?Chapter 944:


    Charlette’s eyebrow lifted, surprise clearly written across her face. Talk about unexpected—it turned out the man she had been crushing on was none other than Elena’s elder brother.


    Lucinda looked like she’d been struck—her expression frozen in utter disbelief. Wait a second… had she misheard? Ellis was Elena’s big brother? That couldn’t possibly be true. With his intellect, poise, and distant aura, Ellis was practically the institute’s crown jewel. Elena, meanwhile, had alwayse off as a superficial beauty whotched onto men for advancement. The idea of them sharing the same blood didn’t make sense.


    For a full beat, Lucinda just stood there, nk and bewildered.


    Across the room, N’s expression shifted, her eyes narrowing slightly. Though Ellis had never revealed much about his family, it was always assumed he came from a powerful lineage. And now, if Elena were his sister, Elena’s roots had to be just as deep.


    A flicker of envy shed across N’s face before she quickly masked it.


    Ellis faced the manager, his voice calm, deliberate, and as cold as a scalpel. “What exactly did my sister do to make you believe she should be thrown out?”


    A sheen of cold sweat formed on the manager’s forehead. Rather than face Ellis directly, he averted his eyes as the real threat stood just behind Ellis.


    Jonah loomed quietly in the background, his presence far more unsettling than any words could be.


    Not long ago, the manager had been strutting like a king in his own castle. Now, he was practically bowing, scrambling to mend what he had broken. “This might be a little misunderstanding, sir…”


    Under Jonah’s unwavering gaze, however, that excuse didn’tst long. The manager’s voice shifted instantly. “The me’s mine. All of it. Ladies, please ept my apologies—everything tonight is on the house.”


    Charlette let out a dry snort. “What, you think we can’t afford it?”


    The manager nced nervously at Jonah and swiped a hand across his damp forehead. Had he known from the start that those two women were part of Jonah’s circle, he’d have kept his mouth shut and poured their drinks himself. Technically, he wasn’t even the real proprietor—just the Boyd family’s long-serving butler. They had stationed him here to take care of Jonah during his time at the base. Jonah was the real owner of this bar.


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    But Jonah did not need to be looked after. Instead, he had handed over the keys and let the butler y bar manager.


    Now, after one ill-ced attempt to impress N, the butler could feel that decision unraveling fast. Trying to defuse the tension, he turned to Charlette. “Miss, how would you prefer we resolve this?”


    Charlette lifted her chin toward Lucinda and her friends. “That one’s voice is giving me a headache.”


    The butler picked up on it immediately. When it came to Jonah and N, he knew exactly whose favor mattered most.


    Lucinda and her crew were quickly shown the way out.


    Lucinda threw a fit outside, yelling loud enough for the whole block to hear, while N, too embarrassed to stick around, quietly walked away.


    Inside the bar, Jonah’s eyes stayed fixed on Elena, his attention unwavering. Though his face remained unreadable, not once did his gaze shift away from her. Something about her posture, her silhouette in the dim lighting—it tugged at his memory. Just yesterday, he had spotted her outside the operation room when N made a scene. Moments after she disappeared during the chaos, the Healer had mysteriously shown up in the operating room. The timing felt too perfect to be a coincidence.


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