Chapter 4

By the time I reached Piper, a concrete slab was already pinning her leg to the ground. Blood soaked through her pants.

My eyes were bloodshot. With both hands, I grabbed the edge of the slab to lift it with every ounce of strength I had.

"Help him! We can't let someone die; it'll tank the company's stock price!"

Velda's urgent voice rang out, but the company's profits were her only concern.

A few bodyguards finally stepped forward to help.

The moment the slab was lifted, my heart stopped cold.

A piece of steel rebar had pierced straight through Piper's calf, and she'd passed out from the pain.

With trembling hands, I tore strips from my shirt to wrap the sound, the pain in my chest making it impossible to breathe. Her face was deathly pale, and her breathing was faint as blood continued to seep from her wounds.

"She should've watched where she was going. Now she's got no one to blame."

Jude hopped down from the excavator and clapped his hands with a taunting grin. "Go on then. Touch me and see what happens."

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles cracked. Every vein in my body pulsed with rage.

I was about to pounce on him when I remembered Piper's words right before she passed out. I knew that our family couldn't afford to lose anything else.

Kneeling beside Piper, I threw my head back and let out a broken howl that didn't sound human. I'd guarded the nation's borders for ten years, yet I couldn't protect my only family.

"Enough!"

Velda stepped forward and held out a black card. "There are ten million dollars in here. Take this, get Piper treated, and stop causing trouble."

Her tone was cold and indifferent, like she was tossing spare change to a beggar on the streets.

"As for the project, all our paperwork is in order, and I'll have Jude apologize for his behavior."

I slapped her hand away and glared at her. "You think money fixes everything, don't you? You're not scared that I'll cause trouble; you're just afraid that I'll report your dirty dealings to the authorities!

"I don't want your filthy money. I want justice!"

Jude snorted, then kicked fragments of Dad's gravestone and shattered it further. Ashes and dust blew into my face.

"Velda Group is justice in Hyporion!"

He crouched down and whispered a threat into my ear in a voice only I could hear, "You'd better pray that I never get my hands on Piper. If I do, I'll make sure she's begging for death!"

Those words were the breaking point. I tackled him to the ground and started driving my fists into his face.

My family was my bottom line. Anyone who crossed it was dead meat!

Jude's face was a mangled mess. Blood gushed from his nose as he shrieked at his bodyguards in panic, "Get him, all of you! Kill him!"

The bodyguards swarmed over and rained their fists and batons on me.

I shielded Piper and took every blow. Each strike fueled my desperate, silent fury.

Just then, a low, heavy rumble echoed from the distance. Three military SUVs with special license plates sprinted across the site like predatory beasts and surrounded the entire area in seconds.

Doors swung open and armed soldiers swiftly poured out, aiming their muzzles at everyone in sight.

"Nobody moves! Eastern Defense Task Force!"

Following that thunderous shout, General stepped out of an SUV, dressed in full uniform. The two guards behind him carried a plaque draped in red cloth.