They Mocked the Wrong Man

Chapter 007

Autumn Lee would never forget that nightmarish evening as long as she lived.

When news of Jason's catastrophic gambling losses reached the Lee Family, her father—whose health had already been fragile—suffered such a violent shock that he vomited blood on the spot. He died within hours, his heart simply unable to withstand the devastating betrayal and financial ruin.

As for her mother, she'd wept throughout that entire terrible night, crying so hard and for so long that she literally cried herself blind. The doctors said it was a psychosomatic response to trauma—the sheer magnitude of grief had somehow severed her optical nerves.

In the space of a single night, Autumn had lost everything. Her family was destroyed, her fortune obliterated, her future prospects annihilated. This woman who'd been raised as a pampered heiress, sheltered and adored, suddenly found herself forced to shoulder the crushing weight of her family's survival on her own fragile shoulders.

"When I finally traced the conspiracy back to its source and discovered the mastermind was Gavin Zane—my father's supposedly trusted old friend—I took my father's ashes, still warm from cremation, and went straight to his mansion."

Autumn's expression remained eerily blank as she spoke, but the words emerging from her mouth were chilling enough to freeze blood.

"I gave the Zane Family two options."

Her voice became flat, mechanical, as though reciting from a script written in her own blood.

"Option one: They could let me go. Take everything the Lee Family owned—all our assets, all our properties, everything. I'd walk away with nothing but an empty shell company. Within two years, I'd repay the two hundred million dollars in debt. If I failed, I would spend the rest of my life as their servant—working for the Zane Family like livestock until I died."

She paused, her eyes becoming distant.

"Option two: I would personally kill my mother with my own hands, then take my own life immediately afterward. All three of us—father, mother, daughter—would be corpses on the Zane Family's doorstep by morning."

Even Cliff—who'd witnessed countless horrors during his military career, who'd seen the worst humanity had to offer—felt genuinely shaken by Autumn's cold ruthlessness. His expression became grave, his respect for this woman's terrible strength growing exponentially.

"I assume the Zane Family chose the first option?"

Autumn released a bitter, mocking laugh.

"That cowardly old bastard who only dares operate from the shadows, manipulating people like chess pieces? Of course he didn't want the Zane Family name associated with a blood debt like that! After considerable deliberation, he ultimately decided to take the money and release us."

Her voice took on a certain grim satisfaction.

"I spent two full years working like a demon to clear every cent of debt. Once that was accomplished, I handed over the entire company to the Zane Family as my 'ransom payment' for freedom."

"Then I returned here to River City and started from absolute zero. I built Venture Group from nothing, transforming it step by step into the entertainment empire that now dominates this entire city!"

From that point forward, River City's business community had known her by a particular title: The Ice Queen, Autumn Lee—a woman whose heart was said to be carved from ice, who showed mercy to no one and expected none in return.

By the time she finished her story, Autumn's eyes had turned bloodshot without her even realizing it.

Staring at the urn in her hands, she seemed transported back to that nightmarish evening two years ago. Her entire body began trembling with suppressed rage and grief.

"Jason, you bastard!" she screamed suddenly, her voice cracking with anguish.

"You swore you'd never set foot in our family home again—you said you weren't worthy!"

"Well, guess what? Now that you're dead, you're still not worthy to come back! You'll never be worthy!"

She raised the urn again, fully intending to smash it against the floor.

But once again, Cliff's iron grip caught her wrist, preventing the destruction.

"Before Jason died, he told me that he could never repay what he owed you—not in this lifetime," Cliff said, his voice steady and resolute. "So I made him a promise. The debts he couldn't repay..."

He met her eyes directly.

"I'll repay them for him."

Hearing Cliff's unwavering declaration, something shifted in Autumn's eyes—some emotion she couldn't quite name flickered briefly across her features before being suppressed.

Then her expression hardened again, becoming cold and dismissive.

"You're going to repay his debts?" She looked Cliff up and down with obvious contempt. "You? A nobody? What makes you think you're qualified to even try?"

Without saying another word, Cliff pulled out his medical bag.

"Your mother went blind from grief, didn't she? I'll cure her."

Autumn's eyes narrowed suspiciously, her expression caught somewhere between skepticism and desperate hope.

"Why would I let my mother take that risk? What guarantee do I have?"

"This guarantee!"

Cliff drew a combat knife from his belt and slammed it point-first into the table before Autumn, the blade quivering from the impact.

"If I fail to cure her, you can have both my hands. Take them however you want."

He paused, his eyes burning with absolute certainty.

"But if I succeed, you must keep Jason's ashes and bury them properly in the family cemetery!"

