The morning sun had barely cleared the glass towers of the Silver Heights district when Guron Grefo walked into the private suite of the medical facility. There were no lengthy looks at the white walls or the expensive clean air machines today. The weight of the family line was pressing heavily on the older Alpha’s shoulders, and he had no time to waste on small details.

Sitting by the window, wrapped in a heavy blanket, was Duro.

Unlike the previous months, the old herbalist was not lost in a glazed-eyed stupor. He didn’t look confused or detached from the world around him. The moment the door clicked open, Duro’s head snapped toward the entrance. His eyes were clear, sharp, and focused. He looked straight at the patriarch of the Grefo family, and the recognition on his weathered face was instant.

Guron stopped at the edge of the bed. He studied the old man carefully, checking for any signs of the mental fog that usually dragged him under.

"How are you doing, Duro?" Guron asked, his deep voice carrying a rough, direct tone.

Duro took a slow, deliberate breath, his hands resting firmly on his knees. "I am doing well," he replied, his voice thin and raspy but entirely steady. "My mind is clear today, Grefo. The clouds have parted."

Guron nodded, pulled up a heavy chair, and sat down directly across from him. He didn’t offer any fake warmth. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, bringing his face closer to the old herbalist.

"Good. Because I have a serious proposal to make to you regarding the future," Guron stated flatly, his eyes locking onto Duro’s. "Your granddaughter, Jannah, is mature now. She is nineteen years old. But let’s look at the reality of her situation—she has nobody out there to protect her or take care of her. She is completely alone in the lower sectors while you are locked up in this facility. Therefore, I am formally proposing that she gets married to my son, Dorrent. If you agree to this match, my family will ensure she has a completely safe, happy, and luxurious life."

Hearing the heavy words, Duro went rigid beneath his blanket. Internally, a massive wave of conviction and profound relief crashed through his chest. It was an incredible weight lifted from his soul, but he forced his facial muscles to remain perfectly still. He did not let a single ounce of his relief show on his wrinkled face. He kept his expression guarded, his old mind instantly racing backward to the terrifying events of the past.

He recalled with clarity the chilling, secret visit from Bellero Boren in this very room. He remembered the Mafia boss standing over him, leaking his suffocating pheromones, threatening to destroy Jannah if she wasn’t forced to marry his son, Damian. When the nurses and Jannah had asked him about it later, Duro had pretended not to recall Bellero at all.

But the truth was violent. Despite forgetting the names of common herbs and the layout of the streets, Duro knew he would never, ever forget that monster Bellero Boren. He would never forget how that savage Mafia leader had traumatized and destroyed his own daughter, Frost. Frost had been driven to a drastic, bloody end because she dared to refuse the hand of the Boren family.

Duro knew the same dark fate was waiting for Jannah. The Boren syndicate was closing in on her. She was facing more immense danger than she could ever comprehend, and if she stayed a solitary slum rat with no protection, she would be torn to pieces. The only way she could survive the shadow war was if she had a powerful, ruthless person by her side to act as an unyielding shield. The Grefo family possessed the exact power needed to keep the Borens away from her skin.

Duro narrowed his eyes, staring into Guron’s gaze, trying to measure the integrity of the man before him. "Tell me the truth, Guron," Duro asked in a low, tight whisper. "Is your son a good person? And does he love my Jannah?"

Guron let out a short grunt, shaking his head slightly. "My son is a formidable Alpha, Duro. He runs a billion-dollar monopoly, so he is definitely not a soft or gentle man. But he is not a bad person. He has a sense of duty. And about him loving her right now? I won’t lie to you—he doesn’t love her yet, and she certainly doesn’t love him. But they will fall for each other eventually. I am sure of that. Proximity and staying under the same roof will bring love over time. When two people are forced together, the biology takes over. I’ve seen it happen a thousand times."

Duro remained silent for a long moment, his fingers tapping slowly against the blanket. He weighed the safety of his granddaughter against the cold reality of a forced marriage.

"It is okay," Duro finally rasped out, nodding his head in agreement. "The safety is what matters most. But the rest of the problem will be entirely on Jannah herself. I don’t think that girl will ever agree to this marriage willingly, Guron. For the past few years, she has been desperately avoiding engaging herself with any man in the lower sectors. She keeps her distance from everyone."

Guron leaned back slightly in his chair, a knowing glint flaring in his eyes. "Is she avoiding men because of the sudden, tragic danger she puts her boyfriends in?"

Duro’s breath instantly caught in his throat. His hands gripped the arms of the chair with sudden, frantic force, his jaw dropping open slightly as his clear eyes widened in shock. "How... how do you know about that data?" Duro demanded, his voice trembling with a sudden spike of defensive panic. "Who told you about the boyfriends?"

"Don’t worry about how I gather my details, old man," Guron replied smoothly, his tone completely steady and unbothered. "I know everything about her history. I know about the six Alphas in the ghetto who tried to form a bond with her. I know two died in industrial accidents, three went completely mad, and the last one is still a vegetable in the lower ward. But you and I both know reality—it isn’t a curse at all. I know exactly how special your granddaughter’s biology is. I know she possesses the rare, hidden genetic frequency that can birth a legendary Enigma child."

A suffocating terror gripped Duro’s entire body. The blood completely drained from his face, leaving him looking ghostly pale against the white medical pillows.

That secret... that deeply hidden biological truth was the most dangerous knowledge in the entire city. It was a genetic secret so volatile that he had never even told Jannah about it himself. He had kept her completely in the dark to protect her from being hunted like an animal by the elite families. But now, Guron Grefo was sitting right in front of him, casually stating it as a historical fact.

Duro’s mind began to spin in panic. If Guron already knew this data, then it meant the secret was no longer contained. Many other powerful, greedy people in the upper districts probably knew about her frequency as well. Jannah was walking around with a massive target on her back, completely exposed to the worst kinds of human monsters.

Guron immediately noticed the tension shaking the old man’s fragile frame. He reached out, his hand coming down firmly on top of Duro’s trembling knuckles, pinning them down with a reassuring, dominant pressure.

"Look at me, Duro. Calm down your nerves and listen to me very carefully," Guron assured him, his deep voice carrying an unshakeable weight. "You do not need to worry about her safety anymore. My son and I will take absolute, total care of Jannah. Now that she is under our roof, nobody in this city will ever dare to harm a single hair on her head. The Grefo empire will guard her with our entire military detail. She will be untouchable."

Guron sighed heavily, pulling his hand back as his expression turned slightly frustrated. "But the real issue we have right now is the girl’s stubborn disposition. From what I have observed, it seems that Jannah doesn’t like my son much at all. In fact, she looks at him with hostility. And as for how to make her actually agree to sign the marriage certificate... I honestly have no idea how to break her stubborn pride."

Duro took a deep breath, the panic in his chest slowly settling down as he realized the Grefo family was truly his only option to save his lineage from the Boren mafia and other hidden syndicates. A determined light returned to his old eyes, his mind working with clinical precision.

"You should not worry about her stubbornness, Guron," Duro delivered in a confident rasp, his face hardening into a line of resolve. "I know my little bird better than anyone else alive. I will help you make her agree to this match. But to do that, I need to be discharged from this medical facility very soon."

He leaned forward, his voice dropping into an intense, urgent whisper. "As you can see, my memory is not that bad now. The fog is gone, and I am functional. I need to get back to the slums on 3rd Street immediately. I need to deal with some very important things and prepare the ground for her surrender."

Guron stood up, looking down at the old herbalist with a triumphant smile that signaled the final closing of the trap.

"No problem..." Guron delivered.