Lord Buddha stared at the woman in the clerk’s uniform, his gaze as cold and unyielding as a slab of mountain granite. There was no explosive rage in his eyes, only a terrifying, quiet composure—the kind of look a man wears when he knows he holds every single card in the deck. The air in the lobby of the Bailey headquarters seemed to thicken, the oxygen replaced by the suffocating weight of his presence.
"Release my son," Lord Buddha said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the absolute authority of a man who had ruled the local kingpin scene of Valor City for decades. It was a command, not a request.
Mia Powell let out a sharp, derisive snort. Her hand, steady as a surgeon’s despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins, tightened its grip on the serrated combat knife. The blade
