Chapter 5

"Still howling like ghosts out there? Pour cold water on him! Wake him up!"

Isabelle's cruel voice came through the yard's loudspeaker.

Immediately after, two bodyguards appeared on the second-floor balcony.

A basin of dirty water mixed with ice chunks poured down from above, landing precisely on me and my father-in-law.

With a tremendous splash, the ice water instantly stole what little body heat we had left.

My father-in-law's body convulsed violently, then his head lolled to one side. He went completely still.

"Victor! Victor!"

I shook my father-in-law frantically, but he kept his eyes closed. Even his faint breathing had disappeared.

His heartbeat had stopped.

In that moment, something in my brain snapped completely.

I suddenly stood up, grabbed a decorative brick from the snow, and smashed it frantically at the smart lock by the front door.

Sparks flew. The alarm shrieked through the night.

The bodyguards inside were startled. They instinctively opened the door to stop me.

I seized the opportunity and rammed my head into a bodyguard's chest, snatching his walkie-talkie and backup phone.

With trembling hands, I dialed emergency services and hoarsely screamed out the address.

"Come save someone! The patient has no heartbeat! Hurry!"

Ten minutes later, an ambulance screeched to a stop in front of the mansion.

A paramedic grabbed a defibrillator and rushed out. "Where's the patient?"

I crawled and stumbled toward them, pointing at my father-in-law in the snow:

"Over here! Please save him!"

The doctor was about to crouch down to examine him when the mansion door opened again. Isabelle walked out with Marcus, her face dark.

"Who gave you permission to come in?"

Isabelle strode forward and blocked the paramedic:

"Doctor, check Marcus's hand first. He just had a shock and his finger is bleeding. It needs immediate treatment."

The doctor glanced at Marcus's finger with its cartoon band-aid, completely speechless:

"Ma'am, that elderly gentleman is in cardiac arrest! This is a life-or-death situation!"

Isabelle snorted coldly, glancing dismissively at my father-in-law in the snow:

"Some country old man. If he dies, he dies. How precious can he be? I'm the young mistress of Sterling Group. I order you to examine Marcus immediately!"

Just as the doctor hesitated and I prepared to fight Isabelle, a deafening roar suddenly came from the night sky.

Three black helicopters bearing the Sterling family crest tore through the wind and snow, circling above the mansion.

The powerful airflow made the surrounding tree branches sway wildly.

Isabelle paused, then her face filled with smugness.

She thought this was the high-end private medical service she'd specially booked to please Marcus.

"Marcus, look. The helicopter I called for you is here."

Isabelle took Marcus's hand and walked proudly toward where the helicopter was landing.

Marcus was even more excited, his face flushed. He glanced at me arrogantly:

"Nathan, see that? This is what wealth looks like. A poor man like you will never experience it in your lifetime."

The helicopter landed steadily. The cabin door opened.

A team of fully armed black-clad bodyguards and top medical experts in white coats filed out.

Isabelle eagerly stepped forward, pointing at Marcus: "Thank you all for coming. The patient is---"

She didn't finish her sentence.

From my father-in-law's inner pocket, I pulled out the dark jade thumb ring that represented absolute power in the Sterling family.

I stood up. Facing the helicopter's blinding searchlight, I held the ring up before Isabelle's eyes.

"Isabelle, open your eyes and look carefully at who you just threw out!"