Chapter 12: An Unstoppable Force

“T-ten million?”

Xu Anhao was dumbfounded: “This is extortion! He only owed one million!”

“Extortion?” Brother Bao narrowed his eyes, his tone turning cold as he grabbed her collar and pulled her close,

“You personally agreed to repay all the debt within three months. Now that its overdue, rules are rules.

Either come up with ten million tonight or stay here and be my ‘money tree’ until you’ve earned enough to pay it off.”

His hand gripped her collar so tightly she could barely breathe, the ferocity in his eyes looking ready to devour her.

Staring at his greasy face, despair wrapped around Xu Anhao’s heart like a vise, the bank card in her hand feeling utterly worthless.

Meanwhile, in the VIP room on the top floor of the casino, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.

Lu Shiyan sat on a custom ebony sofa, legs crossed, twirling a silver lighter between his fingers. The flame flickered on and off, reflecting the bottomless chill in his eyes.

A man in a suit knelt on the floor, his hair disheveled, blood seeping from his forehead, footprints staining his jacket clear signs of a beating.

He kept kowtowing desperately, his forehead hitting the floor with dull thuds, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

“Master Lu, I truly didn’t know that shipment was yours!

If I had known, I wouldn’t have dared touch it even with a hundred lives to spare! Please spare me I’ll transfer all my companies and properties to you, just give me a way out!”

Lu Shiyan remained silent, merely lifting his chin slightly.

A black-clad bodyguard immediately stepped forward, grabbing the man’s hair and forcing his head up.

The man’s left eye was bruised black, his lip split and bleeding, tears mixing with blood streaming down his face.

The terror in his eyes overflowed like a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Lu Shiyan’s gaze swept over his bleeding forehead: “If you dare touch what’s mine, you should be prepared to face the consequences.”

He paused, the flame at his fingertips extinguishing as his voice dropped lower, carrying a bone-chilling coldness,

“I don’t need your company or properties. But since you enjoy taking what belongs to others, why not leave me your hands as ‘compensation’?”

The man’s face instantly turned deathly pale. He screamed and struggled, but two bodyguards pinned him down firmly.

One of them pulled a gleaming dagger from a black toolbox nearby, the blade reflecting the crystal lamp’s light with a dizzying glare.

The man’s heart-wrenching screams immediately filled the room, piercing through the heavy door only to be swallowed by the casino’s noise below, leaving no trace behind.

Lu Shiyan leaned back on the sofa, took a sip of whiskey from the table, amber liquid tracing fine lines on the glass.

He stood up, casually placing the empty glass on the table, his voice cold: “Clean this up.”

As he walked toward the elevator, the hem of his black shirt swept through the air without stirring a ripple.

The elevator doors dinged open. As Lu Shiyan passed a small private room on the first floor, a familiar woman’s voice suddenly came from inside.

Trembling yet stubborn, as if arguing back a voice he clearly remembered belonging to Xu Anhao.

Lu Shiyan paused mid-step, his brow slightly raised as he turned to whisper to the bodyguard behind him: “Find out what’s happening in there.”

With that, he strode directly toward the casino entrance, where the black Rolls-Royce Phantom was already waiting outside.

The driver hurried to open the rear door, shielding the upper frame with his hand.

Lu Shiyan settled into the back seat, retrieved a bottle of whiskey from the car fridge, and poured a small half-glass. The amber liquid rippled gently in the crystal tumbler.

The soft blue ambient lighting in the car cast his profile in a cold, sharp outline, yet it carried a hint of careless languor.

Within five minutes, a bodyguard opened the rear door and bowed to report the incident from the small private room earlier.

After listening, Lu Shiyan’s lips curled into a mocking smile, not warm, but edged with coldness.

He took a sip of whiskey and said to the bodyguard:

“Call the casino owner. Tell him his people have offended someone under my protection. He should know how to handle it—no need for me to teach him.”

Meanwhile, in the small private room where Xu Anhao was, the atmosphere was tense and hostile.

Brother Bao still had a grip on Xu Anhao’s collar, spitting as he yelled in her face, cursing and threatening, “If you don’t pay up, you’ll stay and work as our cash cow!”

But suddenly, his phone in his pocket began vibrating wildly. Annoyed, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen, the caller ID made his face instantly turn ashen.

It was the casino owner calling.

He frantically answered the call, barely getting out a “Hello?” before a torrent of furious shouts erupted from the other end:

“Are you fucking tired of living? How dare you lay a hand to someone under Mr. Lu’s protection! Do you have a death wish or what?”

Brother Bao’s hand abruptly released its grip. Xu Anhao stumbled back two steps, bumping against the coffee table.

Clutching the phone, his voice trembled like a sieve: “Huh? I… I didn’t touch anyone…”

“Still playing dumb! Do you think Miss Xu is someone you can mess with? Apologize to her now! Return the money! One more word of nonsense, and you can say goodbye to that arm of yours!”

The call ended with a sharp click. Brother Bao’s forehead instantly broke out in cold sweat.

He turned to look at Xu Anhao, the ferocity in his eyes completely replaced by terror, as if he were seeing her for the first time.

The woman beside Brother Bao, still unaware of the situation, saw him release Xu Anhao and assumed he was backing down.

She curled her lip and sneered, “Brother Bao, why are you scared of her? Someone like her, if she stays at the casino entertaining guests, could easily earn back ten million…”

Slap! A sharp, loud smack landed on the woman’s face, sending her stumbling back onto the sofa, the corner of her mouth instantly reddening.

Brother Bao pointed a trembling finger at her, his voice urgent and fearful: “You bitch! What the hell do you know? One more word of nonsense, and I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

The woman clutched her cheek, stunned. Tears welled up instantly, but she didn’t dare make another sound.

Once he’d dealt with the woman, Brother Bao immediately turned back, his face twisting into an awkward, ingratiating smile.

He hurried over to Xu Anhao, holding out the black bank card with both hands, his waist bent halfway in a bow:

“Miss Xu! I was blind not to recognize someone so important! Your father’s debt should have been written off long ago. I shouldn’t have bothered you I was a fool!”

As he spoke, he hastily pulled out his own card and pressed it into Xu Anhao’s hand.

“There’s five hundred thousand in this card a small token of my apology. Please, don’t hold it against me!”

Xu Anhao clutched the two cards, her mind a complete blank.

One moment, this man had been a menacing figure demanding ten million from her; the next, he was bowing and scraping in apology, even handing her a card.

She had no idea what had just happened, feeling only absurdity and fear. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

Seeing her silence, Brother Bao grew even more panicked. He quickly stepped closer and said cautiously:

“Miss Xu, let me escort you out? It’s too noisy here, wouldn’t want to offend your sensibilities.”

With that, he personally opened the private room door for Xu Anhao, bowing and smiling obsequiously as he accompanied her all the way to the casino entrance.

Only after watching Xu Anhao’s figure disappear into the night did, he wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

His legs went weak, nearly collapsing to the ground.

At this moment, he couldn’t comprehend how this seemingly ordinary girl could be connected to Lu Shiyan.

Meanwhile, Xu Anhao stood by the roadside clutching two cold bank cards, shivering as the evening breeze swept over her.

She looked down at the cards in her hand, then raised her gaze toward the top floor of the casino, her heart filled with bewilderment.

Just who had helped her?