Autumn lifted her gaze to stare directly at Cliff, searching his expression for any hint of doubt or deception.

She found none. His eyes held nothing but complete conviction.

After a long moment, the faintest smile touched her lips.

"Interesting. You've got yourself a deal—I accept your wager!"

With a single wave of Autumn's hand, a group of black-suited bodyguards entered the room, carefully supporting a middle-aged woman between them.

The woman's face was prematurely aged, worn down by suffering. Her eyes were completely unfocused, vacant and sightless. She relied entirely on the bodyguards' support to navigate, her movements tentative and uncertain—the fumbling motions of someone who'd lost their vision and hadn't yet adapted to their new reality.

This, clearly, was Autumn's blind mother.

Autumn took her mother's arm gently, guiding her with exquisite care toward Cliff. Her voice remained ice-cold despite the tender gesture.

"If you fail to cure her, I won't just take your hands. I'll take your life. That's a promise."

"When I say I can cure something, there's only one possible outcome—success!"

Cliff reached into his medical bag and withdrew a dark, rough-textured pill. He placed it carefully in the elderly woman's palm.

"Take this. Once you've swallowed it, you'll be fine."

Looking at the unappetizing black sphere, Autumn frowned with obvious distaste.

"Are you certain that thing is actually meant for human consumption?"

"Stop calling it 'that thing,'" Cliff said mildly. "This is called a Lesser Cure-All. It's my own proprietary formula."

Autumn opened her mouth to voice further objections.

But before she could speak, a voice filled with shocked joy rang out from beside her.

"Autumn? Is that you? I... I think I can actually see again!"

The elderly woman had swallowed the pill without any hesitation the moment Cliff had placed it in her hand. The medicinal pill dissolved instantly upon contact with her tongue, transforming into threads of cooling energy that spread throughout her entire body, bringing indescribable relief.

And her eyes—under the influence of that cooling energy—had suddenly regained their clarity!

Hearing her mother announce she could truly see again, Autumn stood frozen in complete disbelief, unable to process what she was hearing.

"Really? Mom, you can actually see me?"

In that moment, The Ice Queen completely disappeared. The cold, commanding business magnate vanished entirely, replaced by a frightened daughter almost afraid to believe in miracles.

"It's true!"

The elderly woman stared at her daughter's face—so close, so clear—and her hands began trembling.

"Autumn, these past two years... you've suffered so much!"

"Mom, I'm fine. I'm really fine." Autumn shook her head, fighting desperately to hold back tears.

But before the mother and daughter could savor their reunion, the elderly woman's gaze accidentally fell upon Jason's urn sitting on the table.

That familiar face she'd memorized, the features she'd conjured in her darkness for two years of grieving—seeing them now, in this context, completely shattered the last fragile hope sustaining this poor mother's heart.

"Jason!"

A soul-wrenching wail tore from her throat. The elderly woman lunged for the urn like a woman possessed, clutching it to her chest as tears streamed down her face in torrents.

Throughout the two years of blindness, she'd thought constantly about her son—wondered where he was, whether he was safe, when he might return home.

Never in her darkest imaginings had she conceived that their reunion would be like this. That seeing him again would mean eternal separation.

"I'm begging you—please tell me how he died!"

Cliff took a deep breath, unwilling to hide any truth from this grieving mother.

"During a covert military operation, I was ordered to penetrate deep into enemy territory. I walked into an ambush—didn't see it coming until it was too late. At the critical moment, Jason appeared out of nowhere and threw himself in front of the bullet meant for me."

His voice became rough with emotion.

"His death... his death is my fault!"

The instant she heard the truth, the pain of losing her only son consumed every shred of the mother's rationality.

She lunged at Cliff like an avenging spirit, her fingers clawing at his collar with desperate strength.

"You killed my Jason! You took my son from me! You need to pay with your life!"

"Mom, calm down! This wasn't his fault!" Autumn quickly restrained her mother, pulling her back.

Then she lifted her gaze to Cliff, her expression conflicted and unreadable.

"You should leave. This matter isn't finished—we'll discuss it again later when I contact you privately."

Cliff nodded, his expression heavy with guilt and sorrow as he departed from the private room.

Meanwhile, Quinn Sutton and Trish had made their way up to the third floor, arriving just in time to witness Cliff exiting Rain-Listening Pavilion.

Trish stood frozen in shock, staring at that familiar silhouette with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Quinn, look at that person leaving! Isn't that... isn't that the useless son-in-law our daughter married?!"

Could it possibly be true?

Had everything Cliff claimed been accurate?

Had he really just shared a meal with Autumn Lee?