The Silent Dragon Won't Stop Here

Slap to the Face

The atmosphere in the Hayes family mansion was tense, bordering on hostile.

Old Madam Hayes sat on her rosewood throne, sipping tea that had long gone cold. Harriet was pacing the floor, her heels clicking aggressively against the marble.

"It's been an hour," Harriet scoffed, checking her diamond-encrusted watch. "She probably got kicked out in the first five minutes and is too ashamed to come back. I bet she's hiding in a park somewhere crying."

"It was a fool's errand anyway," a cousin muttered from the sofa. "Sending Natalie? We should have sent Frederick. He has connections."

"Speaking of Frederick," Old Madam Hayes frowned. "Why isn't he answering his phone? He said he would update us."

"He's probably busy celebrating with his father," Harriet sneered. "Unlike some people who marry trash, Frederick is a man of status."

Just then, the heavy oak doors creaked open.

Julian walked in first, his expression indifferent. Natalie followed close behind, holding a leather document folder.

Harriet let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Oh, look! The power couple returns! Back so soon? Did the security guards throw you out physically, or did they just tell you to get lost?"

Old Madam Hayes set her cup down heavily. "Natalie, you have disappointed me. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, and you wasted it. Do you know how humiliating it is for the Hayes family to have a failure like you?"

"Grandma," Natalie began, stepping forward. "I didn't fail."

"Don't lie!" Harriet shrieked. "If you didn't fail, why are you back in less than an hour? A negotiation like that takes days! You clearly couldn't even get past the front desk!"

"Julian told you to accept the reality!" The cousin chimed in. "Just divorce the loser and get out of our house."

Julian stepped forward, shielding Natalie from their spit-flying accusations. "She didn't fail," he said, his voice cutting through the noise. "She succeeded."

"Succeeded?" Harriet looked like she had heard a hilarious joke. "She succeeded in what? Getting a parking validation?"

"I secured the contract," Natalie said firmly. She walked to the table and slammed the folder down. "And it's not for thirty million."

Old Madam Hayes narrowed her eyes. "Not thirty million? Did they negotiate you down? Even five million would be a miracle for a useless girl like you."

"It's sixty million," Natalie stated.

The room went dead silent. A pin dropping would have sounded like a gunshot.

Then, laughter erupted. It started with Harriet and spread to the cousins, filling the room with a cacophony of mockery.

"Sixty million!" Harriet clutched her stomach, tears of mirth in her eyes. "Grandma, she’s gone insane! She actually forged a contract! Do you think Emgrand Enterprise is a charity? Sixty million for us?"

Old Madam Hayes’s face turned purple with rage. She felt insulted. "Natalie! How dare you! Forging a legal document is a crime! You want to drag the entire family to jail with your vanity?"

"I didn't forge it!" Natalie cried out, her confidence wavering under the assault. "Look at the seal! Look at the signature!"

"I don't need to look at trash!" Harriet grabbed the folder and prepared to throw it on the floor.

Ding.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Suddenly, every phone in the room started buzzing and chiming with notifications.

Harriet paused. She pulled out her phone. A news alert from the Riverton Business Journal popped up on her screen.

BREAKING NEWS: Emgrand Enterprise announces strategic partnership with The Hayes Group. Contract valued at $60 Million. A new era for Riverton construction.

Harriet’s eyes bulged. She read it again. And again.

"No..." she whispered. "This... this is a mistake."

Old Madam Hayes snatched her own phone, her trembling fingers swiping across the screen. She saw the official press release from Emgrand. It even had a picture of Doris Young shaking hands with... nobody (as the photo was a stock image), but the text was undeniable.

"It's... it's real," the Old Madam gasped. She looked up at Natalie, her expression shifting instantly from fury to a greedy, fawning delight. "It's real! My granddaughter! You did it!"

The change was so abrupt it was sickening.

Harriet stood frozen, her face burning as if she had been slapped. The phone slipped from her hand and clattered onto the floor.

"Impossible," Harriet muttered. "How could she do it? She's just... Natalie."

"Grandma," Julian spoke up, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just a moment ago, you were going to call the police on her for forgery. Now she's your granddaughter again?"

Old Madam Hayes waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, Julian, don't be petty. I was just testing her resolve! Natalie, come here! Sit by Grandma. Tell me everything! How did you impress Miss Young?"

Natalie looked at her grandmother, then at the stunned faces of her relatives. She felt a strange hollowness. They didn't care about her. They cared about the sixty million.

"Miss Young... she just said she trusted us," Natalie murmured.

"Trusted us! Of course!" Old Madam Hayes beamed. "The Hayes reputation is impeccable!"

"Wait," Julian interrupted again. He took a step toward the center of the room. "We seem to be forgetting something. There was a bet."

The room went quiet again.

"A bet?" Old Madam Hayes frowned.

