The heavy mahogany doors of the Su Family Estate's main hall were practically vibrating with the tension inside.
I didn't bother knocking. I just pushed them open.
"Mr. Chu! Wait, you can't just—!" A frantic butler tried to step in my way, but one cold glare from Old Chen, my driver and bodyguard, sent the man scurrying back to the foyer.
I stepped into the grand hall. It was a massive room decorated in ridiculous, faux-antique calligraphy and expensive porcelain. Seated at the head of a long rosewood table was Old Master Su, the patriarch of the family. He looked exactly like every web novel family head: old, stubborn, dressed in a silk Tang suit, and entirely convinced of his own infallibility.
Standing stiffly near his chair was Su Qingran. She looked exhausted, her usual icy composure cracking. When she saw me walk in, a flash of something complicated—relief mixed with sheer panic—crossed her blue eyes.
"Chu Feng," Old Master Su said, his voice dropping into a stern, commanding baritone. He didn't offer me a seat. "You have some nerve bursting in here. I was just about to have my secretary call your father."
"Save the secretary the effort, Old Man," I said smoothly, walking right up to the table and pulling out a chair for myself. I sat down, crossing my legs. "I'm the sole heir to the Chu Consortium. My father let me take over the Jinghai division last month. Whatever you have to say about my engagement, you say it to my face."
Old Master Su's eyes narrowed. The Chu Feng he remembered would have been trembling, desperately trying to kiss up to him.
He scoffed, reaching into his silk robes. He slammed a small, cracked piece of green jade onto the table.
"Fine. I'll say it to your face," the Patriarch sneered. "Twenty years ago, a wandering divine doctor saved my life. In exchange, I promised him my firstborn granddaughter's hand in marriage. This jade token is the proof. Today, I received word that his disciple, a brilliant young man named Lin Tian, has come down from the mountain to claim his bride."
I stared at the cheap piece of jade. It was the most overused, brain-dead trope in existence.
"Grandfather, this is insane," Su Qingran interrupted, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. "You are breaking a multi-billion dollar corporate merger with the Chu family... over a piece of rock? I don't even know this Lin Tian!"
"Silence!" Old Master Su slammed his hand on the table. "The Su family does not break its ancient oaths! Lin Tian is a dragon among men! He has the inheritance of a divine doctor. With him, our family will ascend to the top of Jinghai City. Chu Feng, your engagement is annulled. The Su family will return your betrothal gifts by noon."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Su Qingran looked at me, expecting me to flip the table, scream, or throw a tantrum. Instead, I just leaned back in my chair and let out a low, genuine laugh.
"A dragon among men?" I repeated, picking up the jade token and tossing it casually in the air like a cheap coin. "Old Master Su, your intelligence network is embarrassingly slow."
"What did you say to me, you spoiled brat?!" the old man roared, half-rising from his seat.
I stopped tossing the jade and slammed it back onto the table. I didn't raise my voice, but the sheer, oppressive weight of my newly acquired Master-Level Martial Arts leaked into the room. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
Old Master Su froze, suddenly feeling like a massive predator had just bared its teeth at him.
"Your 'dragon among men' is currently sitting in a holding cell at the Central Precinct," I said coldly, pulling out my phone and sliding it across the table. On the screen was a pristine, high-resolution photo I had snapped before leaving the police station.
It showed Lin Tian, covered in cheap wine, blood leaking from his mouth, slumped unconscious against a concrete wall in handcuffs.
Su Qingran gasped, covering her mouth.
Old Master Su snatched the phone, his hands trembling as he stared at the screen. "Th-this is impossible! This is a fake! He is a divine doctor!"
"He's a waiter who assaulted Ye Tianxing, the head of the Black Dragon Syndicate, in a back alley last night," I corrected, my tone utterly ruthless. "I was there. I saved Ye Tianxing's life. Then your precious Lin Tian tried to assault a police captain, broke his own ribs in the process, and got himself locked up for the next decade."
"No..." the Patriarch muttered, his face turning the color of wet ash. "The ancient oath... the divine doctor..."
"Your divine doctor is a crippled convict who enraged the city's biggest underworld boss," I stood up, buttoning my suit jacket. "But hey, if you want to marry Qingran off to a guy who shares a toilet with six other inmates, be my guest."
[Ding!] [Host has ruthlessly crushed the Su Family Patriarch's delusion!] [The Protagonist's 'Ancient Marriage' plotline has been completely destroyed!] [Destiny Points -1000! Host gains 1000 Villain Points!]
"Grandfather," Su Qingran said, her voice turning to absolute ice as she looked at the old man. "Is this the 'dragon' you wanted to give me to? A violent criminal?"
Old Master Su clutched his chest, sinking back into his chair. The shock was too much. The grand future he had envisioned using the marriage token had literally been beaten to a pulp and thrown behind bars.
"Chu Feng..." the old man wheezed, suddenly looking desperately up at me. "Wait. The... the engagement. The Chu Consortium's capital injection—"
"Is officially under review," I cut him off, my eyes devoid of pity. "You insulted me, you insulted my family, and you tried to pawn my fiancée off to a street rat. You really think I'm going to just smile and write you a check?"
"Please, Mr. Chu! It was a misunderstanding!" the Patriarch begged, all his previous arrogance evaporating. If the Chu family pulled their funding now, the Su family's supply chain would collapse by Friday.
I looked at Su Qingran. She was staring at me, her blue eyes wide, her chest heaving slightly. The man she had despised for years had just walked into her family home, completely dominated her overbearing grandfather, and saved her from a nightmare marriage without breaking a sweat.
[Ding! Su Qingran feels a massive surge of reliance and awe toward the Host!] [Affection +20! Current Affection: 55 (Infatuated/Reliant).]
"I'll give you one chance to save this merger, Old Man," I said, my voice echoing in the dead-silent hall.
"Anything! Name it!"
"Qingran is no longer safe in this house. You clearly lack the judgment to protect her," I stated, walking over and stopping right next to her. She didn't flinch away. She actually leaned slightly toward me. "She packs her bags right now. She moves into my private villa in Dragon Bay."
Su Qingran's head snapped up, her cheeks instantly flushing a deep, brilliant red. "Cohabitation?! Chu Feng, we... we aren't married yet!"
I looked down at her, my expression perfectly calm, offering absolutely no room for negotiation.
"It's either you move in with me," I whispered, just low enough for her to hear, "or I let your grandfather bankrupt the family and try to bail his precious 'dragon' out of jail. Your choice, Miss Su."