"Who do you think you are?"

Damian Hawthorne’s voice was cold as he rose from the sofa.

Unlike Marcus, he wasn’t stupid.

The moment Luca walked into the room, Damian had already noticed the details. The watch. The tailoring. The shoes. None of it was ordinary. Every piece screamed money.

Serious money.

That was the only reason he hadn’t immediately ordered his men to break Luca’s legs.

"My name is Luca Hale."

The answer came calmly.

Damian frowned.

Luca Hale.

The name sounded familiar.

He was certain he’d heard it somewhere recently, but he couldn’t place it.

Still, after a few seconds of thought, nothing came to mind.

As long as Luca wasn’t from one of the truly untouchable families, this situation could still be handled.

Damian slowly adjusted his cuffs.

"Young Master Hale, I’m actually a reasonable person."

Several people in the room nearly laughed hearing that.

Reasonable was probably the last word anyone would use to describe Damian Hawthorne.

He continued as if he believed it himself.

"There seems to have been a misunderstanding."

His gaze shifted toward Lisa.

"I already paid for her."

The room immediately grew quieter.

Lisa’s face turned pale.

Luca’s expression didn’t change.

Damian mistook that silence for restraint.

"If she’s important to you, that’s fine."

He spread his hands casually.

"Pay me five thousand dollars and take her home."

To Damian, this was already a generous compromise.

A beautiful college girl wasn’t worth creating an enemy whose background he couldn’t verify.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Luca laughed.

Not loudly.

Not warmly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Just a short, humorless laugh.

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

"You find something funny?"

Luca looked at him.

The look alone made Damian strangely uncomfortable.

"Five thousand dollars?"

Luca nodded thoughtfully.

"Interesting."

Then his expression hardened.

"How about this?"

His voice remained calm.

"You call your mother and bring her here."

"I’ll give you ten thousand."

The entire room froze.

Even Austin’s group, standing outside the doorway, nearly choked when they heard it.

Damian’s face instantly darkened.

"You bastard."

His fist slammed onto the table.

The crystal glasses rattled.

"You think this is funny?"

"No."

Luca’s eyes were cold.

"I think you’re scum."

The words hit harder than shouting ever could.

Several of Damian’s men immediately stood.

One bald thug stepped forward aggressively.

"Kid, kneel right now."

He pointed toward Lisa.

"And leave the girl behind."

The smug grin on his face lasted less than a second.

BANG!

Luca’s fist crashed into his nose.

The thug flew backward.

Blood exploded across the table.

The man slammed into the glass surface and collapsed in a heap.

The room erupted.

"Get him!"

Several men rushed forward.

Before they could take more than two steps—

CRASH!

The suite doors burst open.

Austin Silva walked in first.

Gavin Ross followed.

Then Dominic Jose.

Then Ayden Young.

The sudden appearance of the city’s most prominent young heirs immediately killed the momentum.

Everyone stopped.

Damian looked toward the doorway.

His anger vanished.

Completely.

For the first time that night, genuine panic appeared on his face.

Austin Silva.

Gavin Ross.

Dominic Jose.

Ayden Young.

Any one of them was troublesome.

All four together?

That was a nightmare.

Austin barely spared Damian a glance.

His eyes immediately landed on Luca.

Seeing him standing unharmed in the center of the room made him visibly relax.

For a moment, he’d genuinely worried Damian had done something incredibly stupid.

Apparently, he had.

Just not successfully.

"Luca."

Austin walked over.

"You alright?"

"I’m fine."

Luca nodded.

The others greeted him as well before taking positions nearby.

Not one of them acknowledged Damian.

That hurt far more than any insult.

Standing there, Damian suddenly felt like he wasn’t even part of the conversation.

Luca looked toward Dominic.

"You know him?"

Dominic glanced at Damian and frowned.

"Unfortunately."

A few people snorted.

"His family owns several large resort properties."

Dominic shrugged.

"They’ve got some money."

The dismissive tone nearly made Damian cough blood.

His family’s greatest source of pride had just been reduced to "some money."

Luca nodded once.

Then he pulled Lisa slightly closer.

She still hadn’t let go of his sleeve.

Not once.

Even now her fingers remained tightly wrapped around the fabric.

Luca’s expression cooled further.

"This is my cousin."

His voice became noticeably colder.

"She was being forced into this room."

The atmosphere instantly changed.

Austin’s smile disappeared.

Ayden adjusted his glasses.

Even Dominic stopped joking around.

"What?"

Austin looked directly at Damian.

"You touched Bro Luca’s family?"

Damian’s stomach dropped.

The way Austin said it made it sound less like a question and more like a death sentence.

"I..."

Cold sweat covered his forehead.

"I didn’t know she was related to him."

The excuse sounded pathetic even to himself.

Nobody cared.

Nobody looked convinced.

Nobody looked sympathetic.

For the first time in years, Damian realized he had absolutely no leverage in the room.

His status meant nothing.

His family meant nothing.

His money meant nothing.

Not here.

Not tonight.

"Young Master Silva..."

His voice shook.

"It was a misunderstanding."

No one responded.

The silence was suffocating.

Then Luca moved.

BANG!

His kick slammed into Damian’s side.

The resort heir screamed and crashed onto the carpet.

Before he could recover—

BANG!

Another kick landed squarely in his stomach.

Damian curled up instantly.

The air left his lungs.

Luca looked down at him.

His face showed no anger.

No excitement.

No satisfaction.

Only disgust.

"If you’re going to beg, then beg properly, scum."

His voice was quiet.

That somehow made it worse.

Damian’s body trembled.

The arrogance he’d carried all evening was gone.

Completely gone.

He dropped to his knees.

"I’m sorry."

No response.

"Luca, I’m sorry."

Still nothing.

Panic flooded his face.

"Please."

The room remained silent.

Nobody stepped forward to help him.

Nobody dared.

Marcus stood against the wall with a swollen face, watching the scene unfold.

Earlier, he’d thought Luca was just another rich kid showing off.

Now he felt lucky.

A slap suddenly seemed merciful.

Compared to Damian, he’d gotten off easy.

On the floor, Damian continued apologizing desperately.

His expensive white suit was stained with blood and dust.

The image of the arrogant young master from earlier had completely disappeared.

Finally, a gentle tug came from Luca’s sleeve.

Lisa.

She looked nervous.

"Cuz..."

Her voice was quiet.

"That’s enough."

She glanced at Damian’s battered face and swallowed.

Despite everything that had happened, she genuinely worried things might go too far.

Luca looked at her.

The coldness in his eyes eased slightly.

After a moment, he stepped back.

Damian nearly collapsed from relief.

Then Luca spoke.

"What did you mean earlier?"

Damian froze.

"You said someone brought her here."

The room became silent again.

Luca’s gaze sharpened.

"Explain."

Damian immediately nodded.

"Yes."

He pointed toward the corner of the suite.

"There."

Everyone turned.

A woman with heavily dyed blonde hair stood frozen near the wall.

Her face had already gone white.

The moment she realized every eye in the room was on her, her legs nearly gave out.

Damian pointed at her like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline.

"It was her."

"She brought Miss Hale here."

"She took the money."

"I paid her one thousand dollars."

The woman’s face instantly lost all color.