Chapter 91. Dazed

Chapter 91: Chapter 91. Dazed

Chapter 91. Dazed

"I am Don Diaxu, Rosa’s father’s stepbrother."

The moment those words left his lips, a collective gasp from Mrs. Lee and Mac, standing by the dinner table, rippled through the air. Mia blinked, her eyes darting back and forth between Mrs. Lee and Mac.

Why the sudden shock? she wondered. If they were truly so close to Rosa, shouldn’t they have known her family history?

Mrs. Lee’s expression faltered completely. She took a step back, then another, her wide eyes filled with pure, unfiltered hatred as she scanned Don from the crown of his head down to his feet. In utter disbelief, she retreated another step until she was standing only a few meters away from the sofa. A sharp, bitter chuckle escaped her throat, followed by a scoff.

"Unbelievable," she murmured. "The elusive stepbrother to Giwan Lin, had vanished the very day Rosa’s parents died, never to be seen again. It was widely believed he had committed suicide or slipped into the dark underbelly of the city, tied to dark rumors surrounding their deaths."

Don smiled faintly. "Well, I guess the media sort of had everything all twisted up," he murmured, "but the truth is, I had my own personal reasons for leaving."

Mrs. Lee scoffed, bursting into another fit of sharp, malicious laughter. Don frowned with skepticism, observing her unhinged reaction. I really do not understand why she is laughing so wickedly, he thought. She looks completely out of her mind right now.

He tilted his head to look at Mia off to the side. Mia was smiling at him, a radiant beam spreading across her lips. She was obviously thrilled by this sudden shift. Catching his eye, Mia extended her right hand and gave him a encouraging thumbs-up. Don chuckled under his breath and returned his focus to Mrs. Lee.

"Unacceptable!" Mrs. Lee’s voice boomed across the sitting room. She turned back to him with sharp, furious wide eyes. "Rosa is my possession! There is nothing you can do to break her away from me, so forget about whatever document you signed with my assistant. I didn’t approve it, so it’s not going to happen!"

She snapped, her chest heaving. Don didn’t reply immediately, staring at her while his eyes squinted into a tight glare.

I should have known she was not going to let this go easily.

He closed his eyes and breathed out a slow, steady breath. "Anyway," he murmured, opening them again. "According to the rules and regulations of the Adoption Organization, once a bond is broken and claimed by another, the remaining decision is left entirely to the adoptee in question. At this point, you literally do not have any voice here to determine this. All we need now is for Rosa to confirm that she no longer wants to be with you. If she decides to stay with you, fine. I’m going to walk away with my hands tied, knowing that there was nothing more I could have done about the situation."

Mrs. Lee’s eyes widened, her lips trembling with rage. "Rosa is not around!" she snapped.

Don chuckled and shook his head, tilting it to the side. "Unbelievable."

"Rosa is in her home office," Mia interjected quickly.

Mrs. Lee whipped her head around, staring aggressively at Mia as if throwing a lethal warning. Mia pretended not to notice, keeping her expression calm and unbothered.

Mrs. Lee scoffed, her eyelids fluttering as her gaze darted back and forth between Don and Mia. "So this was the plan, huh? Both of you cooked this up?"

Mia scoffed back. "Oh, trust me, I had no idea he was coming either."

Mrs. Lee snapped her fingers sharply. Her bodyguard, who had been standing by the door, instantly walked over toward the archway entrance that led to the long corridor. He planted himself firmly in the middle of the frame, folding his massive arms like a sentinel guard.

Don noticed it immediately, his brow furrowing into a frown. "Are you seriously resorting to physical violence to stop this process from going truthfully the way it legally should?"

Mrs. Lee smirked coldly. "If you want to get to Rosa, you have to get her the hard way."

Don stared at her in disbelief, his eyes squinting tightly. "How childish," he murmured. He flexed his broad shoulders, loosening his posture. "You really do underestimate me, huh?"

Mia blinked, her eyes widening as realization struck her. Is he actively going to battle this bodyguard? She had heard the rumors about the Lee family bodyguards—they weren’t ordinary security. They were lethal, war-trained sentinels capable of surviving dangerous combat. Does he really know what he is doing?

"I really did not want this to result in violence," Don said casually. He walked over toward the entrance, stopping directly before the looming guard and squinting right into his face.

The bodyguard maintained his posture, puffing his chest out to reveal his broad shoulders, glaring at Don with sharp, threatening eyes. The two men stood face-to-face, trading silent, dangerous glances.

"Tell your bodyguard to step aside, Mrs. Lee," Don murmured softly.

Mrs. Lee didn’t reply. She kept her arms folded, deliberately ignoring the confrontation as if she had no hand in it.

Don chuckled. "You see, the fact that you are reacting this way shows clearly how much malice you have kept deep down within you." Slowly, he turned his gaze to look at her. "I don’t know whatever stupid plans you had in mind for Rosa— but taking advantage of the fact that you are in charge of her fees, actively threatening to withhold them because of your own selfish reasons? That’s inhuman." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Mrs. Lee slowly tilted her head to look at him, her eyelids fluttering in shock. She squinted in disbelief, her lips hanging open as if wondering how the hell he could possibly know that.

