I swung my phone camera directly toward the man's face, ensuring every viewer saw his sneering expression.

"Everyone, meet the man who claims to be Ashley's true love. Right now, he's demanding that my dad and I get on our knees for him."

The live chat erupted—outrage swiftly morphing into mockery.

[Kneel? Is he insane? He wants our top-streamer Nick and his dad to kneel?]

[This is ridiculous. Who does this nobody think he is? Ashley probably keeps him around as a clown for when she's bored.]

My father-in-law spoke with grim authority. "Young man, borrowed authority vanishes the moment the wind changes direction."

The insult struck a nerve. The man's face flushed a blotchy, furious red. He snatched up another bottle. "You old fossil! You think living a long life gives you the right to lecture me?"

I shoved my father-in-law behind me instinctively.

A sickening, bone-jarring thud echoed as the bottle smashed into my back. Cold liquor soaked through my shirt as shards of glass bit deep into my skin. A choked grunt escaped my lips, and my legs buckled, sending me crashing to my knees.

"Nick!" my father-in-law cried out, his voice thick with terror.

The man pointed at me and barked at the circling security guards, "What are you idiots staring at? Seize him! And tie up the old man too!"

The black-suited guards closed in, their faces impassive and menacing.

My father-in-law fumbled frantically with his phone, his fingers shaking as he hit the speed dial and put it on speaker. The line rang, and just before it was about to disconnect, Ashley's impatient voice cut through the air, underscored by laughter and a man's low chuckle in the background.

"Dad? What is it? I'm in the middle of something important."

"Ashley, we're at your new bar. Nick was protecting me—he's been hit with a bottle. He's bleeding badly!" My father-in-law's voice wavered with panic.

Her reply was flat. "Dad, what are you even doing over there? I'm at an important business dinner. I can't just leave. Take Nick to the hospital first. Let Brian McNeely handle the situation. Send me all the medical bills; I'll cover everything. I'll come by later to check on you."

Then she hung up. The line went dead.

Brian McNeely—so that was his name.

My father-in-law's hand trembled so violently that he nearly dropped the phone.

"Did you hear that? Ashley doesn't care about you at all!" Brian crowed, his voice dripping with triumphant arrogance. "Security! Throw these beggars out onto the street!"

The guards surged forward again, emboldened.

"You heard the boss," one of them said, his tone attempting justification. "She's busy."

"But if any of you lays a hand on us now," I declared, pulling my father-in-law firmly behind me and forcing my voice into a warning, "this livestream will broadcast every second of it. Let this scene go public, and we'll see how many customers your precious bar has left by tomorrow."

My threat hung in the air, effectively paralyzing the bodyguards. They exchanged uncertain glances, no longer advancing.

Brian shrieked in frustration, "What are you afraid of? What can one pathetic livestream do? If anything happens, Ashley will handle it! Seize them!"

Still, no one moved.

In a final, desperate move, he hit the speakerphone and dialed Ashley. The call was answered instantly. "Brian? What's wrong? I told you not to cause trouble. I'm busy."

Brian's voice instantly transformed into a pitiful whine. "Ashley! Someone's causing trouble at your bar—he assaulted me! You have to come now!"

Ashley's tone shifted to immediate alarm. "What?! Are you hurt? Stay right there, don't be scared—I'm on my way!" The line went dead as she rushed off.

A cold dread washed over me. Minutes earlier, my father-in-law had told her I was bleeding. She had told us to go to the hospital ourselves. Now, upon hearing Brian was "hurt," she was coming immediately.

Triumphant, Brian barked at his men, "You heard her! Ashley is coming! Restrain these two who dared to defy me!"

My father-in-law's face was pale with worry. I forced a reassuring smile for him, then stepped forward and landed a solid punch right on Brian's jaw.

Smack.

"You dare hit me?!" Brian clutched his face, howling in pain and outrage. He raised his hand to retaliate, but his movement froze mid-air as his eyes fell upon the watch on his wrist.

