?<strong>Chapter 484:</strong>


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    Wide-eyed, she clutched at her injured ankle, her voice rising in a frantic pitch. “Waiter! What kind of café are you running here? How can a rock just fly in from nowhere?!”


    She was a picture of disarray, her usualposed elegance shattered.


    Protected and pampered her whole life, Carole had never so much as grazed a knee, let alone sustained an injury that would leave a scar. Her shock quickly twisted into outrage.


    Across the table, Allison’s hand rested innocently on her coffee cup. She gave a light shrug, barely masking a smirk. “Looks like you should watch your step, Miss Perry. You never know what might happen in a ce like this — maybe something… supernatural? Sometimes, keeping silent can save you from unforeseen idents.”


    The subtle tilt of her head,bined with thatugh of hers, only spiked Carole’s fury. Yes, herugh was soft, but it sure sounded mocking. There was no mistaking it, especially paired with the café’s background piano tune — it matched the wry, unsettling lilt of her words.


    Carole whipped around, her eyes zing. “Allison, did you… did you do that?!”


    Allison’s face was pure innocence. “Miss Perry, let’s not make baseless usations. After all, it would be rather unwise. Who knows? Maybe another supernatural event will happen soon.”


    Carole looked up at the ceiling, realizing their table was positioned perfectly out of view of the café’s security cameras. Her stomach twisted. She was trapped without a shred of proof.


    “You!” she spat, reaching for tissues to dab at her bleeding ankle, her fury rising in waves.


    When she finally dared to look up, Allison’s dark eyes were waiting. And in that moment, Carole felt an icy dread creep over her, an instinctual shiver wing up her spine. It was a sensation she couldn’t shake — deep down, it felt like true fear. For a fleeting moment, Carole genuinely felt she might die.


    Was Allison actually threatening her?


    But no, she thought, shaking herself. Who did Allison think she was to threaten her like this? She was nothing more than a lowlife — insignificant.


    Clenching her jaw, she turned to Ken, her voice pitched with desperation. “Ken, you’re the one in charge here. Isn’t she under yourmand? Can’t you control her? Don’t forget, we were discussing a partnership…”


    She sounded nearly hysterical, her words tumbling over each other. Thepanies had nearly sealed their cooperation deal, and thest thing she needed was for Ken to side with Allison of all people.


    But Ken merely chuckled, the sound dark and humorless. “Cooperation?” he repeated, as if the word itself wereughable. “Carole, yourpany barely scrapes the bottom of Ms. rke’s standards. If it weren’t for your parents once saving my grandmother, you wouldn’t even be seated at this table.”


    The casual superiority in his tone cut deeper than Carole had expected, and she felt an unfamiliar fear twist in her gut. Of course. In her panic, she had almost forgotten the heartless man she was dealing with. This wasn’t just Ken — this was a man with a reputation as ruthless as the devil himself, a reputation that left people trembling at his name.


    Carole held back her frustration, forcing a tight smile that looked as artificial as it felt. “Just kidding.”


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