Watching Alex lose his cool like that, I sighed. "No one’s comparing you to Aiden. You’re the one who keeps using him as a benchmark to push yourself. Or maybe he’s just gotten too deep into your head." Alex looked at me, startled, as if my words had struck a chord. "Remember, Aiden is just a talented guy, but that doesn’t mean he’s the best at everything. He has flaws too. You don’t need to pressure yourself so much. Just do your best." His expression gradually relaxed. Seeing that my words were getting through, I continued, "So don’t sell yourself short. Now can you tell me exactly what happened?" "The CEO of Lawson Corp suddenly called me that day, said he wanted to discuss a collaboration. I know Lawson Corp has always had a rocky relationship with Midnight Pack, so I turned him down. But Mr. Gary kept insisting, so I reluctantly agreed to meet." "Then he showed me this piece of land. He said Lawson Corp didn’t have the resources to develop it and that since we had the funding, they wanted to transfer it to us." "I really didn’t expect it to turn out like this. I had no idea they’d screw me over so blatantly..." Alex’s voice was filled with regret. "Alright, I get the gist." I rubbed my temples. This guy really was a little too naïve. "In a few days, I’ll get in touch with Lawson Corp. I’ll figure out a way to get that land deal reversed." Alex stared at me for a moment before finally saying, "Okay. We’ll talk then." I nodded, hoping that this proud prince of Midnight Pack would learn something from this experience. "Raelyn, my mom..." he suddenly asked again. "She’s going to be fine soon. I’ll let you know as soon as she wakes up." Just then, I remembered I had come out to make coffee for Aiden. A glance at the time told me I’d been gone a bit too long. I nodded at Alex and quickly headed back. "What took you so long? You were just making coffee. You were gone half an hour." Aiden frowned at me. I coughed awkwardly. "I wasn’t... I just got distracted, that’s all." "By the way, there’s something I want to discuss with you." Aiden pushed a report across the desk toward me. "I just found out that while I was gone, Alex signed a deal with Lawson Corp that cost us half a billion.""He’s just too naïve. He needs someone to teach him how the game works." I replied calmly. Aiden clearly hadn’t expected me to defend Alex. He snarked, "What, worried I’ll scold him?" "He’s your brother, not mine. Say whatever you want—it’s not my business." I shrugged, clearly uninterested in their sibling drama. "What matters now is getting that money back. This whole mess was Lawson Corp’s doing. We can’t let them get away with it." I leaned in slightly. "So what’s your plan?" "I’ve got an idea. But I’ll need your help." I instinctively crossed my arms. "Don’t tell me you want me to seduce that sleazy old man." "Of course not." Aiden looked genuinely confused. "Why would you even think that?" I scratched my nose awkwardly. "Never mind." "I want you to get in touch with Vice Chairman Lin and set up a meeting. Then we’ll stage a little trap. Mr. Gary may be ruthless, but he’s also a notorious womanizer." Aiden spun his pen between his fingers. "Don’t worry, someone else will play the bait." "Then why do you need me to invite him?" "Because we need Mr. Gary to think that the woman is you." I rolled my eyes at him. This kind of shady plan coming from Aiden really caught me off guard. But I had to admit—it was devious and kind of fun. I liked it. "So when should I ask him out?" I asked with a smile. "No rush," Aiden said, shaking his head. "We’ll wait until my mom wakes up." Just then, my phone rang. It was a call from Tempest. I picked up immediately, only to hear a string of startled yelps from the other end. My heart jumped. "What’s going on?" It sounded like a fight was happening in the background. Tempest responded in a whisper, "Two or three werewolves just barged in out of nowhere. They tried to take the woman from the bed..."I didn’t catch the rest before the call was abruptly cut off. I quickly told Aiden what happened. His face turned grim. Grabbing his keys, he rushed out with me following right behind. He tried calling the werewolf guards as we sped toward the hospital, but none of them answered. That only made him more anxious. When we burst into the hospital room, the place was a wreck. Bodies of werewolf guards lay all over the floor. These were the ones Aiden had stationed here—every last one of them knocked out cold. I looked around and shouted, "Tempest, where are you?" "Over here!" Tempest suddenly crawled out from under the bed. "I’m here."