6: The Kneeling Predator

The air in the Sterling estate's living room seemed to have been sucked out, leaving only a deathly silence. On the enormous LCD television screen, the highly anticipated press conference was being broadcast live. The logo of Preston Vance's company stood like a tombstone on the backdrop, cold and ironic.

Susan Sterling nervously clutched a Hermès silk cushion, her knuckles white, muttering, "I knew it, I knew he had a dark aura about him. I said not to invest recently, but none of you would listen..."

Uncle David's face was even uglier than the backdrop on the TV. He kept his lips pressed tightly together, his eyes flickering indeterminately behind his glasses. No one knew if he was mourning a potentially powerful ally or fearing the unknown enemy who had instigated this storm.

Hailey was completely oblivious. Having just lost next month's handbag fund due to her margin call, she was currently on her phone, searching for any information about "Alpha Wolf," wanting to see just who this bastard was that had ruined her allowance.

And Katherine, she stood before the massive French windows, her back to everyone. The sunlight outside outlined her proud and straight silhouette, but the slight tremble in her fingertips betrayed the turmoil within. It was all too crazy, too unbelievable. Vance Capital, a Wall Street behemoth, had plummeted from the heavens in just three days, shattering into a million pieces. She even had the absurd feeling that an invisible giant hand was manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

Only Jack was like an outsider.

Wearing an apron, he held a soft cotton cloth, meticulously polishing a crystal wine glass. His movements were light, steady, as if the only thing in the world that mattered was ensuring the glass was free of fingerprints. Every word from the television was like a stone dropped into the deep sea, failing to create a single ripple on the lake of his heart. A hunter is always most patient when closing the net.

At the press conference, camera flashes exploded like a nebula, wildly illuminating Preston Vance's bloodless face, threatening to swallow it whole. Reporters, like sharks that had smelled blood, threw one sharp question after another at him.

"Mr. Vance, is the Muddy Waters short report true? Was there massive data fabrication in Project Pegasus?"

"Did your secret sell-off of shares constitute insider trading and fraud?"

"Will Vance Capital declare bankruptcy? Will you personally face prosecution from the SEC?"

Each question was a poisoned dagger, stabbing viciously into Vance's already riddled heart. He stood at the podium, his eyes vacant, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word. His once-proud eloquence, his business logic that could twist black into white, had all turned to pale ash. His empire was finished. His life was finished.

Just then, his private phone, in his pocket, vibrated faintly.

The sudden sound was like an electric current, instantly jolting his numb nerves. He fumbled for his phone as if it were his last lifeline.

It was an encrypted text message from an unknown number.

The message contained no threats, no curses, just two words, so cold they lacked any trace of human emotion.

"Kneel, or burn."

BOOM!

Those two words, like two great hammers wielded by a god, smashed brutally against the last of Preston Vance's psychological defenses. He understood instantly. None of it was an accident! The "Alpha Wolf" post, the Muddy Waters report, this perfect storm that had cast him into hell—there was a manipulator behind it all!

And this manipulator, at this very moment, was watching him from some shadowy corner, awaiting his final judgment.

What was destruction? To be torn to shreds by angry investors? To be locked away in a sunless federal prison for the rest of his life? Or... to take a leap from the top of this financial tower he was once so proud of?

Boundless fear, like a deep-sea current, instantly submerged him.

He looked up, his vacant gaze passing through the countless camera lenses, towards the distance. He didn't know where the mysterious enemy was, but subconsciously, he looked in the direction of the Sterling family estate. The place he had once scorned, viewed as a plaything and a stepping stone.

There, his nightmare had begun.

There, was the person he should have never, ever provoked.

In front of the TV, Susan suddenly let out a gasp. "My God! What... what is he doing?"

On screen, under the world's gaze, Preston Vance's body began to tremble uncontrollably. His knees, as if all the bone had been sucked out of them, slowly buckled.

Thud.

