Chapter 3

The bodyguards rushed in and surrounded the entire room in an instant.

Their guns were aimed at Noah, who stood in the middle of the room.

Seeing his security team arrive, Charlie felt a surge of confidence. He straightened his fat, greasy belly and curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.

"Mr. Wilson, I'm giving you one last chance. If you surrender right now and sign the voluntary waiver of inheritance, I can guarantee you walk out of this estate alive today."

"Dad, at least cripple his hands and feet!"

Cage had pulled himself up off the floor by now. He stared at Noah -- who stood beside the hospital bed with his hand on Sophia -- with cold, venomous eyes, his jealousy on full display.

Faced with all of this, Noah didn't spare them a glance.

His brow was tightly furrowed as he looked at Sophia, lying unconscious before him.

Fortunately, Sophia already had Metahuman Energy inside her. Waking her up wasn't going to be difficult -- all he needed to do was clear the blocked energy flow, and she would come around.

Noah completely ignored the security guards outside who were slowly walking in with their tactical rifles raised.

He reached out his right hand and pressed it against Sophia's forehead without a second thought.

As the blood in Noah's veins began to surge, the dormant Metahuman Ability that had lain quiet for a year stirred back to life at his call.

In an instant, a faint golden glow -- visible to the naked eye -- seeped out from his palm and flowed through Sophia's skin into her body.

The sight of this stopped Charlie and Cage cold, just as they'd been about to order the guards to move in.

After a brief moment of shock, Charlie snapped back to his senses. Noah was trying to wake Sophia up. Charlie let out a scornful laugh.

"Mr. Wilson, if you think something like this is going to bring Sophia back, then I'd suggest you stop wasting both our time."

Cage pointed at Noah and laughed out loud, like he was watching a lunatic.

"What are you doing? Some cheap street trick? You crawled out of the slums, and you actually think touching her is going to cure a vegetable that specialists from the Mayo Clinic couldn't do anything about? Pathetic and ignorant."

His words were loud and bold, but his body told a different story -- he didn't dare take a single step forward.

Nobody in the room believed Noah could actually wake Sophia up, yet that strange golden light made everyone's feet instinctively slide back a couple of steps. Not one of them dared go near the bed.

In the few seconds Cage spent hurling insults, the energy pouring from Noah's palm kept growing stronger.

It was so strong that it cast a faint, sacred golden glow across Sophia's pale, bloodless cheeks.

The fat on Charlie's face gave a violent twitch. His heart started pounding out of control, and a powerful wave of dread seized him by the throat.

He had no idea what the hell that golden light was.

But he knew Brian all too well.

There was no way that damned Brian had handed everything over to this young man on his deathbed without a reason.

Charlie's rational mind kept telling him it was impossible -- you couldn't wake someone out of a vegetative state just like that. But the unease in his gut kept growing, until it nearly knocked the breath out of him.

No. This can't go on.

Sophia cannot wake up.

"A cult! This guy is some kind of underground cult lunatic!"

Charlie suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, jabbing his finger at Noah's face.

"He's using dark methods to murder Sophia! What are you idiots waiting for? Get paid, then earn your wages -- drag this maniac away from her! Break his hands! Keep Sophia safe!"

The dozen or so fully armed guards who had rushed into the room exchanged glances. In each other's eyes, they all saw the same flicker of fear.

They'd spent years running high-risk missions in the Middle East. Blood and gore? They'd seen it all.

But this glowing display that flat-out defied the laws of physics genuinely sent a chill down their spines.

And on top of that, Sophia was right there in the man's hands. If they rushed in and provoked him -- or accidentally hurt her -- no one could afford to take the blame.

"What the hell! I'm paying you millions a year to stand there and watch?"

Charlie saw his guards hesitating and nearly blew a gasket. The veins on his forehead bulged, and spit flew from his mouth. "Move in! Whoever pulls him away gets half a million dollars on the spot!"

When the money was that good, someone always stepped up.

The head of the security team clenched his jaw, cursed under his breath, slung his assault rifle over his back, and drew the tactical baton from his hip. He moved toward Noah with two of the biggest mercenaries flanking him.

"Hey. Take your dirty hands off her, or I promise I'll break your bones one inch at a time." The captain snarled the threat as his thick arm shot out toward Noah's shoulder, ready to yank him to the floor.

But just as his fingers were about to brush Noah's jacket --

The vital signs monitor on the bed suddenly let out a rapid series of sharp beeps.

The brainwave reading, which had been flat and steady, spiked into a violent peak.

Then, from beneath the oxygen mask, came a sound -- soft, but unmistakable.

A faint moan.

It wasn't loud, but it exploded through the ICU like a thunderclap.

The security captain's outstretched hand froze in midair, as if someone had hit pause.

On the bed, Sophia's long lashes -- delicate as butterfly wings -- fluttered once, twice. Then, with everyone watching, she slowly opened her eyes. Clear and blue as sapphires.

Sophia was awake.