“She…she is not dead.”

Jadiel’ s trembling voice floated in the air as he knelt on the ground and stared at the girl lying in the murky pool of blood and mud, like a withering flower.

Quivering in fear, he pressed his fingers on her slender neck and checked whether she was alive or not.

As he tilted down his head, numerous pearly raindrops trickled down from Jadiel’s wet hair, gently making their way towards his panic-stricken face that oozes boyish charm.

When he felt the ticking pulse on his fingertips, Jadiel let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God, I didn't kill anyone." He muttered under his breath.

Being the youngest chauffeur in the Amberwood mansion, it was Jadiel's first-ever opportunity to accompany his boss and young master on a journey to the outskirts of Helos city.

He was indeed excited as he took charge of the steering wheel of one of the coolest cars in the garage for the day. However, not in his wildest nightmares, he imagined that he will end up running over someone,

How can he make a mistake on his first-ever journey?

“First brother, she is alive...she is not dead.” Jadiel cried out in an exhilarating tone as tears of joy streamed down, merging with the rainwater.

“Yet.” A cold masculine voice heard from above, loud and clear even under the noise of heavy downpour, sending chills down Jadiel’s spine.

“First brother!!!” Jadiel gasped in horror and turned to face the towering figure standing beside the car, holding an umbrella over his head.

From the angle he sat, Jadiel could clearly see the huge dark silhouette of the man whom the entire city feared, looking almighty and overbearing like an emperor.

'Everett Silvius,'' The Silvius family's eldest son and the CEO of the Amberwood Corporation who owns the nickname the 'Ruthless tyrant of the Helos city’s business empire.'

Everett's stunning face, illuminated by the beams of the bright headlights, appeared emotionless as he stared at the girl lying on the ground.

“Everett, you are scaring him,” Emory Silvius, a man in his mid-sixties, the legendary big boss of Amberwood Corporations stepped out from the car and remarked in an indifferent tone as he watched the boy’s petrified face.

He quickly reverted his gaze from Jadiel to the girl drenched in murky water and blood,

“Let’s take her to the hospital,” Emory gently instructed so that his young driver, who is scared to death, might feel at ease.

“Yeah, while she is still alive,” Everett scoffed and turned to walk away, leaving a quavering Jadiel with the unconscious girl,

Since he got the final permission from his boss, Jadiel immediately tried to lift the girl from the ground. However, to his horror, he could only move her body a little.

“First brother, help,” He looked at Everett and requested when he finally realized that the appalling sight had made him weak and weary.

“Can’t you even lift a puny little girl?” Everett’s scornful remark echoed in the air, along with a rumble of thunder.

“Brother, she is going to die,”

“And you are going to jail."

When Everett’s merciless comments entered Jadiel’s ears, he literally felt like crying but lacked tears to shed.

“Second brother was right, First brother is a devil.”

He ranted inwardly and shifted his red-rimmed eyes to his boss who stood silently, as his last resort.

“Everett!!! quit joking and go help him." Emory ordered in a reprimanding tone and glared at his eldest son who is well known for his frosty demeanor.

Hearing his father’s order, Everett let out a sigh and moved closer to Jadiel. As he crouched down, his hawk-like sharp eyes glided over the girl.

The midnight black hair drenched in rain and crimson blood, stuck to her face, covering half of the smooth expanse of her fair skin.

With an apathetic look plastered on his face, Everett reached out for her slender body and swiftly lifted the girl in his arms, as if she was light as a feather.

As he straightened his back and steadied up, a haughty sneer hung upon the corner of Everett’s mouth.

Jadiel gulped like a goldfish as he stared at his first brother's face,

Was that a sneer he saw on the cold-blooded tyrant?

“God, save me,” He prayed inwardly and rose to his feet as he intended to follow Everett.

However, out of the fear that his first brother inflicted on him, Jadiel’s legs wobbled as he staggered towards the car.

Without any hesitation, Emory opened the back door of his expensive car and helped his son to get the girl inside.

Everett carefully placed the girl on the soft black leather seat and tried to get out of the car,

“Where are you going?” Emory asked when he noticed his son leaving the car, rather than taking a seat.

“I’m going to drive,” He casually said and glanced at Jadiel who just opened the door next to the driver’s seat.

“Who knows how many people are unfortunate today,” He ruthlessly commented and strode to the other side of the car.

