Chapter 215: No More Time

Sierra closed her eyes. She needed a moment. Then, she finally spoke. "I want to see her." Her grandmother lay still on the hospital bed, as if she had simply fallen asleep. “Grandma…” Sierra’s voice was soft. There was no response. She sat by the bed and took Grandma’s hand, holding it tightly. She kept talking, feeling her way through all sorts of things. But Grandma would never answer her again. She didn’t know when the tears started falling. She didn’t want to believe it, but when the hospital staff came to take the body away, she had no choice. The person who had loved her most was gone. Her mind went completely blank. Dr. Zahn had told her this day would come, but no matter how much she had prepared herself, it still wasn’t enough. She couldn’t process anything.

Dickson took over, handling the formalities. Sierra sat motionless, like a puppet with its strings cut. “Ms. Sierra?” Dickson called her name quietly. No response. His chest tightened. After hesitating for a second, he pulled out his phone and called Jonathan. It rang for a long time before someone picked up. There was no greeting, just the sound of wind. Dickson didn’t think much of it. “Mr. Jonathan, where are you? Can you come back now? Grandina’s gone. Ms. Sierra is really upset. I’m worried about her.”

Then Jonathan’s voice came through, low and sharp, “I’ll be there soon.” A split second later, a loud crack pierced through the speaker. Dickson’s heart skipped a beat. He must have imagined it, but before he could ask, the call had already ended.

Jonathan glanced down at the fresh graze on his arm. His eyes darkened. That shot had been too close. The only reason they had even gotten the chance to fire was because he had been distracted. Not the same amateurs as last time. Jonathan had planned to toy with them a little longer, but not anymore. Grandma was gone. Sierra needed him. He didn’t have time for this. His moves turned lethal, each strike aimed to kill. Within minutes, all four men were down. He wiped the blood off his hands and left. The hospital was waiting.

Meanwhile, Kason got the news. He couldn’t believe it. “What do you mean he took them all down?” The four men he had sent weren’t just muscle; they had real combat experience. They had faced life and death before. And they had lost to a professor? Impossible.

It had all started earlier that morning when he spotted Jonathan at the airport. A quick check revealed that Jonathan had booked a same-day return flight. Kason had already been frustrated with Sierra’s repeated refusals. He had long suspected that Jonathan was the main reason she kept rejecting him. That was why he had targeted him. Last time, he had arranged the men for Shane. Back then, he had thought it would be easy. One university professor shouldn’t have been difficult to handle, but that had ended in disaster. This time, he had been more careful. The men he sent weren’t ordinary thugs; they were professionals. Yet, four against one had still failed.

He no longer cared about the holiday. Without hesitation, he called Shane. “Have you figured it out yet? Who is Jonathan?” Shane’s voice was unreadable. “Why?” Kason told him everything. Shane listened in silence. Four men, trained and armed, and they hadn’t even managed to injure Jonathan?

After a long pause, Shane finally asked, “You said he flew into Albanos this morning?” “Yeah, I saw him at the airport.” Jonathan was easy to recognize—too eye-catching, too distinctive. And given Sierra’s obsession with him, Kason had already made sure to memorize his face. “I’ll look into it,” Shane said. Just as he was about to hang up, something clicked in his mind. He hesitated for a half-second, then asked, “Sierra refused you, didn’t she?”

It had only just dawned on him. If she had agreed, Kason wouldn’t be so agitated right now. He had expected Sierra to say yes. She had endured those brutal years in prison because of her grandmother. He had seen firsthand how much she had relied on her. So, when given the chance to save her, why had she turned it down?

Shane frowned. She always surprised him. She always made choices he didn’t anticipate. Even back then, when everyone thought she would break, she never did. And now, once again, she had done something completely unexpected. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Ending the call, he stood up and headed to the study. The head of the Goodman family was waiting for him inside—his uncle, in name, but more importantly, the man who controlled everything.