Chapter 6

Elena, who had been lying motionless on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes.

President Wang froze mid-step. Mrs. Xia said she had already drugged the girl—the medicine was supposed to knock her out for two hours. So how was she awake?

“W-Wait… little beauty, how are you sitting up?” he stammered.

Elena’s bright eyes curved into a mischievous smile.

“If I’m not awake, how could I witness such an… interesting scene?”

“You—”

Before he could finish, Elena flicked her wrist. President Wang smelled something strange—then his entire body weakened. He collapsed to the carpet with a thud, his limbs trembling uncontrollably.

His hands and feet twisted helplessly as he stared at Elena in terror.

“L-Little beauty… are you trying to play with me? Let me go, and we—we can have fun together…”

Elena tilted her head, expression innocent.

“President Wang, do you know what these are?”

She lifted two pieces of raw, meaty bones.

“H-Hey… what are you doing with bones?” he asked, voice cracking.

“Oh? Yuna didn’t tell you?” Elena said sweetly. “The Xia family owns a very large wolf dog. It’s fierce. And it loves the smell of meat.”

Mr. Wang’s heart nearly stopped. He had been thinking of Elena for a long time—believing she was a helpless country girl married off to a dying man. Easy to manipulate.

Now terror swallowed him whole.

“W-What do you want?” he whispered.

“The game has begun, President Wang.”

Elena slipped the two bones into the waistband of his pants. “Be careful later. If the dog bites the wrong place… you might lose more than your pride.”

“No—no, little beauty, please! I was wrong! Don’t do this—this isn’t a joke—this could ruin me!”

He trembled, drenched in cold sweat.

Elena walked to the door and pulled it open.

A large wolf dog, having caught the scent of meat, burst inside.

President Wang screamed.

Moments later, he stumbled downstairs, scrambling to pull up his pants and crying hysterically.

“Mr. Wang!” Yuna gasped. “W-What happened to you?”

Mr. Wang grabbed her sleeve with shaking hands.

“Yuna! This is your doing! I—I’ll never forgive you!”

He pushed her away and fled in terror.

Yuna’s face drained of color. What went wrong?

She rushed upstairs and burst into the room.

Elena sat leisurely on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, sipping tea. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Yuna.

“Auntie, you’re here?”

She had been waiting.

Yuna’s heart tightened. The plan had failed. But how? Elena ate the drugged food right in front of her.

“You knew the chicken was drugged,” Yuna said slowly. “You planned this.”

Elena set down the teacup and smiled faintly.

“I wanted to see how far you’d go. Honestly, your methods are rather childish.”

“Elena!” Yuna dropped the pretense and glared fiercely. “I won’t play with you anymore. Mr. Wang stormed out just now—you ruined everything. Fine. I’ll hand you over personally and fix this mess!”

She snapped her fingers. “Come in!”

Five or six men in black stormed into the room.

“Elena,” Yuna sneered, “these bodyguards cost me a fortune. Think you can beat them?”

Elena’s gaze turned cold. She had been waiting for this.

“Grab her!” Yuna ordered.

One bodyguard rushed forward.

Elena reached toward her waist—but before she could move, another hand appeared. A large, strong hand gripped the bodyguard’s wrist.

CRACK.

The man screamed as his wrist snapped and he was thrown backward, knocking the others to the ground.

Elena’s breath caught.

Holden walked in—tall, straight-backed, his presence sharp enough to cut steel.

“You…” Elena blinked. “Why are you here?”

Holden’s voice was low, calm, and dangerous.

“Looks like I missed quite the show. Didn’t I?”

Yuna’s expression collapsed. She stared at the man beside Elena—so cold, so elegant, so effortlessly lethal. She had never seen someone like him in Darenvil’s upper circle.

Could he be the “boyfriend” Yoselin mentioned?

“Is this your boyfriend, Elena?” Yuna asked.

Holden’s brows drew together sharply.

“Boyfriend?”

He looked at Elena. “That’s what you told her?”

“She’s lying,” Elena said quickly. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Yuna shouted at the bodyguards. “Go!”

But the men hesitated, trembling. Holden gave them a single look—cold, amused.

“Can you fight me?” he asked softly.

They flinched. One by one, they turned and fled.

Yuna’s lips trembled with rage. Her expensive bodyguards—gone. And this man stood there like he owned the place.

Holden dusted off his sleeves.

“Dinner’s waiting,” he said to Elena. “Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

As they walked past Yuna, Elena paused and smiled politely.

“Auntie, if you want to show off your household ‘skills’ again, I’ll be happy to watch. Just don’t embarrass yourself next time.”

“…”

Yuna nearly coughed blood.

---

In the car, Elena glanced at Holden. His expression was calm, elegant—no trace of the fight remained.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t come?” he asked.

“Fight.” Elena shrugged. “I can handle them myself. If you didn’t show up, I’d still clean them up.”

Holden remembered—

A nine-year-old abandoned in the countryside, bullied, called “parentless.”

She had learned to survive. Fight.

Even on the train, she had solved the scarred man’s injury with ease.

Those guards? Nothing.

“Fighting is a man’s job,” Holden said. “Girls shouldn’t have to fight.”

“I don’t want to rely on others…” she murmured, “but Mr. Lu, thank you—really.”

Holden arched an eyebrow.

“That’s it?”

Elena blinked. “Then… how do you want me to thank you?”

Holden’s gaze dropped—from her bright eyes to the soft curve of her lips under her veil.

“You don’t know how women thank men?” he asked quietly.