Chapter 20: You Choose The Wrong Man

Standing inside the crimson-lit corridor of Facility 704, Morales pulled the stolen credit cards from his jacket pocket.

’System, drain every last credit stored inside these cards into my balance,’ Morales commanded mentally.

[Ding!]

[Processing Stolen Asset Extraction...]

[Extracted: +50,000,000 $AC!]

’How did they get so much in a short span of hours.’ He thought.

As the cards dissolved into useless plastic in his hand, Morales looked up at the flashing emergency lights. ’System, can you breach this facility’s lockdown?’

"Affirmative. Proceed to the central server control hub. Physical interface required for System channel override."

"Follow me!" Morales snapped, grabbing Sophia’s wrist and dragging her through the dim hallways until they reached the main control room.

In the center of the room sat a massive server terminal pulsating with red lock indicators.

"Place your palms on the network interface glass," the System instructed in his mind.

Morales stepped forward and pressed his bare palms directly against the glowing glass panel. Instantly, an electric blue surge of System energy shot from his hands, racing through the facility’s wiring like digital lightning. The red emergency lights flickered violently before turning a solid, peaceful green.

DEBAUCHED SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

’Establishing connection...’

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a strange sensation spread through his palms, like a faint electrical current. The lights beneath his hands flickered, and lines of unfamiliar symbols appeared across the interface.

Security network detected.

Analyzing lockdown protocol...

Access restricted.

Morales narrowed his eyes. "Then make access available."

Attempting override.

The lights flashed rapidly.

Warning: Unauthorized connection detected.

Countermeasure initiated.

A sharp beep sounded from the console.

Morales felt the connection falter. LDon’t tell me you can’t do it."

"I did not say that.

A second later, the symbols changed.

Countermeasure bypassed.

Security protocol compromised.

Lockdown release authorized.

CLANG! HEAVY PIN RELEASED.

Across the building, the massive steel blast doors creaked open, unlocking every exit in a matter of seconds.

Sophia stood behind him, her wide blue eyes darting from the terminal to Morales in absolute shock. "H-How did you do that?! Do you have magic or something?!"

"I used my phone," Morales lied smoothly, turning around and sliding his hands into his pockets.

Sophia folded her arms beneath her heavy chest, raising an eyebrow in complete disbelief.

"Morales... your phone is tucked inside your jacket pocket. Your hands were bare against the glass!" And she rolled her eyes.

Morales stepped close, his electric blue eyes gazing down into hers with a quiet, commanding weight. "Don’t tell a single soul what you saw here today. Understand?"

Sophia swallowed hard, feeling the sheer intensity of his gaze, and slowly nodded her head. "I... I promise."

"Good. Now let’s go save Chloe."

Meanwhile, inside the damp storage facility, Jayden was unraveling into pure savagery.

He gripped the collar of Chloe’s dress and ripped the fabric open with a violent jerk. Chloe’s emerald eyes burned with pure, fury-filled hatred, glaring up at him without a shred of fear. Jayden laughed maniacally, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of dominating the Sterling heiress.

He shredded her outfit until only thin fragments covered her silk underwear, exposing her pale skin, narrow waist, and full chest pushing against her bra.

"Morales..." Chloe whimpered softly under her breath, her tears spilling over her flushed cheeks as Jayden reached out to tear her bra away completely. "Morales... please..."

BOOM!

The reinforced wooden door didn’t just open, it shattered into a hundred jagged splinters as a monstrous force kicked it clean off its hinges.

Before Jayden could even register the sound, a blur of red hair crossed the room. Morales reached out, grabbed Jayden by his throat, lifted his body effortless into the air, and hurled him like a ragdoll across the room.

Jayden smashed violently into the concrete wall, crashing into a pile of wooden crates with a painful groan.

Neither Chloe nor Sophia was surprised by his raw, terrifying physical power. Though Morales possessed a tall, athletic, refined build rather than a bulky frame, his upgraded physical stats made him stronger than any ordinary human.

"Chloe!" Sophia yelled, rushing past Morales toward the chair to untie her friend.

"Don’t move a fucking muscle!"

A heavy, armed guard lunged out from the shadows behind the door, grabbing Sophia by her hair and pressing the cold steel barrel of a handgun directly against her temple. "Punch my boss one more time, peasant, and I’ll blow her head across this room!"

