"We will see how you try, Dorrent," Himelda spat, her voice laced with a bitter, venomous edge that sliced through the residual tension of the study. She drew herself up to her full height, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. "Because I will never, ever allow you to get together with that cursed girl. Do you hear me? You will overstep my dead body before you ever bring that slum-born disaster into this family permanently. You can only marry her when I am six feet under!"

Dorrent didn’t flinch. Instead, a wickedly amused glint flared in his eyes. A cold, mocking smirk spread across his features as he looked down at his mother, tilting his head with a casual, chilling indifference.

"Well, Mother," Dorrent murmured, his voice laced with irony that carried a dangerous undercurrent, "then I guess I can only hope you get six feet under real soon."

Himelda’s jaw dropped in horror. Her face flushed to crimson as she took a backstep, pointing a trembling finger at his chest. "How dare you?! Dorrent! Is that how you speak to the mother who gave you life? You are an ungrateful monster!"

"I think we’re completely done here," Dorrent interrupted flatly, his dark amusement instantly evaporating into detachment. He adjusted the cuffs of his designer shirt, completely dismissing her outrage. "I have a fragile little girl to court and a mountain of hatred to clear. I need to make her love me, and standing here arguing with you is wasting my time."

Without waiting for her reply, Dorrent turned his back on her and strode out of the study. He pushed the doors open, stepping into the hallway of the estate.

Waiting right there in the corridor, leaning against the pillars like two specters, were Guron and Shadron Valerius. The moment the doors clicked shut, Guron stepped forward, his sharp eyes scanning his son’s unreadable face with anxious intensity.

"Dorrent," Guron grunted, his voice rumbling through the long hallway. "What happened? Did your mother—"

"Don’t get worried, Father," Dorrent cut him off smoothly, his tone remarkably calm as he stopped right in front of the older Alpha. A look of supreme, unshakeable ambition returned to his eyes. "I am going to give you those grandkids you so badly want."

Guron froze for a second, his chest expanding as he let out an exhale of relief. A wide, triumphant grin shattered his stern expression, and he clapped a hand down on Dorrent’s shoulder. "Ha! I knew it! I thought your mother would be able to use her sentimentality to talk you out of it, but it turns out you are just as reasonable and strategically minded as I am, my boy! That is exceptional news."

Guron lowered his hand, a chuckle vibrating in his chest as he leaned in slightly. "Listen, Dorrent... a girl like that, from the bogs... she won’t be easy to tame. In case you find yourself needing any help, or some tips on how to break a proud woman’s spirit and make her love you, you are free to seek me out. I know exactly how to handle that."

Dorrent looked at his father, his eyes flashing with intensity. "Oh, believe me, Father... I am going to be needing that a lot. I will be seeking you out very frequently."

"Good." Guron delivered ruthlessly, nodding with immense satisfaction. He turned on his heel, his footsteps echoing down the corridor as he finally headed toward his private quarters for the night.

The moment Guron’s shadow vanished around the corner, the suffocating atmosphere of the hallway shifted. Shadron crossed his arms, his gaze locking onto his best friend with suspicion.

"Dorrent," Shadron spoke quietly, his voice tight. "The grid handlers are already on standby. Do you still want me to run the full background check on Jannah Nenth."

"There’s no need for that anymore, Shadron," Dorrent interrupted, his voice dropping into a low register as he began walking slowly down the hall. "Cancel the investigation. I already know why the little herbalist wants me dead."

Shadron’s brows knitted together in surprise. He quickly fell into step beside the towering CEO, his eyes wide. "What? How the hell do you know? What did your mother say inside that room?"

"The black cycle," Dorrent delivered flatly, his jaw clenching as the brutal memory of his younger self resurfaced. "According to my mother, the black cycle rut I experienced nine years ago, I was the one who brutally slaughtered her parents during that primal madness."

Shadron instantly stopped dead in his tracks. The color completely drained from his face, his arms dropping to his sides as he stared at Dorrent in shock. "Are you... are you fucking kidding me right now, Dorrent? You? You killed her family?"

Dorrent stopped and turned around, his expression a flawless, chilling mask of frost. "I don’t joke about such things,Shadron."

"Jesus Christ, Dorrent, you are as good as dead!" Shadron hissed, stepping closer, his voice frantic as he looked around the empty corridor. "You are lucky you are still breathing in this mansion! Don’t you see the reality of this setup? The girl didn’t come to this estate to heal your impotency—she came here for vengeance! If she had the right opportunity, she would have already poisoned your veins and watched you choke to death!"

"It almost happened," Dorrent murmured, a dark, predatory smirk cutting across his lips as his mind flashed back to that storm-filled night in her bedroom. He recalled her tiny frame convulsing on the floorboards, and the volume of hatred as she spat in his face. "She cultivated a lethal toxin specifically labeled with my name. But I caught her right before she could slip it into my system."

Shadron shook his head in disbelief, running a hand through his hair as his mind reeled from the absolute insanity of the situation. "You are completely unhinged. You caught her trying to murder you, you found out you might have slaughtered her entire universe, and your reaction is to keep her in your house? Let me ask you, Dorrent—are you seriously still going to marry Jannah? A woman who wakes up every single day wishing for your permanent execution?"

Shadron took a step forward, his voice dropping into a harsh, demanding register. "And what the hell happens to Joanne? Have you completely forgotten about her? Joanne loves you to the point of madness, Dorrent! She is an elite lady of the high districts, and her Moscow family is a multi-billion-dollar global syndicate. They are not going to take this insult lightly. If you break that alliance contract for a slum-born assassin, the Moscow family will launch a war!"

Dorrent stared at his best friend, his eyes turning devoid of warmth, freezing the air between them.

"Let me ask you something, Shadron," Dorrent delivered coldly, his voice a low, terrifyingly vibration. "Would you stay with a woman you cannot fuck?"

Shadron’s mouth opened slightly to counter, but the words completely died in his throat. He went silent, his gaze dropping to the floor. Of course he wouldn’t. For an Alpha of their caliber, being permanently bound to a woman who couldn’t trigger their biological reaction, living a life of permanent impotence—it would literally kill them. It was a slow, agonizing death sentence.

"Exactly," Dorrent muttered, turning his gaze back down the long corridor. "That is your answer. We are breaking the engagement with Joanne. In reality, I’ll only be helping her out anyway, since my system remains entirely dead to her touch. I can never satisfy her body, and she deserves an Alpha who can actually perform."

Shadron let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to find a way through the impending disaster. "Fine. Genetically and biologically, I get it. Jannah is your only cure. But think about the optics, Dorrent. What reason are you going to give Joanne for breaking off a multi-billion-dollar marriage contract? You’ve never told her you’re impotent. Your pride would never allow the beauty queen to know the great Dorrent Grefo has a dead system."

Dorrent took a slow step forward, a cruel, indifferent shrug of his shoulders indicating how little he cared for the emotional fallout.

"I’ll just tell her the truth," Dorrent stated flatly, his voice echoing off the ceilings with a chilling, reckless disregard. "I’ll tell her the reason is because I am not attracted to her at all, and that’s precisely why I can’t get it up for her."

Shadron’s eyes widened in shock. "Are you out of your mind?! Don’t you dare try that, Dorrent! You will completely crush her feelings and humiliate her! You can’t just tell a lady she’s visually repulsive to your system! Look for another, civilized reason!"

Dorrent paused at the end of the hallway, turning his head slightly to look back at his friend, his eyes flashing with a permanent, dominant finality.

"If you’re that concerned about her feelings, Shadron... then you find a good reason for her," Dorrent delivered ruthlessly.