"You care about this watch, don't you?" he said coldly.

He fumbled with the clasp, a cruel smirk twisting his features. With a practiced flick of his wrist, he unfastened it and held the timepiece high for the livestream to see. "You claim Ashley loves you, but she gave your priceless token of love to me."

He sneered, savoring the moment. "They say this watch is one of a kind... I wonder how it sounds when it shatters?"

With a vicious, deliberate motion, he hurled it at the marble floor.

"No!" I screamed, lunging forward.

The sapphire crystal exploded into a thousand glittering shards. Tiny gears and springs scattered across the floor. A sympathetic fracture seemed to split my own chest open—something inside me shattered along with it. The livestream chat, once a raging torrent, fell into a stunned, horrified silence.

"See that?" Brian whooped, stomping his shoe down on the ruined dial, grinding the remnants into dust. "That's how little you mean to her! Worthless! And you treated it like a treasure?"

"I'll kill you!" I erupted, tackling him to the ground, my fists raining down blows. He screamed and thrashed beneath me.

The security captain, jolted from his stupor, barked at his team, "Get him off! Restrain that madman!"

They swarmed, dragging me back, pinning my arms.

"Yes! Tie him up! Beat him until he's crippled! I'll make sure he spends the rest of his life in a hospital bed!" Brian shrieked, scrambling to his feet and whipping the onlookers into a frenzy. "When Ashley gets here, she'll stand with me! Now, get him!"

Two burly guards pinned my arms behind my back. My father-in-law gripped my shoulder, his voice trembling with a fear he tried to conceal. "Nick! Stay calm!"

"Hit me! Go on! Wasn't that what you wanted?" Brian scrambled up from the floor, his eyes blazing with pure venom. "Do you think beating me will piece that worthless trinket back together?"

He kicked contemptuously at the glittering wreckage scattered near his feet.

"Don't worry, Nick. We'll keep the pieces... we can have it restored..." My father-in-law moved toward the fragments, his hands gently gathering the broken components as if salvaging something precious.

Brian suddenly shoved him aside and, with a cruel, deliberate motion, ground his heel into the small pile of collected pieces. The crunch of glass and metal was sickening. "You old fool," he spat, "do you really think this can be fixed? Today, I'll grind it into dust!"

As he destroyed the last remnants, he looked straight at me, his sneer triumphant. "See this? This is what you and your precious symbols are worth—beneath my heel."

"Dad!" I shouted, seeing him fall. A surge of raw adrenaline ripped through me. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I wrenched free from the guards' grasp.

"I'll kill you!" I snatched an empty bottle from a nearby table and lunged at Brian.

"Ah!" Brian screamed, genuine terror in his eyes.

The security captain reacted instantly, delivering a brutal kick to my side that sent me stumbling. He then grabbed me by the hair and slammed my face back down onto the cold floor.

"Are you hurt, Brian?" the captain asked with feigned concern, his knee digging into my back.

"Teach him a lesson! Tear that filthy mouth of his apart!" Brian shrieked, clutching his chest in a theatrical display.

"I'm not just Ashley's husband—I'm the sole heir to the Barnett Group! Lay another hand on me and you'll regret it!"

The guards hesitated, my declaration and fury giving them pause.

"The heir to the Barnett Group? So what? You're still just the man Ashley keeps around for show!" one of the bolder guards taunted, his eyes glinting with malice. "And judging by the way she ignores you... I doubt she even lets you touch her anymore! Hah!"

A hollow, familiar ache bloomed in my chest. The taunt struck a nerve—it was true that Ashley and I hadn't been intimate in a long time.

"What is going on?" A cool, familiar voice cut through the noise. Ashley stood at the entrance, flanked by two assistants, her brow furrowed at the scene of chaos.

My body went rigid.

At almost the same instant, another voice—deeper, far more commanding—echoed through the hall.

"Nick!"

The crowd parted as a woman, radiating an authority that silenced the room, strode purposefully toward me.