The man on white words hit like a grenade.
At that moment James and Emily stood frozen, their minds struggling to process what they had just heard.
"What… what are you talking about?" James asked, his voice cracking slightly. He pointed at the man in white, panic starting to creep into his tone. "Weren't you sent by the Victor family? To pick me up?"
Without wasting anymore time Emily quickly stepped beside him, her voice rising with disbelief. "What the hell is going on here?" she snapped. "These… these are her people?" She turned toward the line of pristine Rolls-Royces, eyeing the sharp-suited drivers, the gold emblems, the precision, at that moment her throat tightened. "There's no way Cora could pull off something like this. No way…"
The man in the white suit narrowed his eyes slightly, voice laced with offense. "What nonsense are you speaking?"
He turned to them without a trace of amusement. "What Victor family are you talking about? I came here under direct orders to escort Lady Cora Freeman home."
He extended a hand toward the cars. "These Rolls-Royces behind me are her personal escorts."
The words fell like thunder.
James' jaw slackened. Emily's body stiffened.
No, This can't be true…They both felt their hearts freeze, their lungs struggled to breathe, everything around them the air, the light, even the ground suddenly felt heavier.
Then Cora turned her head, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile that held no warmth.
Then she looked James dead in the eyes. "You thought my family wasn't capable of something like this… didn't you?"
Just then, the sound of more engines filled the air.
Three more Rolls-Royces rolled into the compound, silent and smooth like shadows, then the cars stopped, and Five men dressed in sleek black suits stepped out in perfect sync.
They moved quickly toward Cora, forming a disciplined line in front of her.
Without hesitation, they all bowed low and greeted her in unison.
"Lady Cora."
Among the men who stepped out of the newly arrived Rolls-Royces, one of them stood out immediately.
He was dressed in a sharp, blood-red suit that caught the eye like a flame in the middle of a storm.
His presence radiated command, and every step he took was calculated silent, powerful, lethal.
He stopped just beside Lan Brown, the man in white.
Then, without hesitation, he bowed deeply at a perfect ninety degrees, showing reverence only meant for the truly elite.
"I am Giovanni Spencer," he announced clearly. "Chief Security Seven of the Freeman Task Force. Your father has sent me to support Comrade Lan Brown in escorting you home, Lady Cora."
At that moment his voice echoed through the estate like a royal decree.
James stumbled a step backward, eyes wide, chest rising and falling rapidly.
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Freeman Task Force? Chief Security Seven? Escorting Cora?
Immediately his head spun.
This wasn't just wealth, this was power, the kind whispered about behind closed doors, the kind no magazine or entrepreneur list could ever expose.
At that moment Emily's voice pierced the air, high and frantic. "This… this can't be real! Cloudridge is a rundown farming town! How can a family from there pull off something like this?!"
James snapped his head toward her, desperate to make sense of it. "It has to be a mistake," he muttered, half to himself.
Then, in a desperate move to recover his dignity, he rushed forward straight to the man in the red suit.
He forced a polite smile, extended his hand awkwardly, and spoke a little too loud.
"I'm James Lorenzo," he said quickly. "The most uprising Entrepreneur in White Snail City."
Hearing James words, Giovanni Spencer didn't flinch. He simply looked at James's outstretched hand… and didn't take it.
"I know who you are," Giovanni said, his tone ice-cold and dripping with disdain. "James Lorenzo. Entrepreneur… self-proclaimed."
Then his eyes sharpened. "Now get lost. I didn't come for you."
He took a step forward, the pressure from his presence alone enough to make James stumble back.
"I came for Lady Cora. Not some insect who dares bask in borrowed glory."
At that moment James stood there, frozen.
His lips trembled before he forced a nervous laugh. "No, wait… there's been a mistake. This this is a misunderstanding."
Immediately he turned to Emily, then back to Giovanni. "Her family's poor! They live in Cloudridge! They're farmers! There's no way no way you're talking about her!"
But before the last word could fully leave his lips.
Giovanni's expression turned lethal.
In one smooth, terrifying motion, he reached into his coat… and pulled out a gleaming blade.
A sword, from nowhere.
The sun caught its edge as he raised it high, ready to strike.
At that moment Emily screamed, stumbling backward. James's face drained of all color as he fell to his knees in pure panic.
But then—
"Stop."
The voice was calm. Soft. Absolute.
Everyone turned seeing it was Cora.
She had stood up from her wheelchair, tall and regal, her back straight, her presence undeniable.
Her voice floated across the courtyard like frost. "We wouldn't want to kill James… now, would we?"