Chapter 7

"I don't know." Aiden didn't even bother looking up, his tone was carrying a hint of impatience.

Victor stared at him for a few seconds, a cold smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"It's better that you don't know."

"I respect you as an elder, so I won't bring up all those petty squabbles. But this engagement really doesn't need to continue. I will leave the Martinez family tonight."

After saying this, Victor turned to leave.

Aiden put down his cup, about to tell him to take care.

But just then, his gaze inadvertently swept across the floor by the table.

With just one glance, he froze as if struck by lightning, sharply inhaling a breath of cold air.

The impatience and contempt in Aiden's originally cloudy eyes instantly vanished into thin air.

It was a coin gleaming with a dark golden luster.

"Victor, let's discuss this engagement matter a bit more."

Victor looked at Aiden, whose attitude had done a complete 180, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Are you sure you want me to stay? It seems like plenty of people in the Martinez family are hoping I'll leave."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Aiden's forehead, and he could only laugh awkwardly.

"I'm getting old, sometimes I don't think straight. Amelia's not a bad kid at heart, she's just been spoiled by her mother. Please don't hold it against her."

"Don't worry, I'll have someone contact her right away and get her back here tonight to see you."

Victor said calmly, "Mr. Martinez, do you really think that's necessary?"

"It's necessary. Everything that happened today was a misunderstanding. Please don't take it to heart."

Victor sneered inwardly.

One second Aiden was dismissive, the next he was groveling.

But seeing Aiden's nervous appearance, Victor was curious to see what he was thinking, so he nodded in agreement.

"Alright, go rest!" Aiden said with relief, even personally getting up to escort Victor out of the main hall.

Only after Victor's footsteps had completely faded away did Aiden's legs give out, and he collapsed into a chair.

"Thank God, the Martinez family nearly faced total disaster today."

He clutched his wildly beating chest, gasping for breath.

The coin he'd seen on the floor tile wasn't an ordinary object at all.

It was the same object Victor had taken out during the day, only to have Hazel disdainfully throw it to the ground.

At the time, Aiden had been too far away to pay attention.

But just now, seeing the pattern on it clearly under the light, his soul nearly left his body in fright.

Fortunately, what he saw was the "angel side".

Legend had it that everyone who had seen the back of the coin, except for Shura himself, was dead.

At this thought, Aiden's back was instantly drenched in a cold sweat.

Thank goodness he'd shown a bit of sentimental kindness during the day and hadn't simply thrown Victor out the door.

Otherwise, the Martinez family would probably be littered with corpses by now.

Aiden bent down, his hands trembling as he picked up the Shura coin from the floor.

Turning it over, sure enough, there was an "S."

The coin was extremely light, yet in Aiden's palm, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"My family's century-old foundation nearly collapsed in an instant." Aiden muttered to himself, carefully tucking the coin close to his body.

"Someone, come here!"

The butler waiting outside heard the call and came running in, nearly tumbling over himself.

"Go get that idiot Hazel over here!"

Aiden was so angry his eyes had turned red, abandoning any concern for his usual dignity.

In less than five minutes, a disheveled Hazel was hurriedly brought to the main hall by the butler.

She'd been unable to sleep because of Dash's situation anyway, and as soon as she entered, she couldn't help but complain.

"Dad, what's so important in the middle of the night? I just laid down..."

"Shut up!"

Aiden slammed the table hard, making the cups rattle and startling Hazel.

"Do you have any idea what stupid thing you did today?"

Hazel looked completely bewildered, having no idea what she'd done wrong.

With trembling hands, Aiden pulled out the Shura coin and slammed it heavily on the table.

"Open your eyes and take a good look at what this is!"

Hazel leaned forward and glanced at it carelessly.

"What could it be? Isn't it just that country bumpkin's coin?"

Aiden was shaking all over with anger at her clueless attitude.

"I'm telling you to look carefully, look closely before you speak!"

Reluctantly, Hazel picked up the coin to examine it, but she couldn't see anything special about it.

"At most, it's just a well-made commemorative coin. What's the big deal?"

"You idiot, listen carefully—this is a Shura coin!"

"A Shura coin?"

The moment she heard that name, the impatience on Hazel's face completely froze.

This name was legendary in New York's high society circles.

It was an absolute taboo in the underworld, the exclusive token of the assassin king Shura.

Legend had it that when a Shura coin appeared, the front side meant you lived, while the back side meant death.

"No... this can't be... how could that country bumpkin have any connection to the Shura Sanctum?"

Hazel's legs gave out, and she dropped to her knees.

"You still think he's poor? If he didn't have a powerful background, would someone as lawless as Dash have been scared into kowtowing and begging for mercy?"

Aiden took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his rage.

"From now on, no one in the Martinez family is allowed to show Victor the slightest disrespect. If you cause any more trouble, before the Martinez family falls, I'll strangle you with my own hands first!"

Hazel nodded repeatedly, her face deathly pale, and stumbled out of the main hall, supporting herself against the wall.

That night, every time she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with bloody images of the Martinez family being wiped out.

In the main hall, Aiden was equally sleepless, guarding that coin in fear until dawn.

The next day at noon.

A travel-worn Amelia finally made it back to the Martinez family.

The overnight journey had left her looking extremely haggard, and her mood was irritable to the extreme.

Last night, she'd just fallen asleep when Aiden's phone call woke her up, forcing her to return immediately.

Aiden's tone on the phone had been frighteningly stern, as if the Martinez family would be finished if she came back even a second late.

As soon as Amelia stepped through the door, she ran into Victor, who was about to go out.

The moment she saw his face, the scene of Victor subduing the criminals flashed involuntarily through her mind.

But this trace of gratitude was quickly suppressed by her inherent arrogance.

In her eyes, no matter how skilled Victor was, it couldn't hide the fact that he was bottom-tier trash.

The kind of person she, Amelia, wanted to marry was someone who could control everything with a single hand. She'd rather be his mistress than marry this kind of poor nobody!

"I never imagined you'd shamelessly come to the door just to marry me!"

Amelia said impatiently, "I'm grateful you saved me, but someone of your status doesn't deserve to be with me at all."

After hearing this, Victor wasn't angry at all. Instead, he turned to look at Aiden, who was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"You heard that, Mr. Martinez. Since Amelia and I are in agreement, let's cancel this engagement."