Morales froze, his eyes narrowing as his attention split between Sophia and the armed guard.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Jayden scrambled out of the broken crates, his face covered in blood and dust. He lunged forward, throwing a desperate, heavy punch that struck Morales across his jaw, forcing Morales back a step.

"Kill him!" Jayden screamed hysterically at the guard, his eyes wild with unhinged rage. "Shoot this broke bastard in the head! Kill him right now!"

The guard cocked the hammer of his gun, tightening his finger around the trigger.

"That won’t be happening."

A sharp, authoritative voice echoed through the doorway as a dozen heavily armed, tactical Academy Enforcers flooded the room, their high-tech rifles raised and locked onto Jayden’s guard.

Stepping through the threshold was Mr. Blake, the Chief Administrator of the Freshman Sector, accompanied by a panel of high-ranking academy directors.

The guard instantly dropped his weapon and threw his hands into the air, releasing Sophia, who scrambled back toward Morales.

Jayden’s face drained of all color. He fell to his knees, staring at Mr. Blake in absolute, paralyzing horror. "N-No... No! You can’t disqualify me! I’m Jayden Vance! My family owns the Eastern Banking Syndicate! I have to stay until graduation!"

He looked up at Morales, his voice turning into a pathetic, frantic sob. "No... no! A poor scholarship kid can’t be standing here while I’m forced out to some trash, lower-tier college! NO!"

Enough."

"No! Let go of me!"

Two security officers dragged him toward the exit while the others took his accomplices into custody.

Mr. Blake watched them leave before turning to Morales.

"Are you injured?"

"Nothing serious."

Mr. Blake studied the blood at the corner of his mouth, then glanced at Chloe, whose torn dress Sophia had carefully gathered around her.

"We’ll arrange medical attention and ensure that this incident is properly investigated. The exam rules are clear, but the academy will consider the circumstances before making its final decision."

Morales nodded.

He had no intention of begging for his place at Aurelius Academy. He had come to rescue Chloe, and that was what mattered.

The beautiful woman standing beside Mr. Blake stepped forward.

She had watched the confrontation without showing much emotion, but now a faint smile touched her lips.

"Well," she said, looking directly at Morales, "you have more potential than I expected."

Morales studied her face, wondering who she was and why she had been watching him so closely.

Before he could ask, she turned toward Mr. Blake.

"We’ll discuss the incident later. Make sure the reports are complete."

"Of course."

The administrators began leaving with the security team, taking Jayden and his men with them.

As Jayden passed Morales, he twisted around, his face filled with hatred.

"This isn’t over, Brown! I’ll still come back!" And with a sinister smile they dragged him and the other guy with the other beaten ones outside.

Morales looked at him calmly.

"Next time, choose someone who won’t fight back."

Jayden tried to lunge toward him, but the security officers dragged him away.

His furious shouting gradually faded down the corridor.

The warehouse fell quiet once again.

Sophia exhaled shakily and rubbed her neck.

"Phew.... I never want to experience something like that again."

"Neither do I," Chloe whispered.

Morales turned toward her.

She was still standing beside the chair, trying to hold her torn dress together. Her green eyes were wet, and the moment he reached her, she grabbed his shirt with both hands.

"You came."

"Of course I came."

"I thought..." Her voice broke. She swallowed and tried again. "I thought he was going to..."

"He didn’t."

Morales gently pulled her into his arms. Chloe pressed her face against his chest, her body trembling now that the danger had passed.

He held her for a moment, letting her breathe.

Then he bent down and lifted her into his arms, carrying her bridal-style.

Chloe looked up at him, surprised. "Morales, I can walk."

"I know."

"Then put me down."

"No." He then saw her smile, he felt like fucking both of them right now, Chloe looked so cute and with her dress a mess and parts of her body nowexposed, he tried so hard to repress his libido.

Despite everything that had happened, a small, shaky laugh escaped her.

Sophia walked beside them as they headed toward the exit.

Morales glanced down at Chloe. "Let’s go."

And for the first time that night, Chloe finally believed she was safe, because with Morales all his women are safe because they were only his to touch and have fun with.