10x God-Tier Stealing System: Pumping S-Rank SuperHeroines Daily!-Chapter 43- Thalia’s Self-Respect

Jenny whimpered, trying to lift her bruised body. Her arm was clearly injured—possibly fractured. She attempted to stand but her weak knees buckled, making Thalia sigh and sit up to help.

Despite everything, Jenny was her sister.

One who probably deserved a harsh slap across the face after she healed.

Thalia could feel a sliver of sympathy now, but it didn’t erase the betrayal. Jenny would never learn, no matter what happened. Just like their stepmother—none of them ever did.

The best thing Thalia could do... was get far, far away from this family altogether.

"Here, are you alright?"

Thalia had just thought to help Jenny down the stairs—planning to find a nurse or something, like she always did when Jenny got hurt—when she heard a man’s commanding voice. She turned her head.

"Huh?"

Jenny, cradling her injured arm, saw a tall, broad-shouldered shadow looming over her. A large, masculine hand extended toward her, impassive, dark eyes gazing down at her exposed cleavage. The light behind him made him look like a walking halo of raw power and money.

Yeah. Rich, incredibly handsome, and dangerously dominant. Definitely the "money guy."

"Y-yes..." Jenny muttered, quickly taking his hand despite the sharp pain—maintaining her delicate image over her injury. As she sat up, her breath hitching, her gaze kept flicking hungrily toward Cruxius’s chiseled jawline.

"You don’t look it," Cruxius said flatly, his tone dismissive, but he helped her regardless. Then, turning toward Thalia—who stood dumbfounded by his sudden chivalry—he knelt smoothly beside her and grabbed the hem of her dress near the knee.

Scrch.

With a sudden, violent pull, he tore a long strip of fabric, instantly exposing the smooth, pale skin of Thalia’s thigh to the crisp air.

"H-Hey!? Don’t tear my dress!" Thalia shouted, flinching violently as the sudden cool breeze hit her bare leg, her cheeks flushing hot at the sudden exposure.

"Your sister’s injured, and you’re worried about your clothes?" Cruxius raised a dark eyebrow, frowning in mock disappointment. Thalia’s mouth dropped open, utterly speechless—especially when she saw Jenny glaring at her from the ground, as if this were somehow Thalia’s selfish fault.

"Then tear your own shirt!" Thalia snapped, her chest heaving indignantly. She never wanted to be part of this family in the first place. A place that only pretended to be family. A place full of people who didn’t understand consequences.

Now, she just wanted to get away from this infuriating, overly-masculine man too.

"Tch. She’s heartless, isn’t she?" Cruxius murmured, his deep voice vibrating with a seductive low timber as he turned his attention back to Jenny. The girl looked completely stunned by his protective gesture... then nodded, casting a dramatic, wounded glance toward Thalia.

’Damn him...’ Thalia curled her knees in, trying to hide her exposed thigh, watching as he expertly tied the makeshift bandage around Jenny’s delicate elbow. The two looked like a perfectly framed scene of lovers from a cheap romance drama.

And yet... she felt a deep, twisting suspicion.

Why was a monster like him being so incredibly kind to Jenny?

’Wait... does he think she’ll fall for him?’ Thalia blinked. Jenny wasn’t exactly a beauty queen—not compared to the women a man like him usually ruined. But maybe Cruxius thought he could easily win her over to play his twisted games.

She glanced toward Jenny—only to freeze.

That wide-eyed, lovestruck look. The rapid blinking. The soft, trembling lips and the flushed chest as he tied the not-so-perfect bandage with his large hands.

’Cough... are you already planning to cheat on your fiancé, Jenny?!’

"What are your intentions?" Thalia asked as she moved through the hospital corridor, catching the curious, lingering gazes of the nurses. The tall, broad-shouldered man beside her was drawing far too much attention, his raw, masculine aura dominating the space, but she pressed on toward the exit, the cool air brushing against the bare thigh exposed by her torn dress.

"About what?" Cruxius replied lazily without looking at her, his dark eyes fixed on his phone screen. He had just received detailed information about the Bernard family—something he’d personally requested.

With the kind of immense wealth and power he wielded, acquiring such intimate data hadn’t been difficult at all.

"Don’t play dumb. I’m asking why you’re treating Jenny so kindly," Thalia shot back, her tone edged with deep suspicion. She didn’t know his full character yet—they hadn’t been together that long—but one thing was painfully certain: he was a deeply lustful man, and he only moved when a woman sparked his carnal interest. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Isn’t it obvious?" Cruxius muttered, his gaze still locked on the phone. He hadn’t even bothered to glance her way. Darithi was keeping a careful, obedient distance behind them, her athletic form moving silently as per his instructions—not letting Thalia’s alluring figure stray too far.

’!’

"You—don’t tell me... are you after her body too?" Thalia asked sharply, her gaze turning violent as she stopped in her tracks.

She didn’t know his exact type, and considering just how insatiable and perverted he was, the horrifying possibility that he might want to bend Jenny over too wasn’t far-fetched.

Her desperate resolve to escape his heavy, possessive grasp grew stronger with every passing moment.

"What? I like women, not..." Cruxius finally looked up, his eyes raking slowly over Thalia’s flush before finishing his sentence with a cold, absolute sneer, "...bitches."

"...She’s my sister. How dare you call her—" Thalia started, her chest heaving indignantly, but she faltered mid-sentence. She didn’t really want to defend Jenny—her pathetic stepsister who had tormented her like a spoiled child for years.

But caught between a dominant demon who’d ruthlessly taken advantage of her soft body while she was drugged, and the sister she left behind... even that choice was becoming murky.

Cruxius cut in, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.

"She drugged you. Tried to push you—no, tried to kill you. And she made you cry," he said, his tone razor-sharp with a dark resolve. "She’s not getting away with that."

Thalia folded her arms defensively beneath her breasts, inadvertently pushing her cleavage up in a soft, tantalizing swell. Her irritation spiked as she noticed his dark eyes drifting—not toward her face—but lower, shamelessly locking onto the deep valley of her chest while he talked as if he were a genuine gentleman in love. He was not fooling her.

A pervert, through and through.

"And you’re talking as if you’re any better," she muttered, glaring up at his handsome face. "You rap—forced me... Who knows how much I cried beneath you? Even my eyes feel dry now..."

Her gaze shifted away, her cheeks burning at the vivid memory of his heavy body pinning hers, landing on the closed door to Dr. Seleyena’s cabin, where she’d been earlier.

"Only I," Cruxius suddenly said, his long strides halting completely.

"What?" Thalia frowned, her plush lips parting as she didn’t quite catch his words.

"Haah... Let me tell you something, woman." His voice dropped an octave, dripping with pure, unapologetic dominance. "Only I can make you cry. Only I deserve to see those tears."

He raised his large hand and placed his calloused fingers firmly under her soft chin, yanking her face up to meet his. His cold, commanding gaze locked onto her emerald eyes, which flickered wildly at the sheer boldness of his touch.

"You’re mine," he said, his voice an unwavering, possessive growl. "Just mine."

"Y-you..." Thalia’s soft lips quivered as something flickered behind her eyes—rage? Confusion? A treacherous spark of heat? Yet whatever she was about to say twisted into a fierce roar. "I am not an object to be owned, Cruxius Blac!"