Chapter 4 I'll Be Your Protector

"Grandma!" Elin cried out, her voice piercing the calm as she dashed frantically to summon a doctor.

The sight of Paula being rushed to the emergency room sent a wave of panic through her, tears streaming down her cheeks as she paced the corridor, wringing her hands in distress.

The thought of losing her grandmother was unbearable-she couldn't, she simply couldn't face that possibility.

Shortly after, Paula emerged, her breathing assisted by a mask, looking frail yet stable.

The doctor approached Elin with a somber look. "Her heartbeat is steady now, but she requires immediate medication," he explained, his voice steady and professional. "The medication she needs is quite rare and expensive. You'll need to arrange payment before we can proceed."

"Okay, thank you," Elin murmured, a mix of relief and urgency propelling her to the payment desk.

Her heart sank as the card reader beeped a denial-her accounts were inexplicably frozen.

Panic rising, she dialed Camila, her words tumbling out in a rush. "Camila, I need you to check with Dean. Why are all my cards blocked? It's urgent-Grandma needs her medication..."

"Elin, don't you remember?" Camila's reply came through cold and distant, cutting deep. "You relinquished all claims to the property after signing the divorce papers."

The line went dead before Elin could utter another word.

A lump formed in her throat as the thought of the funds required for Paula's treatment weighed heavily on her mind. Wasting no time, she flagged down a taxi and headed straight to Infinity Group.

She was desperate to confront Dean about his reasons for snatching Infinity Group away from her, and why he had been so merciless in leaving her destitute after their divorce.

As she reached Infinity Group, the skies opened up, rain pouring down in sheets, mirroring the turmoil inside her.

Elin sprinted through the pelting rain, her footsteps splashing as she hurried to the shelter of the building's entrance. Suddenly, a burly security guard blocked her path, shoving her roughly onto the pavement.

"Please, let me in. I must see Dean..." Elin implored, her voice breaking as she grasped the guard's sleeve, rain streaming down her wan cheeks. "I need money for medicine-without it, my grandmother won't survive."

With another forceful push, the guard stepped back, thrusting a sign right before her eyes. "Ms. Walsh, open your eyes and read the sign!"

As she blinked away the rainwater that blurred her vision, Elin's gaze fell on the harsh words displayed across the board. "No entry for Elin Walsh!"

"Dean, what did I do to make you so cruel?" Her tears dissolved into the rain, the past pouring over her like a never-ending storm.

When she was just three, her father had come home with a boy whose parents had perished in a tragic accident. "Sweetheart, he's lost his parents and will live with us now. Think of him as your brother."

Dean, then six, had approached with a knightly bow, his smile bright and inviting. "Hello. From today onwards, I'll be your protector."

Dean had been her steadfast guardian, the knight of the Walsh family, from that moment until the bitter present.

To her, Dean wasn't just family-he was the one who completed their world.

Under his benevolent watch, she had never needed to worry about anything. She could indulge in shopping for clothes and bags, living the carefree life of a pampered young woman.

Why, then, had he turned so callously cruel?

He stripped everything from her, leaving her destitute and derided.

Could it all stem from accusations of her infidelity?

As people streamed into the building, they couldn't help but notice Elin perched desolately on the ground by the entrance. They recognized her instantly, and murmurs and pointed fingers began to spread through the crowd.

"Can you believe Ms. Walsh? Even after her marriage, she was caught in a scandal at a hotel with another man."

"I heard Mr. Knight finally divorced Ms. Walsh. It's about time! Good for him."

"Without Mr. Knight, the Infinity Group would've crumbled long ago under her abysmal leadership!"

Meanwhile, high above the bustling lobby in the sleek president's office of Infinity Group, Dean sat ensconced in his chair, his gaze fixed on a live feed. The screen portrayed a disheveled and disgraced Elin, huddled against the relentless rain at the building's entrance. A shadow of complex emotions crossed his face, a turbulent mix of anger and something unspoken.

With a swift, chilling motion, he swept a photo of a smiling young boy and girl off his desk and into the trashcan with a clatter.

His voice was icy as he muttered to himself, "Elin, this is the debt your family owes me."

Downstairs, Elin's pleas for mercy to the security guard and her desperate attempts to garner the sympathy of any manager from Infinity Group fell on deaf ears.

Irritated by her persistence, the guard swung a riot control stick, shoving her roughly toward the roadside.

She stumbled, her leg scraping against a railing, the jagged wire slicing a long, stinging cut into her skin.

Collapsing to the cold, wet ground, Elin cried out in agony, tears mingling with the rain.

In just a single day, she had lost everything...

Time seemed to stretch and warp as the sky darkened above her, the rain unyielding.

Then, in the midst of her despair, a sleek Maybach glided to a stop beside her. The driver emerged from the passenger side, umbrella in hand, and made his way toward her.