"You've finally decided to turn your phone back on, Callan. I assume you're back with your family; is everyone doing okay?"

Gunthar's booming voice came through the line. Each word sounded like a battle cry, warming my heart.

"There's a little trouble at home, General, but I can handle it."

I swallowed hard, fighting back the crack in my voice. The last thing I wanted was to bring my negative emotions back to the unit.

But Gunthar was a veteran of a thousand battles. He caught the strain in my voice, and his tone turned deadly serious. "Stay put. I'm coming to HC myself. It's high time the Sentinel's Edge plaque you earned sees the light of day."

His words sent a stream of warmth rushing through my veins. I'd spent ten years guarding the nation's borders and earned that plaque with my blood and soul.

With a sharp crack, Jude slapped the phone out of my hand and stomped hard on it. "You won't stop playing make-believe and calling the General, will you? You must think you're in some goddamn movie."

Jude and the bodyguards behind him burst into raucous laughter, and their eyes were full of contempt.

The flicker of hope I'd just felt was immediately crushed under his foot. They had no idea what kind of call they'd just cut off.

I protected Piper behind me and locked my cold stare on Jude and his advancing bodyguards.

"Do you have any idea what the punishment is for hanging up that call?" I calmly asked.

Jude spat. "All I know is that in Hyporion, my sister, Velda Mercer, is the law! I'll give you one last chance—crawl between my legs and let Piper spend the night with me, and I'll let this slide."

His words pushed my rage past its breaking point, but before I could react, Piper lunged at Jude to take on everything herself and save me from humiliation.

"No!" I tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"Wow! The brat's got some spirit, almost like a loyal puppy protecting her master!"

Jude and his bodyguards howled with raucous laughter and began hurling insults.

My anger finally exploded.

"I'll kill you!"

Nothing could drive me mad more than seeing Piper humiliated.

I roared and charged forward, smashing my fist into a bodyguard's jaw until it was dislocated. But Jude's men were trained professionals, so no matter how well I could fight, I was outnumbered.

"Beat him to death; I'll take the heat if he's crippled! And don't forget the woman!" he hysterically screamed.

To protect Piper, I forced her beneath me and took on the rain of fists, kicks, and swinging batons with my back. Every strike felt like it was landing on my heart.

She trembled in my arms with tears streaming down her face.

"Don't worry about me, Callan… Just run…" she sobbed.

I held her tight as the blows rained on me like a hailstorm. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth and dripped onto her face.

Suddenly, a cold, sharp voice cut through the chaos. "Stop!"

Velda appeared, flanked by a massive entourage, and looked at me with eyes full of pure disgust.

"Callan! Haven't you caused enough of a scene already?"

"Me? Causing a scene?" I echoed.

I looked at the elegant, flawless Velda and laughed. She was dressed in a custom-made gown worth millions of dollars, and the look she gave me was full of contempt, as if I were more disgusting than a pile of trash on the streets.

"Why didn't you tell me before coming back? And why are you at my company's project site, assaulting Jude?"

Impatience flickered in her eyes and was soon replaced by her lofty, accusatory tone.

I pointed at the flattened ground where my parents' graves used to be, then at the injured Piper. "I called you, and you hung up. Now, how is that my fault?"

Velda faltered for just a second, then slipped back into her composure as a CEO. "The demotion was fully legal, but your family stubbornly refused to vacate.

"As for Jude, he's young and hot-headed, so you should be understanding. Now, apologize to him."

Before she could finish, I cut her off and announced, "We're breaking up, Velda. It's over."

"Excuse me? Are you trying to dump me?"

She stared at me in disbelief. A wave of barely contained fury was starting to boil over under her flawless makeup.

The surrounding reporters and guests began whispering amongst themselves.

"Wait. Is that Ms. Mercer's fiance, who went missing for ten years? He looks like just a beggar."

"Talk about a bottom-feeder punching above his weight. Now that he's dumped, he immediately tries to stir up trouble for some money. That's absolutely disgusting."

I helped Piper to her feet, then yanked off the engagement ring I'd worn for ten years, which was a simple band I'd hand-polished from a bullet casing.

I tossed it at Velda's feet and snapped, "Jude dug up my parents' graves, so you don't get to tell me to be understanding."

Velda's expression darkened. She yanked off the multi-million-dollar diamond ring on her finger and tossed it onto the floor. "Don't regret this, Callan! You vanished for ten years, and you've long since lost the right to call yourself my man!"

