The Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 432: [ Volume 1] Chaper 431- Play .

The Doc heard his sarcasm. But instead of getting angry, she looked... amused. Genuinely amused, like someone watching a street magician try to impress her with a worn-out trick.

A slow smile tugged at her lips.

"I’ve heard the heir of the Aron family is someone who rules over the business world in this city," she began, her tone smooth as silk and laced with irony. "At first, I thought—spectacular. But now..."

She took a step forward, her heels echoing faintly against the floor, and stopped just close enough to let her shadow fall over him. Her gaze dropped slightly, looking down at him—glaring straight into his eyes.

"I can see now that not every rumor should be trusted."

Her voice dipped lower, the playfulness gone, replaced by something sharper—cool, practiced.

"You know, I’ve dealt with more than a thousand people like you. People who think they’re smarter, people who think they can read me, rile me up, stall me. So don’t think I don’t see through what you’re doing."

She tilted her head slightly, expression unreadable. "Let me guess... you’re stalling—trying to buy time. What for, hmm? Waiting for Esme to wake up? Or hoping I’ll get angry enough to let something useful slip?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You know how many try to poke at me like this, hoping I’ll lose control?"

Despite her pointed words, Ray didn’t flinch. That same cool, confident smile still lingered on his face like a shadow that refused to leave.

He looked down at his watch—calm, almost theatrically unbothered—then met her stare head-on.

"There might be thousands who’ve tried to rattle you, Doc," he said, voice deep and even, "but believe me—none of them were me."

A beat passed. His smile twitched, a glint of something darker flashing in his eyes.

"You’ve never met Ray Esme Aron before."

He leaned in just slightly, enough that the words came like a whisper meant to linger.

"And that, Doc... is your bad luck."

As soon he finished .

Bam

Boom

Boom

"Ahhhhh--"

The sound of blast and scream of people started to filled the nearby area. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The Doc turned sharply, her eyes narrowing as she glanced toward the sound echoing from the distance—faint rumblings, smoke curling lazily in the air. But just as quickly, her gaze snapped back to Ray.

And then, she sneered.

"Ha!"

"You really think that just because you blasted the area around us, you’ve done something impressive?" Her voice carried the weight of confidence, of years standing ground against threats much louder than words.

"You think this lab—my lab—can be brought down that easily?"

She stepped forward, her presence hardening. "I’ve run this place longer than you’ve probably kept your name clean. Spirit beasts, explosions, sabotage—I’ve seen it all. I’ve contained it all."

With a sudden crack, she slammed her palm down on the nearby counter. The metal rang beneath her touch.

"This entire lab is built with reinforced titanium—layered, sealed, pressure-tested. Not even your damn atomic bomb could make it flinch. This place was built to outlast people like you."

Ray chuckled. The sound was low, amused, dripping with a dangerous calm.

He toyed with his sneer, as if trying on masks. Then, with a glint in his eye, he stepped forward.

"Doc..." he said slowly, letting the word roll off his tongue.

"Do you really think—if I wanted to destroy this lab—I’d need to plant a bomb outside?"

He tapped a finger against his chest, right over his heart.

"If I really wanted to end this place, I wouldn’t waste time with theatrics. I’d walk right in—with the bomb on me."

He smiled now, a dark kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"Smile. Chat. Get close. Then boom."

He leaned in, voice dropping to a chilling murmur.

"No lab. No escape. No warning."

The silence that followed was thick—too thick—filled with what-ifs and might-have-beens. Only the faint hiss of a nearby vent broke it, like the lab itself was holding its breath.

Suddenly, Doc’s eyes widened. A jolt of realization surged through her mind like a static shock.

"Wait a minute—" she muttered under her breath.

She spun around and rushed toward the control panel, her fingers flying across the keyboard as screens blinked to life. Data streamed in, graphs spiking wildly. Her heart sank.

Chemical levels around the lab were rising—and fast.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

Her breath caught as she traced the source. The reaction wasn’t just damaging the outer infrastructure—it was leaking into the underground system. Directly into the chemical line that fed into Esme’s containment jar.

No. That line was always buried deep, isolated, protected from external force—even bombs. But this... this was different.

These weren’t just random chemicals. Whatever Ray had released was reacting with the compounds in the transport pipes. The numbers on her screen kept climbing—red warnings flashing across the interface.

Her hands trembled.

She turned toward Ray, eyes wide with alarm and fury.

"Are you crazy?!" she shouted. "Do you even understand what you’ve done?!"

Ray just leaned back, shrugging one shoulder with maddening calm.

"Well, you see..." he drawled, "I’m not really that smart when it comes to chemistry."

Doc stared at him, jaw tight, fists clenched. "If you keep this up, she’ll go into shock!"

Ray arched an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed. "Hmm. Might be. But—" he rested one ankle over his knee, looking far too relaxed for the moment, "there’s also a chance she’ll wake up."

Doc stared at him, stunned. "Do you even understand that she could go into shock? Or a coma? Or—" her voice broke for a second, "she could die."

Ray looked at her. Really looked this time.

And then he nodded, slow... calm... detached.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "That might be so."

.

.

Earlier—before they ever stepped foot in the lab—when they hacked into the organization’s system, they hadn’t expected much. The firewall was thick, layers upon layers of encryption shielding the deeper files like a fortress. They couldn’t get far. But still... something had caught their eye.