Don scoffed. "You are really in no position to take care of her, so why don’t you just be wise enough and hand her over to the right person who is actually meant to be doing it?"

Mrs. Lee kept glaring at him without saying a word. Don exhaled, breathing out a long breath, and turned his head to face the bodyguard standing before him threateningly. He chuckled softly. "The hard way, it is then."

With a movement so swift nobody in the room caught it coming, Don lifted his left hand. It landed cleanly and heavily on the bodyguard’s left shoulder.

Trained for instantaneous combat, the bodyguard reacted immediately. He grabbed Don’s wrist, intending to press against the sensitive vein and twist his hand behind his back. But the moment his fingers made contact, Don subtly angled his wrist, stripping the guard of his leverage and rendering his grip useless.

Before the guard could adjust, Don’s other hand swept around and clamped onto the back of the bodyguard’s head. With explosive, raging force, Don yanked him aside and hurled him across the room.

Finding it impossible to gather his balance, the bodyguard stumbled wildly before crashing face-down onto the hard marble floor. Shock rippled through the room. The bodyguard himself was stunned, pushing himself up on his hands and knees, staring at the marble tiles with wide, disbelieving eyes.

What the hell? he thought, his heart hammering against his chest.

So much power... so much raw strength!

He snapped his head up to glare at Don, who now stood unimpeded in the wide-open entrance. Who the fuck is he? How does he have this kind of strength?

Don clenched his jaw tightly. He slowly turned his head to look at Mrs. Lee once more. "Where is Rosa?" he asked, his voice deathly calm.

Mrs. Lee kept her arms folded, but the composure was gone—everyone could see the fury trembling through her frame. Don smiled tightly, shook his head, and clapped his hands together twice.

The main double doors slammed open. A flood of heavy footsteps poured into the large mansion as an official police tactical team clad in tactical vests flooded the space, pistols aimed directly at Mrs. Lee as an undeniable defense mechanism to finally break her grip.

Everyone faltered. Mia blinked in total disbelief; Mac began to visibly tremble.

The malice and coldness in Mrs. Lee’s expression dissipated into utter confusion as her eyes darted left and right. One of the armed officers stepped toward her, giving her a hard, threatening look over his sights. Her lips trembled violently. She slowly turned her head to look at Don, who still stood by the wide-open corridor entrance, glaring at her expectantly.

Realizing she was entirely powerless, Mrs. Lee closed her eyes and let out a long, defeated breath.

"She’s in my home office," Mrs. Lee murmured quietly. "At the far end of the hall... the last section. Just head straight down. It is the first door you see at the end."

Don turned his gaze across the distant, marble-tiled hallway, lined with doors on either side. Locking his eyes onto the door at the far end, he strode down the corridor briskly. His posture was rigid, carrying a shimmering heaviness and a protective aura that radiated around him.

He reached the office door and pushed it open with powerful force. The door swung wide, thundering as it slammed against the wall and sending vibrations through the frame.

Inside, Rosa was sitting quietly in her chair, her head tilted to the side, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. She flinched violently at the sudden noise, standing up straight and spinning around in alarm. She froze the instant her eyes caught Don storming into the room with clear anger etched across his face.

Her expression faltered. "Mr. Don..." she whispered softly.

Don stopped in his tracks, his harsh posture relaxing. His eyes took her in, observing her nervous hands, the faint flush on her face, and the sheer shock in her wide eyes.

She was okay. She wasn’t in immediate physical danger.

He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled a long breath. God damn it, you are so lucky, Mrs. Lee, he thought bitterly.

Looking at Rosa, catching the softness and vulnerability in her dark eyes, guilt hit him.

I should have recognized her instantly the day she actively threatened you on the road. How could I have been stupid enough not to recognize her right away?

He gently stepped across the room, and pulled Rosa into his arms, hugging her tightly.

Rosa gasped and froze, feeling the solid rigidity of his body pressed against hers. A sudden wave of warmth and safety washed over her, making her heart race for reasons she couldn’t fully understand or explain. Her lips trembled, and her mind felt utterly overwhelmed.

Okay, what the fuck is going on right now? She couldn’t assemble a single coherent thought.

Her face was pressed firmly against his broad chest, and she felt his large hand gently stroking the hair at the back of her head. It felt so soothing, so intensely warm, that she couldn’t hold herself back. She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, clinging to him tightly.

Don rested his chin lightly atop her head and smiled softly. "You are free from now on," he murmured. "You have nothing else to worry about."

Rosa frowned against his chest in complete confusion. Free? What does he mean?

Don slowly pulled away, placing his hands on her shoulders as he looked down into her face. "From this moment on, I am taking over," he said firmly. "Forget about whatever the hell she tried to threaten you with. Forget about whatever she tried to hold against you. You are no longer under her rules anymore."

Rosa blinked in absolute disbelief. Her expression faltered, her jaw dropping slightly as she stared at him.

"What?" she asked in a daze.