Chapter 1 The Heir's Return

"Once more, Javon," Meisha whispered, her voice husky and alluring. Her eyes, usually as sharp as an assassin's dagger, now shimmered, wet like a moonlit lake. "Just one more time. I can feel it... we're so close to the peak."

Javon looked at her, the Serpent Queen of Southeast Asia. Her beautiful face was flushed, not from shame, but from the torrent of energy they had just summoned together. There was a sincere plea in her gaze, a frightening dependency.

Javon shook his head slowly, disentangling his legs from hers with a movement that felt heavy. "Time's up, Meisha."

A rare frown of disappointment creased Meisha's lips. "You're leaving me right when we've almost succeeded? After all this?" Her hand gripped the bedsheet. "Without your energy to balance mine, who will tame the demon inside me?"

The question hung in the heavy air. This was the core of their symbiotic relationship for five years in this prison. This place was a cage for the world's most brilliant and dangerous female criminals, and Javon, the only man, was both their key and their tamer.

Not through violence, but through the "Dragon's Pulse"-an ancient cultivation technique taught to him by his master. A technique that transformed the turbulence of desire into a current of pure energy, balancing the inmates' destructive powers while forging Javon's own body and soul into a living weapon.

KLANG!

The harsh sound of the cell door being thrown open shattered the tense intimacy.

A cold-faced woman stood in the doorway, her posture rigid in an expensive blazer that looked bizarre in these squalid surroundings. Her sharp eyes swept the room, from the disheveled sheets to the blush on Meisha's face.

Her brow furrowed, her lips thinning into an undisguised line of disgust. "Utterly shameless," she hissed, her voice as sharp as a shard of ice. "Even in a place like this, you haven't changed."

The air in the cell seemed to freeze, then boil. A palpable killing intent erupted from Meisha. Her once-plaintive eyes now blazed with white-hot fury. Before her imprisonment, she was a mercenary leader whose name alone made generals tremble. Hundreds of lives had been extinguished at the tip of her spear. No one-no one-dared to speak to her like that.

Yet, the woman in the doorway was undaunted. She met Meisha's glare with a superior calm, as if looking at a bothersome insect.

The woman's attention then shifted to Javon. "I am Serana," she said, her chin lifted. "Your stepmother."

Javon frowned. Stepmother?

His father, Gerald Forger, was a rigid man whose world had crumbled when his mother died years ago. The idea of him remarrying, especially to a woman as beautiful and as cold as an iceberg, felt impossible. And Serana was indeed stunning. Her skin was as smooth as porcelain, and she exuded an aura of isolated tranquility, like a rare orchid blooming on a sheer cliff.

"Your father is missing," Serana continued, each word delivered with cruel precision. "The Forger Group is on the brink of collapse. I'm here to take you home."

Javon's world spun. Five years ago, his medical mentor, an eccentric genius, had declared he had nothing left to teach him. "The only living encyclopedia left for you," the mentor had said, "is locked away in the Black Coral."

So, a crime was engineered, evidence forged, and Javon was sent here. He had learned forbidden medical arts from a mad biochemist, strategy from a master con artist, and tempered his body with the Dragon's Pulse. He was no longer the spoiled playboy the world once knew.

"What do you mean... Dad's missing?" Javon slid off the bed. Muscles coiled beneath his pale skin, the result of relentless training. Every movement radiated controlled power. He reached for a worn-out shirt and pulled it on.

Serana looked away, as if the sight of his physique offended her. "Three months ago, old enemies attacked. The company's stock plummeted. Your father left to find a solution and never came back. You're the only Forger blood left. Like it or not, this is your responsibility."

Javon's jaw tightened, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. A storm of emotions-anger, confusion, and a strange, cold fear-threatened to overflow. He took a deep breath, forcing himself into a state of calm. "I'll find him. And I'll fix this."

Serana let out a short, humorless laugh. "You? The spoiled son who was jailed for a disgraceful scandal? Don't make me laugh."

The jibe stung, but Javon let it pass. He knew the image he'd left behind. Let them underestimate him. It would be his greatest advantage.

Meisha stared at Javon's strong back, her voice softening again. "Will you come back?"

Javon paused at the doorway. A strange bond had been formed in this place, born of shared danger and power. "I can't," he whispered, more to himself than to her.

"A dog can't change its ways," Serana sneered inwardly as she watched the exchange, her disgust deepening. "If it weren't for Gerald's kindness to me, I wouldn't bother dealing with trash like you."

***

The luxury car glided silently down the asphalt road of the Forger family's Villa district.

Canopies of plane trees formed a green tunnel, filtering the afternoon sun into golden shafts of light. To Javon, after five years behind concrete and steel, the outside world felt too bright, too quiet. The silence in the car was deafening, filled only by the hum of the engine and Serana's controlled breathing.

Just as the majestic gates of the Forger Family villa came into view, the car screeched to a sudden halt.

SCREEECH!

The road ahead was blocked. A dozen burly, grim-faced men spread out, forming a human barricade. In front of them, a young man smirked arrogantly. He wore a flashy designer suit that failed to hide the pompous air of new money.

Serana's face went pale. She instinctively tried to turn back, but a glance in her rearview mirror showed their escape route was also blocked.

"Serana, you finally show your face!" the young man, whose name was Pablo Swenger, shouted. "I'm tired of waiting. The Forger Group is a carcass! Five million to buy what's left is more than generous. Why are you still playing saint?"

With a slightly trembling hand, Serana lowered the window. "Pablo," she said, her voice a forced, cold calm. "I've told you, even if Forger falls, its dignity can't be bought with your petty cash."

"Oh, stubborn!" Pablo's eyes narrowed, his gaze sliding over Serana's figure in a disgusting manner. "Old man Gerald has already run off with his tail between his legs. Why are you, his mistress, still so loyal? Just come with me. I'll show you what it's like to be with a real man." He gestured with his chin, and a few of his bodyguards began to approach the car with lewd grins.

Javon's eyes turned to ice. He may not like his haughty stepmother, but she now carried the Forger name. And no one would disgrace that name in front of him.

"Back off."

One word. Not a shout, but a low command that vibrated with absolute authority. The Qi he had cultivated for five years infused his voice, causing the car windows to tremble faintly. The bodyguards flinched, instinctively taking a step back.

Pablo finally noticed someone else in the passenger seat. He was stunned for a moment, then his cynical laughter erupted. "Well, well! Isn't it the legendary Young Master Javon? Fresh out of the cage and already acting fierce? Weren't five years enough to teach you some manners?"

Javon recognized him. The son of the Swenger Group, a business rival that could once only look at the Forger Group from afar. The world truly had been turned upside down.

He didn't reply with words.

His movement was a blur. The car door flew open, his body shot out, and the world seemed to slow down. He could see the shock in Pablo's eyes, the sharp intake of breath from the bodyguards, the dust motes hanging in the air.

CRACK!

It wasn't the sound of a slap, but the sharp crack of a whip. Its piercing echo shattered the elegant silence of the villa district.

Pablo was thrown sideways as if hit by a wall. He staggered several steps before collapsing to his knees. Five fiery red fingerprints were instantly branded onto his pale cheek, which swelled in seconds.

Total silence enveloped the scene. The bodyguards froze. Serana, inside the car, stared with wide eyes, her breath caught in her throat.

Pablo lifted his head, his eyes filled with disbelief and searing pain. Blood trickled from the corner of his lip.

"You..." he hissed, his voice trembling with shock and rage. "You... you dared to hit me?"

Javon stood over him, his shadow eclipsing the young man from the sun. His eyes showed no anger, only a lethal calm.

"That," Javon said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, "was just a warning."