“Big brother, It wasn’t me...it was her who ran towards the car. I swear, I didn’t hit”- Jadiel tried to explain his part of the story, but only to get cut off with Everett’s fuming gaze.

“Yaa, don’t waste time, go and sit with dad,” Everett ordered as he got into the driver’s seat and took the steering wheel.

“And you better be prepared for the worst, Xiao Shin,” He smiled coldly at Jadiel who was now shaking like as if he has seen some ghost,

“Death or injury due to rash driving is a punishable offense,” Everett reminded him. “Why God, why did I choose to ride with this monster instead of my sweet second brother?”

Jadiel cried inwardly. Within the short period he spent in the mansion, he realized that the eldest son in the Silvius family had a cold and aloof personality, unlike his siblings. But he never imagined that Everett literally lived up to his nickname of “the ruthless tyrant" who had no feelings towards his subjects.

Otherwise, how can someone tease and taunt a poor soul who is terrified of death?

“Are you going to stand here and watch her die in my car?” Everett’s deep voice pulled him back to reality and made Jadiel almost run to the other side of the car, forgetting his weariness.

He was still in his late teens and didn't want to end up in prison for homicide at an early age.

As soon as Jadiel got into the back seat, the engine made a low grumble and the car started to move.

While the dark sky roared with thunder, Everett’s majestic matte black beast sped off through the mountain road in search of the nearest hospital.

“Boss, will we be able to save this girl?” Jadiel asked in a low voice only audible to Emory who sat next to him, “She bled a lot.”

Unlike his son and the heavy status of the chairman of Amberwood Corporation that he holds, Emory was a down to earth person who had an amiable personality, which made it easier for Jadiel to share his concern.

“I think it is just a peripheral injury, something like a minor scalp wound.” Emory lied as he carefully pressed his handkerchief on the wound of the girl. He doesn’t want to scare the boy by explaining the severity of the wound,

“Don’t worry, Jadi, she will be alright.” He assured Jadiel with a gentle smile and interrogated about the accident,

“Didn’t you see her when you took the turn?” Emory probed more,

“She just ran towards the car as if she was running away from some mad dog. I really didn’t hit her, boss, please believe me,” Jadiel was on the verge of tears as he wiped his face with bloodied hands.

“I believe you. I know you won’t do anything like that. Let’s see what she has got to say when she wakes up,” Emory comforted the boy who was about to cry.

After a twenty minutes drive, the car entered the compound of the first hospital on the highway.

As soon as Everett pulled the car to the doorstep of the emergency care center, Jadiel jumped out of the back seat and rushed to inform the hospital staff that they brought a road accident victim.

Within a few minutes, the girl was taken to the ER, nurses and duty doctors busied in attending the patient who was covered in crimson blood.

Outside the glass doors of the ER, Jadiel impatiently walked back and forth, unable to curb down the anxiety and fear creeping over his mind.

Everett looked at Jadiel with a smirk, the boy did appear worried as if the person who is inside the ER was his own family member.

“Jadi,” Everett unknowingly called out for the poor fellow and pointed towards the seat next to him.

Surprised by the sudden gesture of gentleness from Everett, Jadiel hesitatingly took the seat.

“It doesn’t seem like you are going to prison, today,"

Hearing his first brother's sarcastic words, Jadiel had no other option but to stare as if he was seeing some kind of alien.

Gentle? Who? Why did he even assume that this tyrant got a heart?

After thirty minutes, the ER doors opened and the duty doctor came out to inform them about the current situation.

“Doctor, how is she?” Emory inquired, the doctor.

“She is out of danger now. But considering the severity of the injury, we have kept her under observation. Let's wait for the patient to wake up,” the Doctor informed them and turned to walk away.

“You got lucky, Jadi,” Everett gently bumped into Jadiel’s shoulders, with a hearty grin.

For the first time in the evening, Jadiel felt relieved and a placid smile bloomed on his charming face.

“You are too much, Everett. Why do you have to scare Jadi, look at his face...he turned pale like a ghost,” Emory chided his son and took the side of Jadiel, who was on pins and needles.

“Well, the crisis has been averted, right? We can leave once she wakes up,” He suggested, oblivious to the fact it was just the beginning of an even bigger crisis.

A crisis that will turn the Silvius family into a state that none of them wished to see themselves in. And who is going to be the cause for it?

The very same girl who was lying unconsciously on the hospital bed, unaware of the shadows of death that have silently followed her, wherever she goes.