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Chapter 3

Author: Zenith Welkin
In the end, Marianne forced the bank card into Archer's hands before he could say no.

After she left, Archer stepped into the bedroom and looked at the unconscious Juliette lying on the bed.

"Being a live-in son-in-law might not be so bad after all," he murmured to himself.

Marianne's kindness reminded Archer of his late mother.

Unlike Truman, his mother, Serena Manning, had truly cared for him.

He took Juliette's smooth hand in his and gently checked her pulse. After a moment, his brow furrowed.

"Wait, is this actually…?"

He examined her again, more carefully this time, and a flash of excitement lit up his eyes.

"No way. It really is the True Phoenix Form! My luck's unbelievable."

He was thrilled. According to his mentor, people born with special constitutions were extremely rare. And now, he met one the moment he stepped out of prison and ended up married to her by pure chance.

Trying to stay calm, he focused on finding the root cause of Juliette's coma.

A few minutes later, he raised an eyebrow.

"Huh. Looks like she isn't as simple as she seems."

He formed a hand seal with one hand; strands of internal energy flowed from his fingertips, transforming midair into shimmering energy needles—needles made from energy alone.

Anyone with real knowledge of healing arts would've been stunned, as this technique only existed in ancient texts.

Archer pulled back the blanket to reveal Juliette's beautiful, curvy figure.

For a second, his eyes burned. After three years locked up without ever seeing a woman, it was hard not to react. He was young and full of energy.

His heart skipped a beat.

But he quickly took a deep breath and pushed the feeling down, shifting his full attention back to the treatment.

With quick, practiced movements, nine energy needles pierced into key points on Juliette's body one after another. A low hum vibrated from the ends of the needles as they slowly changed colors, from clear to deep crimson.

Within minutes, they were the color of fresh blood.

With a flick of Archer's palm, the nine needles rose from Juliette's skin and hovered over a trash bin, turning into nine drops of thick, red liquid.

A faint sweet scent drifted into the air.

Archer checked Juliette's pulse again and found some toxins still remained. He transferred a stream of energy into her to help reawaken her body's vitality before continuing treatment.

Just then, the door burst open. The housemaid, Wanda Tate, walked in carrying a basin of hot water. She froze at the sight.

"Wh-what are you trying to do to Ms. Jenson?"

Archer frowned and withdrew his hand, about to explain, but Wanda had already bolted from the room. Moments later, she returned with Howard and Marianne right behind her.

"You creep! What the hell were you doing to Juliette?" Howard roared as he stormed in.

Marianne rushed straight to the bed. Seeing that Juliette was unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief.

She turned to Archer and asked calmly, "What were you doing just now?"

On the other hand, Howard didn't wait. "Do we even have to ask? This creep was clearly up to something disgusting! I told you he's no good. He went to prison! But you never listen!"

To be fair, it wasn't hard to jump to conclusions.

Howard had never liked Archer to begin with. With what Wanda had seen, anyone would start suspecting the worst.

The thought that someone might try something on his comatose daughter infuriated Howard.

"Calm down," Marianne snapped at her husband. "You don't even know what happened yet."

She turned back to Archer.

Archer didn't bother hiding anything. "I was treating Juliette's illness."

Marianne blinked. "You know medicine?"

Archer nodded. "A little."

Howard let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, come on! Don't give me that! You dropped out of middle school and went straight to prison. Where'd you learn medicine—some back-alley con artist behind bars?"

Archer didn't care to explain. "Believe what you want. I was treating her."

Howard sneered. "Then tell us—what's wrong with her?"

"She's poisoned."

Howard burst into angry laughter, then snapped, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Juliette was in a car accident. That's why she's unconscious. And you tell me she's poisoned?"

Archer didn't bother responding.

Yes, Juliette's brain had been injured—but it wasn't enough to put her in such a long coma.

The real problem was a rare toxin in her system: corpse bloom toxin. It had no color and no taste, and was nearly impossible to detect once it entered the bloodstream and nerves.