I remained expressionless, though deep down, my heart had gone cold. My missions with Talon Unit were top national security secrets, and I knew I owed her for my ten-year absence. But that didn't give her the right to trample on my family's dignity.

Before I could say another word, Jude lunged forward and slapped me hard. "How dare you upset Velda! You must be courting death!

"You saw how rich she is now, so you decided to drag that pathetic, crippled Piper along to squeeze us for a payout, didn't you? Well, don't even dream about it!"

I ignored him and kept my eyes fixed on Velda.

"First things first. I want Project Sentinel, your company's most valuable asset, returned to me at once."

Velda's pupils contracted, but she chuckled coldly and snapped, "Fine. If you have what it takes to take it back, be my guest."

A sharp pain throbbed in my chest.

Project Sentinel's core was built on the patents I'd given Velda. She once swore that they were a symbol of our love and promised to protect them for the rest of her life.

I looked at the diamond necklace glittering on her neck and continued, "Second, you will restore my parents' graves to their original state and pay every last penny for Piper's medical bills and emotional distress!"

Jude panicked and immediately roared, "Damn it! I won't just flatten your family's graves today, but I'll tear your house down, too!"

He leapt onto an excavator and roared as he swung the bucket straight toward our only remaining family home.

"I'll wipe your family off the map! That's what you get for having the guts to threaten Velda!"

As the family home collapsed in a thundering cloud of dust and rubble, the last of my childhood memories were crushed.

Suddenly, Piper screamed. A chunk of flying brick from the collapse had struck her leg, and she collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

By the time I reached Piper, a concrete slab was already pinning her leg to the ground. Blood soaked through her pants.

My eyes were bloodshot. With both hands, I grabbed the edge of the slab to lift it with every ounce of strength I had.

"Help him! We can't let someone die; it'll tank the company's stock price!"

Velda's urgent voice rang out, but the company's profits were her only concern.

A few bodyguards finally stepped forward to help.

The moment the slab was lifted, my heart stopped cold.

A piece of steel rebar had pierced straight through Piper's calf, and she'd passed out from the pain.

With trembling hands, I tore strips from my shirt to wrap the sound, the pain in my chest making it impossible to breathe. Her face was deathly pale, and her breathing was faint as blood continued to seep from her wounds.

"She should've watched where she was going. Now she's got no one to blame."

Jude hopped down from the excavator and clapped his hands with a taunting grin. "Go on then. Touch me and see what happens."

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles cracked. Every vein in my body pulsed with rage.

I was about to pounce on him when I remembered Piper's words right before she passed out. I knew that our family couldn't afford to lose anything else.

Kneeling beside Piper, I threw my head back and let out a broken howl that didn't sound human. I'd guarded the nation's borders for ten years, yet I couldn't protect my only family.

"Enough!"

Velda stepped forward and held out a black card. "There are ten million dollars in here. Take this, get Piper treated, and stop causing trouble."

Her tone was cold and indifferent, like she was tossing spare change to a beggar on the streets.

"As for the project, all our paperwork is in order, and I'll have Jude apologize for his behavior."

I slapped her hand away and glared at her. "You think money fixes everything, don't you? You're not scared that I'll cause trouble; you're just afraid that I'll report your dirty dealings to the authorities!

"I don't want your filthy money. I want justice!"

Jude snorted, then kicked fragments of Dad's gravestone and shattered it further. Ashes and dust blew into my face.

"Velda Group is justice in Hyporion!"

He crouched down and whispered a threat into my ear in a voice only I could hear, "You'd better pray that I never get my hands on Piper. If I do, I'll make sure she's begging for death!"

Those words were the breaking point. I tackled him to the ground and started driving my fists into his face.

My family was my bottom line. Anyone who crossed it was dead meat!

Jude's face was a mangled mess. Blood gushed from his nose as he shrieked at his bodyguards in panic, "Get him, all of you! Kill him!"

The bodyguards swarmed over and rained their fists and batons on me.

I shielded Piper and took every blow. Each strike fueled my desperate, silent fury.

Just then, a low, heavy rumble echoed from the distance. Three military SUVs with special license plates sprinted across the site like predatory beasts and surrounded the entire area in seconds.

Doors swung open and armed soldiers swiftly poured out, aiming their muzzles at everyone in sight.

"Nobody moves! Eastern Defense Task Force!"

Following that thunderous shout, General stepped out of an SUV, dressed in full uniform. The two guards behind him carried a plaque draped in red cloth.