Her eyes glittered as she placed her fork down with soft precision. “I didn’t think too deeply. He was in danger. I acted.” Her tone was calm, flat, final, offering no threads to pull.
Uncle Lee leaned back with a cold smile. “And now? Do you expect our family’s protection in return?”
Easther tilted her head slightly, her voice as cool as falling snow. “Expect? No. But if your Young Master insists on repaying me for saving his life… I wouldn’t refuse.”
The words were soft, but the weight of them rang across the table like steel.
Zaki chuckled, his deep voice cutting through the tension. “Repay you, hm? We’ll see about that.” His eyes softened briefly when they met hers, before turning sharp again toward his uncle and butler. “Enough. She doesn’t owe you an explanation. She saved me, an