"Yes," Julian said, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on the empty chair where Frederick usually sat. "If Natalie failed, we would divorce. But if she succeeded... Frederick Vance promised to kneel and apologize."

"Frederick isn't here," Harriet snapped, finding her voice again. "And even if he was, you think a Young Master of the Vance family would kneel to you? You're delusional!"

"Oh?" Julian raised an eyebrow. "I don't think he has a choice."

As if on cue, a commotion erupted at the front door. The butler ran in, looking flustered.

"Madam! Madam! It's Young Master Vance! He... he's rushing in!"

Frederick Vance burst into the living room, but he looked nothing like the arrogant peacock who had strutted out the night before. His designer suit was disheveled, his tie was missing, and his hair was a mess of sweat and wind.

He didn't even look at Julian or Natalie. He ran straight to Old Madam Hayes and threw himself at her feet, grabbing her hand.

"Grandma! You have to help me! Please! You have to save the Vance family!" Frederick wailed, tears streaming down his face.

The room watched in stunned silence. Was this the same Frederick Vance?

"Frederick? What happened?" Old Madam Hayes asked, recoiling from his sweaty grip.

"Emgrand! They blacklisted us!" Frederick sobbed. "They cancelled all our projects! The bank called in the loans immediately. My father... my father had a stroke when he heard the news! The company is declaring bankruptcy tomorrow! Grandma, you got the contract with Emgrand, right? Please! Put in a good word for us! If you don't, we are dead!"

A collective gasp went through the room. The Vance family... bankrupt? In one morning?

Natalie covered her mouth. She remembered Doris Young mentioning something about a 'debt' and a 'favor'. Could this be related?

Julian watched the scene with cold detachment. "So," he said, his voice cutting through Frederick’s wails. "The Vance family is finished. Which means you are no longer a Young Master. You're just a beggar."

Frederick froze. He turned his head slowly to look at Julian. The hatred in his eyes was mixed with a terrifying realization. He remembered Julian’s words outside the building. Enjoy the poverty.

"You..." Frederick pointed a shaking finger. "You knew! You cursed me!"

"I didn't curse you," Julian said, taking a step forward. "I just watched you dig your own grave. Now, about our bet."

"Bet?" Frederick scrambled back, trying to stand up, but his legs were jelly. "What bet? I never made a bet with trash!"

"Everyone here heard it," Julian said, looking around. "Grandma heard it. Harriet heard it. You said if Natalie got the contract, you would kneel and call me Daddy."

"I am not kneeling to you!" Frederick screamed. "Grandma, tell him! Kick him out!"

Old Madam Hayes looked at Frederick. Then she looked at the contract on the table worth sixty million dollars. Then she looked at Julian and Natalie.

The Vance family was bankrupt. They were useless to her now. But Natalie... Natalie was the golden goose. And Julian, for all his faults, was currently holding the leash of the golden goose.

"Frederick," Old Madam Hayes said coldly, pulling her hand away. "A man should keep his word. The Hayes family values integrity."

Frederick’s jaw dropped. "Grandma?"

"Kneel," Julian commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an aura of absolute dominance that made the air in the room heavy. It was the voice of a dragon waking from slumber.

Frederick looked around the room. Harriet looked away. The cousins busied themselves with their phones. No one was going to help him. He was a pariah.

Trembling with humiliation, Frederick slowly lowered his knees to the cold marble floor. He kept his head down, his face burning red.

"I... I lose," he whispered.

"Louder," Julian said. "And the title."

Frederick grit his teeth so hard he thought they would c***k. He closed his eyes, tears squeezing out.

"I lose... Daddy."

Julian sneered. "I told you, I don't want a disappointing son like you. Now, get out. You're dirtying the floor."

Frederick scrambled up and ran out of the house, his sobs echoing down the hallway.

The room was silent. Julian turned to Old Madam Hayes.

"Now," Julian said calmly. "About the Directorship you promised Natalie."

Old Madam Hayes forced a stiff smile, her eyes darting nervously. She realized, for the first time in three years, that she couldn't read the man standing in front of her.

"Of course," she said, clapping her hands together. "Natalie, my dear! From today onwards, you are the Director of the Hayes Group! You will handle the entire Emgrand project personally!"

Natalie looked at her grandmother, then at the kneeling spot where Frederick had been, and finally at her husband. Julian stood tall, his cheap suit looking strangely dignified.

"Thank you, Grandma," Natalie said, but her voice lacked the warmth it used to have. She took Julian’s hand. "We're tired. We're going home."

"Go, go! Rest up!" Grandma Hayes waved them off.

As they walked out of the villa, leaving the stunned family behind, Natalie squeezed Julian’s hand.

"Julian," she whispered. "Who are you really?"

Julian looked at the moon hanging in the night sky.

"I'm just your husband," he said softly. "And I'm tired of people bullying you."

But deep down, he knew the storm had just begun. The Hayes family was just the beginning. The Dragon had risen, and Riverton was too small to contain him.