That was why, in the past year, even after seeing dozens of famous doctors, no one had been able to wake her up.

Without knowing the real cause, how could anyone cure her?

Still, Archer didn't bother explaining because he knew they wouldn't believe him anyway.

Just as Marianne was about to say something, the butler rushed in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jenson, Mrs. Eileen and Ms. Laurel are here."

As he spoke, two figures walked into the room.

It was Eileen Jenson, the wife of Howard's elder brother, and her daughter, Laurel.

"Howard, I heard you brought in the Youngs' son as Juliette's husband. Where is he? Let me take a look."

Laurel curled her lip. "Ugh, Mom, stop calling him the Youngs' son. He's just an illegitimate kid who just got out of prison!"

The mother-and-daughter duo kept going, taking turns poking fun at Howard and Marianne. Their faces turned dark with anger.

Howard glared at Marianne. "This is all your doing!"

Marianne's expression soured. She snapped coldly, "My son-in-law's background is none of your business."

Eileen smiled sweetly at Marianne. "Oh, that's not very nice. I am Juliette's aunt, after all. Of course it's my business. Even if Juliette's in a coma, you don't just hand her off to some random stray. That makes it look like she's unwanted."

Every word struck like a dagger.

Marianne trembled with fury, but before she could lash out, Eileen kept going.

"Prisoners carry bad luck. We don't want that rubbing off on Juliette. Instead of helping her get better, you might make things worse." She turned to Howard and sighed. "Why don't you say something? If this goes on, Juliette may never wake up again."

"Are you seriously cursing my daughter right now?" Marianne shrieked.

Eileen waved it off. "Don't take it the wrong way. I'm just being honest."

Before Marianne could fire back, Archer cut in.

"Hey, Wrinkles. When it comes to marriage, you shouldn't focus on one's past. It depends on fate and energy. When I was a kid, a fortune teller told me that I was a lucky star and that I'd bring good luck wherever I went. Who knows? Maybe Juliette will wake up real soon."

Eileen was stunned for a moment, then her face turned red with rage. "Who are you calling Wrinkles, you jail rat?!"

Archer grinned. "Come on. You could paint a whole wall with all that makeup on your face. Are you hiding indoors because you can't bring yourself to show your ugly face outside?"

Everyone turned to look. No one expected Archer to be so vicious with his words.

"You brat! I'm gonna tear you apart!" Eileen screamed, lunging at him, claws out.

However, Marianne quickly stepped in to stop her. "Why are you arguing with someone younger? People might laugh at you!"

Eileen was shaking with rage, but she knew she couldn't do anything here. She swallowed her anger and gave a cold sneer.

"Marianne, don't get too cocky. I came here to tell you that Dad has decided on Timothy as the new CEO. The appointment ceremony is next month. Also, the deal with the Windsors will be handled by Timothy alone. Don't get in the way, or don't blame us for what happens next!"

Marianne's expression immediately turned grim.

A year ago, the Windsors planned to invest in Goldridge. The Jensons' patriarch had promised that whoever could land the deal would become CEO of Jenson Corporation.

Juliette had worked tirelessly to win them over. Just before sealing the deal, however, she got into the accident. While she was unconscious, Timothy's family stole all the credit and started suppressing her allies in the company, either forcing them to switch sides or firing them.

Now, Howard's family had almost no say in the company.

"Dad is clearly playing favorites! We won't accept this," Marianne hissed through gritted teeth.

Eileen looked proud. "And what can you do about it? Your daughter is a vegetable. Who else can you count on? Your spineless husband? Or that ex-con son-in-law of yours?"

The atmosphere in the room turned suffocating.

Marianne's face was cold and stiff. She wanted to fight back, but didn't know what to say.

Eileen gave a soft chuckle. "Face it, Marianne! The Jensons will belong to us. Stop dreaming. You'd better learn your place, or you'll be the one crying later."

Just as her voice rose with triumph, a sudden coughing sound came from the bed.

Everyone turned toward it and saw that Juliette had opened her eyes.

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