The sound wasn't loud, but through the on-site microphones, it was transmitted clearly to every corner of the world.

The man who was once Wall Street's hottest capital predator, Preston Vance, knelt heavily on the cold ground.

His forehead touched the floor. With a voice laced with sobs, filled with endless regret and terror, he trembled and screamed:

"I was wrong... I... I apologize to the Sterling family! I apologize for all my words and actions!"

Time stood still.

The entire world fell silent.

In the living room, Susan's cushion dropped to the floor. Uncle David shot up from the sofa, his eyes wide with disbelief. Hailey's phone clattered onto the carpet, the screen still displaying her curses against "Alpha Wolf."

Katherine slowly turned around. The composure on her beautiful, ice-sculpture face finally showed cracks. Her red lips parted slightly, her pupils contracting from the extreme shock. She stared at the man on the screen, kneeling and repenting like a beaten dog, and felt her entire worldview being violently shattered.

Ping.

A clear, crisp sound, like heavenly music, rang in Jack's mind.

【PING!】

【Mandatory Mission: Defend the Mate's Honor, complete!】

【Mission Evaluation: Perfect. Target's spirit has been completely crushed, resulting in social death.】

【Reward Issued: 5,000 Predation Points.】

【System Shop, officially unlocked!】

【Bloodline energy absorbed. Bloodline purity slightly increased. Preliminary Alpha bloodline awakening complete.】

Jack slowly placed the immaculately polished crystal glass back in the cabinet. He picked up the remote and turned off the television, as if simply ending a boring farce.

He smiled at the petrified family members in the living room, his smile as gentle and simple as ever. "It's almost time for dinner. I'll go prepare."

Just as he turned towards the kitchen, Katherine's call came through.

Jack walked to a quiet corner and answered.

On the other end, there was a long silence. Jack could clearly hear her rapid breathing, a sound mixed with shock, confusion, and a hint of... fear that she herself hadn't noticed. She had a million questions but found that every single one of them seemed absurd.

"You..." Katherine finally spoke, her voice a bit hoarse.

"Yes?" Jack's response was calm and gentle.

"..." Katherine fell silent again. How could she ask? Ask if he was behind all this? Ask if he was the master strategist "Alpha Wolf" who had played Wall Street in the palm of his hand? It was too ridiculous. This was Jack Miller, the man who made her breakfast every day, who didn't even dare to speak loudly.

In the end, all the questions stuck in her throat.

Jack seemed to sense her conflict. He didn't press, just asked in his usual gentle tone, "What would you like for dinner? How about I make you some cream of mushroom soup?"

This utterly ordinary question, in Katherine's ears right now, seemed to possess a magical power that saw through everything. The extreme contrast—on one hand, a bloody and cruel capital slaughter; on the other, the warm and tender details of domestic life—sent a tidal wave crashing through Katherine's heart.

For the first time, she felt that her husband of one year was shrouded in a fog she couldn't see through, a fog filled with a deadly attraction.

"...Okay," Katherine managed to squeeze out the word after a long pause, then hastily hung up.

Jack put down the phone, a barely perceptible curve on his lips. He sank his consciousness into his mind, into that vast virtual space where a dazzling System Shop was radiating an inviting glow.

【Combat Skills】: Military CQC, Ancient Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

【Business Knowledge】: Financial Modeling Mastery, Corporate Management, Negotiation Psychology...

【Special Items】: Gene Enhancement Serum, Portable EMP Device, Universal Key...

His gaze was like a king surveying his treasury. He skipped past the powerful-looking combat skills and wealth-creating business knowledge, finally settling on the lowest-tier, most inconspicuous option.

【Micro-Expression Analysis (Beginner)】

【Category】: Support Skill

【Price】: 500 Predation Points

【Description】: Allows you to perceive subtle facial expressions caused by emotional fluctuations that last less than 0.5 seconds. Seeing through lies is just the beginning.

"Exchange," Jack thought.

A new game had begun. This time, the hunting ground was at home.