearing?

She wasn’t a clan leader, nor an enforcer, yet she could make waves within the clan.

Even someone like him, a senior researcher, had to yield to her.

If it came down to a fight, he would certainly win.

Heath silently calculated in his heart.

If it were a direct confrontation, relying on his Border Collie Clan’s innate speed and explosiveness,

coupled with years of trained combat skills, he could definitely subdue her within three moves.

But alas, reality was never determined by fists.

A sharp wail suddenly erupted.

Heath clutched his stomach, squatting on the ground, his face pale.

His fingers were dug deep into the edges of his abdominal wound, but he dared not press hard.

Evan Sinclair frowned, his brow furrowing into a "川" shape.

He glared coldly at Heath, mocking in tone, "You’re a male, howling like a female in heat? Truly a disgrace to our clan."

He paused, adding another sentence.

"Where does it hurt? Aren’t you a Border Collie? The most resilient among the agile-type Beastmen, crying like a husky having a fit, afraid others won’t know you’re delicate?"

"None of your business!"

Heath abruptly raised his head, eyes blazing with anger.

He sat on the ground, back against the wall, covered in blood.

His shirt was long torn, scratches and bruises covering his chest and arms.

The three sat facing each other, none gaining the upper hand.

The atmosphere was tense, hostility filling the air.

Evan crossed his arms, gaze stern.

Ethan Sinclair leaned lazily against the doorframe, ears slightly drooping.

Heath was panting heavily, his eyes flickering.

"Do you two really not know what happened?"

Heath raised a hand to wipe his face, cleaning the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse.

"Didn’t I tell you for your own good? And yet I get beaten up and still have to watch your expressions."

Ethan’s ears drooped, the corner of his mouth turned down, impatience written all over his face.

He rolled his eyes, speaking lazily.

"Couldn’t care less. It’s the same old family squabble and scheming, my ears are nearly worn out from it."

"Then you should be kneeling on my porch to apologize."

Heath sneered, derision in his eyes.

"When your mom was set up and driven out of the clan’s core, how many times did I help you maneuver behind the scenes? And now you treat me like this?"

Heath rolled his eyes, his tone growing more disdainful.

"You beat me up and still want me to kneel for days? I have experiments to conduct in my lab. I’m supposed to submit a progress report tomorrow, and you want me to lie here playing martyr?"

He moved closer, closing in on Evan, a familiar sly smile on his face.

"About your mom and Selene... don’t you want to know? I saw them having a secret conversation in the forbidden zone that night. And the letter your mom left, it’s not just a simple matter of ’conflict’."

Evan halted abruptly, his pupils shrinking.

He stared intently at Heath.

"What do you mean?"

His mom had only mentioned having a bit of a conflict with Selene.

She hadn’t elaborated, not even wanting to discuss the content of their argument.

She only coldly left a parting remark.

If you come back, don’t even think about returning to your maternal home.

That sentence was like an iron gate, isolating all past familial affection.

Ethan and his brother exchanged a glance, both seeing caution and unease in each other’s eyes.

Without any words, the two tacitly stood up simultaneously, each grabbing one of Heath’s arms.

"Hey, hey, hey! I’ll talk! Let go! You’ll really break my arm!"

"Coming from the Academy of Sciences, aren’t all of you full of schemes? If you don’t talk now, don’t blame us for being discourteous. If you try to play tricks, don’t blame us if we don’t hold back."

Heath was nearly in tears.

"Is this a home or a boxing ring? I’m just a fragile researcher, not a combat-type Alpha, I can’t withstand this! Keep this up and I’ll fall apart!"

"Okay, okay, I’ll talk! Can’t I just talk? Let go of my arm, it hurts!"

"Have you heard? Selene has created something new, something that can stabilize male spiritual power. It’s said to bring devastated mental landscapes back to stability, even repair damage... it’s a revolutionary breakthrough in medicine!"

Both shook their heads in unison.

"Haven’t heard."

Heath nearly spat blood.

If his hands hadn’t been tightly held, he would have wiped away the cold sweat.

His wrists were nearly crushed, he gasped in pain, internally cursing.

"How could you not know about such a groundbreaking development? It’s been spreading like wildfire outside!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"It’s something super amazing! Its principles haven’t been released yet, but several males with unstable spiritual power have already returned to normal life because of it. Even the military is secretly negotiating with her to classify it as a key research project!"

Ethan’s eyes lit up, his tail spinning like a propeller.

"Female Master is amazing!"

His face was full of admiration, eyes filled with stars, even a foolish grin hanging on his lips.

"I always knew the Female Master was the strongest! She’s practically the goddess of light descended to earth!"

Heath laughed in exasperation.

"Did you grow in stature but not in brains?"

He rubbed his reddened wrists, looking at them with a face full of disappointment.

"Is that the main point? The problem now isn’t the invention itself, alright!"

Evan suddenly grabbed him by the throat.